Thread: At my wits end with the A&L - some advice please!

Hi all,

I hope this is the right place to post this but if not, I apologise in advance!

I have a basic account with A&L and have worked out from previous statements that they owed me £442 in failed DD charges. I sent them a letter (before discovering this site) and they replied, agreeing to refund me - as a good will gesture, a payment of £34. They then proceeded to take this back out of the account a day later. I sent them the prelim letter out of the template gallery on the 3rd of August and I am still awaiting a response.

I am due to the next letter on Wednesday, and have this all ready and prepared. Looking at most of the cases people have posted on here, I realise that I am going to have to start court proceedings and that the likelihood is that A&L will probably close my account after I do so. Herein lies my problem. When I split up with my husband, about a year and a half ago, I found out that he had not been paying any of the bills and this left me in a total mess financially - most of them being in my name and having accrued CCJ's etc. I only found out the full extent after he had left and as a result, although payments are being made, my credit rating is shot to pieces.

I am a student and therefore have to have my own bank account to enable me to have student loan payments. Does anyone have any advice as to where I will be able to open a bank account which will not require me to have a perfect credit rating? I am not looking for an overdraft etc. (the last thing I need are more debts to have to pay)!

Also, currently everytime any money hits my account, despite having now cancelled all my DD's, A&L are 9 times out of 10 taking a £34 charge for failed DD's, is there anything I can do to prevent this happening?

Thank you in advance for any advice that anyone has to offer - it is much appreciated.

Sarah x

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Hi Heidi,

Thanks for the info - will check both of these out straight away, I just need to make sure I am covered as my loan payment is due in 5 weeks and I can't have it 'eaten' by A&L!

Thanks again,

Sarah x

My financial mess is also due to ex leaving and refusing to acknowledge his and joint debts left behind. I managed to open Co-op cashminder account with no hassle after being refused by other banks - give them a try.

Hi,

Thanks very much - I will give them a go, it's just so frustrating at the moment as every time any money goes into my A&L account (including CTC and Child Benefit) they take £34 from me. Yesterday I was left with £9 after they took yet another charge.

Thanks again,

Sarah x

Yes I know the feeling - and being chrarged twice for a failed direct debit in a few days doesnt help. A & L were unable to tell me why they allowed some through and charged £16 but others failed at a cost of £34. Those going through or not obviously being sorted so they can make the most money! There has been one month where they charged me almost £700 in charges - my entire months salary and least to say made things even worse with my creditors!! Not any more - we are going to get it back!!! Good luck

Jovichick,

Lets get things into perspective first. Their are a number of banks that offer basic accounts although I can't place my hands immediately on the list I have from CCCs, as soon as I can find it I'll list them in this thread for you.

It sounds to me like you need to get another account and move all payments into and out of it, that should at the very least give you some breathing space to resolve the problem with A&L. Make sure you work out a budget and stick to it as well.

A&L can apply as many charges as they like once your main banking is done with another bank, after all your going to get it all back eventually

I would also speak to the CCCS on 0845 272 5400 regarding the problems of the CCJ's if your ex husbands name is on any of the original debts then he is jointly liable for them.

If Direct Debits have been cancelled and A&L are still attempting to pay them and charging you for the privilage then that is covered by the direct debit guarantee and they have no legal right for the charge. I had a similar situation last year when I moved bank account from A&L. they failed to provide a full list of mandates and then made charges for failing them despite being told NOT to pay any after a certain date.All those charges were fully refunded.

Thanks very much for the info Tamadus, I am trying to secure an account at the moment and the second I do so will definately be moving everything to the new account!

The original 14 days are up as of today so my second letter is going to be winging its way through the post later today

They still haven't responded to my first request but from reading the threads on here, I am sending my second letter anyway..

Usually I wouldn't be too worried about opening a new account but with my student loan payment due in 4 weeks, I have to get a move on!

Thanks again,

Sarah x

Hi all,

Just thought I would post an update! My worries about setting up a parachute account are over!!! Natwest have accepted me and have set me up a step current account - thanks very much for all the advice everyone has offered over the past week or so.

Still no news from A&L, but my second letter was sent yesterday so in 13 days - and counting! - my moneyclaim will be filed!

Thanks again for the support,

Sarah x

Great news Jovichick now you can concentrate on dealing with A&L properly instead of keeping track of how much they are taking.

Hi all,

Just thought I would post another update!! Well, I recieved a letter last week - 3 weeks after my prelim letter was sent telling me that the report only refers to current accounts... blah, blah, blah!! After reading other peoples cases on here, I was completely expecting this and as my second letter had already been sent, I popped the letter into the envelope I am keeping with all the correspondence to do with the case.

The 14 day deadline after the second letter ran out today and I happily paid my £80 for the court costs about 2 mins ago in order to file my claim!

I have however, had a few issues with my cashcard today. I went to the post office to take out some money, and my card was refused :cry: , I rang my local branch, who advised me to try a cash point, which I did and it still wouldn't give me my money!! I then took a trip to the bank only to be told that my account had been temporarily suspended due to the information on their files being incorrect (I changed address in June and despite two notifications having been sent, they have not yet changed their system!). The laughable thing was that although they would not let me use my cash card in a cash machine, I was told if I wanted to take my money out in branch, they would have to levy a £2 charge. As I am sure you can imagine, I was having none of that and after having been quite snotty with the woman behind the counter, I managed to get the 'charge' waived. They said it was nothing to do with my taking them to court but couldn't tell me exactly why my account had been suspended - very suspicious eh?

Anyways, the only thing I want to ask now is what should I expect to happen next? How long does it take before moneyclaim hit A&L with the claim pack and how long have others had to wait from this point on??

Thanks in advance,

Sarah x

I received my acknowledgement off them after about one week and they normally cough up approx three weeks after moneyclaim is submitted.
Good luck fellow Jovi Lover ;-)

awwww sorry Jovichick but I submitted my moneyclain on Friday so it would land on their doormat first thing Tuesday morning. I'm guessing here but I suspect they want to keep your money to help pay my claim

Seriously it will take them a couple of weeks to respond to your claim, but in the meantime it sounds like they need to make an apology and restitution for suspending your account, as for paying a fee to withdraw your own money from the branch I thought that idea had died a death a long time ago.

I hope somebody feels sorry for the poor old A&L with 2 claims in the same week to contend with

Tamadus

Nah, we shouldn't feel sorry for them, after today and their suspension of my account, I have no pity!!!

Just can't wait to get back the money so that I am able to pay some of the bills it was intended for in the first place!!

Thanks for the support - is much appreciated, will keep you posted as to progress!

Sarah x

I was going to say that Caro lol

just to update you Jovi the acknowledged my claim today 31/8/06 I am off to issue on Capital One now as Debitas seem to be using the phone a lot since I sent the lba not bad going as I have told them to stop calling under the telecoms act.

I have a rubbish credit rating including CCJs, but I have just opened a basic account with cooperative in preparation for getting my charges back from A&L (I'll be sending the data request this weekend). With the Co-op you get an electron debit card and online banking. All you need to do is prove your identity.

Got the acknowledgement of service this am saying that they intend to fully defend claim...... lol so now counting down days til cheque arrives!!

Hope your claim is progressing Tamadus, let me know when you get your cheque, and thx for the advice Nackers, I have now got my new account with the Natwest, is much better than A & L one!!!

Thanks,

Sarah x

When anyone checks their a&l statements be aware the charges changed approx sep 04 from flat £25 to an intial £25 to be followed by a further £25 3 days later. Be aware that an excess charge pre 04 appears as 'Monthly O/D Charge' on statements.
My 1st letter to them got posted on the 31st August, i'll keep you all posted...

James