I bought some coins from Westminster Collections. I agreed to pay £19 per month for 5 months to clear the account. I made some payment but was unable to pay the remainder at the time because I lost my job. I have now cleared the amount owing. They applied an admin fee of £30 before the debt was cleared. The account is now showing an total amount owing of £30 being the admin fee. I have contacted them to say that I refuse to pay the admin fee as I believe it is an illegal amount as they will not be able to justify the cost to them for clearing the breach is £30. It is just a standard fee they charge. They have now passed the debt to C.A.R.S. (Creditlink Account Recovery Solutions). They have sent me a letter stating, "We have been authorised and duly appointed to finalise recovery of the outstanding amount by our above named client." (Westminster Collections) "To avoid any further action being taken against you please settle the account in full within 10 days from the post date." I must add that the amount they have quoted includes an additional amount which I have now paid. My question; is this admin fee legally enforcable? I believe it is not, besides, it would not be financially viable to chase £30 through the courts.

This topic was closed on 10 March 2019. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 09 March 2019. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 2019-03-08. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 03/08/19. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 03/07/19. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 03/07/19. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 03/07/19. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

I don't have a contract with them or any formal agreement. I just sent an excel spreadsheet with all my income expenditure on it and my Bank statements. No, I didn't agree to it. No they haven't stated how this charge is appropriated to the work that is needed to complete the tax return. I may write to the boss of the company explaining that the charge is unenforceable. In any case, I doubt very much whether they will take legal action as my last claim cost me £30 to submit. Also, the case will normally be heard in my local area which will mean their solicitor will probably have to travel which will involve a Hotel stay, meals etc. All for £50 I don't think it would be worth it.

I was, until the Tax year ending March 2015, part time self employed. I sent my paperwork to DS£ Accounting Ltd (DS£ Acc) every year so they could compile my Tax Return for me. They did this very well and I was always able to claim a Tax Rebate from HMRC. Every year, many of their customers sent their paperwork in December or January. This made it difficult for DS£ Acc to process these accounts in time for the HMRC deadline of 31st Jan. Therefore, DS£ Acc introduced a surcharge of £50 if the paperwork was not received by them before 31st Oct. This encouraged their customers to submit their paperwork early to avoid the last minute rush. I was charged £50 in Jan 2014 for submitting my paperwork late. I have cleared the fees for their service except for the £50. Now they have asked for the surcharge of £50. I have refused to pay it. Now they have passed the case to P & J Debt Collection Services who have contacted me asking for the money. Can I use the same legal argument that many of us used to reclaim Bank charges? I feel that the sum of £50 is excessive as it would not cost DS£ ACC this amount to process my paperwork late. Any advice including links to the relevant legal clauses which I should use to defend myself should this case go to court as P & J DCS have threatened. As you can see from my footnote I have successfully reclaimed a large amount from Barclays which was settled out of court. I hope that I have used the correct Section for this query if not please advise which Section I should have posted in.

Kensington have now admitted their mistake and are looking to offer some form of compensation. They agree that they should pay at the very least the legal fees incurred in producing the CCJ. But I feel that they should offer more due to the damage done to my son's credit reputation. What would be a reasonable amount? The amount owed is just under £2,000. An ideal amount would be for Kensington to clear the debt completetly and then the CCJ would be set aside. But for their mistake my son would not have a CCJ. Although they could argue that my son should have sorted the matter out before the court date. So that will not happen.

No replies yet. Anyway this additional info should bump this thread back to the top. I have just discovered that the correct Ac No was given to Kensington as the account was transferred from another Debt Management Company. Therefore, Kensington is at fault for sending the money to the wrong company. The last digit of the Ac No was 1 and somehow, Kensington changed it to 0. Once again, I feel that as Kensington have messed up big time, they should offer some kind of compensation for the damage and inconvenience caused by their mistake. As my son uses my address for his correspondence, his CCJ may affect my credit rating as well as his own, as my son may now be connected to me. How would I go about claiming damages from Kensington? Also, can I have the CCJ removed from the Credit Reference Agencies as it was not my son's fault? A reply would be greatly appreciated to this request.

My son got himself into difficulties and set up a Debt Management Plan with Kensington Financial Management Consultants, or so he thought. He lives in another Country from me so I have to send all of his mail to him. He now has a CCJ against him from a Company called Close Bros Military Services. According to them, he has not been paying them any money and they do not have a Debt Management Plan with Kensington. I contacted Kensington as I now have authority to discuss my son's account with them. They informed me that they have been receiving money from my son regularly and have been sending it to Close Premium Finance with a slightly different Ref No. I informed them that this is the wrong Company and a slightly different Ref No. Kensington have said that they would reclaim the money sent to the wrong company and send it to the correct company after setting up a fresh DMP. They have also promised to look into the matter and inform me what went wrong. Now, I feel that if Kensington have messed up big time, they should offer some kind of compensation for the damage and inconvenience caused by their mistake. As my son uses my address for his correspondence, his CCJ may affect my credit rating as well as his own, as my son may now be connected to me. How would I go about claiming damages from Kensington? Also, can I have the CCJ removed from the Credit Reference Agencies as it was not my son's fault?

Thank you for your answer. I will follow your advice and let you know the outcome. I apologise if I sometimes come across as a bit cheeky. You are only trying to help, which is very much appreciated.

I don't know what programme is being blocked. The main point is Barclays are employing a 3rd party to spy on it's customers without their knowledge.

Vendor B's payment was a regular payment set up previously. It is the same situation as in Post 5.

The programme may not be a cookie. If it was why does the site not work without it? Also I have disabled all non essential cookies.

Are you aware that you are being spied on by Barclays whenever you use their site? Most cookies are legitimate. First of all go to the very top right hand corner of the online website. You will see a tiny blue link which says cookies. Click on that and you will see that you have a choice of what cookies to allow or not. The top line is essential cookies you cannot disable. However, last month my account transactions were no longer visible. All I got was a page with the Barclays watermark on it. I went through the online help desk procedure and eventually they told me I had to uninstall then reinstall ALL of my browsers as the fault was present in all of them them. Luckily I did not do this. I found the problem myself. I use a programme called "Do Not Track Plus" downloaded from a trusted website. This programme prevents companies from spying on you without your permission. Google have been doing it for years but not on my computer. Google Adsense are spying on YOU right now unless you have DNT+ or a similar programme installed. Even Facebook tracks some websites you are visiting which have nothing to do with Facebook. Anyway, back to my solution. DNT+ list any companies who are attempting to spy on your online activities. I found that two companies called Test and Target and Omniture spy on you while you are using the Barclays website. When I enabled spying from Test and Target, I was able to access my account transactions. When I disabled spying from T & T again, my transactions were hidden from me. Therefore, I feel that Barclays are using cookies or scripts, or whatever the little programme is called, to spy on our online activity without our knowledge or permission. Most users won't be using DNT+ or a similar programme so they won't know about the spying activities. Omniture remains blocked without any adverse affect. What is even more sinister is that the website will not work if the spying is disabled. Does anyone know if this is a breach of the cookie policy that was recently introduced? Has anyone else had similar experiences?

Day one :- I make a purchase of £5 from Vendor A. Current cleared balance £20 Day two :- Vendor B takes £30 out of my bank. Transaction completed. Current cleared balance £10 overdrawn. Day three :- Vendor A applies to bank for £5. Current cleared balance still £10 overdrawn as money should have already been allocated to Vendor A. Then I get a letter from from Barclays detailing the charge.

OK, now three of the site team have replied. Many thanks for this. dx100uk, £5 was what I spent online. It is this transaction which has caused the charge. Forget the the overdraft and charges for it. It is only relevant because Barclays have used it as an excuse to charge me unfairly. Anyway, to simplify the situation, I will describe a fictitious scenario more simply:- My online bank statement at the beginning of a day shows a current balance of £25. The current cleared balance also shows £25. I now make a payment to vendor A of £5. My current balance is still £25 but my current cleared balance now shows £20. The £5 for Vendor A has been put into a holding account and should be allocated to Vendor A awaiting his application to bank for his money. This £5 is no longer available to me as my current cleared balance shows the reduction. Now, the next day, along comes Vendor B who takes out £30 from my account reducing the current cleared balance to - £10, or £10 overdrawn. Barclays do not charge customers for going overdrawn. (Please don't allow this to cloud the logic in this scenario.) The next day Vendor A applies to the bank for his £5. But, as my account is now overdrawn, Barclays bang on a charge of £8 saying that they have paid it "even though there were insufficient available cleared funds in your account." Now, my argument is this. At the time of purchase from Vendor A, there was sufficient funds for the purchase and I have a printout of my statement proving this. I also have a printout from Barclays showing all of the outstanding transactions on that day. The amount is exactly the same as the difference between my current balance and the current cleared balance. Therefore, how can the £5 be part of my current cleared balance one day and then be charged for due to insufficient funds the next day? Is this not an example of unfair treatment by the Bank under BCOBS? This must be happening to many customers in a similar situation. Do I have a case to take action against Barclays? Would it be worth my while complaining to the Banking Ombudsman over this?

I am disappointed that a member of the site team has asked me a question and not replied to my answer. Not the response I have come to expect from this excellent, helpful site. I feel that Barclays are treating hundreds of their customers unfairly and I would like to complain in the strongest possible way and achieve some kind of success for all customers. Not just in this individual case. This has happened to me before and will keep on happening until some action is taken against them. Slick 132, if you are not willing to help me out surely there must be someone else who will.

Barclays do not charge for exceeding the overdraft limit. An unexpected amount was taken from my account. Something that I had agreed. This amount is taken once a year. Unfortunately, I forgot about it. This is what took me over my overdraft limit. I suspected that I may have gone over as it was the beginning of the month and it was also over the Bank Holiday weekend. The point I am making is that funds were allocated to the vendor at the time of purchase negating their statement that I had insufficient funds. If I had insufficient funds at the time of purchase the transaction would have failed.

Hi slick132, thank you for replying, I made several transactions at the end of last month (March). One of them was an online purchase of £5. The largest was for £121. At the time of making these purchases, I had sufficient funds. But I have just received a charge letter from Barclays saying I had insufficient funds for the £5 transaction. As I suspected that this would happen, I asked Barclays for a list of outstanding transactions in the pipieline which had not hit my account yet. I received this and the total of these transactions was exactly the same as the difference between my account balance and current cleared balance. I have a copy of my online account statement showing this. Therefore, for Barclays to apply the charge saying that I had insufficient funds is wrong because, at the time of purchase, funds were removed from my account and were no longer available to me. The amount should have been ring fenced for the company I sent £5 to. Barclays are arguing that, as I was beyond my overdraft limit a few days later when the company called for the £5, I then had insufficient funds for the transaction. But my argument is that £5 had already been removed from my account. £5 should have been removed from the holding account and paid.

Can someone please point me in the right direction on how to start the process of reclaiming unfair bank charges from Barclays. I have done this before as my footer says but the process has changed since then. I have tried looking through your stickies and templates but I soon get lost amongst the massive amount of information there. Please help me someone. Thank you in advance.

When you wrote the cheque did you see a sign which informed you that you are entering into a contract with Certegy or Transax? If there was no sign then you do not need to pay Certegy a penny. If you have cleared the cheque, Certegy do not have a leg to stand on. Don't give them a penny. Follow the link at the post above yours and you will find a letter I wrote to them and the reply.