Hi- New to this but Mon 5th sent off request for details of charges with tenner. Since then I have found all my bank statements at home and compiled a schedule of charges. Should I wait on the banks reply or just send in Prelim letter NOW. Also any advice on whether I send it recorded to local branch or to Head Office. any replies would be appreciated. Thanks.

Firstly, likelyhood is the branch will forward it on to HO, so don't see the point in going to branch. That said, some have mentioned the benefit of going through branch as they noticed a concern from the branch about receiving an LBA and felt that it quickened the process. Your choice really. Recorded whatever!

As for the prelim. If you are sure you have everything then go for it. These two are not related in terms of timescales, so it doesn't matter you get on with things. What I'm trying to say, is it wouldn't be advised to rush the LBA through before the prelim deadline - this is not an issue if you are sending out the prelim before receiving your statements.

Thanks T4FF your wisdom is much appreciated I will update on progress. In the terms 14 days I assume this is Mon to Mon and not Bank working days ie Mon to Sat.

calendar days not working days

Well here we go PRL sent off today registered mail, expect to get the Thank you but get lost reply but who knows !!. Have LBA all ready for when the 14 days are up.

To add to previous I have claimed the basic ie charges for Unpaid items, referral charges and card misuses. I not mentioned interest charges in the schedule and deleted the interest amount reference in the template letter. So now its a case of wait and see, but I will update on the progress as it happens.

Well, we seem at aboput the same sort of stage... I sent my LBA last week and today I received an offer of about 25% of what I claimed! RBoS have got to be joking!

I think I will send a brief note with a copy of the LBA reminding them that I require settlement in full .... and wait and see what happens.

What do you think? I'm very reluctant to accept their first derisory offer.

Westy1.

To add to previous I have claimed the basic ie charges for Unpaid items, referral charges and card misuses. I not mentioned interest charges in the schedule and deleted the interest amount reference in the template letter. So now its a case of wait and see, but I will update on the progress as it happens.

Well, we seem at aboput the same sort of stage... I sent my LBA last week and today I received an offer of about 25% of what I claimed! RBoS have got to be joking!

I think I will send a brief note with a copy of the LBA reminding them that I require settlement in full .... and wait and see what happens.

What do you think? I'm very reluctant to accept their first derisory offer.

Westy1.

To add to previous I have claimed the basic ie charges for Unpaid items, referral charges and card misuses. I not mentioned interest charges in the schedule and deleted the interest amount reference in the template letter. So now its a case of wait and see, but I will update on the progress as it happens.

Oh no.... I just read the letter properly... there were actually THREE offers of settlement in the envelope.. one for each account on which I claimed. The RBoS has offered to settle in FULL! Yippee!!

Nice one Westy. WELL DONE im encouraged by your news. Hope I can report the same soon. PS dont spent it all at once !!!

Hi dangler8,

I notice your prelim deadlin to send LBA is tomorrow! Any luck with a reply from RBS yet?

superward

UPDATE- I have had no response to prelim dated 7/3/07 not even a general acknowledgement which is naff. So off today went my LBA to Edinburgh and its back to waiting yet again.

Hi dangler8,

Thats a shame. I get the feeling I will be in the same boat come this Tuesday! Also gets the feeling they are getting a tad overwhelmed with all the requests for charges to be refunded

superward

Hi guys/girls, don't be dispirited - I sent my LBA and within ten days received an offer of settlement. I just got the cheque for £6,450 today and paid it into my account. It seems that provided you have got a properly sbmitted claim and look serious they just cave in and pay up.

Hi Westy1- Congratulations and thanks for that confidence booster.

Just out of curiosity if anyone can comment, the banks (all of them) have repaid the charges on thousands of claims, some very quickly. Surely by repaying charges it is an admission that they are excessive and unlawful. I can understand the purpose of the prelim letter asking for charges to be refunded, basic charges without interest added. The bank computer system can at the touch of a key produce all the information about a customers charges and totals, it can also automatically credit this amount directly into the customers account. So why is it that often it takes an LBA and another 14 days ( sometimes with the start of court process) before the bank makes an offer. An offer of what was asked for in the first place anyway. Im sure 99% of claimants would be happy for their basic charges refunded directly into their accounts from the outset ie prelim request with no interest.

Ok there are exceptions, closed accounts, claiming interest etc and these are usually the ones on the site with the long threads.

Sorry if Im not making sense but im just getting my thoughts aired

There are probably other reasons, but these are three conclusions I can come to.

Firstly, the crazy amount of applications they are having to run through at the moment. As this process gathers wind and more exposure, the amount of claims that the banks are having to deal with are rapidly increasing and as a result their resources are being fully stretched.

Secondly, there is a fair amount of assessment going on - which are worth contesting, which aren't. I would say the ones that are going to cost the banks the most are going to take longer and also the ones that are best written will be dealt with sooner - a water tight prelim will I believe more likely get a response than a poorly written one. I have read elsewhere that word from the bank (can't recall WHICH bank) is that the ones that are well written and appear to come from CAG are addressed sooner.

Thirdly, there is a fair amount of calling your bluff involved. Think about the hundreds of thousands of people who are doing this with bit-part information from places like the BBC, or a random newspaper, or Martins Moneysaving s(h)ite. There is not sufficient information provided for the average joe to know what to do and the banks are no doubt seeing how much you really know about what you are doing. There are tonnes of people on THIS website who fret when they don't get a response in the first week, or flap when the bank tell them to bugger off - imagine who much success they get with people who haven't got a forum like this to ask "what do I do?".

The banks aren't in this to lose money - there absolutely no way they are going to pay a full amount for EVERY single person who simply asks for their money back! For every one who gets a full settlement, I bet there are 10 who either walk away with nothing, or accept 25%, 50% or whatever.

Lol, just stopped for some air and noticed how MUCH I've just written Preaching over....

Hi T4FF thanks for your comments which I have taken on board. One afterthought regarding letter of acceptance of claim. The part which states that conditions and future charges will stand, does this mean that by signing this you can only have one bite of the cherry, and any future mismanagement of ones account will result in charges which will non-recoverable.

i cant see how you can sign your rights away but me being over cautious wouldn't consider signing anything with their conditions on - why should you? You are making a complaint so they are not in a position to call the shots. Any settlements I always advise to send your own letter saying you accept their settlement

Hi T4FF re the aforesaid letters of offer seem to be standard and include

in full and final settlement of your complaint. However, our Terms & Conditions will continue to apply and any charges that accrue in the future must stand.

I notiiced in T4FF v RBoS *19 you wrote

Thank you for your letter dated xxxx. I wish to accept your offer of settlement on the above account. This will be on the basis of a full and final settlement of my complaint on the above account on the grounds that any future charges will stand.

a lot of the letters are including not disclosing information to third parties things like that. Bear in mind, that was my first claim and very early on in my "life" in this forum. I did include on it that I was going to make a claim against my second account. If I was to reply again now, I wouldn't even give them that much the "on the grounds that any future charges will stand" wouldn't be included now

Cheers T4FF sorry if it sounds like Im picking faults but just wanted to be clear on best wording for my reply if, no not if ,when my offer arrives.

no bother

Update; 14 days have passed since LBA and surprise no response. I e-mailed Sandy Watt (a female, as Im sure everyone must know by now) and within 30 mins recieved this reply

I apologise for us not acknowledging your letters, but due to the

volume of

work being processed at this Unit, we have

been concentrating on processing the complaints. Issuing

acknowledgements

would greatly increase our workload and further delay

dealing with customer complaints.

Checking our database, I can confirm that we have received both your

letters

requesting refund of charges amounting to £x,xxx.

We are currently investigating and verifying your complaint using our

standard procedures.

Unfortunately, we currently have a back-log of approximately two weeks

in

dealing with these complaints.

I can give you no timescale with regard to when we will issue a

response to

your claim, especially with 2 Bank Holidays

this weekend.

I would ask you to bear with us, we will respond to your claim as soon

as we

are able.

Regards

Sandy

thought she might have signed it Love Sandy just to pacify me, but so be it.

Unlike our friends south of the border claims over £1500 through court action in Scotland becomes somewhat complicated, time consuming and not for the faint hearted. My options are to wait it out for the banks offer or go down the FOS route. I think Im right in believing this can only be started 8 weeks after the date the prelim letter was sent but maybe someone can clarify this.

I would just be patient for a little while longer - I did indeed receive my cheque from RBOS after a few weeks. I think if you wait another copuple of weeks as Sandy suggests you should get your payment.... but don't let her drag things on for ever.... I'd probably write and suggest a deadline date of three or four weeks from now with a strong intimation that aftyer that date you will commence action with no further correspondence. Honour is satisfied on both sides then!