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.
Hi, it's very refreshing to see that I am not the only one aggrieved by the excessive charges applied by my bank.
Today, I take my first steps into reclaiming the charges applied to my accounts in the last five years.
I have my statements (which arrived no more than a week after requesting them) and have totalled my charges.
I am about to post my first letter requesting a refund of charges (without interest).
Wish me luck!!
good luck jazzy........... just take a quick look at the sheer number of people reclaiming stuff on the CAG opening page and you can see you're definately nowhere near alone!!!!
Thanks for the moral support. I saw on BBC news 24 this morning that a judge in Hull is throwing all of these cases out. Other judges however are calling for a decision to be made once and for all to prevent this inundation. I'm not deterred by this as I believe in the cause.
i'm just being realistic - but if you seriously do want to get your money back (and you're not just fighting the moral cause) then don't hang about - get your letters in and stick to your deadlines and then submit your N1, although ironically with all these claims being thrown out down in England, you'll probably if anything be safer up in Scotland!!!!!!
Get things started fast though........... and you should see some money...... because I reckon from everything thats going on now it's only a matter of time before this stops....
Thanks for the comments, I am serious about getting MY money back btw. I am a student and feel that the banks exacerbate debt problems by charging unreasonable "admin" fees.
It's been no more than a week and I have received a reply from the bank. They say that they are "considering my claim and anticipate they will respond in 6-7 weeks but will endeavour to do so sooner if we are able". From a chap called Sandy Watt.
I strongly suspect this is a time wasting ploy and intend to write to them explaining that I am not prepared to wait that long. I gave them a two week deadline to give a SATISFACTORY reply. I dont think I'm being unfair by saying that this is an unsatisfactory response.
Please let me know if anyone has had a similar response to their claim.
I just saw your location is Scotland.... so as you've got a completely different unrelated legal system then you don't have to worry about the small claims judge in Hull. The Sheriffs court on the Royal Mile, Edinburgh is much more important for you!!
As for what you said about Sandy watt - you are right to stay vigilant and be suspicious. You'd almost be crazy not to be, as a lot of the banks have played "dirty tricks", but on the whole from what I have seen RBS and the Scottish banks are less prone to play "dirty" - although I'm only going on what I have read....
I also had dealings with Sandy Watt - and sure enough, albeit after a small very polite "prod" email a couple of days short of the mandatory FSA 8 week deadlines (from when the first receive your first lba) they sent me an offer of *all* my charges back - which I have duly accepted. From what I have seen RBS do respond with a reasonable offer at the 8 week deadline, after first receipt of first LBA..... so for time being hang in there.
Of course none of this stops you from sticking to your deadlines and filing anyway..... but the small claims process is a little more tricky in Scotland with the £750 maximum claim limit. I guess every country has it's pluses and minuses: while we down here really are worried about the judge in Hull and mass strike outs you have the 750 limit to worry about...
Thanks Atlantic,
This website is fantastic for gaining reassurance from likeminded adults.
I am aware of the small claims procedure in Scotland and have read about how to go about making claims for larger amounts. There is another good website Money Saving Expert: Consumer Revenge - Credit Cards, Shopping, Bank Charges, Cheap flights and more where a chap named Martin Lewis offers very good advice. Perhaps you know of him and the website.
I was reading yesterday that a judge in London is calling for the law to be changed in order to stop all the bank charges cases being presented.
Anyway, thankyou for replying to my posting. I will write to acknowledge their reply and give them an extended deadline. It's only fair right?
I think the judge in London made his comments because the situation in England and in particular in London has gone really mad with the small claims legal system being swamped with litigants suiing their banks!! I believe it has got so bad that the Small Claims website that we can log on and use in England and Wales is having to have a technology upgrade because the existing technology simply can't cope with demand!
In truth I was a little nervous of all this talk of strike outs and imminent test cases - and I really do think it's only a matter of time before all this bank charges stuff is brought to an abrupt halt - hence when RBS offered a reasonable amount I decided to cash in and accept. I also want to spend more time in chasing the credit cards - as they are really atrocious....
If you are in Scotland and don't have access to an "address" in England (says me thinking of brothers, sisters, family, friends, children etc...) then it might be better to wait for an offer from the bank at the end of the mandatory 8 week period from first receipt of your first lba. Going on quite a lot of the stuff I have read about the small claims procedure in Scotland it is frustrated by the 750 maximum limit and from what I saw seems much much much more complicated than it's English and Welsh counterpart where you either log on to Moneyclaim online or simply nip down to your local court house with an N1 and file it along with the fee....
The Scottish banks do genuinely seem less prone to "dirty" tricks though (closing accounts, blocking payments, refusing DD's, sending out dodgy threatening letters about the Berwick case etc...) and RBS seems to have a habit of paying up pretty fast now........ so I reckon you should be ok.....
Thankyou once again for your reply. I initially gave them 14 days to reply to my first letter requesting a refund. What I was going to do is acknowledge their letter and give them 28 days to sort it out before taking them through the sheriff courts. Having read your comments, I may wait the six weeks they stated and see what happens.
Jazzy Vs RBoS
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