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.
I've been lurking around this forum on and off for months now, and thought I'd get my lazy arse in gear and get my money back. I hope I've not missed the boat on an easy ride. (It's only a few quid, so shouldn't be too tricky, I hope.)
I've requested and got my statements back and looked through them. I'm just preparing - physically and mentally - to send the prelim letter. I've searched the forum a bit though, and I'm still a bit confused as to what a couple of my charges are and whether I can claim them all back or not. Here's a Breakdown of what I've been charged:
Can some kindly soul tell me what the 10 quid ones are and if I can have them back? There's 20 pints there!
I would think that this is a charge as oppose to a fee, as that is what it is displayed as, it also isn't shown every month and I doubt very much that they would forget to charge your fees for the odd month.
Claim it! I'm sure somebody will let you know if you're not entiitlled to it.
Printed and almost in the post. Do I give them 14 days from the date of my letter, or give them an extra day for it to get to their intray?
After I've run through this with my own bank, I've got bigger fish to fry. My brother and sister have both had much more skint, much more prolonged periods where they've been charged these nasty sums. Checked my brother's internet banking which shows that he's been charged about 500 quid in the last 6 months!
So hopefully I'll be pretty clued up and offering some advice here when I'm done!
14/09/2006 - Data Protection Act letter sent to my bank.............here goes
28/09/2006 - Statements received through the post. Charges appear to be in the region of £2000
04/10/2006 - Prelim letter sent for charges of £2037
Hang on a minute..... looking at the £10 charge, its coming off at the same day every month. Do you have a royalties account? I have one (royalties premier) and it costs £15 a month and comes off regularly on the 10th. This is a service fee and not a charge, although it is listed that way on my statement and CANNOT be claimed back.
if you have subscribed to one of the royalties plans and it costs £10, you need to scrub that........apart from that, go for it!
ALSO.....it looks as though there may be about 6 months of a "missing period" in your transactions
1/9/06 RBS claim #1
8/11/06 - claim settled
17/11 claim #2 started - incl creditcard
30/11 - CC statements received
31/11 - Prelims issued - RBS paying up, only M/C to go)
If any of my advice/ info has been helpful, please click the scales
Please also remember that any advice is given from my own experience and in good faith as a lay person. If in doubt, please contact a qualified professional
...and thanks for your input. The missing period is when I had some money.
And at the time it was a Route21 account for young people or something - which I'm pretty sure has no monthly fees. Though the last one of those was after I was 21 and presumably had a different account. (I have no idea what it is now)
It's in the post now anyway, so in the worst case they'll write back and tell me to sod off!
You need to give them 14 days from receipt of your letter so if you've sent it recorded delivery you'll be able to check receipt, if you haven't you'll have to keep your fingers crossed and watch out for the cheque being cashed, I've noticed they haven't wasted any time cashing mine!
As far as the regular monthly charges go - my bank charge once a month on the same day if I've been over my overdraft in the previous month, if it isn't a charge - they shouldn't list it as one should they - another mistake they'll (not) learn by!!
I've got a stock reponse now from the branch Service Manager and the Area Manager.
We believe that our charges are fair, reasonable and transparent. Yadda yadda yadda... strictly in accordance with your agreement and published tariff ...yadda-yadda.. complies with applicable laws and regulations.
Against that background, we must differ to the views expressed in your letter. Accordingly, the charges that have been applied to your account must stand.
Yours sincerely...
So it's time for the lba, right? Bits of the one in the library seem not to be 100% relevant to my case, which I can change. The other thing that bothered me was that it seems very repetitive of my first letter. Is this normal and acceptable in legal speak? - I usually like to be a bit more creative!
My other query is regarding the timescale. Should I allow them the full 14 days that I stated in my prelim letter before sending the LBA, or go ahead and issue their 'further' 14 days now, by sending the LBA?
You have to give the full 14 days from the date of the prelim before you send an LBA (gives them more of a chance to give you your money back)
I'm not an expert on legal matters by any means, but pretty expert at formal letter writing... IMO letters should be kept as short and to the point as possible. No need to be too creative, that'll just confuse the lowly souls!! This is an outline of what I sent:
I must differ with the views expressed in your letter as to your charges being fair, reasonable and transparent. As I have already stated, I now understand that the regime of 'fees' which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations. The charges laid out in the original contract are unlawful penalty charges and cannot be legally enforced i.e. charges in relation to unauthorised Overdraft, Referral, Chq/DD/SO Unpaid etc are a disproportionate penalty and therefore unenforceable as they are contrary to Common Law. Further, as a disproportionate penalty they are invalid under the Unfair (Contracts) Terms Act 1977 s.4 and under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Para.8 and sch.2 (1) (e). In the event that the charges are not a penalty then they are unreasonable within the meaning of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 s.15. Therefore, I would once again draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law.
I would also point out that the original 14 day period I defined for resolution of this matter has now ended without satisfactory conclusion. I require repayment in full of this money, to a total of £xxxx. If you do not comply fully within 14 days (on or before xx.xx.06) then I shall begin a court claim against you for the full amount plus interest as well as my costs and without further notice to you. I have included, on the schedule of charges, the standard 8% APR interest amount that will be applied for your reference should this go as far as a court.
I trust this clarifies my position.
Yours sincerely, [if you are writing to a named person]
Yours faithfully, [if you are writing to 'Sir/Madam']
Hope this is of some help - its a little more creative than the template! And granted, its not really that short either
~ I'm a lover, not a fighter... well, most of the time ~
Tim Vs. RBS
- to send the prelim letter. I've searched the forum a bit though, and I'm still a bit confused as to what a couple of my charges are and whether I can claim them all back or not. Here's a Breakdown
of what I've been charged:
Reply With Quote
Welcome to the forum
Re: Tim Vs. RBS
I'm a lover, not a fighter... well, most of the time 
