Thread: Givvynarna vs A & L

Hi there,
Just been advised to start my own thread about claiming back my bank charges from A&L. I'm sending my prelim letter today (by recorded delivery) after sorting out all my old statements and i can claim nearlly £1000! I didn't even realise that it could have accumualted to that much over 3 years! It's absolutely outrageous! Well, the money is rightfully mine and i can't wait to get it back. One of my friends has been through all this with HSBC before xmas and he didn't even have to go to court. I can sense that my claim probably will, but i don't care because i'm ready to go all the way. It is MY money after all!
I already have a parachute account with HSBC, it's been open for ages so i'm guessing i'm going to need to make the switch soon after what i've heard.
Although, i did hear that some people have gotten compensation from A&L closing their current accounts, as it was deemed unfair action taken by the bank. Is this true, and who would i report it to if the situation did arise?
Anyway, good luck to me. All help and encouragement would be greatly appreciated.
xxx

Originally Posted by givvynarna

Hi there,
Just been advised to start my own thread about claiming back my bank charges from A&L. I'm sending my prelim letter today (by recorded delivery) after sorting out all my old statements and i can claim nearlly £1000! I didn't even realise that it could have accumualted to that much over 3 years! It's absolutely outrageous! Well, the money is rightfully mine and i can't wait to get it back. One of my friends has been through all this with HSBC before xmas and he didn't even have to go to court. I can sense that my claim probably will, but i don't care because i'm ready to go all the way. It is MY money after all!
I already have a parachute account with HSBC, it's been open for ages so i'm guessing i'm going to need to make the switch soon after what i've heard.
Although, i did hear that some people have gotten compensation from A&L closing their current accounts, as it was deemed unfair action taken by the bank. Is this true, and who would i report it to if the situation did arise?
Anyway, good luck to me. All help and encouragement would be greatly appreciated.
xxx

Hi again, givvynarna. By all means complain if they close your account. First complain to A&L themselves, follow their procedure to the limit, get a letter of Final Decision, then you can take it to the fos.

As I said to you before, you will have to start court proceedings before they'll pay you back, but you will not have to end up in one as they only use it as a ruse to see if you are serious enough to go the whole way. They presumably have a lot of success in scaring people off.

Keep reading and keep posting, good luck ,(you shouldn't need it!).

Ok, so i sent the data protection act letter to A&L way back in October time and they told me it would be £10 for my statements. It's taken me this long to find them all cos i didn't want to pay the £10! But after i sent my prelim letter recorded delivery last week, they sent me a response letter to the data protection letter, not the preliminary letter. Hope that makes sense? Is this a common occurence?
I think their computers must be going haywire up at the A&L HQ with all these letters coming at them left right and centre.
I will still hold on till Friday before i send my lba! Can't wait to smell those crisp notes! It'll help pay my debts to my mother!!!

You say that you had a response to the DPA letter...what did it say??

It just said that they want a tenner for their trouble of sending me my old bank statements, but i found them all anyway and have already sent my prelim. I don't understand???

If you have all the old statements that you need to support your claim and have sent them the schedule of charges that you are claiming then I would ignore the tenner request. The fact that they have not answered your prelim letter is their problem, not yours. As you say send the lba on Friday with the schedule plus interest, again 14 day deadline and then MCOL.
If you can prove that they were sent the DPA letter and when they received it then keep a copy of that and their response for your court bundle....it just goes to show their incompetence.
Hope this helps and good luck

One thing that I forgot to mention is that rather than send your letters registered send it by "Special Delivery" (they are the silver forms in the PO). The reason that I send by Special Delivery is that it is guaranteed delivery (24hrs) and you can track the letter on line and print off the details of the person who signed for it. That way you have a complete audit trail from post to delivery...better evidence for your court bundle if you need it.
I know that Special Delivery is a little more expensive, but worth it for the peace of mind and audit trail..

Regards

Kandinsky

Ok Thanks. Will send lba that way. Only 2 days to go untill i can send it! woo woo!!! i'll keep you posted.

I am such an idiot!!! I've only just realised that i didn't send my lba by recorded or Special delivery. I was in such a hurry when i was sorting out my post on Friday that i just put a stamp on it and put it in the post! AARRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!!! Do you think i should send it again by recorded delivery today??? Or just wait and send the final letter and then file my MCOL??? Should i just stick to deadlines or should i make sure i've got a detailed report of all correspondence???
HELP! :-? :-? :-?

Ok, totally forgot to send again, but have done it today. My lba is going out recorded delivery this afternoon, i changed the date on the letter to today, so it looks like i've been nice and given them an extra week to give me my money back. Haven't heard a hoot from A&L since i sent the last LBA, but that's probably because i didn't send it by recorded delivery so they don't have to acknowledge i sent it! Anyway, i know each day that passes, my money comes a litle closer! It would be great if i could have this all sorted by the end of May so i can use it for spending money on my summer holiday!
Thanks to you all for your continued support and advice. Looking forward to achieving the amazing successes that others have on this site.
Givvynarna. x

I know, I'm such a blonde at times. If this was the only thing i had to concentrate on in life i would do it perfectly. However, other things just seem to be getting in the way and my claim just seems to disappear right out of me head!
Nevermind, i'm off to the post office in my lunch hour today to send it.

Just as a prcautionary measure i thought i'd check out whether my prelim letter definitely was recieved/delivered. It turns out that Royal Mail have lost my letter!!! Can't believe it!!! I've just sent my lba by Special Delivery this afternoon, and my pre lim letter never got there. Does this mean thatr the bank are going to think i'm an idiot for sending the LBA before even sending the Prelim???
What do i do now????
HELP!!!!!!!!!!

Givvynarna
I take it that you sent the prelim by recorded/registered/specail mail? If so you have a record that you sent the prelim and the fact that Royal Mail lost it is due to circumstances beyond your control. Let the bank think what they like, if you have followed the timetable then you should be okay. It is not as if the bank has'nt seen this before.
That said you may want to send them a further copy of the lba with prelim attached prior to MCLO/Court N1, but I really dont see the need.
Someone else may have a different opinion, but I think you will be okay. After all its not you fault.

Good Luck and keep us updated

Givvy,
This happened with me although my lba was lost and I had to send a new one, so I effectively gave them an extra week.
I think it will be fine. Note for the future is double check 2 and 3 days after you posted the recorded deivery letter to amke sure it was delivered, this way if it isnt then you can post out again straight away.

With the LBA you are giving them ample time to pay up (14 days) so I think it will eb fine also.
Just make sure this one is delivered.

I checked online today and my lba was recieved this morning. I'm not worrying about my prelim as i have the original reciept/proof of sending so really it doesn't matter whether it got there or not. So they now have 2 weeks till i have to issue my MCOL, but i'm not expecting anything from them at all in the mean time. I have seen a post on this site, stating that someone sent another letter prior to issuing their MCOL, giving the bank a little more time, but that person recieved their money without even having to issue a court claim. It looked like this:

Dear Sirs,

I am sad to learn that you are still refusing to refund the unfair and illegal bank charges that have been placed on my account over the last six years.
Please accept this letter as notification that I will be beginning legal proceedings against Alliance and Leicester to reclaim the full amount as laid out in my previous schedule of charges plus interest and any incurred legal costs if I do not receive a full refund of the charges (or notification of your intention to issue a full refund of the charges) on my account within the next 14 days.
I’m sure you are aware that every previous case of this kind has resulted in the full amount being returned to the claimant. I therefore, respectfully request that you save us both a lot of time and effort and refund the charges to me directly without court intervention.
I look forward to your response.

Does anyone think this is worth sending? I think it's a good ides, but i'm not sure about giving them another 14 days to respond as i would like my money asap!
Any thoughts?

Yeah I also saw that before doing my court claim. It could be worth it but I would not give them 14 days, I would say max 7.
I also think it depends on the amount you are claiming.
I had already issued my MCOL claim but I m going to try that tactic for Capital One

The only thing you will lose by doing it is 7 days, but you might get your money quicker

If you do decide to do it I would send it to the a named contact from the legal team rather than an unnamed address

I'm currently sending things to Sarah Rendon. Is this who you use or is there someone else i should be sending it to?

I will PM you with her name, not sure about the protocol for putting her name on here.