Charges from Abbey!!!

[Lousalo]

HELP!

We are having money problems at the moment (husband is self employed and didn't get a wage in April, thus knocking our finances out for a month, and finding it hard to keep up).

I have been through our statements from Dec 05 (we're with Abbey!), and have calculated that they have charged us £1640 in charges since then.

I did speak to someone in July and told them that these charges are unfair and all they gave us was a measley £50 refund!!!

I had a look through the threads and have sent them the first letter stating the charges they have entered on our account and that I am giving them 14 days since the date of the letter (dated 1st August) to reply. Well, they have 3 days left and I haven't received anything from them. Also, I mentioned on the letter that I have had my account with them for over 20 years, and up until now, we have had no problems with them.

Also, since sending the letter, we have received the new statement showing that they want to charge us £765 at the end of August for unpaid DD's etc. aswell!!!

They have really put us in dire straits, considering the month before was over £500 charges, and the month before that was over £400! All this money was to go towards paying bills which are now behind, and am now receiving letters chasing for payments on.

My husband spoke to them 2 wks ago because their charges took us over our agreed OD, and the only way they say that could help is if we sent back out debit cards and cheque books and they would issue us with a cash card each.

We've done that now, but am annoyed because I can no longer make payments with cheques and everything has to be done by either DD or cash! I even spoke to them today and asked if we could have our cheque books back without a guarantee card, in order for me to be able to pay bills by cheque, they refused saying that we've been over our OD too many times in the last 4 mths, I explained that they put us in that situation because of their charges!!!

I will now send them the 2nd letter on Monday if I don't receive a reply by then.

Is there anything else you can suggest please? Can you pls confirm which 2nd letter I need to send pls? Also, I'm not sure if I may have mucked it up a little bit, because I addressed the letter and envelope to Prescot Street, but we handed it into our local branch, and my husband said that an account manager needs to see it, rather than sending it to Prescot Street. Should I send the next letter to our local branch, or send it to Milton Keynes (Customer Satisfaction Centre)?

[welly]

Hi

 

Did you send the Prelim letter and if you did the next one is the LBA (Letter Before Action) and good old SHAbbey:( also all the contact details for SHAbbey are at the top of this forum:)

 

All the letters are in the Library here:http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/

 

And read the FAQ's and step by step (this will show you what to do and when)

Print this if it helps;)

 

Welly:)

[Lousalo]

Hi Welly

 

Many thanks for your help. Will look at sending the 2nd one on Tuesday. Wish me luck! LOL

 

Lisa

[angelinsane]

Hi all

 

I have been given the run around from abbey after sending the initial letter requesting my charges back, with the letters saying they would be in touch after 4 weeks blah blah.

 

I then sent the letter threatening to take them to court giving them 14 days to comply.. they have paid £105 into my account (within the time specified)as a good will gesture, which they informed me of in writing the day after they paid it in, so I had no idea where the extra money had came from!!

 

I am claiming £940 in total. I had some statements at home from 2004/5 so I added up the charges on those alone. Trouble is £80 of those were refunded charges which I included anyway as I reckon over the years they must owe me a lot more than £940. My friend had told me you could just submit an estimate so I thought this would be fine. She is with the RBS and they paid up £3k+ when she threatened them with court action over the phone.

 

Thing is now if I need to take them to court do I need to produce the statements and list of charges/dates?

 

If so I only have ones proving they owe me £860, can I still pursue this. I have read cases being thrown out of court with ppl asking for a different amount.

 

Is it worth asking for a settlement figure? I would settle for a few hundred less if its the only route I can take.

 

I'm not sure what I should do next :?

 

Can anyone help?

[noobrider]

You will need the statements to prove your case so it needs to be acurate.Have you submitted a subject access request to get all of your statements? Once you know all the amounts complete the spreadsheet and this will also help your claim along nicely. Have a good read through the FAQ's so that you fully understand. This will also give you a step by step guide as to how to proceed and what to expect

[angelinsane]

hey thanks for getting back so quickly.

 

I didnt request all my statements. I have enough to prove the £860 of the claim - can I change the amount at this stage? I am worried as I have read about claims being thrown out of court due to the amount being claimed changing.

 

Can I request statements at this stage? My friend just estimated hers and RBS settled no problem so I just followed suit. I just thought if they have added up what they actually owe me they will realise it is a lot more than I am claiming back, so I thought they would be more than happy to settle.

 

I have submitted the letter requesting £940.. they sent the typical response that they would be in touch in 4 weeks, then did the same again at which point I issued them with the letter threatening court action, giving them 14 days to respond. After a week they refunded £105 as a good will gesture. They sent the letter next day telling me if they do not hear from me within 8 weeks they will close the complaint.

[angelinsane]

oops sorry Lousalo not too sure how this all works.. seems I may have crashed your thread.. a thousand apologies..

 

ax