Written by John Kruse, one of the leading experts on Bailiff Law, this consumer friendly guide is essential reading for anyone who comes into contact with a bailiff.
The book is easy to understand and clearly explains the rights
a bailiff has, and also what they cannot do when collecting debts and repossessing goods etc.
Through the Cahoot website's 'Contact Us' section, I requested a list of charges relating to my accounts, early August. Received an email response within days that the details would be in the post within a week.
A week later, received a print out of transactions on my cahoot current account and credit card account 2nd week of August.
Added up the total charges on my 2 accounts and was shocked to find that it added up to £590 + £190 + interest!
Emailed John Goddard (Cahoot managing director) last night 28 August with an approach for repayment, demanding my money back and threatening legal action.
Received an email this morning from David Freeman (cahoot, Service Relationship Manager at service.relationship.team @cahoot.com) on behalf of John Goddard. It states the usual canned text:
"We don't accept that cahoot's charges are unfair or unlawful under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. The object of these Regulations was not price control nor were they intended to interfere with people's freedom to agree the terms of their contracts. It's well known that banks make charges and cahoot's charges are in line with those of other banks. The terms and conditions of the account and the charges that apply are clear and fair and were provided to you at the time you opened it. You freely agreed to the terms and conditions and the charges when you opened the account. You weren't under any obligation to do so and could have gone to another bank if you didn't agree to the charges. Equally, you're free to move your account to another bank at any time if you don't agree with the charges. In any event, we don't agree that the charges are disproportionate. The charges are reasonable and proportionate to the administrative costs incurred by cahoot." etc etc
Am composing my response to the above to give them a last chance, and am taking legal advice for what seems inevitable court action.
Update: emailed Messrs Goddard and Freeman again last night with my lba, with the following paragraph added for effect:
"I find it interesting that you state you don't agree that the charges levied on my accounts are disproportionate. If you truly believe that the charges are reasonable and proportionate to the administrative costs incurred by cahoot, I look forward to hearing, in front of my local court, your detailed breakdown of these costs and the reasons why you have recently substantially reduced some of these charges. Such a public hearing would certainly be a fascinating occasion to see whether the judiciary will agree with mr Goddard's recent statement to 'Marketing Week' that Cahoot is a bank of "simpler products and better rates"."
Received a response from David Freeman, cahoot Service Relationship Manager, this morning:
"I appreciate the points you've raised in your e-mail and can confirm that the charges levied contribute towards our costs for administering delinquent and overlimit accounts. cahoot's debt management Team are dedicated to ensuring that accounts are brought back within their agreed limits and make arrangements and manual payments to clear arrears. I've reviewed your account history and can see that our debt management Team have contacted you in the past in relation to you exceeding your agreed overdraft limit.
I've considered this matter carefully and am not in a position to refund the charges you've incurred. This is my final response in relation to this matter."
He goes then on to suggest escalating the issue through their internal complaints team, and subsequently the Financial services Ombudsman.
I will send them a reminder that my 14 days clock is still ticking....
Just to follow-up: I emailed a response yesterday to David Freeman and John Goddard stating that as far as I'm concerned they still have 13 days in which to comply with my request for a refund.
I also apologised for possibly missing out a few charges in my initial calculation (a few interest charges etc I did not spot), but that as a gesture of goodwill on my part I'm willing to settle for the full amount as originally claimed, whilst reserving the right to recalculate to the correct, full amount once the 13 days have gone and my claim will be submitted to court.
I received a response within minutes:
"Thank you for your recent e-mail.
If you wish to pursue this via the courts, please send your claim form to me at the following address:
Private & Confidential
David Freeman
Service Relationship Manager
cahoot
Friars House
Coventry
CV1 2ZA"
I responded this morning that as they a) were unwilling to accept my offer of a settlement and b) had indicated this was their final response in this matter, I would initiate court proceedings.
A claim in Edinburgh Sheriff Court will follow shortly. Am looking forward to it, and am in it for the long haul, although DLA Piper's stalling tactics will be a bit boring...
Today put a claim in with Edinburgh Sheriff Court's small claim court for £736.92 regarding charges on my current account. Looks like the hearing will be 7 November.
There was a slight complication in that there was a question of jurisdiction, because I filed the claim in Scotland and the defender Cahoot is based in England.
Luckily I had used the Govan Law centre's statement of claim, which addresses jurisdiction (it's at Step 2 - small claim action in Scotland | legal help from Govan Law Centre, Glasgow, UK, and had a copy of Cahoot's terms of (legal T&Ts) which also addresses the issue of jurisdiction:" The agreement and our relationship with you is governed by the law of the country in the UK in which you live. The courts of the country in the UK where you live will have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any disputes which arise from the agreement."
With the preliminary hearing 3 weeks away, received letter from Abbey today offering the full amount plus interest plus court costs as settlement.
Also asking me to sign joint minute to the court to inform the Sheriff of settlement.
Will write to inform them that I'm happy to agree to this settlement, but that I will wait with agreeing to inform the court untill the settlement amount has actually been received.
JKop Vs Barclays SETTLED JKop Vs Cahoot SETTLED Jkop V Capital One SETTLED Jkop V Marbles SETTLED Jkop V MBNA £422 MCOL Jkop V Egg SETTLED Jkop V Cahoot Credit Card SETTLED Jkop V HSCB £1500 W.I.P!
Update: received cheque from Abbey legal, drawn on Ashurst clients account, for the full amount plus interest plus costs, which I have put into my bank this morning.
Once it clears, I will inform the Sheriff of the settlement.
Piggy Bank vs Cahoot
!
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