Bank Accounts + CCA any updates??

[mothsinmywallet]

Hi all,

 

Been searching the "net" and cant find any recent posts about overdrafts and whether this credit facility is covered by the CCA? I found a post back in March this year which said there was a possibility but nothing from there. Can anyone shed any light?

 

Has a letter from Abbey today to say they have sold debt to good ol' Robinson Way. I've already sent them packing a couple of weeks back on a Barclaycard debt. Any advice greatfully appreciated.

[fedup74]

Hi mothsinmywallet (great name:D) Unfortunately as far as I am aware an overdraft is not covered by the CCA 1974. Is there any charges on the account?

[Pinky69]

Section 74 (1) (b) of the CCA 1974 exludes overdrafts from being regarded as credit agreements. This is because only one side "agrees" - the bank - and the conditions and terms are imposed on you. Nevertheless, they must be able to prove they sent you a copy of the overdraft limit and interest rate. This can be easily done as they can draw one up at any time and say it was sent to you. The only thing that can be done with overdrafts is to SAR the original creditor and claim back any excessive charges.

[mothsinmywallet]

Cheers fedup74 and pinky69, Im unsure to be honest. Most likely will be. I haven't kept an eye on the recent developments with bank charges as Abbey initially passed debt to Westcot a couple of years back and recalled it from them for a reason I dont know. Then out of the blue 1 1/2 years later they have passed it to Robinson Way. They clearly state in the letter (on Abbey letterhead) that they have sold the debt to RW and they will contact me shortly. With the fact that they have bought the debt will this affect any claim for charges??

[fedup74]

SAR Abbey this will tell you if they have added charges on the account. You should be able to claim them back still, could you go down the hardship route?

[mothsinmywallet]

I have got a feeling the hardship case will fall on deaf ears. Yes we do live on the borderline and have a strong case but the letter Abbey sent clearly states that they have washed their hands of the debt and anything from now on will be with RW. They will most likely say speak to RW - the debt is £1850. RW probably have bought the debt for less than £100 in todays climate. I'll ponder over the next couple of days what to do next.... Many thanks for the advice.

[fedup74]

Why should you pay RW that amount if a lot of this is charges? I would defo send SAR to see how the amount of charges on there. You could then tell RW that there are unlawful charges on the account and won't be paying them.

[mothsinmywallet]

Lets give it a shot, Im off for next couple of days so will do tomorrow

[ScabHunter]

Newbie A comes on to the CAG. Asks about the CCA request for overdrafts. Gets given the RIGHT answer, that overdrafts only need the one sided "agreement" mentioned by Pinky69 above.

 

So, he does nothing. The DCA enforces the alleged debt, and Newbie A is in trouble.

 

Newbie B comes on to the CAG. Asks the same question. This time an over-enthusiastic Novitiate poster gives the WRONG answer, so Newbie B sends off a CCA request.

 

The DCA makes an "administrative error", and leaves Newbie B alone.

 

Would you rather be the newbie who got the right advice, or the one who got the wrong advice?

 

In case you think this is a purely hypothetical example, I have read threads on this forum where exactly this has happened.

 

It reminds me of the true story of a passenger in a vehicle who fainted at the sight of a man lying in a pool of blood under another vehicle. When the driver got closer to the scene, he found a mechanic lying on a red carpet working on the underside of his vehicle. Often, the perception of reality can have a greater bearing on the outcome of a situation than the reality itself.

 

SH

[rory32]

I would tend to agree with SH.

 

While overdrafts have part V exemption from the Act (form and content) they are not exempt from the Act and a copy of the agreement still needs to be sent. A more savvy DCA will pick up on the fact that the copy of the agreement would only be a letter from the bank and your CCA request won't bother them in the least (as the overdraft doesn't really fall under s78 ). A less savvy DCA may however just return the account to the creditor. So for the sake of a quid and getting RW out of your life it's probably worth a try.

[Helenatroy]

I had an Abbey overdraft which was bought by a DCA.

 

I cca'd the dca - and after several months they sent me a copy of the bank account application form.

 

Included on the Abbey bank account application form, there were two boxes - tick 'yes' if you want an overdraft - tick 'no' if you don't want an overdraft.

 

I had ticked 'no'

(Therefore the authorised overdraft that I did have on that account was obviously given at a later date)

 

So, I wrote to DCA saying something along the lines that although overdrafts are partly exempt from whatever law governs CCAs', just sending me the application form wasn't good enough.

I said I want to see bank statements and I want to see something in writing that says I had an overdraft facility with Abbey.

 

That was many months ago and I'm still waiting.

So far at least, my £1 hasn't been wasted.

[42man]

These might be helpful

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/94575-cca-overdrafts-final-word-2.html

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/145092-bank-account-cca.html

[fedup74]

Scabhunter, can I just ask a question? Are you getting at me when you say "An over enthusiastic notivate poster gives the wrong answer so newbie sends off the CCA"? I think I advised OP to send an SAR request, not a CCA to see what charges had been applied. Could you please clarify, cos if this is the case, then maybe I should stop trying to help people

[fiftypence]

I have personal experience of this and the CCA worked for me.

 

I think it will depend on who the DCA is (if they are particularly thick or just lazy it may benefit you) and when the account was first opened and when the OD was added. In my case the account was originally opened many, many years ago and the OD was added around 2001? The default on the OD was around 2003/4. I was sent a stat demand for this debt so I CCA'd them and within 24 hours they and closed the account and returned it to the OC.

 

I think that the CCA route is hit and miss and will depend on some of the circumstances I have mentioned, might be worth a try though.