kingo1979 V HSBC **WON**

[kingo1979]

Hi all,

 

First post on here. After reading Martin's article I have decided to go ahead and try to claim back around £260 that I have been charged by HSBC over the last six years. I am planning to open up another current account in case they close my account before I go ahead, but am a bit concerned that they might say I have to pay back my Personal Loan I have with them (around £8500) as well.

 

I was wondering if anyone knows

 

a) could they do this legally?

b) are they likely to do it (has anyone heard of any other similar situations)?

 

If it was likely that they would do this, I would assume the only way round it would be switching my loan to another provider before starting the reclaiming process...... any other ideas?

 

thanks

 

Kingo

[markd]

If you're up to date on the loan payments then I don't think they are able to do this to you. I think they have done this to one or two people, but that seems to have been when payments haven't been made or if that person has claimed more than once on the same account. It might be worth checking what other lenders can offer you just in case, but I think you should be ok, but then HSBC don't appear to be the most clued up people in town!!

[damoven]

Hi there.

 

HSBC recently closed my current account stating it was not commercially viable to allow me to bank with them. I was worried because i have a graduate loan with them but the woman i spoke to in my local branch said that they won't cancel the loan account and they can't cancel something like that and make me pay it back all at once, so I am guessing it's the same situation for a personal loan. Worth calling into your local branch and asking them for clarification though.

[ReverendBlackGrape]

I'm in a similar situation. I have a consolidation loan with HSBC, I pay back £150 a month, Hopefully they won't expect the loan to be paid in full!

[Jfd100]

Any personal loan will be goverened by the Consumer Credit Act, providing you are up to date with payments they should not be able to make you repay early. Check the loan agreement you signed. It will cover when they can demand payment.

[sarey331]

as i understand it, they cant make you repay the loan, but i think that i read they are entitled to offset any money refunded to you against that loan. (anyone know any more about this?)

i was concerned about this too, so i stipulated i would only accept payment by cheque because if you request it they legally have to comply.

[kingo1979]

Hi all,

 

Well, I finally got round to sending the preliminary request for repayment nearly 2 weeks ago, and haven't heard anything back yet, so looks like I will be sending the LBA on Monday. I just have a couple of questions I'm hoping some people on here might be able to clear up:

 

1) I'm a bit concerned though that I didn't send the letter recorded delivery - it seems like everyone else on here has been doing that, and I'm wondering if a) they didn't get it, or b) they're going to pretend they didn't get it. Do people think I should stick to the schedule and send the LBA, or start over again and send the preliminary request recorded delivery?

 

2) I've actually incurred another £17 charge since I sent the preliminary request. If I go ahead and send the LBA can I just add this onto the schedule of charges?

 

thanks in advance for your help.

[Guest bong]

Hi Kingo, don't worry about not sending it recorded, its not necessary, the courts don't use recorded delivery. If you want peace of mind next time use it for your LBA. Include the £17 charge in the LBA, and send an up-to-date schedule with your letter.

[wimpawipa]

Hi there Kingo. I sent my prelim recorded delivery. They ignored it. I wouldn't worry about it. I only had a responce after LBA. I sent that 1st class. Then they left it close to the end of 14 days. They made me an offer, £170 short of the £1790 I was asking for. They told me that they believed they would win if I didn,t accept and took them to court. I laughed at this, because the letter is what people said it would say. I accepted as a part payment. They have till the 25th to reply. Good look.

[kingo1979]

does anyone have any suggestions as to the best place to send the LBA? I sent the preliminary request to:

 

Mr Alan Pretty

Senior Service Quality Officer

HSBC Bank Plc

Arlington Business Centre

Millshaw Park Lane

Leeds

LS11 0PP

 

should I send the LBA to the same address or to the Canada Square head office?

[Guest bong]

The Leeds address is fine and you need to be consistent here aswell.

[kingo1979]

thanks for all your advice so far. questions, questions, always more questions....

 

the LBA is going out tomorrow - I have just realised that the £17 charge I have incurred recently will not be applied until about five days after I have sent the LBA. Should I include it and point out in the letter that it hasn't actually been taken yet, or perhaps suggest that I would like them not to apply this charge in the first place.

 

also, given that I have to assume that this will go to court (although obviously I hope it doesn't), could someone tell me what acts etc I would be claiming under, so that I can familiarise myself with the bits and pieces I might need to produce?

 

thanks again

[Guest bong]

Ask them not to apply it and tell them that if they do you will be claiming it back aswell.

 

Hopefully someone else can advise on the other part of your question. All the best!

[kingo1979]

OK, dunno if I'm just being paranoid now, but there seems to be some confusion as to whether this Alan P®etty guy still works at HSBC, and whether his name's Petty or Pretty.

 

I was going to send my LBA to him today, but the last thing I want is for my prelim and LBA to have been sitting there unopened when I come to file my MCOL. I at least want to give them a chance to offer me a refund before I take it to court!

 

Can anyone advise? has anyone had any correspondence with this guy in the last month or so?

 

thanks

[Guest bong]

Seeing as they haven't replied there wouldn't be any harm in just addressing it as follows:

 

HSBC Bank plc

Service Quality Team

Arlington Business Centre

Millshaw Park Lane

Leeds LS11 0PP

 

That's the office I've been corresponding with. But even if you continued to put Mr Petty's name on the letter someone else would still have to open it if he's left.

[bigboyprice69]

Perhaps the pressure of all these clams got to him!!!!

[kingo1979]

good thinking - thanks bong - you have been most helpful.

[kingo1979]

well, surprise surprise, its 13 days since I sent my LBA and I still haven't heard hide nor hair from them, so here goes with the MCOL.

 

does anyone know what to do about the cost of the MCOL - you can claim this back in the settlement if I understand correctly, so do include the cost of this in the particulars of my claim?

 

also, what's the deal with this Lawpack thing that you can buy? it seems fairly straightforward to submit the MCOL, so is there really any need to buy this if they don't enter a defence?

 

once again, cheers for any pointers.

 

Kingo

[Guest bong]

You probably already know this but you have to give them 14 days to reply to your lba so they could reply tomorrow. not that its likely! anyway, when you fill in the mcol claim screen it works out for you what the court fee is and adds it to your claim. You don't write it in the particulars of claim box.

 

don't know about the lawpack

 

all the best with this

[rcourse]

Hi, I sent my LBA just over 2 weeks ago and just before going further I phoned to ask if they had received my letter and was informed that they would be responding within the next couple of days. Sure enough I received a letter today offering me £1200.00 which is £170.00 short of my request. It may be worth checking before you go further.

[kingo1979]

yeah i'll def give them a ring then just to check.

 

i'll keep you posted!

[kingo1979]

by the way rcourse - are you accepting?!

[kingo1979]

Well, I'm glad I didn't jump the gun, cos I got in today and there was a offer for £293 sitting on the doormat! GET IN!!!!

 

The only downside is that they didn't include the £17 charge that they applied after the LBA was sent (there was a message online saying they were going to take it, but it hadn't actually been applied at the time).

 

But I'm happy with the offer though, as it was for the full amount that I originally claimed for - 2 weeks to the day after the LBA was sent, for anyone who's interested. I might give them a call about the £17 before I send the acceptance though - just for good measure.

 

Thanks to everyone on this site - the FAQs are wicked and make it really easy - and a particular biggup to people who helped me out in this thread! I will definitely be making a donation to the site - and using the rest to pay for my holiday!

 

Anyway, good luck to everyone else who's sticking it to the man!!!!

 

Kingo

[Guest bong]

great news kingo - well done. enjoy the holiday!

[kingo1979]

does anyone know how to change the title of this thread? i thought I'd done it, but it only seems to have changed it when you go into the thread.