bnoc v smile - confused with interest **WON**

[bnoc]

Hello all,

 

Today I received two very large brown envelopes full of statements, first stage complete

 

I am now somewhat confused on a couple of issues:

1. How does one calculate the proportion of the monthly overdraft interest charged by the bank as a direct result of the unfair charges as opposed to the existing overdrawn proportion of your account?
   
2. Aside from Charges I have found 'Fees' and 'Commission', I am struggling to investigate the fairness of these charges because the customer notepad sent to me by smile is written in the same language that youngsters of today use when sending text messages and aren't all in chronological order.

Any advise on these matters? Aside from these issues I have so far found £687.50 in 'service' and 'daily' charges which I intend to write to smile requesting repayment of.

 

Cheers in advance,

 

bnoc

[bnoc]

Replying to my own thread, strange.

 

I'm sending off my preliminary letter, I have opted to ignore the interest as it is proportionally bound to be aa much smaller figure which I can live without. As to the 'fees' and 'commission', as I am unable to adduce whether they are fair charges I have simply included them all with a view to allowing smile to refute individual items on my schedule if they believe them to be fair.

 

I'll keep you all up to speed on developments.

[glynisd]

Good luck! So far I've found just over £1000 on mine and that's not including the charges they've heaped on during the past month.

 

Let us know how you get on.

 

Glynis

[bnoc]

Right then, I've just received a response to my preliminary letter, but it is a delaying letter so I'll wait for a reasoned response and will come back to let you all know.

[bnoc]

Today marks the 14th day since my preliminary letter. I have prepared and printed my LBA which currently sits on my desk in an envelope, if the postman doesn't bring a response with him this morning then the LBA will be shooting out the door early this afternoon.

[pugsley]

goog luck you do not put interest on at this stage only when you are filing in the claim form and there is a spreadsheet for this @8%

[bnoc]

Cheers for the wish of luck and the advice regarding the 8%.

 

I've done the FAQs to death so haven't included the 8% at this stage, my original confusion was with calculating interest charged on the unlawful fees however this thread has now evolved into an updater of my progress.

 

By way of update - All the postman brought with him today was his usual haul of junkmail, so my LBA has now been sent.

 

Barry

[pugsley]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/7252-new-way-looking-interest.html

 

wow this kind of interest is really an issue that needs clarifying but if I read this thread now I will be on here all night.

 

I've got a student o/d with 0% but i'm still trying for 8% because apparently It's allowed.

[bnoc]

Tick tock, tick tock - 7 days since LBA and no response, I wonder if my postie will bring me any surprises today?

[bnoc]

Well there were no surprises on Wednesday, the postie brought me nothing from Smile.

 

Today however I received the following delaying tactic via the secure message system:

 

"Sorry I haven't been able to respond to your complaint from 18th August.

 

I should be able to send you a full reply before 5th October 2006 but if there are likely to be any more delays, I'll be sure to let you know.

 

Regards

 

Chris Hopkins

 

PS - For full details of our complaints procedures go to http://www.smile.co.u k[url=http://www.smile.co.uk][/url], click on 'talk to us' then click on 'complaints' on the right hand side."

 

I'll be replying by snail-mail to remind them of the timescales I have set and warning them of my intention to stick to those timescales religiously.

 

hopefully not much longer now, fingers crossed!

 

bnoc

[caro]

Thats it. Stick to your timetable. I really think they should be putting more staff on to sort these cases out more quickly.

[bnoc]

Today is the day, I know its still early (8am) but no sign of any money in my account yet. I'll be preparing the next stage today so that if its not all sorted by the close of business I'll be ready to kick off my claim tomorrow morning.

[bnoc]

I thought that in the interests of an easy life I'd give them a call today to remind them that this was the final day during which they could settle before a claim was brought against them.

 

I was advised during the phone call that they proposed to work to the FSA timetable rather than mine. I accepted their right to that view but emphasised that I didn't agree with it. I concluded there is little left to do but to let the courts decide which of us was in the right.

 

Then a number of hours later I received a reminder of their intention to hold out by way of secure message:

 

"I'm sorry you're not happy with us. As we're regulated by the Financial Services Authority we have timescales we must adher to as per the complaints process. We have adhered to these and will respond to you as soon as our investigations are complete.

 

For full details of our complaints procedures go to http://www.smile.co.u k, click on 'talk to us' then click on 'complaints' on the right hand side.

 

Regards

 

Jayne Jones

smile Complaints Team"

 

Oh well. Looks like another claim unless there is some unlikely last minute change of heart in the next few hours.

 

There was me thinking Smile were the best of a bad bunch.

 

Ethical bank? Hogwash!

[closey]

Well I think Smile were the best of a bad bunch and are now the most overwhealmed of a bad bunch. Like Caro said, they really should be employing more staff to deal with this.

[bnoc]

Only just starting my claim today, been busy over the last few days.

 

This seems like an obvious question but are Smile called Smile? Do they have a longer official name which one should use when filing a claim against them?

 

Also, does one use the 'Delf House' address on the claim form?

[notsmilingyet]

I used smile bank to claim against, but co-op is listed in their address anyway so I dont think they'll be any problems with that

[bnoc]

Claim still not submitted, now I know why they are leaving it this late to settle, but I've got a new problem.

 

I'm trying to calculate the 8% but the figure I've come out with at the end of the process seems very high. The total fees amount to around £850 but the 8% amounts to just over £4200! Surely this can't be correct?

 

I've used one of the library spreadsheets and am fairly handy with Excel so I don't think I've made any silly mistakes.

 

Any ideas?

[bnoc]

Hahahahaha - Problem solved, ignore me!

 

Hark at me saying that I'm fairly handy with Excel before spotting the a huge mistake on my maths!

[bnoc]

Right then, claim submitted.

[bnoc]

So I submit my claim and the very next day I receive a secure message offering a full settlement of all the original charges.

 

If I'd been offered this yesterday I'd have been a happy punter but now I've incurred the expense of submitting a claim so will end up out of pocket.

 

I'd appreciate opinions, but my view is that I have no choice now but to hold out for an offer that covers my costs and, for that matter, the 8%.

 

Any advice?

[caro]

It looks like you have given them well in excess of the usual 28 days. I think that you can justifiably refuse it and hold out. I suggest that you write and explain that as they failed to meet your reasonable deadline, that you felt that you had no choice but to submit a claim, incurring additional expense. The choice is yours, but you did warn them, so this time they have to pay the consequences of late payment.

[bnoc]

Here is the letter I sent them yesterday:

"Thank you for your secure message of [date]. Your proposal of refunding £X is welcome and I am happy to accept those amounts as interim payments.

 

My request was for a refund totalling £X, your offer is £20 short of that total and I require you to make that additional refund.

 

As you are aware I have submitted a claim in the County Court, in doing so I have incurred further cost of £X and I require you to compensate me for that cost.

 

In addition to this extra expense I require you to pay interest of 8% per annum in line with s.69 of the County Court Act 1984, for your convenience I attach a schedule of charges with the corresponding figures of interest. Up to and including the day my claim was submitted this figure amounted to £X.

 

In view of the amounts I have outlined I am willing to accept a final additional figure of £X in full and final settlement of this matter. Upon receipt of this figure I will end my claim against your organisation. This offer is on the condition that such payment is made within 7 days of the receipt of this letter.

 

I feel very disappointed that we have got to this stage as I feel I have given your organisation ample time to deal with the matter in hand. You were unsuccessful in meeting the reasonable deadlines I set, I was then prepared to work to your deadlines however you then missed those too. I feel that the additional costs I have incurred are reasonable in the circumstances.

 

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any further information.

 

 

Yours faithfully,

 

bnoc"

 

 

Do you like?

[caro]

I don't really think you can give them a 7 day deadline, as full and final settlement at any time would stop the claim. I do see why you put it in though.

[bnoc]

I don't really think you can give them a 7 day deadline, as full and final settlement at any time would stop the claim. I do see why you put it in though.

 

I'm with you on that one Caro except that my proposed 'full and final offer', if accepted and paid within 7 days, allows them to just pay s.69 interest on my claim up to the date I put in my claim. If they drag their heals on paying up the remaining money then I will chase them for any additional interest that would be accrued between the date of the claim and the date they settle.

 

With me?

[caro]

I see your point but I doubt the difference would be much more than pennies. It's your call, and might focus their attention on your timescale.