Hi everyone,

I had two accounts with Amex opened in 2003, One was Amex blue and the otherone was Gold Charge Card. I ran into financial problem and the accounts were terminated and sold to Capquest. I was first offered the Gold Card then followed by the Blue Card.

Well, there is no outstanding debts on them now but there were penalty charges on both cards which I would like to claim back. I wrote to them requesting them to repay but they refused.

I then sent a LBA and their response is basically the same.

Below is their reply to my LBA: (Two letters for the two accounts but the contents are the same)

Dear Mr...

Thank you for your letter dated --.12.2014 concerning the default charges applied to the above account.

While we are disappointed that you rae not satisfied with our response, we confirm that your claim has been reviewed in accordance with time frame limited by law and that, as confirmed in our final response letter dated -- December 2014, no refunds of default charges are due in respect of this claim.

If, however, despite our final response, you decide to pursue legal action, American Express will have no alternative but to defend such proceedings and recover its costs of doing so from you. We trust this will not prove necessary and that we can avoid unnecessary use of the court's time and legal expense.

Yours Sincerely,

Now, my question is, Has anyone had experience with Amex?

Any success story to read?

It is my intention to follow it through.

I want to issue a claim but would want to hear your opinions before I do that.

Thanks

Dot

Another thing I would also appreciate your views on is, If I decide to issue the claim, will I have to do them separately or can I combine them into one claim?

Any idea of the difference between a charge card and a credit card?

Are they both covered by CCA or not?

Thanks

Dot

I found out that charge card does not charge interest, if am to claim refund on the charges, do I request interest? If so what rate should I ask for? I did not have this information so I requested it at the same rate as the credit card.

Any suggestion?

Thanks

Dot

dot

what is the value of your potential claim, roughly.

dot

what is the value of your potential claim, roughly.

Hi Ford,

Thanks for taking time to look at my thread. Charges applied on each card is about £140.00.

Thanks

Dot

Ford, I am claiming interest in restitution on the credit card but not sure now what to do with the charge card.

Thanks

Dot

That makes the value for claim on the credit card to be apprx. £1800.

Dot

ok, would be small claims.

yes, if claiming charges then wld be with interest. any interest wld be at least statutory interest, so you wld have to claim that at least in your particulars. but, if was re contractual, then would be claiming that back. whichever, wld need to be pleaded in your particulars.

am not sure re this, would it be out of time? need further input. bump re that.

ok, would be small claims.

yes, if claiming charges then wld be with interest. any interest wld be at least statutory interest, so you wld have to claim that at least in your particulars. but, if was re contractual, then would be claiming that back re the net loss. whichever, wld need to be pleaded in your particulars.

am not sure re this, would it be out of time? need further input. bump re that.

Thanks for that Ford.

I want to make sure that I get everything right before I make any move. A good start hopefully will make a good ending. I hope.

Hopefully, some one will come along to help too.

Thanks

Dot

hi

you've already done the lba, so its do or dont.

re the charges, are you referring to those 12£ or more ones?

Looking at the Amex reply, that is exactly what they are saying. But according to some members, they were successful in charges over 6 years. The difference might be that theirs, the account is still running or terminated recently. Hopefully, someone will shed lights on it.

Dot

hi

you've already done the lba, so its do or dont.

re the charges, are you referring to those 12£ or more ones?

All the charges are more than £12 as the account was before the fee was adjusted. They were all in the region of £20.

I really want to follow it through.

Looking at the Amex reply, that is exactly what they are saying. But according to some members, they were successful in charges over 6 years. The difference might be that theirs, the account is still running or terminated recently. Hopefully, someone will shed lights on it.

 

Dot

poss 12 years? depending on the circs.

All the charges are more than £12 as the account was before the fee was adjusted. They were all in the region of £20.

 

I really want to follow it through.

ok, maybe a good shout for a claim then? you can see what i was getting at

poss 12 years? depending on the circs.

Well, what happened is that I requested this money be paid but Amex refused yet the account was already sold to Capquest.

Instead they claimed that the money will be paid to Capquest. I protested but without success. This happened in 2010.

From what I now know, they are not allowed to do that especially when the debt is sold to a third party already which was the case.

Amex owned the debt until late 2009 before selling it to Capquest.

ok, maybe a good shout for a claim then? you can see what i was getting at

Yes Ford,

I see what you mean. I know many years went by and that is why I need help and advise before I decide to make any claim.

Hi Dot

Maybe I can add to the information which Ford has already given.

The problem you might face is that we are talking approx 4 years ago that this claim money was sent to the DCA. You were probably unaware at the time that there was no right of set off and it should not have happened.

My view would be that you could challenge this if it cropped up but I think you ought to ask yourself the question "what would I have done with the money had it come to me"? would you have paid the debt (if it was legit) and if so there is no difference as to whether Amex paid it direct or whether you paid out out of the proceeds of your claim.

It opens up all kinds of questions really, one of which is would CQ have had (or could they still get) the relevant paperwork to enforce in court had the debt not been at least partially paid?

As you know we are not into debt avoidance but you would need to sit down and look at what may have happened if the money had been paid to you rather than passed on.

As has been said, charge cards do not generally charge interest although many of them contain a term that say that interest can be charged if the account is not settled in full at the due date and I am sure that the contract is for payment in full at a certain time. Failure to pay all of the balance is technically a breach of contract.

Having said that, we are not talking about charges being unfair under the Consumer Credit Act but more under unfair terms where a charge must not exceed the pre-estimate of loss suffered by the business as a result of your breach. If they do exceed that figure then it is is deemed an unenforceable penalty and is reclaimable as such.

Forget the idea that there was any rule, regulation or other authoritative regulation which said that £12 was ok.....it was only the OFT (as it was then) who said they would not investigate charges of £12 and under.

Interest in restitution is all about relieving the business of the unlawful/unjust profit they would have made on the money they had from you. It is not directly related to the rate of interest they were charging you.

They could well have charged you zero percent on the charges they levied but that charge could have allowed them to lend to some other person and make profit on that amount which, had the charge not been levied on you, they could not have done.

Hi ims21,

Thank you for your explanation and advise. Well explained and understood. Good food for thought.

Thanks

Dot