well, following my dpa letter I have now sent off a 'letter requesting repayment'. this was sent on 05.06.06 and i'm now preparing my next letter to be sent on 20.06.06 'letter before action'.

i originally wrote a 3 page complaint letter detailing their failings which led to £1000 of bank charges (though I did offer to take some of the blame and cost), but was fuming when they emphasised previous statements that the whole situation was my fault, but 'here's £20 to play with as a goodwill gesture'.

i've now discovered this wonderful site and am gonna whoop some abbey butt!

good luck to everyone else in their pursuits - keep in touch cos I will!!

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Also please tell your friends and colleagues about this site.

Right, haven't posted on my own thread for a long time as I've been watching others, but now mine is progressing to a court date I feel I should keep people informed!

I'm just about to submit my allocation questionnaire (need to post it tomorrow really so as not to risk missing the deadline which is 5th Sept).

The questionnaire I wondered if people could answer is...in the info box where I write what I'll be relying on, what are the bare bones of the information that needs to go there. I believe I'm right in thinking I can submit extra stuff at a later date, but just want to check what is essential (other than what I've read on this site about putting that it'll only take about an hour)

Also, I was offered a 50% settlement, but I politely refused it. I didn't save the email refusing this (yes I couldn't believe I was that stupid), but I'm guessing I couldn't have used it anyway, as it was in response to their letter marked 'without prejudice' and I quoted their figures from that letter and i'm not allowed to bring up that letters contents in the court am I?

All of your correspondence with the solicitors that discuss an out of court settlement should be marked WITHOUT PREJUDICE. I don't think you can rely on the fact that you're replying to a WP letter.

Thanks oddfellow - that's useful to know. I wrote the figure into the email i sent back to dla so that if they did use it the judge would no that they had tried to settle and they would have to refuse to admit how much for by blocking it out. to me settlement equals guilt considering in their defence they state all their charges are legit - if that wad the case they wouldn't even attempt to settle!

Thanks kareveil - i'm gonna check that out straightaway!!!!

quick update - I have submitted my allocation questionnaire (first class recorded) to the court and have sent a copy to dla. On the other info section I wrote the bit by Alan from Derby (thanks for the tip Karnevil!) and I also mentioned in there that on top of everything else the bank had broken the banking code with regard to my account.

I attached the original three page appeal/reasoning letter that i sent abbey in february before i began the official route as outlined on this site, as in it i have described how Abbey broke the banking code and as a result made me incur 80% more charges than I should have done!

thought that might add a little weight to the argument. abbey state that they issue these charges because of the damage suffered by them when customers go overdrawn - well if they'd dealt with the situation as they should have done the 'damage' would have ceased after only £120 in charges instead of £900!!!

If anyone wants a copy of the letter to perhaps help them to see if they can adapt the wording and so on for their case (or even just for amusement) then you're welcome to PM me with your email address.

Will let you all know when I hear more!!!

i've just been doing my usual routine of preparing for my upcoming court case and made a brilliant discovery - so simple but something others may not have thought of...go to google and type in 'extortionate bank charges' and click 'UK pages only'. Hit search and watch the screen fill with pages of case studies and easy to understand websites providing the legal wording we need to throw at the banks during our cases. It is literally in black and white on the screen and for anyone like me who was worrying about the legal jargon and where to find the sources - this was a goldmine. Further variations such as typing into google the names of well-known cases that I found on these sites also threw up loads more. Either do it yourself, or PM me and I'll be happy to send over what I have!!!

hey all, quick update for you...my court date is 8th dec so I am posting off my court bundles tomorrow (1st class registered!). i currently have around 250 pages but still have more to add! tonight's fun mission will be to sit and number and highlight everything! great!

will keep you informed of any new developments... (i also posted letter to judge today - thank you karn - took it from your business thread! Just respectfully highlighted what was written on my AQ which was for full disclosure of their costs)

I emailed dla piper to check i still need to send the bundle to them and not a different solicitor and haven't heard anything back so guessing they're still dealing with my case - their fault if not, as neither they nor abbey have bothered to inform me if the rumours are true from about a month ago that they changed!

if a mod passes through this thread could they please alter my header to show my imminent court date (fri 8th dec) - thanks

well...all done and dusted - one bundle sent to court and one to dla piper! figure i'll leave it a couple of days then email the solicitors and ask if they'd like to settle up now or see it through to the bitter end. have to be honest now that i've done my bundle i'm feeling quite confident about the court hearing now so if they do see it all the way through then BRING IT ON!!!

may not be saying that come the evening of the 7th dec but hey i am now!!!

Miss. DLA piper are not Abbey's solisitors anymore, I hope this won't delay your case? or will DLA just forward them on? I had to send my bundle down London to Abbey's in house solisitors.

I had a letter off the court informing me that they had changed

yo peeps - thanks for the feedback. nope karn is right i'm afraid - i've never received a letter from the court or anyone else to say they've changed. plus i emailed mr useless at dla the day before i posted it to see if they'd changed and he never responded. don't know why i thought he would - he's never responded to any of the few things i've sent. i made sure a copy of that email went in the bundle too so the judge knows i tried to sort it out!

well, i used karnevil's letter template from her business thread and asked the judge to consider requesting that abbey submit a breakdown of their costs to provide a simple ending to the matter and THANK YOU MR JUDGE he only went and ordered it! they have until this thursday at 4pm to submit a full breakdown of costs as to why i was charged the amount i was. ABBEY - read it and weep

Excellent news missphant!!!!!!!!!

You should expect a settlement very soon, I'd say within 60seconds of them opening the letter from the court asking them to give a breakdown of their cost's!!!!!!!!! What I'd give to be a fly on that wall........

Well Done, again!

Phil:)

as Phil has said, expect a nice letter giving you all your money back very soon, that letter that Karne and yourself sent didn't work on my judge though, he must have been in a bad mood lol.

hi miss. good luck!! can you tell me where karnevis business thread is? i cant find it but i want to include the breakdown of costs letter you used. my court date is 20 dec and i have to have my bundle in by the 6th so im in a real hurry to get it done! any help would be appreciated

well, i used karnevil's letter template from her business thread and asked the judge to consider requesting that abbey submit a breakdown of their costs to provide a simple ending to the matter and THANK YOU MR JUDGE he only went and ordered it! they have until this thursday at 4pm to submit a full breakdown of costs as to why i was charged the amount i was. ABBEY - read it and weep

Hello,

Would you happen to have a link to the thread?, as I`m just waiting for my court date, and would like to have the letter ready to send (like to be 1 step ahead when possoble).

Would really appreciate your help with this as I understand that my local court are quite quick at arranging court dates (Slough).

Thanks:)

Bump?

I found a copy of the letter here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/abbey-bank/28287-chilli50-abbey.html

I received a letter today giving me a court date of 7th March! Documents have to be delivered by 29th Dec. Would it be appropriate for me to send Karn's letter now?

hi guys - sorry for delay in replying, i can only get on net at work at the mo and they don't like me going on too much! if anyone wants me to send them the letter just pm me your email address and i'll forward it to you

get in you beauty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fingers tightly crossed now...ok here are today's events...

within two mins of each other i had missed calls and answerphone messages. first was the court asking me to call urgently about the court case on friday. second was abbey asking me to call asap as they'd posted me a cheque on 29.11.06, but that it had been sent back to them and when they'd rung the court they'd been told i'd moved.

rang court, but couldn't get through. then rang abbey and spoke to the lady who left a message and explained the change of address and that I had notified DLA Piper and the Court at the same time. I also explained that I was now aware Abbey had changed their Legal Reps, but had not been told at the time of change so it's not my fault that I notified the old solicitor! she said they were sending the cheque as they were satisfied with things their end (whatever that means!)

she took new address and said cheque would be sent first class today and asked me to therefore ring the court and say i was no longer continuing with the case. i explained i would instead ring the court and request adjournment pending the cheque clearing and of course checking that it had been made out for the right amount!

so to check...they are meant to be paying me back my court fee, plus my £10 DPA letter cheque, plus bank charges, plus 8% aren't they? i'm thinking i should ask for the interest to be paid up to today, as it's their fault they have only just got in touch to find out the right address to send cheque to! any thoughts anyone?

i got through to court and explained i would prefer not to drop claim altogether until i'm sure i've received full and final settlement so have now followed their instructions and faxed a polite letter to the judge explaining the defendant has now decided to reach out of court settlement and that I hoped an adjourment would be agreed so as not to waste his time by keeping this Friday's court date in case it's not necessary. Abbey have also been asked to fax confirmation of adjournment to.

Rock on...

big thanks to everyone for their help in getting to this stage (especially the now 'old hats' like karnevil!)

a thought has suddenly occurred to me...i bet the bank's solicitors take time each day to go through these threads and try and identify who their clients are on here!

well, after my post today i'm 99.9% sure they can identify me!

cheers karn - you're a gem and have been so helpful!

Whoppeeeeee

CONGRATULATIONS

We knew it would'nt be long for them to settle after the order from the Judge!!!!!!!

Absolutely Brilliant Result!!!!!!!!!!!!

Phil:)

PS Thanks for the letter!