Default troubles

[IR2365]

Hi, am currently claiming appx £6,000 in bank charges from Abbey:mad:

I had an overdraft of appx £2,000 which comprised an element of the said charges. They demanded immediate payment of the overdraft and closed the account, and since then I been contacted by at least three DCA's all acting on behalf of the abbey. To be fair to them,they have all been very reasonable when it has been explained to them that the account is in dispute and all the relevant letters have been sent to abbey stating this fact. The account has now been returned to abbey. I recently signed up with credit expert after becoming suspicious about my credit file and find that abbey have defaulted me on my disputed account. Now this is having an adverse effect as I can't get a decent credit card or bank account etc, I am not looking for anymore credit or another overdraft but it would be nice to have a choice of more consumer friendly products rather than treated like some second class citizen and at the mercy of the banks. Being relatively new to all this, I feel kind of stuck at the moment, but I found this forum and was wondering what to do next and if the account is in dispute how can they just do what they like,while my case is on hold?

[tommy271007]

Hi IR2365

 

I'm sorry to hear you're having problems with the default issued by Abbey.

My advice to you is to start writing to Abbey requesting s.10 and s.12 of the Data Protection Act, 1998. £1 fee i believe ALSO request Subject Access Request (S.A.R) in writing as well -£10 fee by postal order or cheque to be sent to you within 40 days by law. Even though the court cases with bank charges are on hold at present, you could start writing letters to Abbey to ask them to remove the default in question from your credit files as disputed accounts CANNOT be defaulted. Abbey obviously thinks they have the power to do what they like, but the fact is when an account is in dispute, a formal default is not allowed under the CCA (Consumer Credit Act). If I were you, I would keep on writing Abbey to get the default removed. If no luck, then the only option is to take them to court. They will give in eventually because quite simply the Judge will see Abbey have not follow the correct procedures for issuing the formal default and therefore are unwarranted (if account is already disputed before default). Please feel free to contact me if you want more details.

[IR2365]

Hi tommy271007, thanks for that advice, I already sent a S.A.R when I first claimed my charges back, would I need to request another one? and do I just use the template letters for the data protection application? also can I register a complaint against the abbey for their actions and have the CRA's

remove the illegal default?

There is a lot of questions here I know but this is new territory for me.