Taking my first steps towards making a claim - **IT'S WON!!!**

[Tim Dunlop]

Hi guys,

 

Just read some of the forum tonight following a link from moneysaving expert.com. My wife and I have been customers of the Abbey for a long time.

My wife opened her account nearly twenty years ago and I became a joint account holder approx 3 years ago. Due to various changes in employment etc we have incurred a lot of charges.

 

From the 26/03/04 - 26/11/05 our bank charges have totalled £3901.00.

 

These charges are for a mixture of unpaid D/D's, returned Cheques, and items paid whilst overdrawn.

 

Our account is now held by Abbey's debt management department and we have a "managed down overdraft" to repay an overdraft of £3000 at £120.00 per month. We no longer have any cheque books, debit cards or credit cards from the Abbey.

 

What are my chances of getting any of the charges back in members past experiences ??

 

Any replies would be gratefully received.

 

Regards

 

Tim

[richardc]

Welcome, please read the FAQs and around the forum..It should take a couple of days - then come back with any questions

[BankFodder]

Any chance that you have your original contract of 20yrs ago?

[Tim Dunlop]

Hi there,

 

I doubt we have the original contract, although I am a bit of a hoarder so I will have a look through all of my paperwork.

 

Regards

 

Tim

 

p.s now read through most of the FAQ's and will be sending my first letter shortly.

[pink_fairy]

Hi tim,

 

my situation and amount with abbey were very similar to yours, managed down overdraft claim around £3000 and with the debt management dept.

 

I made a claim, they acknowledged and defended. the solicitor didnt agreee with the amounts so he offered me 50% of what he thought it was, I declined. after going through statements i concluded that while the figure wasnt correct, neither was theres, my final claim was £2250. The solicitor agreed to settle in full for the revised figure and my cheque is on its way.

 

So go for it!

 

Pink_Fairy

[andrew1]

It's interesting reading about all these bank charges from the Abbey, but can you tell me if the same applies to the Mortgage deals they have with penalty clauses if you pull out within a certain period. For example, I have just applied for a new rate having been with them nearly 20 years. The deal I got was 1) 5.1% no penalties - or 2 ) 4.7% over two years with a penalty that equates to about £11000. with the current normal rate of 6.4% the savings I will make if I took the 4.7% is about 6k. Why should I be penalised another £5,000 if I sold my house within the two years - is that not a penalty too?

[Tim Dunlop]

Hi guys,

 

Thanks for your kind replies.

I have read through much of the forum and the FAQ's and have now written my initial letter.

 

The claim is for £3992.44 inc overdraft interest

 

I will be posting my letter recorded delivery first thing tomorrow.

 

Wish me luck.

 

Regards

 

Tim

[BankFodder]

Break a leg

[Tim Dunlop]

Hi guys,

 

I sent off my first letter today Recorded Delivery (of course) to the Triton Place address.

I have read the advice in the Step by Step instructions and will be following this letter up if I don't get a reply within 14 days.

 

Incidentally should I follow up after 14 days, or 14 working days ????

 

Regards

 

Tim

[richardc]

14 days. We work a 7 day week.

[Tim Dunlop]

Thanks Richard,

 

I also work a 7 day week, but you know what the banks are like. I want to do this by the book.

 

Regards

 

Tim

[richardc]

By the book. by the calendar

[Tim Dunlop]

Hi there,

 

Received a reply from Abbey today, it reads as follows: -

 

"Thanks for contacting us and I'm sorry you've been so unhappy you've felt you must complain.

 

One of my colleagues will be responsible for investigating your complaint and I've enclosed our Customer Satisfaction Leaflet, which explains our procedure for doing this. High quality customer service is of great importance to us at Abbey and we'll do everything we can to resolve your complaint in a timely and satisfactory manner.

 

I know it's important to you that we resolve your complaint quickly but we want to do a thorough investigation and sometimes this can take time. We'll write to you within the next four weeks to let you know what's happening.

 

Although I don't know what the outcome will be, I do hope we'll be able to find a solution that you're happy with.

 

Your Sincerely

 

Antony Turbitt,

Manager, Banking Servicing."

 

I am not happy with the four week arguement, and I will stick to my original deadline of 29th March, but how should I word my second letter.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Regards

 

Tim

[rivendale0506]

Presumably if you knew your charges you sent the Preliminary letter giving them 14 days to reply? Once the 14 days are up (and ignoring their 4 week response time :twisted: ) send them the LBA (Letter Before Action) - Stick to your timetable, don't deviate - they will soon get the message that it is you who is calling the shots from now on not them!

[Tim Dunlop]

Hi there,

 

Yes I know my charges, they are £3841.00 plus £151.44 in overdraft interest. Total £3992.44.

 

I sent the preliminary letter on the 15th March, so the 14 days is up on 29th March. Do I wait until then before sending the "Letter Before Action", or should I send it now ???

 

Regards

 

Tim

[Natasha]

yes wait till the 29th of march then if they havent complied then send the letter before action.

 

best wishes

[Chardonnay123]

Hi in EXACTLY the same boat as you. Just wondered if you sent the standard letter from the library to Abbey or did you alter it at all to reflect your position, ie, it being with teh Debt Recovery Dept? Have you said you think it is their fault. I have not sent my letter yet - will do so tomorrow - I am going to try and alter the main letter slightly but not sure if this is a good idea.

[Tim Dunlop]

Dave,

 

The first letter I sent was the the one from the Library labelled "Letter - Preliminary approach for repayment". This was sent on the 15th March, in the text of this letter is the following: -

 

"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."

 

Therefore my plan of action will be :-

 

1) Wait until March 29th for any further communication from the Abbey

2) If no further communication then send Letter before action as per letter in library giving them until 12th April 2006.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Regards

 

Tim

 

p.s in answer to Chardonnay123's post, no I did not change the letter much from the one in the library. I hope they would know the account was with Debt Management and they would probably be able to work out that my present £2400 overdraft was largely down to their charges.

[Tim Dunlop]

Hi there,

 

Got confirmation from Natwest yesterday that my application for a 'Step' account has been approved. Then this morning received my cash card, this means I now have an alternative account so I am now prepared for the fight ahead with the Abbey.

 

Roll on the 29th March when I will be sending my letter before action.

 

Regards

 

Tim

[nickmack]

"I know it's important to you that we resolve your complaint quickly but we want to do a thorough investigation and sometimes this can take time. We'll write to you within the next four weeks to let you know what's happening.

 

Although I don't know what the outcome will be, I do hope we'll be able to find a solution that you're happy with."

 

I am not happy with the four week arguement, and I will stick to my original deadline of 29th March, but how should I word my second letter.

 

As you have already said, send your Letter before Action in accordance according to the timescales you have already set.

 

I would be inclined to make it clear that you are setting the timescales and reiterate these to them. Also that the only 'solution that you're happy with' would be a full and unconditional refund of the entire amount.

[Tim Dunlop]

Hi guys,

 

The Abbey have sent me another letter today, nice to see they still cannot be bothered to send out anything other than an automated reply.

 

The letter reads: -

 

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

 

"Dear Mr Dunlop

 

Thank you for your letter dated 13 March 2006, I apologise for the delay in coming back to you.

 

With regard to your request for a refund under Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations, we don’t believe that Abbey’s charges are unfair under these rules.

 

When you opened the account with Abbey, you were provided with Terms and Conditions that detailed the charges that become applicable should you breach the terms of the account. Abbey is up front and transparent about all its banking charges as set out in the tariff of charges.

 

Abbey’s bank account is good value and our charges compare fairly with other banks. For most people, banking is free and they don’t incur penalty charges.

 

If the complaint escalates into a claim in the County Court, we will review each case individually, and if we feel that our relationship with our customer has broken down completely, we may decide to give notice to close the account under the Terms and Conditions.

 

An investigation of all the charges relating to your complaint has been carried out. As they’ve all been applied in line with our current tariff of charges and haven’t arisen as a result of proven Abbey error, no further refunds will be applied.

 

Please be assured I’ve carried out a full investigation for you and I hope you feel I’ve offered a fair response to all of the issues you’ve raised. I’ll keep your file open for the next eight weeks and if I don’t hear from you within that time, I’ll assume that everything is resolved and will close your file.

 

If you remain dissatisfied though, the leaflet you'll find with this letter explains your rights and how to take your complaint further with the Abbey. The leaflet also explains your ultimate right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service."

 

Yours sincerely

 

Jackie Hammond

Banking Servicing

 

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

 

So glad they took the time to send me this letter. When my wife rang me today to tell me it had arrived in the post my first reaction was "Oh good, thats exactly what I was expecting, Game ON !!!!!"

 

Funnily enough tomorrow is the 14th day since I sent my first letter, so tomorrow I will be sending a "letter before action" as per the draft in the library.

 

Any advice ??

 

Regards

 

Tim

[richardc]

You've obviously been doing you reading, so no further advice apart from stick to your timetable and follow the step by step guide.

 

Keep us posted.

[joneshousehold]

Hey what a coincidence - we had a very similar letter yesterday. We apparantly merited some extra abuse - it's on our thread 'Another claim'. Ours was from Rosemary Kennedy, Customer Resolutions Manager, Complaints. Otherwise there are great chunks exactly the same. Obviously they are on the run!

Good luck with your claim.

[Tim Dunlop]

Hi there,

 

Letter before action posted recorded delivery this morning.

Given them 14 days from today. Deadline is 12th April 2006.

 

I await there response.

 

Regards

 

Tim

[Tim Dunlop]

Morning all,

 

Just had todays mail and still no reply from the Abbey.

I had given them until 12th April to reply, so unless a cheque for my refund appears in tomorrows post (what do you reckon are the chances of that !!!), I will begin filing my claim tomorrow.

 

Regards

 

Tim Dunlop