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.
Alliance & Leicester are trying to charge me £226 for being 17 days late paying off my account when trying to close it, I also underpaid by 1 penny.These charges are made up of £25 at a time, Believing these charges to be unlawful because of the campaign on Martin's & this site,I refused to pay them & told them so by phone & letter early on in the proceedings. I sent them a modified letter from the template supplied,to no avail. My question is where do I stand legally as I haven't actually paid the charges yet so I can't claim them back. They are now threatening to notify a credit reference agency if I don't reply in the next14 days. I originally told them to take me to court,which I understood they didn't like doing, but there is no mention of this,regarding court proceedings does this happen without my being there?Time is of the essence, please help.
If all of this £226 is charges you can claim it back off them and pay the charge/overdraft off, doesn't matter if you haven't paid them. You need to follow the process on this site.
Once you have sent a prelim letter, the account is in dispute and there is nothing they can do until its settled. If they do place a default with the CRA's, you can apply to have it removed as part of your claim.
No start your claim now by sending the prelim letter the account will then be in dispute. When they refund your charges there is a good chance they will refund it back to your account anyway.
Thanks again, I have already sent the prelim letter but with this addition:-
"I calculate that you have charged us £264.60 This includes the sum that you are trying to claim from us. I have tried to explain to you on the telephone that these charges are unlawful but have drawn a blank. In addition when I took out this account with a deposit of £10,123.74 on 30th October 2004, I was told that you paid interest on all this amount (i.e. a verbal contract) yet my first interest payment on 11th December was £3.74. I also deposited £26,843.57 on 14 December which amassed the huge interest payment of £5.48 yet you have the audacity to charge me £5.00 per month for underfunding.
With reference to the telephone conversation I had today with one of your staff I have tried to explain to you that we have tried to close our account and was told the amount outstanding was £847.80 as a final balance, which we duly paid and that you then claimed the balance was £847.81 but we paid 17 days late,could you please furnish us with proof that this cost you £50. I asked to speak to somebody with the authority to resolve this issue but was refused with the flimsy excuse that it would be passed to you debt recovery department and yet I couldn't speak to them because they hadn't recieved it yet. I would like to wager that once this has been passed over I would then be told that we couldn't enter into a reasonable dialogue with them because they could only refer us back to you to discuss it because there was nobody in that department with the authority to sort it out.
You threaten to take us to court which I would love you to do but do you really want the publicity that would be generated over a charge of £226.93 for the nonpayment of one penny and 17 days delay in paying".
They have passed it over to Security Investigations Debt recovery Division who sent a letter saying " You have been advised that we will notify a Credit Reference Agency regarding the default status of your account. This may effect(!)your ability to obtain credit in the future, entry is due to be registered in 28 days, then they ask for payment to be made in 28 days& for me to phone them on an 0845 number(cheek) which I have not done(couldn't find it on say no to 0870 site).Do you have any further advice?
Going through exactly the same thing but they've taken it one step further now (funnily, after they received the court claim). They say I owe them £724 which is made up of their fees. I have gone through the full proces and received another letter off them today saying I had till 11th Nov to pay or payment will be demanded through court including costs. Pointed out that they cant do anything because account is in dispute and simple reply was 'yes we can and we are doing'. Watch my thread 'What next' and it should let you know how they'll play it with you as it looks like your going down the same road as me. Looks like I could have default/ccj against my name on the 11th if they don't buckle first. Good luck and I'll keep you informed
It won't be a CCJ because that would involve taking you to court and you just might mention the debt is made up entirely of charges!!!! If they do put a dafault on your file, include removal of it in your claim when you get that far. I have just cancelled all my direct debits and had my wages paid into another account so I'm expecting some fun with them in a couple of weeks - if they don't pay up first!!!!
have had a reply to second letter sent to a & l and they have stated that the charges have been raised in accordance with the charging policy within the terms and conditions etc. It states - The office of fair trading report on 6th April 2006, although touching briefly on current accounts, did not give any specific recommendation regarding the level of charges for current accounts blah blah blah. I am currently starting bankcruptcy and cannot at this moment proceed with small claims. i am stuck in a rut i need charges refunded but a & l are just not having any of it please can anyone help thanx
The more threads you read especially the more recent ones show that A&L are getting increasingly more dirty in their tactics. Not sure if I'm the test case for them in threatening to start their own court action against me! I'll keep everyone posted
Just read your "what next"- cheered me up reading the replies so I won't worry nor should you. To be honest I have had similar experiences before (not banks) & just waited them out & they just gave up.I read somewhere that most companies don't bother with credit reference agencies but can't be sure, I've just got to the point where I don't care any more. Banks & other companies treat us like cattle so s*d the lot of them. It's great that this & sites like it exist so we can fight back; now if only there was one for government stupidity (or is there?)
A&L Claim I Owe Them Money
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