Hi All

I am probrably being thick:confused: but I cannot find the 2nd letter to send to bank - the one after the preliminary one? A & L have - not surprisingly - denined the charges are illegal saying the OFT was referring only to Credit Card charges, and I now want to send the second letter giving them a further 14 days to reflect.. Smil however have magically credited my account £133.37 - the last lot of charges - without advising me.... but I want them ALL back. They are the worst bank for applying charges but do not let you know you have gone over limit so the charges just built up without my knowing! Anyway many thanks

Here you go, you need the letter before action.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/92-letter-before-action-consumer.html

many thanks - I was being thick ! :o(

 

A & L have - not surprisingly - denied the charges are illegal saying the OFT was referring only to Credit Card charges, and I now want to send the second letter giving them a further 14 days to reflect..

Just in case you are not aware, A&L have stated publicly that they wiil close the accounts of customers who claim against them. Make sure you have a parachute account handy!

Elsinore

I have my parachute ready and waiting.... fortunately we have not used the A & L as a main account for a few years now..... So they can go ahead I not care!

also did they repay the money? or did it have to go to court? I feel quite daunted - but determined - to go through with it... :o(

Sent DPA letter end of May and it took right to the limit for the huge pile to arrive! Prelimary letter sent 24th July, received response saying OFT ruling didnt apply on Saturday 28th - speedy or what? and the obviously send that letter to everyone! LBA letter sent today so I will keep you posted! I am claiming £633 - pity it could not be more then 6 years!

good luck to everyone!

Parachute deployed and fully working!

Hi ... I am just about to issue my first MCOL and just wondered how I send my schedule of charges? Is there a way of attaching the spreadsheet... or do I wait until I get a written acknowledgement and send it then? I am scared witless and convinced I will have to be the first person to go to court! BUT if that is what it takes I will go with as much media coverage as I can possibly muster up!:? Thanks in anticipation!

Nah, I'm just filling in mine at this moment and I'm sure I'll be dragged through the court. We'll be fine.

I'm sure I saw that once you get your reference number you send the schedule in.

Just about to hit the submit button and pay. Have you got that far?

Dont wanna rush it... gotta pop up hospital to visit my 18 year old cos she had op on hip,, will do it nice and thoroughly this evenin... good luck to us both... I am taking on Smile... only had account 9 months and they charged me £649! They were SO sneaky!!!

Hi Bettynomates

I submitted my A&L claim on-line on 16th August. I haven't submitted the schedule showing every detail cos I sent that to the bank 28 days ago.

However, I had a similar problem with lloyds when I submitted my claim on-line and this was clearly reflected in Lloyds' solicitor's defence when they said my claim 'was not clear' - Lloyds had obviously not forwarded on my back-up schedule. So, I duly sent two copies to the court when I sent back my Allocation Questionnaire - one for them and one for Lloyds' solicitors.

At least the on-line claim allows you to break down your claim to the total amount (whatever that is), plus 8% interest and costs. If they want more detail and the bank haven't passed it on, they'll ask for it.

Without putting my head above the parapet, I had read somewhere that an A&L employee had publicly said they didn't wish to go to court and have no intention of declaring their costs in a court case.

BYW - it seems that SMILE are the best for paying back quickly - almost before you've had a chance to send the second letter! So good luck!

Hi... just nervously completing online moneyclaim form but not sure what I should put in for the daily interest rate under that part of the claim?? Any help gratefully and nervously received..... will I be the first person to have to court??? eek! Dont let me back out now!

daily rate is worked out by taking the amount of charges,multiply by interest rate ie .8% , divide by 365 = daily interest.EG £100 * .8 / 365 =£0.21p

hope this helps:)

I am prob being thick...but 8% of £100 is £8 which equals 0.21p per day? times that by 365 equals £76.65.... sorry I told you I prob being thick.... ;o(

i think the daily rate is worked out like this

total of charges + 8% interest x 0.00022 = daily interest rate

thats how i've done it

leebrannan has it right it is the sum owed/claimed X 0.00022 per day

Calc assuming the amount owed/claimed is

£100 = 100 X 0.08 / 356 X no of days

or

£100 X 0.00022 X no of days

Thus for a year = 100 X 0.00022 X 365 = £8.03 ( so you win 3p on the rounding)

I have merged all your threads Betty as it is easier to follow your progress if you keep everything together.

By the way, daily rate is 0.00022%. Those extra zeros are very important.

Hi - i've just registered and am totally lost - so don't know why but this reply box popped up so Hello there. I too am with Alliance & leicester and hopefully will get my charges back. Every month they are wacking £25 or more for going overdrawn even if its the day my wages go in. Wish I never changed from Natwest.

I am trying to get the ball rolling by sending the first initial letter and cannont find the first letter template, can you help?

many thanks

Karen May

Help me find first letter template

Just in case you are not aware, A&L have stated publicly that they wiil close the accounts of customers who claim against them. Make sure you have a parachute account handy!

 

Elsinore

wow, thats just so bad, and it appears they are opening themselves up to more legal action, it would seem they are trying to 'defame or disadvantage you as a result of you exercising your legal rights'.

i just have to past MrAngrys post here (our local Cable Forum top class man in these matters)

and hope the legal eagles reading this can clarify his outline for me and the other readers here, im a little unsure were i might put the warning text to the A&L bank to make them reconsider or in the event cover my self for later.

my biggest problem is that the reason i ended up with an A&L phone banking account in the first place was because my credit in non existent and the only other account i could get was a post office account that doesnt not do any form of DD that i need for my ntl internet account ( they wont let you open an ntl broadband account without paying by DD, hence disadvantaged people cant easly get online and stay there).

heres his post

Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges - Page 6 - Cable Forum

"

07-06-2006, 20:55 #85 Mr Angry

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges

For those taking (or considering) legal action to recover charges:

It is a wise move to open an account with somewhere like the Woolwich before you take your current bank to the cleaners. The Woolwich are "pretty cool" about new customers and don't do credit checks on many new customer accounts (depending on the type of account facility required). With many new accounts they also offer to rearrange all your Direct Debits, Standing Orders etc free of charge for you.

Some banks are getting a bit stroppy with customers who successfully claim (ie. everyone who has claimed to date) and are closing some successful applicants accounts. The legality of such actions are currently being looked into and I'm pretty sure that they'll have to stop doing this in the near future or face further legal action from customers (if not Government - who are hell bent on everyone having a bank account so they can keep tabs on all of us).

There is no legal (or logical) argument for any bank to close an account simply because the account holder has won a claim against them. The argument most commonly put forward is that the bank feel that the account is not "profitable" or "incorrectly managed". This is an interesting, if fundamentally flawed, defence of their actions.

Over the past few years the Government (bless 'em) have moved over 93% of benefit payments to BACS / EFT and benefit receipients must have a bank account to receive payments. Additionally, benefit receipient accounts are, on instruction from Government, to be treated differently from the accounts of working individuals in order that the socially disadvantaged are not further penalized by bank charges.

This raises the issues of equality and discrimination (yes, the old chestnut of human rights). I'm personally involved with two current cases where the plaintiffs have threatened (legitimately) to sue their banks for theft after they won back their charges, costs, and interest and their banks closed their accounts.

Guess what? Once the banks realized that charging illegal penalty fees was now the least of their worries and that people were prepared to instigate criminal proceedings for theft they quickly backed down and offered (sorry, "begged") the plaintiffs to reopen their accounts and let bygones be bygones. Neither plaintiff has taken them up on their offer and are currently considering proceeding with the theft charges.

Generally speaking if you take action against your bank for illegal charges it is worth mentioning to them in your letter before action that any attempt to defame or disadvantage you as a result of you exercising your legal rights will result in further legal action.

I find this works a treat since once they receive their summons in respect of the illegal charges you can pretty much rest assured that they'll get the message that you're quite prepared to go to court in the event that they do defame or disadvantage you as a result of you deciding to do so.

Be advised though that 99% of banks do not "roll over" once you threaten action, 99% do not roll over once you issue proceedings, 99% will drag on until the day of the hearing trying to wear you down or brow beat you with legalese and fancy letterheaded missives from their elected counsel. There is an upside though - 99.9% of them, to date, have paid up. The one exception being Lloyds who in one case used a cunning (see: lowdown / sneaky) interprative distraction which, if they attempted to use it again, would be entirely ineffective

Inspiration for all

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/5043154.stm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian_j...524077,00.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/m...er/4810490.stm

http://www.lindum-marketing.com/pena...ess-120206.gif

"

Hi K Webber, Firstly you need to start your own thread otherwise things can get a little confusing. And secondly, you definitely definitely need to read the FAQ's. Once you've read the FAQ's i would suggest that you read as much on this forum as you possibly can, there is always somebody willing to help but you have to try to help yourself a bit as well.

Good Luck

I have merged all your threads Betty as it is easier to follow your progress if you keep everything together.

 

By the way, daily rate is 0.00022%. Those extra zeros are very important.

I believe that you will find that the calculation for the daily rate is the amount x 0.00022 per day for the statutory interest, not 0.00022%.

"my biggest problem is that the reason i ended up with an A&L phone banking account in the first place was because my credit in non existent and the only other account i could get was a post office account that doesnt not do any form of DD that i need for my ntl internet account" - (DAVIDM POST)

Spotted what you said about your credit file. You will find absolution and complete relief (hopefully) in the thread 'Default Hell' under the 'Legalities' forum. I am currently changing my complete credit file and you have incredible powers under basic contract law and statute law - there are even a few templates to use within the thread. It is a good 9-pages long and you do need to read it from the beginning - don't pick up half way through, as even though the first part may not apply to you, believe me, it develops into all sorts of problems people have with their credit file companies! In a nutshell, they're not allowed to hold data on you if you've finished the loan/severed the contract with the original creditor. Plus, you are entitled to remove your information from the automated system (which all financial institutions use) - but read it for yourself. Get a beer first and good luck. :grin:

thanks for that pointer rosemary, im going through it now.

here a direct link to the thread

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/legalities/20118-default-hell.html

I believe that you will find that the calculation for the daily rate is the amount x 0.00022 per day for the statutory interest, not 0.00022%.

Doh - quite right. Sorry for the misinformation but the extra zeros point stands.