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 am absolutely brand new to the site but have been stuck on here for about 5 hrs reading up on all i need to know in order to tackle my charges. I sit here surrounded by bank and credit card statements, slowly realising that over several accounts I have been charged at least £4000 in just rejected DD's, cheque bounces and unauthorised overdraft use.
But every time my account is in trouble, something called a monthly 'Paid Referral Fee' appears. They vary between £25 and £50 per month on top of a £6 'Service Fee' God knows what they all are and I'm too scared to call my quite pleasant business manager to ask as I feel bad for what I'm about to do. (well not that bad actually!!) They sometimes appear several times in a month and always say eg Paid Referral Fee relates to 16th Aug. These fees rack up considerably over the years but only appear when I'm in the ****!
This site is wonderful, an ex Amex employee recommended it, karma is good!
Kate :-|
I have a business account that is a small ltd company, can i claim? Does the limited status restrict me.
The £6 service fee you can't claim back - do you have one of those 'Advantage Gold' accounts or whatever they call them? That's what the £6 is for. Ring Natwest and tell them to downgrade your account to a normal current account unless there's any reason you need the Advantage Gold account.
Business Account - you can't claim, but your limited company can. So assuming you're a director then go for it,
Great to see you've spent some time looking through the FAQs - as you know there's a lot to go through - I would suggest spending at least a couple of days reading through to make sure you know exactly what you're doing.
Good luck!
Opinions given herein are made informally by myself as a lay-person in good faith based on personal experience. For legal advice you must always consult a registered and insured lawyer.
"Some people say The Stig chews on spark plugs and drifts while walking. Some say he is terrified of ducks, and that there is an airport in Russia named after him. All we know is that he is really barracad from The Consumer Action Group" - Jeremy Clarkson (allegedly)
Wow, thanks!
I can't believe how much this is racking up to, between my business account and Adv Gold there have been at least £4500 in charges. I'm just a bit worried because one of the threads congratulated a guy on getting back £1240 but expressed suprise because NW doesn't cooperate on larger amounts. Mine's gong to blow them out of the water!
I like my business manager, but he sold me a dreadful mortgage that I had to pay to escape from because they stopped doing self cert, so I got lumbered with an inflexible product on a property they knew I had bought as an investment and intended to sell. So i don't feel heaps of sympathy!
I will keep reading but have typed up three seperate DPA letters for business, Adv Gold and Credit card, all with seperate £10 fees because I assume they will have to deal with each case seperately and I have about 80% of personal statements, 10% credit cards and 100% of business(in storage with accountants) so i'd prefer to get all the info in one go to get a definitive amount of the total charges.
Hope i'm making the right start.
Thanks again
kate
have typed up three seperate DPA letters for business, Adv Gold and Credit card, all with seperate £10 fees because I assume they will have to deal with each case seperately
One £10 fee entitles you to all information held about you, so do a combined one for your personal account and credit card.
Do a seperate one for your business account, but the DPA only covers living individuals so they may not fulfil this request - you should still be able to get the duplicate statements for a fiver though.
Opinions given herein are made informally by myself as a lay-person in good faith based on personal experience. For legal advice you must always consult a registered and insured lawyer.
"Some people say The Stig chews on spark plugs and drifts while walking. Some say he is terrified of ducks, and that there is an airport in Russia named after him. All we know is that he is really barracad from The Consumer Action Group" - Jeremy Clarkson (allegedly)
Thanks again, that saves me another tenner!
I am the only (living!) director of this company and it has only existed for three years. Why might it be tricky to get the info? Takes a while to get the hang of this but I'm a trainee legal exec so it will be excellent practise! Think I'm going to specialise in Consumer Law, this is fascinating!
Can anyone else give feedback on what Natwest are like? the survey results are quite promising, I'm just nervy cos its such a large amount.
I am the only (living!) director of this company and it has only existed for three years. Why might it be tricky to get the info?
Because the DPA only covers living individuals. A Limited Company is not a living individual - it is a seperate legal entity.
Originally Posted by katesage
Think I'm going to specialise in Consumer Law, this is fascinating!
Have you seen the link on the left of the screen for the book by Patricia Pearl "Small Claims Procedure: A Practical Guide" - Great bedtime reading and if you buy a copy it helps maintain this site
Opinions given herein are made informally by myself as a lay-person in good faith based on personal experience. For legal advice you must always consult a registered and insured lawyer.
"Some people say The Stig chews on spark plugs and drifts while walking. Some say he is terrified of ducks, and that there is an airport in Russia named after him. All we know is that he is really barracad from The Consumer Action Group" - Jeremy Clarkson (allegedly)
Ok! i have spent most of today reading all the FAQs and other forum users experiences. I'm biting nails for MountainOfDebt and her Can of Worms!
Now, how do I keep a thread going of my experience. The DPA letters go off tomorrow recorded delivery and I'll need alot of advice and support.
I dont want my thread to be called 'Paid Referral Fees' how do I retitle it or do I start a new thread!?
I am owed £2088 on my NW personal account, similiar on my NW business and about a grand on three credit cards. How do I insert the progress info. Have I missed an entire section of the site?!
Thanks for all advice so far
Kate
If you ask me nicely I'll change the thread title!
What would you like it to be called?
Opinions given herein are made informally by myself as a lay-person in good faith based on personal experience. For legal advice you must always consult a registered and insured lawyer.
"Some people say The Stig chews on spark plugs and drifts while walking. Some say he is terrified of ducks, and that there is an airport in Russia named after him. All we know is that he is really barracad from The Consumer Action Group" - Jeremy Clarkson (allegedly)
How do I start the info burst about the various companies I'm tackling. Its 70% Natwest, so I'll keep it in this thread but if I have success with Morgan Stanley and Virgin Card, I'd like to announce it somewhere other than the rooftops!
Can you recommend a previous completed story concerning NW and larger sums, there are so many threads I'm not sure where to start.
DO I JUST WRITE IT HERE AS IT HAPPENS!?
THIS MAKES ME FEEL RATHER DUMB!! eg NW paid me £5000
Just keep to this thread for all your Natwest stuff, use it as a sort of diary if you like to keep us updated with your progress.
Anything for other companies, start a thread for each one as and when in the relevant forums.
Good luck!
Opinions given herein are made informally by myself as a lay-person in good faith based on personal experience. For legal advice you must always consult a registered and insured lawyer.
"Some people say The Stig chews on spark plugs and drifts while walking. Some say he is terrified of ducks, and that there is an airport in Russia named after him. All we know is that he is really barracad from The Consumer Action Group" - Jeremy Clarkson (allegedly)
Hurrah! I feel like I'm getting going now. Have sent of the DPA letters to Natwest. Recorded of course. Ripped Tatty brown envelopes expected and will take inspiration from toilet bandit in kicking up a fuss.
Have just used Vamps spreadsheet to calculate charges onto my Adv Gold as I have 95% of the statements, (yes I was shocked at my organisation skills!) If they are correct then NW owe me £2513.08p.
One of the other DPAs relates to my business account, charges are likely to be about 1500.
Can anyone advise on NatWest's likely response. I have been a bit concerned by some recent threads about how hard Cobbetts Solicitors are fighting back. Has there just been a case of a guy losing in court? Cant find the thread but did find some confusing stuff about the charges being justified as a service and that they used a pricy barrister.
Is this an important recent development, cos it says in several places that no
bank has yet fought it in court?
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08/06/2006 DPA Letter Sent NW Adv Gold £2513.08
08/06/2006 DPA Letter Sent NW Gold Mastercard £unknown
08/06/2006 DPA Letter Sent NW Business Acc £unknown
08/06/2006 DPA Letter Sent Virgin Card £unknown
08/06/2006 DPA Letter Sent Morgan Stanley £unknown
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Hi Kate,
Yes that does seem a bit vague... Watching this space for answers
Have you read determind-to wis's thread - 'Oh my God! They paid up'
He put an angle on his application regarding minimum living expenses and was paid in full in a couple of weeks - over 2K I think it was. Take a look see
Hi Kate,
Thanks for the pointer, Victory is SWEET and a good note to finish the week on! Will read in full monday, I'm out of here at last. have a good weekend
Has there just been a case of a guy losing in court? Cant find the thread but did find some confusing stuff about the charges being justified as a service and that they used a pricy barrister.
Is this an important recent development, cos it says in several places that no
bank has yet fought it in court?
I think what you have been reading is in the Abbey forum not Natwest. It wasn't a claim that against charges that Abbey won, it was a hearing for a set-aside and Abbey were granted the set-aside. Since then Abbey have settled the claim in full so it didn't make a difference.
Opinions given herein are made informally by myself as a lay-person in good faith based on personal experience. For legal advice you must always consult a registered and insured lawyer.
"Some people say The Stig chews on spark plugs and drifts while walking. Some say he is terrified of ducks, and that there is an airport in Russia named after him. All we know is that he is really barracad from The Consumer Action Group" - Jeremy Clarkson (allegedly)
think you are right, rbrears thread today is obviously great and also mentions the cases. thought it was Natwest but it doesnt really make a difference, the principles are the same.
dpa's went off yesterday so i await with trepidation what will happen next.
just a quick q, is it a bad idea to engage in verbal communication. i had a v good relationship with my business manager but after totting up all the charges yesterday i was so cross at being charged 29quid a month even when in credit. they upgraded me to premium after a sold my house and had some money in my account, i got cr*p service and appear to have paid alot extra for it. i was in frequent contact with him because he would move money between accounts for me,so i was a good communicator but in 5 yrs only three £38 charges were refunded.
i didnt call because i thought it might muddy the waters, i mean if i ring up and say please refund me 2500quid, he's hardly likely to oblige!?
i guess i've answered my own question
thanx again
k
is it a bad idea to engage in verbal communication.
I wouldn't advise it. If you do need to speak to your bank about anything, record the call.
In fact it's good practice to record all calls you make to any company.
Opinions given herein are made informally by myself as a lay-person in good faith based on personal experience. For legal advice you must always consult a registered and insured lawyer.
"Some people say The Stig chews on spark plugs and drifts while walking. Some say he is terrified of ducks, and that there is an airport in Russia named after him. All we know is that he is really barracad from The Consumer Action Group" - Jeremy Clarkson (allegedly)
Kinda seems pointless in engaging verbally cos a 'humble' business manager is never gonna have authority to refund that kind of money. More to do with spleen venting............which is also a bad idea!
what if he calls me!? errr can i call u back. rushes off to get dictaphone! k
Have wandered over here as I was - ok i'll admit it - nosey to see what stage you're at.
If your case goes anything like mine, then you should get a reply from your business manager - even in response to your personal account as s/he seems to have responsibility for that as well as your business account. This letter should state that they think the charges are fair blah blah blah.
If requested, the statements should come from the Edinburgh head office. In fairness to Natwest, hubby's was sent by courier (so no compliants there!).
from then on the timescale is very much determined by you.....starting with how quickly you send them the 1st letter.
Be prepared for Natwest to enter acknowledge the claim at the last minute, and similarly with a defence. If they do enter a defence then have a look at my thread for possible responses.
not nosy at all!
thanks for that info. your thread has had me on the edge of my seat all week! really been feeling it for you, i was so pleased to see you got an (almost) complete settlement. that must have been a good post opening moment?!
My business manager handles my Adv Gold as well as my Business Acc so I'm expecting contact from him next week.
They do seem to like to play brinksmanship games, rbrears got a great settlement yesterday but they really took it to the wire. huge encouragement to those of us at the early stages.
i will keep checking your thread as and when i hit those stages but am expecting it to play out in a similiar fashion.
have you been requested to downgrade or hand back c books etc?
anyway enjoy your victory on this gorgeous sunny day, well done again.
kate
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08/06/2006 DPA Letter Sent NW Adv Gold £2513.08
08/06/2006 DPA Letter Sent NW Gold Mastercard £unknown
08/06/2006 DPA Letter Sent NW Business Acc £unknown
08/06/2006 DPA Letter Sent Virgin Card £unknown
08/06/2006 DPA Letter Sent Morgan Stanley £unknown
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Sage v NatWest. **I WON!!**
BANK CHARGES
:-|
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Re: Paid Referral Fees???
Originally Posted by katesage
Takes a while to get the hang of this but I'm a trainee legal exec so it will be excellent practise! Think I'm going to specialise in Consumer Law, this is fascinating!
Ready to Roll
