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 sent the standard 14 day letter (template from the BBC website) to Barclaycard asking for £476 charges back on 26 Feb 2007.
They have offered me £176 which equates to the difference between the actual charges and the £12 charge. They say they will credit my account with this amount on my next statement. They do not ask that I agree to this being in Full and final settlement. I propose to send the following letter:
"Dear Mrs Lomas
Your Ref No: XXXXXX - Response to settlement offer
Thank you for your letter dated 2 March 2007.
I respectfully decline your offer of £176.00 and request, once again, that you return to me all charges imposed on my account, totalling £476.00 (plus statutory interest of £65.55) as per the schedule attached.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) did not state that the £12 charge was lawful - in fact they stated that only a court can decide. "A fair default charge should not exceed a reasonable estimate of certain limited administrative costs which the credit card issuer reasonably expects to incur as a result of default".
Therefore, I will accept the sum offered only as part settlement and on the clear understanding that I will pursue recovery of the remainder, with a county court claim, if necessary.
I trust this clarifies my position."
I am unsure whether to send this letter now or wait until the refund has appeared on my account and then go for the difference.
Hi
Sounds Good to me, except that you say that you "decline and accept" the offer
Maybe change the first bit, to say something alonfg the lines of
' I have recieved your offer of £176, and request, once again........."
Another point is that you are using other peoples templates and not CAG templates, so it is a bit tricky to advise as i beleive that the BBC one just tells you to write ONE letter and Claim, which doesn't give them the opportunity to defend that is why we send a prelim then an lba.
If you use your initial letter as a Prelim and use this letter as an LBA, and add a 14 day deadline to it, you should be back on track
However, I have just checked my balance and they have already credited my account with the £176.00. Will the wording of this letter still be appropriate? If not what should I send? Obviously I am still going to pursue the rest.
Also as an aside, in the BBC template I originally used states:
"I believe your charges are disproportionately high and therefore they are contrary to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Regulations 1999. In addition I believe that your charges are a Penalty. Penalty charges are irrecoverable at common law. The precedent for this was Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co Ltd v New Garage and Motor Co Ltd [1915] AC 79 along with Murray v Leisure Play [2005] EWCA Civ. 963. It was held that a contractual party can only receive damages for an actual loss or liquidated loss. It is clear that your charges do not reflect any actual and/or real loss."
To which they mentioned in their reply:
"In your correspondence you have outlined a legal argument which you say supports your view. As I am sure yuo will appreciate Barclaycard is aware of all the information you have drawn to our attention. I must inform you, however, that we disagree with your legal analysis".
Hi Emmajvassel,
Found you on the Barclaycard site!! How long were you waiting for your statements from these charlatans? I am still waiting after sending the SAR back at the beginning of January! Have received various fob off letters etc, but am now getting angry at their responses, especially as they have stopped the use of my card now.
Regards, Chrissy 3554
Hi there Chrissy
I already had my statements. I keep at least the last three years of everything and this card is only about 3 years old anyway. I haven't had to request the info using DPA for anything. I didn't have all my Barclays and Nat West statements but I just rang them up and they sent them within a week or so. Paid £10 for Barclays but Nat West didn't charge me.
I can't believe you have had fob off letters - they've only got 40 days to send you the info. Obviously it's way past that - phone them and then follow up by reporting to the Information Commissioner for a breach. ICO – Information Commissioner's Office Good luck!!
Hi Munchkin,
Finally received my statements from Barclaycard on Thursday the 15th March - only took them from the 8th Jan to do this!????? Now will sort through and add up how much these robbing b*****s owe me!!!!!!
Regards, Chrissy
Filed claim for balance on 29 March 2007, they acknowedged service and put in their defence this week.
I have spoken to the solicitor (it's the same lady as is dealing with my Barclays Bank account claim). They are going to request my file and have agreed to settle out of court so I should know next week.
Me vs Barclaycard
settlement. I propose to send the following letter:
of £65.55) as per the schedule attached.
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