mbevan84 v FD ** WON **

[mbevan84]

Ok then. I sent a letter off to FD with the following:

 

My request

I am writing to ask you to refund to me the charges which you have levied from my account over the last 6 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 £1547.

I enclose a schedule of the charges which I am claiming with this letter

 

Additionally you have entered a default notice against my credit record. This default occurred merely in respect of unlawful charges levied by you or was the result of impecuniosity caused directly by the taking by you of penalty charges which you had applied unlawfully to my account.

 

In addition to full payment of the sum mentioned above, I require that you remove the default entry from the register. Please note that mere correction or amendment to the entry will not be acceptable.

 

 

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,

 

-----

 

They have replied via post to tell me to look at the terms and conditions. No chance to get my money back

 

What shall I do? I want my £1547 back!

[mbevan84]

Can anyone help please?!?!

[kazzaw]

Read the step by step instructions & frequently asked questions. You need to do this to understand the whole procedure just in case you have to go to Court.

 

You should also be reading everyone elses threads so that you know what to expect at every stage & can prepare a plan of action.

 

I'll give you a clue - LBA

 

Good Luck!!

[mbevan84]

Ok, I have sent the LBA, waiting for a response now.

 

Ive been reading around, do they still reject this? If so then its court yeah?

[lozzzy]

afraid so! they are still trying to scare you away and i know i nearly gave up so dont do it!

 

i'd recommend having a look on the moneyclaim.gov website and finding the money claim info from the FAQ but also keep looking back at the step by step details also in FAQ because it so easy to forget the little thinks its mentions on there which is a great help. I panic a bit while filling out the moneyclaim forms so have a read of my thread (although its slightly random) and it might help you out a little!

[mbevan84]

Ok, thankyou. Havent received a letter back from FD as yet but am expecting the usual responce.

I have set up another account with A & L for a back up so if I dont get it then moneyclaim will be the way

 

Am I right in asking that court fees are £120?

[mbevan84]

Ok, I have received a letter from Richard (whatever his name is) saming exactly the same thing as the previous letter. I take it its court action now then?

[lozzzy]

I asked the same question when i got rejected on the LBA.

 

Its recommended that you still leave it for 14 days before going to moneyclaim, to show that you have been resonable. I did this but i'm not too sure what anyone else did and if it really matters.

 

Either way have a look at the moneyclaim website and make sure figures etc are correct. you can claim interest on your charges of 8%. i didnt really understand how/what i had to do to sort this so have a look into that at the meantime and work out what you are going to put down for the particulars of your claim (there is a little bit on it in the FAQ).

 

its best to be prepared and make sure you've got everything right before filling in the forms because once they've been completed you have to pay etc to have them changed!

[mbevan84]

God, I have finished the claim but cant afford the £120 yet! Nightmare!

[mbevan84]

Guys,

 

What are the chances of my getting my money back anyway? Quite high?

[lozzzy]

really high! just have to be brave!

[mbevan84]

I have to do it really. Got to try and find the £120 now! Thanks for the help on here. Youve been amazing help! i will update you when something changes

[mbevan84]

Ok, this is what I have wrote in the particulars form. Is this ok?

 

I have a contract with the defendant bank

dated 04/07/2006 and 26/06/2006 and which

is conducted on their standard terms and

conditions. I am claiming the return of

money taken by the defendant in the way of

charges over the last 3.5 years plus the

interest they have levied on those charges.

The bank's charges are a disproportionate

penalty and therefore unenforceable as they

are contrary to common law. Further, as a

disproportionate penalty they are invalid

under the Unfair (Contracts) Terms Act 1977

s.4 and under the Unfair Terms in Consumer

Contracts Regulations 1999. Para.8 and sch.2

(1)(e). In the event that the charges are

not a penalty then they are unreasonable

within the meaning of the Supply of Goods

and Services Act 1982 s.15.

I have repeatedly asked the bank to justify

their charges but they have declined to do

so.

The claimant claims interest under section

69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the

rate of 8% a year from 2003 to 07/07/2006

of £1,654

[lozzzy]

yeah sounds fine to me!

[alanfromderby]

Try this - it is edited down a little more and includes the wording at the end for the daily rate. I have not checked that it fits, but it should do.

 

 

I held an account no. (a/c number) with the defendant from 7/1/03 to 26/6/06 which was conducted on their standard terms and conditions. I claim the return of (£xxxxx) taken by the defendant in the way of charges plus the interest levied on those charges. The bank's charges are a disproportionate penalty and thus unenforceable as they are contrary to common law. Further, as a disproportionate penalty they are invalid under the Unfair (Contracts) Terms Act 1977 s.4 and under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regs. 1999. Para.8 and sch.2(1)(e). In the event that the charges are not a penalty then they are unreasonable as per the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 s.15. I bank have repeatedly declined to justify these charges.The claimant claims interest under s.69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% a year from 7/1/03 to 7/7/06 of £1,654 and also interest at the same rate up to the date of judgment or earlier payment at a daily rate of (£....).

[mbevan84]

Brilliant. thankyou Alan,

 

At the end where it says: and also interest at the same rate up to the date of judgment or earlier payment at a daily rate of (£....).

How do I work out the daily rate?!

[alanfromderby]

Total charges being claimed x 0.08 / 365

[mbevan84]

Ok, i have sent the money claim into the court, paid the £120 so fingers crossed that I get it!

[mbevan84]

What do you reckon the chances are of me getting my money back? If they decline it then will I have to go to court?

[lozzzy]

the chances of actually going to court are very slim. it is within the banks interests to pay you off otherwise if they go to court there is a very good chance that they will be made to lower there charges!

 

If you have processed moneyclaim through the interenet then keep any eye out for it showing that HSBC/First direct have acknowledged the claim because thats when the fun starts. you can expect letters from there solitiors trying to buy you off! (dont expect the first letter to be the full amount. hold out till you get what you want).

 

really its up to you what you want to do, but my recommendation is to be calm and hold out!

[mbevan84]

yeah I dont mind waiting. Will be nice to have my money back and to donate some to this site because it has been amazing. A lot of my friends are now on here plotting a plan to take their money back.

 

Im looking at the moneyclaim site everyday. I have 2 weeks until my holiday so fingers crossed that it is resolved by then!

[mbevan84]

Hi Guys,

 

Can anyone tell me (Who has won) how long it takes DG solicitors to aknowledge the case?

 

Cheers guys

[lozzzy]

DG send me a letter that day after they acknowledged the claim! (although that offer wasnt for the full amount). althought it took about 5 days for the date off issue for them to acknowledge the claim. when did you send it in?

[mbevan84]

I sent it in on Friday. Got the letter from the court on Monday

[hannah8686]

Mine got acknowledged 4 days after, i got the letter offering half the next day (last sat) i wrote back on sat which they would have got monday and am just awaiting a reply. Deborough who deals with these is not in the offeic until today apparently so more letters will probably go out today

 

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