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.
Firstly, as a newbie, I would like to express my thanks to the creators of this site and the moderators of this forum. It has so far proved very useful, and I'm hoping some helpful person can help me with me latest issue!
I have received a letter from the A&L in response to me asking for my money back. The letter they sent seems standard, but I was curious as to whether I can still persue my claim or whether what they say is true.
I had a basic cashcard account with A&L for many years, and latterly they even let me have a debit card (oooh!) but still refused to allow me an overdraft facility, although possibly with good reason. The only time I was ever overdrawn was when they failed direct debits. And then once these charges were levied, I became overdrawn which of course they charged me for. Again and again! So I sent the standard letter and this was the reply:
"Thank you for contacting us regarding your account.
I have noted your comments that you believe the charges that have been raised on your account to be unfair, please be assured our charges are reasonable and are competitive with the charges made by other financial organisations.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has commented that they consider the level of late payment charges to be unfair, however they were actually referring to late payment fees for credit card payments, which are quite distinct from a bank's charges on current accounts.
As yet, the OFT have not entered into any discussions with the banking industry regarding current accounts. However, should that position change in the future, then Alliance & Leicester will participate as appropriate.
Given the above, I cannot accept you have been unfairly charged as you suggest. I regret, therefore, that I am unable to agree to your request for a refund of charges on this occasion.
I am sorry if you are disappointed with my response, but as the charges have been raised correctly in line with terms and conditions of your account, they must stand."
Any informed and accurate comments would be greatly appreciated.
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my views are my own...seek legal advice if ness
NEVER EVER - act on a private message asking you to visit another website, make contact 'off list' or by telephone
- alert the siteteam IMMEDIATELY by hitting the black warning triangle on any message - Particularly if this results in a request to pay a fee to help you.
rather than hittting to be my friend - hit the star
hi
the A&L are using the press release from the OFT to hide behind and play for time but if you actually read the press release from the OFT dated 5th April called indeed:Currant credit card default charges unfair, the second paragragh states that these principles also apply to default charges in other consumer contracts such as those for bank overdrafts, store cards and mortgages, so as you have a contract for a bank account I would hazzard a guess the second paragraph applies to every one who has a bank account including yourself, check out the OFT site and read this press release,
good luck
Thanks for advice and help.
Following my latest letter to A&L, I received another one quite similar to the one posted above insisting that they are right and I am wrong!
You won't need it though. Just stick to the tested format and you'll get there despite all their nasty scare and stalling tactics.
Think about it. You've already won cos you didn't let them scare you off. I bet there are many poor suckers out there who don't have the benefit of having found this site who take their letter as gospel and fail to follow up their claim.
Let's face it; we're all in this boat cos we've believed the banks were in the right to charge us for our errors and therefore accepted the punishment unquestioningly. It's only with the high profile that claiming back bank charges - and doing so successfully - has received in the last year or so that we have become aware of the unlawfulness of the situation.
Standard letter? Standard reply?
facility, although possibly with good reason. The only time I was ever overdrawn was when they failed direct debits. And then once these charges were levied, I became overdrawn which of course they charged me for. Again and again! So I sent the standard letter and this was the reply:
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