cooper v abbey ** WON **

[craigycoops]

hi everyone

what a site

i sent abbey a letter on june 6th asking for my charges for 6 years.

got a reply saying they only have the last 13 or14, but will shortly send the rest which are on microfile.

had these statements come - all in seperate envelopes so i sent them a recorded delivery letter stating the data protection act disclosure request, their 40 days are now up.

do i send them the data protection act non compliance letter and an estimate of my charges +8 per cent, and do i report them to the information commissioner for a breach of the DPA.

any help is greatly accepted and good luck everyone.

[Michael Browne]

do i send them the data protection act non compliance letter and an estimate of my charges +8 per cent, and do i report them to the information commissioner for a breach of the Data Protection Act.

Yes to DPA non compliance letters

Yes to IC

Estimated claims rarely run smoothly, I'd wait for your statements.

8% interest is only added once you file at court

[craigycoops]

thanks for that. will sortc this out today

[craigycoops]

hi everyone, need some advice.

sent my "letter before action" to the lovely Abbey on July 19th( they received on 21st) giving them 14 days to reply. received a letter dated 20th from them with normal rubbish saying i have had all i am entitled to under the data protection act as the other statements are on microfiche.these will be sent to me "in due course".

they said they carried out a full investigation and hope that i feel i have had a fair response to all the issues i raised. they will keep the file open for 8 weeks and if i do not respond they will assume all is ok and close my file.

I intend to take this further and was wondering my next step.

do i give them 14 days for the "letter before action" to end or do i put a claim into my local court. i estimated my claim to be about £4300 but until i receive all my imformation i do not know 100% and will this matter when i file my claim. OR should i do a claim with "moneyclaim" OR moneyclaim and the courts.

please someone help me out!!!!!!!!!

[Seminole]

hi everyone, need some advice.

sent my "letter before action" to the lovely Abbey on July 19th( they received on 21st) giving them 14 days to reply. received a letter dated 20th from them with normal rubbish saying i have had all i am entitled to under the data protection act as the other statements are on microfiche.these will be sent to me "in due course".

they said they carried out a full investigation and hope that i feel i have had a fair response to all the issues i raised. they will keep the file open for 8 weeks and if i do not respond they will assume all is ok and close my file.

I intend to take this further and was wondering my next step.

do i give them 14 days for the "letter before action" to end or do i put a claim into my local court. i estimated my claim to be about £4300 but until i receive all my imformation i do not know 100% and will this matter when i file my claim. OR should i do a claim with "moneyclaim" OR moneyclaim and the courts.

please someone help me out!!!!!!!!!

 

You should wait for the expiry of your LBA deadline before beginning a court claim.

 

What is your estimate based om? I'm not clear from your thread whether they have actually complied with your subject access request.

[craigycoops]

sent my subject access on 6th june and all i got was about 13 statements so as far as i am concerned they have not complied.

filed a complaint tonight with the information commisioner for a breach of dpa.

my estimates are from these statements by basically dividing by 13(statements) and multiplying by 72 (6 years). i told them in my letter before action that it was an estimate based on the info they had sent to me.

so as i sent my lba i will give them to 2nd august and then do a court claim.do i need to go through moneyclaim or straight to my county court or both.

 

thanks

[craigycoops]

hi karnevil

think i will go straight to my county court when lba expires instead of moneyclaim then.

never thought of claiming for non compliance aswell so how do i work out a figure for this

[craigycoops]

when i file my claim with the court, how do i manage with my estimated figures as abbey has not sent my statements apart from the last . also how do i work out the interest they charged my account for these charges compared to the normal interest charged on my account for my overdraft. how do i claim for non compliance.

 

help please i am having a thick day

[craigycoops]

that should read the last 13------sorry

[murphy55]

Hi Craigh.

 

I sent my DPA SAR on the 10th June, so far all I have received is 13 statements same as you. One week before the deadline I sent them a reminder still no statements. I have now sent them the preminarly letter based on estimate same as you and given them 14 days to reply. After 14 days I will send them the LBA letter giving them another 14 days. Then I think you file your claim with Court. Dont forget to put in your letter that if the estimate is lower than the actuall amount, that you will be claiming that back aswell. I paid £1,200 over 14 month so I have put my estimate in at £4,800 for the 6 years.

 

I think all Abbey are doing is a stalling process, They think people will get fed up. Not Likely that's our hard earned cash.

 

Good Luck and keep us updated.

[craigycoops]

thanks for your info.

in my lba to abbey i did state to them that my figures were based on an estimate as they had failed to provide me with 6 years of statements. not heard any more from this lovely bank but will keep you posted

 

craig

[craigycoops]

hi everybody

my lba to abbey is up on august 2nd and today i have received 3 letters from their complaints department saying " sorry you are unhappy" and all that rubbish, and they are investigating but it could take time. All 3 letters were from the same office and with the same date. They even sent me a leaflet telling me how to complain to the financial ombudsman.I am assuming this is a normal letter(s) which they send to people like us so that we think what a great job they are doing looking after us.

WRONG--- if i do not receive my entire 6 years list of statements before Friday then i will be down my local county courts making a claim against them.

AM I DOING THE RIGHT THING HERE OR SHOULD I JUST WAIT. HELP!!!!

[craigycoops]

hi karnevil,

so should i continue with my court action after the lba runs out and where will you file the data protection act non compliance and estimated charges.

sorry for my ignorance

craig

[craigycoops]

hi karnevil, thanks for your reply. the 7 day or court action letter - is this the " particulars of claim" letter in the templates section?

if so and i send it and get no response then how long should i let them go before filing court action?

one more thing i need advice on.

I am claiming an ESTIMATED £4300 from abbey over 6 years. up until january 2006 i had a £2000 overdraft with them which they suddenly dropped to £1200 because i changed almost all my banking to another bank.

I could not pay the shortfall straight away and it was agreed i could pay £100 per month. About may time i managed to pay a lump sum to bring me into my overdraft limit but then they suddenly cancelled my overdraft totally and so leaving me this much to pay off at once.

They agreed to let me have until january 2007 to pay it off and if not they will clamp down hard on me - their words.

My question is this. They have told me that they have informed the credit agencies about this and it could damage my credit rating BUT if they had not put all these charges on my account then i would not of been in this position ( claiming £4300 - £2000 cancelled o/d =£2300 in credit). can i claim against them for affecting my credit rating and demand that they get this rectified.

PLEASE ADVICE ME

[craigycoops]

ok everyone this is where i get serious but need advice as to if i am doing it right.

6 june - sent abbey "data protection act 1998 subject access request" giving 40 days for sending me 6 years of statements.

 

2 July - sent "data protection act disclosure request" cause abbey sent me 13/14 statements and would send the rest on microfilm "in due course"

 

19 July - sent abbey my "letter before action" with my ESTIMATED claim for about £4300

 

i received from them last week a letter saying that they are looking into my "complaint" and would get back to me in due course.

 

obviously they are playing with me so i think it is now time to start court action by sending in my N1 claim form.

 

What i need to know is , should i send this court claim in now or is there another letter i should be sending first?

Can i file my N1 court form based on estimated charges as they have not sent my statements?

do i file for "data protection act non- compliance" on the N1 claim form as well?

do i claim to have my credit rating repaired( please see my above thread) on this N1 form?

do i file this N1 claim at my local court OR the court nearest abbey head office (i think bradford is dealing with my letters) and does anyone know the court's address?

if my claim is for £4300 est. then how much will i have to send in payment to the court to start the case?

what happens next????

 

sorry to ask so many questions but i think i know the answers to some of my questions but would like re-assuring

please be in touch

 

craig

[craigycoops]

thanks for that karnevil it was very helpful.

will read through what i have sent to them

many thanks

 

craig

[craigycoops]

hi karnevil

please tell me if there is a 7 day lba templete for non-compliance.

also, this is my second 14 day lba letter i was thinking of sending to abbey as you suggested as i had not sent a preliminary letter of charges. i have added a couple of sentances from the templete but what do you think before i send it.

 

 

MR.C.C.********

*************

*************

*************

*********

*********

 

Pam Speed

Business Manager

Abbey plc

P.O.Box1109

Bradford

BD1 5ZJ

 

 

6TH AUGUST 2006

 

 

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: 090126-********

 

 

I am very disappointed that you have failed to respond to my previous "letter before action" dated 19th July, 2006.As an act of goodwill i am willing to give you a final 14 days to respond.

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.

 

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 calculated using a monthly average that you have taken £3788.62 plus £555.84 which you have charged in overdraft interest for the sum which you have taken. Total £4344.46. I enclose a schedule of the charges which i am claiming with this letter. Please note due to the failure on your part to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 Subject Access Request within the permitted timescale of 40 days the figures given on the schedule are monthly averages, please see seperate spreadsheet labelled "Monthly Average Bank Charge Calculation" for workings. If you would like to dispute this amount please provide all requested bank statements for the dates shown within 14 days. In their absence i will assume that you accept this figure to be accurate

 

I require repayment in full of this money . If you do not comply fully within 14 days then I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount plus interest plus my costs and without further notice.

 

Furthermore, I shall submit a Consumer Credit Act 1974 complaint to the OFT upon the basis that you have failed to comply with the OFT's direction of 5 April 2006 and are therefore not a 'fit and proper person' to hold a consumer credit licence under the 1974 Act. If you do not understand what this means then seek advice from your legal department.

 

Failure to respond to this letter within 14 days will result in me taking legal action against you with immediate effect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

 

 

 

[name]

 

thanks for any suggestions

 

craig

[craigycoops]

hi just received this letter from abbey. please tell me it is the normal standard letter they send to try to put people off

 

 

-

 

. Abbey

 

Complaints

Abbey

PO Box 5129 Milton Keynes

MK9 2YN

 

Telephone: 08456006014

Facsimile: 0845 6001378

Typetalk: 18001 0845600014

Mr C Cooper

08 August 2006

Our ref: CMS

Abbey Current Account 090126-

Dear Mr Cooper

 

Thank you for your letter dated 19 July 2006, I would apologise for not replying to your letter of the 2 July 2006, however I do not have a copy of this on file. Your letter refers to your bank charges and I am sorry you feel these contravene the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

Having carried out a full investigation, I can assure you the charges do not contravene those regulations and therefore I cannot agree to refund them.

 

I note from our records that your account has been passed to our Debt Management Department and you are currently on a payment agreement scheme. If you wish to discuss this, you can contact them on 0845 603 9035

The regulations say that we must explain our charges in plain language and that we have to act in good faith, which, according to the Office of Fair Trading, means dealing fairly and openly with customers.

I therefore reviewed the literature and information you received when you opened your account, including the terms and conditions. This explains that charges will be applied if you do not keep to the terms of the account. Because of this, I believe we have been fair and open in telling you about them.

We also did our best to make you aware of the importance of managing your account to prevent the situation happening again. I am sorry that, because of this, I cannot agree to cancel these charges.

I am confident that I have been fair and have taken into account all the points you made in your letter, but if you have any additional points that you would like to discuss, please call 0845 600 601. I have enclosed a leaflet about the Financial Ombudsman Service, in case you are not happy with my investigation or decision. If so, you should contact them within six months of the date of this letter, enclosing a copy of it, as they would need this for their investigation.

Yours sincerely r.

. Martin Oliver

Senior Customer Resolutions Ma

 

i have a letter from the information Commissioner's Office to follow

[boatgirl]

pretty standard stuff, their "thanks but no thanks" response. Carry on as per the normal timeline

[craigycoops]

hi

is this also a standard letter i have recieved off the information commissioners office , and i will be sending copies of all the letters that i have recieved off abbey.

 

 

 

Information Commissionar's Offica

 

Promoting public access to official information and protecting your personal information

 

Mr C C Cooper

 

10th August 2006

 

-- ---~

 

Reference: RFA

 

-

 

- - --:

 

------

 

Dear Mr Cooper

 

Request for Assessment - Abbev.

 

Thank you for your complaint form and the further information which we recently received.

 

It is clear from the content of your communication that you believe Abbey have failed to respond to your subject access request in its entirety. It would seem Abbey provided you with 'transactional' data consisting of the most recent account statements over the last 18 months.

I understand that Abbey archive customer account data which is older than 18 months onto microfiche. They have taken the position that their microfiche records are not covered by the Data Protection Act 1998 and therefore are not caught by the subject access provisions of the Act. However, Abbey do appear to be providing this information to their customers albeit outside of the required 40 day time limit.

We have been in contact with Abbey regarding this issue and have been invited to visit their premises on Wednesday 6 th September 2006 with the intention of resolving the matter. The Information Commissioner has assigned a team of three people to inspect Abbey's microfiche records to determine whether or not they fall under the scope of the Act.

I will write to you once again week commencing Monday 11 th September 2006 to notify you of the outcome of this meeting and our position on the matter. In the meantime, I would be grateful if you could forward copies of any relevant correspondence you have received from Abbey in relation to this matter.

I would like to thank you for your continued patience during the interim.

 

Yours sincerely

 

matthew negus

casework & advice officer

[craigycoops]

thanks boatgirl

just needed re-assuring

the 7 day lba for non-compliance is almost up so i will be filing that claim this week

[CrispDust]

I'm sorry but am I being stupid here or what? Where is the arguement? Abbey hold personal data on you and your financial details. Period.

The crux is its data held, NOT the method Abbey choose to store it that is relevant.

I really can't see what problem the IC (or Abbey) have with this basic and fundamental point?

I hope this matter is being pushed by those currently in communication with the IC.

[craigycoops]

hi

finally after 10 weeks abbey have now sent my entire 6 years of transactions.

now i just have to work out my charges + interest and then i will be putting in a claim through the courts.

[craigycoops]

hi

the time has come for me to file my N1 form against the abbey for just over £4000.

is it best to do this at my local court or through moneyclaim?

please help

 

craig

[craigycoops]

decided to file my claim through moneyclaim as will save time by not travelling to courts but have a few questions that need answering please.

do i put abbey's address as prescott street, london as bradford is dealing with me?

what should i put in the "brief details of claim" and "value" boxes? i am asking to have my adverse credit history repaired by them, should that be put in these boxes? they have not defaulted me but as i am paying my now unauthorised overdraft it is being noted on my credit file- their words.

the amount claimed is just charges - no interest yet?

am i making a mistake by going through money claim or should i go to my court?

if going through moneyclaim do i have to send my spreadsheet of charges to abbey as they only had my estimate before but now i have my 6 years statements i know my correct amount?

 

sorry for so many questions but i think this is where it gets serious and i dont want to make mistakes.

 

hope someone can help with these.

 

many many thanks everyone

 

craig