GaryH vs HSBC - WON !! including CONTRACTUAL INTEREST

[GaryH]

Hi HSBC forum,

 

Has anyone got a telephone number for this shower of s***e?

 

My DPAR deadline passed without even an acknowledgement on the 11th of August, dispite a reminder. I've issued them with a strongly worded LBA saying if I have'nt received the info in full by Monday 28th I'll be filing a county court action under section 7 and 15(a) of the D.P.A.

 

I fully intend to carry this through if need be, but I've got a feeling the dimwits might be sending stuff to my old address - dispite the fact that my new one is at the top of every letter and the DPAR said in bold type "Please note my address has changed since I closed my accounts...."etc, etc. So if anyones got a relevant telephone number that I can chase this up on, I would be most grateful.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Gary

[markd]

Hi Gary,

 

Telephone numbers I have for Leeds customer service team are:

0800 88 11 55 or 01226 261020

 

Hope these are of use!!

[GaryH]

Excellant! Thank you for those, I'll try them this morning.

[GaryH]

Well, I EVENTUALLY got my statements!!! They were sent to my local branch and I received them on the 29th August. Turns out it was just as I thought - they were sending them to my old address. Seemingly nobody at HSBC is able to read, which is quite surprising really. Still have'nt got my CC one's though, but Mr Shephard assures me they are on there way. Will I hold my breath? er........ no.

 

Anyway, I added the charges up from my currant account statements and it added up to £622.50. However, after reading the threads on the subject in the general forum, I have also decided to claim for interest at the contractual rate at the time my account was open - 18.3%. This takes my claim up to £1201.73. I feel fully justified in claiming this as its the rate WE are charged for borrowing from them, so why should'nt it work both ways? For further information on claiming the contractual rate of interest, see the 'General' forum.

 

HAS ANYONE ELSE CLAIMED CONTRACTUAL INTEREST FROM HSBC? Your experiances/thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Oh, and I sent off the prelim on the 30th of August, BTW (no response yet - probably still recovering from shock after seeing the interest column on my spredsheet:D )

 

I'll keep you posted!

[GaryH]

This lot really are morons.

 

After waiting nearly 3 months for my DPAR to be complied with, I yesterday received my 3rd!!!(yes, 3rd!!!) set of current account statements! Also, in between, I received this totally random letter from Ian Shepherd saying something like "we note you do not want copy statements but unfortunately this is all we are able to provide, I have therefore requested copy statements are ordered for all your accounts, including your credit card"

 

WTF!!!!!!

 

I never said I did'nt want copy statements! and I still have'nt received my CC statements. FOOLS!

[Riflez]

Is this normal now? im 31 days into them having my DPA request and nothing...I assume it buys them 2 months

[GaryH]

Riflez,

 

The thing is, from what I can gather, they are usually pretty good with Data Protection Act compliance. My bro got his after 2 weeks! Thing was with mine, was that my account has been closed for about 4 years and my address has since changed - so they sent them to my old house. This was dispite the fact that my S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) clearly stated this. Then, as the account was closed and I did'nt have a clue what my old security number was, they could'nt/would'nt give me any information over the phone. It took the threat of a summons to sort the whole thing out in the end.

 

You may want to give them a ring on the number above (markd's post) to see whats happened to yours. Heres my Data Protection Act non-compliance letters, if you think they are of use, feel free to use part/all however you see fit:

 

Heres the 'gental nudge' (yes, in case you wondered my tongue was firmly lodged against my cheek when I wrote the second paragraph:D )

 

------------------------

 

(YOUR ADDRESS)

 

 

 

(THEIR ADDRESS)

 

 

(DATE)

 

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: **********

 

You have, to date, failed to comply with my Data Protection Act 1998 Subject Access Request. This request, dated (**/**/**), was sent to (THE ADDRESS YOU SENT IT) by first class (recorded) delivery on (**/**/**), along with a cheque for the statutory maximum fee of £10. Please find a copy of the Subject Access Request enclosed with this letter (along with a copy of the proof of postage).

 

The 40 days allowed for compliance will expire on (**/**/**). As a reputable and esteemed organisation, I trust that you take your legal responsibilities seriously and that you intend to fully honour your obligation to provide me with the information that I have requested, within the required period.

 

However, I wish to make clear that should you fail to comply, or fail to comply in full, I will seek a court order under section 7 and 15(2) of the Data Protection Act 1998, obliging you to do so, together with damages at the discretion of the court. Furthermore, I will file an official complaint with the Office of the Information Commissioner, as well as the Financial Services Authority.

 

 

 

Yours Faithfully

 

 

 

 

 

(YOU)

 

 

------------------------

 

Heres the letter before action. As with both of these letters, only send if you are prepared to carry the court threat through!

 

 

------------------------

 

(YOUR ADDRESS)

 

 

 

(BANKS D.P.A ADDRESS)

 

 

 

(DATE)

 

 

 

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

 

 

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: ****************

 

You have failed to comply with my Data Protection Act 1998 Subject Access Request. This request, dated (**/**/**), was sent to you by first class recorded delivery on (**/**/**), along with a postal order for the statutory maximum fee of £10. Please find a copy of the Subject Access Request enclosed with this letter, along with a copy of the proof of postage. A copy of this was also enclosed within the letter of reminder I sent to your department dated (**/**/**)

The 40 day’s allowed for compliance expired on (**/**/**), and you are now in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998.

 

I require this information to be furnished immediately. If you have not complied IN FULL within 7 days of the date of this letter, I will file a County Court action under Section 7 and 15(2) of the Data Protection Act 1998 at 10am on the morning of (**/**/**)

 

Furthermore, I will file an official complaint with the Office of the Information Commissioner, as well as the Financial Services Authority.

 

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

 

 

 

(YOU)

 

--------------------------

 

 

I hope these help and good luck with your claim - don't take no s**t!

[GaryH]

Received a letter from Colin Langdale today, offering £530. He does'nt even acknowledge the contractual interest included in the total, instead only refurring to my claim as the £622.50 in charges. As if!

 

Also, the letter states that the charges are a service. How long have HSBC been taking that line? I thought it was only Lloyds who tried on that load of old claptrap. Still, its fine by me, that defence is even more easy to disprove IMO, and the courts are well aware of the 'cloaking' stratagy anyway.

 

Have HSBC's solicitors ever actually got to the stage of issueing a defence yet? If so, I'd love to see a copy if poss. Cheers!

[GaryH]

Anyone? I would'nt mind a little bit of info on HSBC's line of defence, if anyone can help. Thanks.

[traceyrmj]

my statements turned up fairly rapidly actually, abotu 12 days in, have sent the prelim so we shall see where you get with that but i also got the "you said you didnt want staments but that is all we are able to provide you with" erm what letter was he reading?

[GaryH]

SETTLED IN FULL!!!!!

 

Yep, the lot, including contractual interest at the rate of 18.3% compounded. Received a cheque this morning for £1618.58 - only a day after the settlement letter!

 

For anyone claiming contractual interest though, you do need a bit of persistance. I refused three offers in all, one directly from the bank before I filed of around £500, one from DG nearly 2 weeks ago for £900, then another apparently final offer of £1100 just under a week ago. Obviously I refused each one, and to be honest I was half expecting to have to go to court. But no, a letter from DG came through yesterday with an offer of full settlement! No confidentiality either, I'd already told them I would'nt agree to that. Heres the letter in case anyones interested;

 

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

 

Dear Sir

GaryH -v- HSBC Bank pic Claim Number: *****

th

We acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 6 November 2006.

Within your claim you seek to include contractual interest at 18.3% but do not provide the basis upon which this percentage is applied.(I did actually!) In addition, within your particulars of claim you seek interest in the alternative at the rate of 8% per annum.(that was for the courts discretion, not yours) The offer made to you of £1,109.38 was calculated upon the basis that you would be entitled, subject to your claim being successful, to statutory interest at the rate of 8% per annum in accordance with Section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984.

However, and in an effort to bring this matter to a conclusion, in accordance with your letter dated 6th November 2006, we have instructed our client to issue a cheque to you in the sum of £1,618.58. Our client informs us that you may expect to receive the cheque within the next 7-10 working days. (bonus - got it the next day!)

May we ask, upon receipt of the cheque, that you write to the Court and confirm that this matter has been settled. Please also send a copy of your letter to the Court to us in order that we may write to the Court in a similar manner.

Yours faithfully

 

10% donation is on the way to this great site - without whom none of this would have been possible.

[Guest bong]

fantastic news Gary!

 

Can I ask where you got the rate from? Because I am planning on using 15.9% their standard overdraft rate.

 

well done for persisting!

[GaryH]

Thanks Bong.

 

Its an old account, I closed it back in 2002, so I used the standard OD rate that was in effect when it was open.

[Guest bong]

ok...

 

did your claim include charges older than 6 years?

[GaryH]

No. I only opened the account in 2000, so the first charges just creeped inside the 6 year threshold.

[icklepeach]

*applauds*

 

Hi Gary,

 

What made you decide to claim contractual interest on this one, but not on the others?? I am considering claiming contractual interest against RBoS because their rate (which I have been subject to) is 29.85% So I read your thread with interest! Our claim without charges is probably going to be over £5000 so we'll have to file with big court anyway, so we have nothing to lose.

 

Congrats

 

iPeach

[GiveMeMyCash]

Hi Gary

 

First Congrats on your win, I just about to start my battle with HSBC, my question is concerning how much you claimed, iv sent you a PM.

 

Cheers

Jmmy

[doryphor]

This is very reassuring. HSBC have until next Wednesday to enter a defence, and I am also claiming contractual compounded interest, but at 15.9%. The only difference is that with mine my account was opened before 1995, so had to leave the UTCCR bit out of my particulars of claim.

 

I'm a bit concerned as I have received no contact from HSBC AT ALL! Not a sniff, so if they wait until Tuesday to enter a defence, I'll be a mite miffed - hoping it'll default, lol.

 

Still, it's all a waiting game, isn't it? It's like those staring contests you had as a kid - see who would blink first. Only here the bank are holding up fans to try and make your eyes water so your blink lol... Lucky for us we have a barrier to stop that - this website!

 

Congrats Gary, I hope to join you for a celebratory e-drink shortly!