Debhen -v- Barclaycard

[debhen]

Hi

 

Sorry if this is in the wrong place but this is my first post and my problem bears some relevance to this thread so please bear with me.

 

Some years ago I had a Barclaycard account but in October 2003 we suffered a devastating house fire and literally lost everything we owned - just left with the clothes we were wearing. The insurance claim was only finally settled this year and as a consequence we have run into serious debt. Barclaycard were very unhelpful during the period after the fire and added penalty charges, late fees etc and the account was eventually defaulted as I could not afford to pay the sums demanded. Eventually the account was passed to Mercers and they supposedly froze the interest, stating they would take payments of £22 monthly. The account was defaulted in late 2004/early 2005.

 

I sent a CCA and SAR request to Mercers which they totally ignored and after chasing them about this and receiving no acknowledgement to any letters I eventually stopped paying them in total frustration, hoping they would then respond to my requests. They did not and I heard very little more from them. I have had a couple of threatening contacts since then, once from a DCA (cannot recall the name) but I ignored them and heard nothing more.

 

Out of the blue on Saturday 10th October I received a letter from Barclaycard as follows:

 

Dear..

 

Set off amount £100.06

 

We are writing to advise you that we have carried out our legal right to set off part of the outstanding balance owing on your Barclaycard account against the credit balance in your Barclays account.

 

Barclaycard is the trading name of the credit card business of Barclays Bank plc. As your other account is also held with Barclays Bank plc we are able to apply funds from this account to repay the debt owed on your Barclaycard.

 

However, there is still a balance outstanding on your account and we request that you contact us as soon as possible to discuss repayment. Once the debt is paid in full we will update the records held by the Credit Reference Agencies to reflect this.

 

 

However, my Barclays current account is always overdrawn, ie has a debit balance but the letter clearly states they took the payment of £100.06 from a credit balance. I also have a Barclays savings account which had a credit balance of £200 (saving for a boiler as no heating at present). On checking I have found that Barclaycard took £100.06 from my savings account on 5th October and put it into my current account which still left the current account with an overdrawn balance. They then took £100.06 from the current account (ie increased my overdraft) on the same day. Therefore their letter stating they took funds from my credit balance is incorrect, as they took it from a debit balance and increased my overdraft balance.

 

• Can Barclaycard take set off payments from a debit balance, particularly since their letter states they took it from a credit balance?
  
• Can they take payments at all when an account is in dispute?
  
• If they take a payment in this way do they not have to state why they took the figure they did? The last payment agreed was for £22 monthly.
  

I am very angry that when an account is in serious dispute Barclaycard can simply ignore that dispute and plunder my accounts, particularly by increasing my overdraft. It makes a mockery of requesting documents through the CCA and SAR process if they can just take my money anyway.

 

Any advice would be very gratefully received.

 

Many thanks

[slick132]

Hi Debhen,

 

I've moved your post into your own thread to avoid hijacking.

 

When you accounts within the same bank group (Barclays PLC), you are at risk of their "Right to Set Off".

 

From what you say, they've taken the money from savings, transferred it to your current a/c and then sent it off to pay BC. This is very annoying although I don't see how they've "increased your overdraft" as you say. More importantly, I don't know if you'll be able to get the transaction reversed.

 

You could write a stiff letter of complaint to Barclays HO pointing out that the BC a/c is In Dispute and they had no right to take payment.

 

The letter would read:-

 

Dear sir or madam,

BC Account No: xxxx xxxx

I refer to your letter of xxdate telling me you've taken £100.06 from my bank account no. xxxx xxxx and credited it to my BC account.

I must now refer you to my letters of xxdate, xxdate and xxdate (copies enclosed for your attention). These included a CCA request, a SAR request and other letters concerning the Barclaycard which was clearly In Dispute.

You have failed to properly respond to my requests and I had every right, in the circumstances, to withold payment on the disputed Barclaycard. My rights in this matter are clearly set out in the CCA 1974.

I require that you refund to my savings account the sum taken within 7 days. Failing this, a formal complaint will be lodged with the FOS.

Kindly respond to my CCA request and SAR as required, or these failings will also be reported as necessary.

Yours faithfully,

Send to Barclays HO by Recorded Delivery and see what comes back.

 

I think you should consider this as a lesson learned and take action to avoid it recurring. Is it possible to open an a/c elsewhere outside the Barclays Group. I realise this may not be easy if the main a/c is overdrawn.

[debhen]

Hi Slick

 

Many thanks for your reply.

 

I said they 'increased my overdraft' as the overdraft balance in my current account immediately prior to them taking the payment would have been increased by them taking the money, eg 200 OD became 300.06 OD. I accept that they had already taken the funds from my savings account without my permission and placed them into the current account, but that still left the balance immediately after the sum was taken as greater than prior to it being taken.

 

More serious is their statement that the set off sum was taken from a credit balance which it was not. When they finally took the payment after transferring my money it was taken from an account which had a debit balance.

 

I have now removed all remaining funds from the savings account and closed the account but am furious that they can ignore all contact from me but plundered the account as they did. If they are able to do this I do not understand why they did not do it before handing the account to Mercers and indeed, if they can legally do this, they can then simply ignore all requests for documentation via the CCA and SAR route and so I simply have no redress or rights to obtain information about my account and identify the sum that I genuinely and rightfully owe them which is what I have been trying to do.

 

I am so frustrated. Thanks, rant over.

[slick132]

Hi Debhen,

 

I see the point you're making but hopefully you can also see mine. There wasn't a net increase in the current a/c overdraft as they paid funds were balanced by the transfer in from the deposit a/c.

 

However, this is not as important as the fact that they took they money when the a/c was in dispute. They shouldn't have done this, nor should they have ignored your previous letters.

 

The way forward is to complain as I suggested and get them to acknowledge that you sent the CCA request and the SAR.

 

Whether you get them to refund the £100.06 will depend on how far you are willing to pursue the matter but it's going to take time and effort.

 

You could spend your time more wisely seeking a refund of all penalty charges on the a/c and seek restitutional interest at BC's contractual rate.

 

Hit them where it hurts.