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 have combined the DPA & Prelim asking them to work out charges and refund them to my account, if they do it staright away then the figures can be checked when the dpa info comes through
any comments
Your address
[their address]
Request for repayment of charges
Dear Sir/Madam,
ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxx
My request
I am writing to ask you to refund to me the charges which you have levied from my account over the last 6 years
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 in Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations. If you say that they are not then you will be pleased to demonstrate this by letting me have a full Breakdown of the costs to which you have been charging to my account in order to reassure me that your penalties really do reflect your true costs.
Additionally it has now been confirmed that your particularly high level of penalties are considered to be unfair per se by the OFT who reported on the 5th April 2006 and are considered to be unlawful per se in the absence of specific proof to the contrary.
Please supply me with a complete list of transactions and charges relating to my bank account for the period 7th April 2000 to 7th April 2006. Alternatively a complete set of bank statements for that period will be acceptable. For the sake of clarity bank statements are covered by DPA request as set out in law, and should not be charged on a per statement fee.
Additionally where there has been any event in my account history over this period which has required manual intervention by any member of your staff or any other person, I require disclosure of any indication or notes which have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention or other evidence of that manual intervention in relation to my banking business with you.
If you are unable to supply data relating to manual intervention because there has been no such manual intervention then please be kind as to confirm this in your response to this request.
I autherise you to deduct the statutory maximum fee of £10 from the above account no xxxxxxx. You have 40 days in which to comply. Furthermore, if I discover that you have levied disproportionate penalties against me then I shall be reclaiming them and also reclaiming the enclosed £10 DPA disclosure fee.
Your responsibilites
I would 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 am frankly shocked that as a bank that advertises itself as “Ethical”, you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary.
I consider that your repeated representations that your charges are fair and reasonable are deceptive and that they have decieved me into agreeing to pay them.
You concealment of the true nature of your charges has prevented me from asserting my right until now.
What I require
That you calculate from the information held on my account relating to penalties made and deducted from my account and that the sum be paid back into my account which will also include the £10 maximum charge should you take it from my account for DPA information.
My targets to resolve this matter
I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me about this matter and I am writing this letter to you on the assumption that you will prefer to do this than merely respond with standard letters and leaflets.
I will give you 14 days to reply to me accepting unconditionally my request in principle and letting me know a date by which I will receive payment.
If you do not respond or you do not respond positively within this time period, I shall send you a letter before action giving you a further 14 days in which to reflect. I believe that these targets are more than sufficient for a large company such as yours with dedicated staff and departments.
After that will be no further communication from me and I shall issue a claim at the expiry of the second deadline.
What would this achieve? Don't you need to ask for a certain amount with your Prelim? And also I didn't think you could ask for the DPA fee back as it is a fee for a service!
If this worked, you wouldnt have to wait 41 days to get the info from the DPA then work out how much they owe you, then give them 14 days, then another 14 days, if they are going to give you anything then they have the info that you havent if you dont have statements going back 6 years, so they should work out the charges and refund you, if they dont then you have to wait for the info under the DPA.
The problem with banks is that they cannot multi-task!
My view is that they will simply write back and say that the department that has got the letter can only deal with one of the issues raised, and that you should put the other points to the department(s) concerned.
The other point I would raise is that the banks are disputing the unlawful nature of these charges, and would therefore not be inclined to calculate a figure that they had no intention of paying anyway.
This would then have a knock-on to any legal action, since you have not informed the bank what you are claiming, and demanding satisfaction within a specified time - a requirement for commencing legal action.
Alan, Derby, UK.
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_________________________ _______
Sorry, but I cannot deal with your case by PM - please ask questions in your own thread. If you do not get a reply within 48 hours send a PM, with a link to the relevant thread, to any Site Team Member.
DO NOT SEND QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR CLAIM TO ADMIN, or our WEBMASTER - YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE A REPLY.
Advice given is purely my opinion, and is not based on any legal training.
When we started this foru we had used a dual purpose letter inthe way you suggest.
We abandoned it as it caused delay and confusion.
Now we use the system which is in our library.
We no longer have any difficulty and we are unlikely to move back to the old system.
Please don't pm me about specific questions unless you have posted and it has not been dealt with or unless the matter is confidential. Please include a link to the post you want me to look at. If you have received a defence, contact me.
Advice & opinions of BankFodder, The Consumer Action Group and The Bank Action Group are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Use your own judgment. Seek advice of a qualified insured professional if you have any doubts.
Combined prelim & DPA, willl this work??
refusals, exceeding overdraft
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