ladymoonray v Nationwide **WON**

[ladymoonray]

Hi all,

 

At last, my own thread! I don't really have much to say, other than thanks for all the information and encouragement in this forum. I have more than £2000 to claim back from Nationwide, most of which was taken in charges while I was too ill with depression to sort out my finances. I've sent my request for payment, and I'm about to follow it up with a LBA (due 19 July).

 

I'd really like to stay with Nationwide after the charges are sorted out if I can, because aside from the charges issue they've been pretty good to me. If you can call arranging a reducing balance overdraft so I can pay off all their charges being good, that is! Anyway, I'm going to send the suggested side letter with my LBA, pointing out that the FSA takes a dim view of banks closing accounts on the basis of complaints, and asking them not to do it.

 

I might even be prepared to go to court to get an injunction to stop them closing my account, if it came to that. I trained as a lawyer (though I don't practise) so going to court doesn't scare me in the least. I do, however, have a parachute account with NatWest (who have higher charges, but are more sympathetic to those with poor credit ratings). Does anyone know what the latest is on preventing banks closing accounts? I have read a lot of information on the forum, but I can't keep up with absolutely all the threads.

 

[Edit: Found it! http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/nationwide/8541-brand-new-customers-only.html

I'm definitely going to give this a go if it comes down to it. I'll apply to the court for an injunction AND complain to the OFT. I'm quite looking forward to it in a way!]

 

cheers!

 

ladymoonray

 

Nationwide: £2443. Request for payment 4 July 2006. LBA 19 July 2006

Co-operative Bank Visa: £351. Request for payment 22 June, LBA 6 July 2006

MBNA Visa: £476. Request for payment 22 June, LBA 6 July 2006

AA Account with Capital Bank: £80. Request for payment 19 July 2006

Capital One Visa: £160. Request for payment 19 July 2006

Paragon Personal Finance: £120 fees plus £1313.70 early redemption penalty. Request for payment 19 July 2006

Kensington Mortgages: £95. Request for payment 19 July 2006

[dolly]

Good luck! Don't know anyone who has success getting them not to close the account although I haven't tried.

 

I am not sure if I would get your money back first and then apply for the injunction - if you let them know that you are going to do that they could dig their heels in and make things difficult rather than following procedure to the letter as they appear to be at the moment. If you are confident though of going to court then do it!

 

Keep us updated

[ladymoonray]

I am not sure if I would get your money back first and then apply for the injunction - if you let them know that you are going to do that they could dig their heels in and make things difficult rather than following procedure to the letter as they appear to be at the moment. If you are confident though of going to court then do it!

 

Thanks Dolly. I will definitely make sure to get my money back first, though I will send a letter with the LBA stating my intention to take legal action if they try to close my account afterwards. I don't think I'd even have grounds for an injunction unless the bank have stated their intention to close my account, though I could be wrong about that.

[ladymoonray]

Well, I've had no response to my request for payment. So my LBA will be going tomorrow. I've included the note that Bankfodder suggested, about the FSA position on closing accounts. It's on a separate sheet, but I've put the following paragraph at the end of the standard letter:

 

Please also take note of the attached quote from a recent FSA briefing on

account closures and default charges. As I mentioned in my letter of 3

July, I do not want my account with Nationwide to be closed as a result of

my challenging the unlawful charges you have been making. If you do attempt

to close my account following resolution of this matter, I am prepared to

apply for an injunction to prevent you from doing so, and to take whatever

other action is necessary to retain my account with Nationwide.

 

I do realise that I'm risking upsetting them enough to make them fight my claim further than they might have done otherwise, but Nationwide are being so awkward anyway that I'm prepared to risk it. I hope they take it at least as far as making me issue a moneyclaim (which it seems likely they will), I could really do with the extra £550 interest!

 

ladymoonray

 

Nationwide: £2443. Request for payment 4 July 2006. LBA 19 July 2006

Co-operative Bank Visa: £351. Request for payment 22 June, LBA 6 July 2006

MBNA Visa: £476. Request for payment 22 June, LBA 6 July 2006

AA Account with Capital Bank: £80. Request for payment 19 July 2006

Capital One Visa: £160. Request for payment 19 July 2006

Paragon Personal Finance: £120 fees plus £1313.70 early redemption penalty. Request for payment 19 July 2006

Kensington Mortgages: £95. Request for payment 19 July 2006

[ladymoonray]

I put my moneyclaim in last night, having finally scraped together enough money for the court fee.

 

*fingers crossed*

[dolly]

No need to keep your fingers crossed, you'll get that money back no problems.

 

Can you PM a mod with the claim details so it can go in the Litigation In Progress section, please? Or PM me and I will pass it on.

[ladymoonray]

Thanks Dolly, I'd forgotten to send the details to a mod. I've given them to Bankfodder now.

[HKS]

It is a great feeling when the money goes in - will happen to you soon! Keep checking our account.

[ladymoonray]

I've just checked my claim on-line, and apparently it was acknowledged yesterday. Hopefully this means money in my account soon. I'd be ever so grateful if it did, cos my balance is currently £5.31!

[ladymoonray]

Woot! The claim money (almost £2500) has arrived in my bank account!

 

*dances with joy*

 

Thank you so much everyone who's helped, you are brilliant. As soon as I get the interest and costs repaid, I'll be making a nice big donation to the site. Unfortunately the claim money will go straight out of my account again to pay debts, but it's great to get those out of the way nonetheless. Hurrah!

[riggers]

Congratulations!! Well done.

[HKS]

Well done! It is great isn't it. Hopefully they will allow you to keep your account open.

[dolly]

Congratulations

 

If you want to challenge the account closure when you get notification, PM me and I will help you through it.

[ladymoonray]

Thanks Dolly, that would be great. I've discovered that my payments were about £40 short, so I've just e-mailed Mr Bacon to tell him I'm going to apply for judgement in that amount if I don't get it before the 28 days are up. I've also reminded him I'm going to apply for an injunction if they try to close my account; hopefully he will take some notice!

[dolly]

Ok - when you get your account closure letter, PM me and we will go through the injunction details - it will cost you though (court claims, not to me!! )

[ladymoonray]

OK, now I have to make a decision. Nationwide have refunded all my charges after acknowledging my moneyclaim (bar about £42, which I hope to get out of them by requesting judgement in default for that amount). And I've had the inevitable letter telling me they're going to close my account. I don't really mind, as I have a parachute account with Natwest. But I don't think they should be allowed to get away with this, so I'm thinking of going for an injunction against them doing so. The main problem with this is that I'm not exactly a model customer. I've sorted my finances out a lot recently, and I hope to improve even more, but recently I've had one or two charges for declined direct debits etc. per month month. I'm worried this will give them an excuse for closing the account.

 

Can anyone (maybe Dolly?) give me a quick rundown of what's involved with applying for the injunction, and how much it is likely to cost? Does my poor banking record make it less likely the injunction will be granted?

 

Also, I'm not sure whether I should start swapping my direct debits etc. over to my other account. Any advice would be gratefully received.

 

thanks

 

ladymoonray

[dolly]

OK, first do start swapping your DD's over and get your cash out of the Nationwide.

 

Have a read through this post to see how Tobes went about getting an injunction...I do think he gave up though. I have a feeling it costs £150 which you don't get back if you lose

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/nationwide/18262-tobes-injunction-against-nationwide.html

 

If you want to go ahead, we can help you.

[ladymoonray]

Thanks, Dolly. I'm just about to call my local county court and ask them to send me the forms. I'll come back for some advice when I have them.

 

Just to keep the info up to date, the account closure date is 5th October, so I have a little time to sort myself out.

[ladymoonray]

Update on the injunction situation: I decided not to go ahead. I couldn't afford the court fees (all my claim money has gone straight into paying off debts), and I was never going to be a very good test case. I'm hopeless at managing money, despite knowing how I ought to do it, and I'd have hated to spoil things for other people who might have a better case for Nationwide keeping their account open. I am going to take it through the Nationwide complaints system though, and ask the FSA to review the decision - that comes free, and I hope they might get their wrists slapped, at least.

 

I do have one final word of advice on my claim against Nationwide. When they paid my claim, the interest figure was short by about £50. I've spent most of this afternoon on the phone to them, having called this morning and said I was going to continue the claim in court unless they paid up the balance. I told them the court papers were going in today, so they'd better agree it pdq.

 

They did! There are two cheques on the way – two because they only agreed to a lesser amount at first, and I had to argue over the remaining £17! They agreed it in the end though.

 

This will only work if you're 100% certain of your figures. At one point we were going through the schedule line by line, if you can believe that. Make sure you calculate the interest right up to the day they paid you the main claim (type the date in the box at the top of the standard spreadsheet), and then don't let them wiggle out of any of it. Even an afternoon on the phone has to be worth it for £50!

[tracy.hardcastle]

Hi. Congratulations to everyone who has got there money back from Nationwide. Hope someone can help. I have received the full amount back now, £1,600. It went straight into my account then had a letter saying my account is going to close, which is fine. I thought it was all sorted then I had a letter from the courts saying I had to fill in an allocation questionaire and pay £100 for costs. Should I fill this in. Does it mean the bank are now trying to get the money back? If so why did they give me it back in the first place. Hope someone can help. THANKS