No offer yet. My LBA arrived yesterday so I expect it will be a few days.

My LBA is going off today one's going to Mr Bowen and the other ones going to David Lewis head of customer relations I did have my charges in my prelim and also in my LBA (so they've got not excuse!!)

 

fingers crossed we should both hear something soon (by friday would be good)

Mine went on Friday, so should arrive today. I included the charges summary this time so I hope to hear something by the end of the week too! C'mon!

OK, LBA sent recorded delivery today. Schedule of charges included as requested. Letter sent to Mr M Bowden as he was the one who wrote to me about the charges breakdown.

Now we wait...

Hello again!

I posted my Prelim to Alan Pretty but I have heard somewhere he doesn't work there any more. My response was from Mr M Bowden so I have sent my LBA to him. His address is in the contact details section (the Sheffield one). Sorry, I don't have it to hand to put in here.

I sent my LBA today ( I know you have seen my thread).

We should both get some kind of offer from them.

Did you enclose a schedule of charges in your Prelim. I didn't and the only rely I got was asking for the details. Suggest you include one in your LBA if not as they will just ask for them as a stalling tactic and it wil mean another £1 for recorded delivery!!

Good Luck

sounds good my letters ready and waiting for friday as well, especially ive still not had a reply

Nice one Stokeybird! I wonder if you'll hear anything before Friday? I must admit though that I don't really count my reply from Mr Bowden as any kind of response.

Keep us updated.

OK... Just preparing my LBA for sending on Friday. This is what I have got, can someone please OK it for me (just incase).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14th July 2006

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

Dear Sir,

ACCOUNT NUMBERS: XXXXXX AND XXXXXXX

I am very disappointed that you have failed to respond to my letter of the 29th July 2006 – Other than to request the details of the charges you have taken from my account.

I now understand that the regime of 'fees' which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations.

I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law.

I am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary.

I calculate that you have taken £839.00 from my current account and £628 from my joint account; totalling £1467.00.

As requested I am enclosing a copy of the schedule of the charges which I am claiming.

I require repayment in full of this money. If you do not comply fully within 14 days then I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount plus interest plus my costs and without further notice.

Yours faithfully,

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cheers All.

My LBA is due to go out friday as well, although ive not had a reply to my prelim letter yet. roll on friday!!

Nice to know of someone at the same stage as me. Good luck with your claim as well, lets see who wins first!

Nice one. Thanks Michael.

LBA will go out on Friday with schedule of charges attached.

OK, Got my first letter back from Mr Bowden. Haven't got it in fornt of me, but basically he says that I haven't quantified my claim and they need a breakdoqn of charges with dates before they can do anything. THis annoys me as they OBVIOUSLY have access to whatever they want!

The origional 14 days is up next Friday (14th). Do i send the breakdown now and say they only have 3/4 days unti lmy next letter, or wait until Friday and send the LBA and include the breakdown then?

Cheers

Steve

OK... Prelim letter posted today recorded delivery. They have until the 14th July!

Steve

Well spotted Mav... Deliberate mistake of course to make sure you had read it! (LOL).

Well, sending the letter tomorrow then... Will kee pyou all posted

Thanks for the help so far all!

Steve

Letter is ready to go tomorrow, just hoping someone could make sure it looks OK? Do my 14 days start from date posted or date recieved?

Thanks (and sorry for pestering)

Steve

Thanks Maverick...

Taking your advice on board I have decided to make one claim across 2 accounts. My prelim letter is as follows. Please can someone give me the nod that it is OK and I will send (recorded delivery) tomorrow. Then the game begins! I have decided to go straight to Mr Pretty!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr Alan Pretty

Senior Service Quality Officer

HSBC Bank Plc

Arlington Business Centre

Millshaw Park Lane

Leeds

LS11 0PP

29th June 2006

Request for repayment of charges

Dear Sir/Madam,

ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxx AND xxxxxx

My request

I am writing to ask you to refund to me the charges which you have levied from both my current account and my joint account over the last 3 years.

I now understand that the regime of fees which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent consumer regulations. If you say that they are not, then will you please demonstrate this by letting me have a full breakdown of the costs to which you have been put by as a result of my breaches, in order to reassure me that your penalties really do reflect your costs.

Additionally, it has now been confirmed that your particularly high level of penalties are considered to be unfair per se by the OFT who reported on the 5th April 2006 and are therefore presumed to be unlawful in the absence of specific proof to the contrary.

Your responsibilities

I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law.

I am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary.

I consider that your repeated representations that your charges are fair and reasonable are deceptive and that they have deceived me into agreeing to pay them.

Your concealment of the true nature of your charges has prevented me from asserting my right until now.

What I require

I calculate that you have taken £839.00 from my current account and £503 from my joint account. Further more a charge of £125 is due to be taken from my joint account on 12th July 2006; totalling £1467.00.

My targets to resolve this matter

I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me about this matter and I am writing this letter to you on the assumption that you will prefer to do this than merely respond with standard letters and leaflets.

I will give you 14 days to reply to me accepting, unconditionally, my request in principle and letting me know a date by which I will receive payment.

If you do not respond, or you do not respond positively, within this time period, I shall send you a letter before action giving you a further 14 days in which to reflect. I believe that these targets are more than sufficient for a large company such as yours with dedicated staff and departments.

After that, there will be no further communication from me and I shall issue a claim at the expiry of the second deadline.

Yours faithfully,

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks guys, just let me know if that's OK and I'm off and running!

Bump

One more question (sorry).

I was only going to make a claim for my current account but there are also charges on my joint account. Is it best to make 1 claim for them both or treat them as 2 seperate claims? I have heard that multiple claims against the same bank can result in account closure and I don't really want that.

Cheers

Now then...

I was able to find out my charges online (thanks Bobbo - where you said they were). It turns out I have overestimated my charges slightly and its not as much as I thought (they let me get away with it when I was a student). But the total I want to claim is £839. When I write my preliminary letter do I only ask for the £839? Or do I tell them I am seeking the full £906.12 (including 8% interest)?

Also, which of the many HSBC contact addressses is best to use?

I'll get writing whilst I await some help

Thanks again

Steve

NEW PROCESS - GETTING UNDERWAY

OK... I am starting the process and completley new to the whole thing. Just loggfed on to my internet banking today to discover I was charged £125 last month on my Joint and current account and that was the final straw. Thinking back through my 8 year history with HSBC (only claiming for 6 of course) I reckon I must be entitled to a large sum.

My other half is also starting the process with Barclays. Now, I work for them and just so you all know there is a standard procedure in place for these types of claims - Offer Half! every time. Don't know what they do after that but hey.

Anyway... back to HSBC.

I am going to request my charges summary for the last 6 years today! Once that's all added up do I add a further 8% to account for interest?

I'm full of the usual fears about having my accounts closed etc, but from what I have read on here its unlikely (althougth I will prepare for that eventuallity).

Will update once I have my statements and have written my preliminary letter. A thought though. HSBC site claims you can view 6 years of statements online. However when I try to do this it says the earliest I can go back is April 2006. Any idea what to do to view 6 years? - It may save me writing for the info!

Many thanks

WardyBoy2