Vileda Vs Natwest

[vileda]

Hi all,

 

I was reading this site thinking, "my god I've paid a fortune in the last 14 years that I've had a NatWest account" when bang, a letter charging me £28 for going over limit for 1 day comes through the letterbox.

 

So yesterday 09/09/06 I put this in the post.

 

 

 

Mr Vileda

Chez Vileda

 

 

DATA CONTROLLER

NATIONAL WESTMINSTER BANK

135 BISHOPSGATE

LONDON

EC2M 3UR

 

 

8th September 2006

 

 

Data Protection Act 1998

Subject Access Request

 

 

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

 

[deleted]

 

 

 

Then I realised that I'd asked for 14 years of Statements which made me nearly forget that it cost me almost £5 for a special delivery.

 

I'm thinking that the rest of this should go as follows.

1. Statements received eventually (hopefully in one piece)
   
2. Send a Prelim letter (without interest) to which I'll get a go-away letter
   
3. Send A Letter Before Action (LBA) letter to which they'll do the same
   
4. File a moneyclaim
   
5. Have to repay Overdraft as they'll close my account.(this could apply after point 2 or 3 )
   
6. Natwest submit a Defence
   
7. Reply to non-applicable CPR18 letter
   
8. Wait
   
9. Say thank-you to the money or go to court and read out the statements made in the previous 3 letters

How does that sound?

 

MODERATED: Letter templates are available in the templates library for registered users only - please do not post them here.

[Guest Niklowe]

Sound like you've be doing a lot of essential reading. Thats the way to go.

[barracad]

You sound like you are on the right tracks - have a read around whilst you are waiting for the response to your SAR just to make sure you are 100% prepared.

 

Good luck with your claim.

[laffar]

I think once you've filed your moneyclaim they can't ask for your overdraft to be paid off as the account is in dispute (this maybe the even before moneyclaim). With that said i have NOT seen an example of Natwest asking for overdrafts to be repaid before a settlement.

[vileda]

Oh well, that's one week with no reply.

 

During the last week I've noted that the courts are getting a bit peeved with the banks playing the system.

 

I've also started thinking that as they're playing the game they must know that the charges are unlawful and as such are deliberately trying to mislead people. If this is the case does it then mean that I can ask for more than the 6 years worth back? (sure I read this somewhere but can't find it again)

 

If I was to chance claiming 12 years back (knowing that the last thing the banks want is to go to court) what could be the worst outcome, could the whole claim be thrown out, or would Natwest just cough up rather than going to court?

 

All purely hypothetical q's while I wait for the statements.

 

Vileda.

 

P.S. thanks for a great site

[laffar]

I think you can ask for more than 6 years back. The 6 years only applies to how long they have to hold information on you. Therefore, if you have your statements from 12 years ago you can claim back the charges

[vileda]

Hi again,

 

Just received a call from mrs vileda that my statements from Dec'99 have arrived in a tatty brown Envelope which was splitting under the amount of statements forced into it. As I sent the S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) to Bishopsgate I guess that this is Head Offices preferred method in the hope that the statements will become parted from the envelope thus buying them more time.

 

I was hoping for the other 7 years worth as well but nevermind that'll do for now. I've got enough paperwork to get through to keep me and excel busy for a couple of nights .

[vileda]

Just totted up my charges and from March'01 to now there was £1339 of which most was between Mar'01 and Mar'02.

 

I'm fairly sure of the next steps, (send Prelim Letter, Send LBA etc) however I'm a bit wary about the interest which the spreadsheet is calculating, this looks as though it's going to be huge as I've generally lived in my overdraft for the last 5 years.

 

Can someone confirm that if I had charges of £1100 by date x and my od was less than 1100 since then, then all interest charges would be reclaimable? This is just an example but that's the way I'm reading the spreadsheet.

 

Vileda

[vileda]

Ok.

 

Charges (not AAG) = £1339.00

Int on Charges (not 8%) = £ 319.58

Total = £1658.58

 

If NatWest don't settle before the moneyclaim then this goes up to a whopping £2190.63

[laffar]

yeah ... thanks Laffar

[vileda]

ta,

 

Standard letter from templates sent asking for my money back.

 

I'm due for another charge to go on at the end of this month, am I right that I can keep adding the interest and any extra charges to my claim right up until the moneyclaim.

 

Thanks again.

 

Vileda

[vileda]

Received the standard "We believe that our charges are fair, reasonable and transparent" letter from Stuart Higley (although the signature looks nothing like that name )

 

So I'll be sending the LBA back to bisgopsgate in the morning.

 

I've added another £28 charge and the interest on my statement this month and will send a revised copy of the spreadsheet with the LBA.

 

Looking forward to the next fob-off letter,

 

I just need to research whether there's any benefit to completing an N1 form rather than putting in an online moneyclaim.

[Guest NATTIE]

Good luck

[vileda]

Hi all,

 

Things are moving much quicker than expected. Received the standard letter below today;

Dear Vileda

 

Thank you for your letter dated 1st October

 

I regret that there is little I can add constructively to my last letter and note your proposed course of action. I have alerted our lawyers and litigation department accordingly. May I please remind you that the address to use when initiating legal documents is that of our registered office below.

 

Thank you for letting me know your intentions.

 

OK, this tells me nothing apart from thI'm not getting my money back without taking it to court.

 

I'll complete the moneyclaim/N1 when I've gathered enough money together.

[vileda]

Hi all,

 

I got as far as the stage where I had to submit the moneyclaim/N1 form when I ran out of money and loads of other stuff happened (I'm going to be A DADDY ).

 

I'm now in a position to carry on with this but am not sure if I need to start again with the prelim, lba or if I can take the "I regret that there is little I can add constructively to my last letter" as final and just go ahead with the claim.

 

Thanks.

 

Vileda

[Deller]

Congratulations on your news, (I'm in the same boat, so the money will come in very handy).

I can't see any reason why you can't carry on from where you left off, in effect you've given them a lot longer than they should have been allowed to pay up and they still havn't. You may have to adjust your schedule of charges though so that it falls within six year time scale permitted for you to claim back.

[vileda]

Many thanks for that, and congratulations too.

 

I'll not need to adjust the 6 years so that's ok.

 

I think that I shall draft a small letter on the lines of "I'm sorry that there is little you can add constructively and shall therefore be submitting a claim to recover these charges"

 

Your Sincerely

 

Mr Vileda

[Guest littlesally]

No need to start again.

Before you start the court line though, you may like to use the letter below as it worked for me. If it doesn't, you will only have lost 7 days

 

Dear Sir

 

Thank you for your letter dated 16.11.06 from Mr. Stuart Higley.

 

It is clear from your letter that you are under the impression that I will not issue a claim against you for the return the unlawful bank charges debited from my account.

 

I am writing to inform you that this will be the next stage unless I receive full payment in the next 7 days of the £380 detailed in my previous letter to you.

 

However, please accept this correspondence in accordance with my duty under the Civil Procedure Rules to continue to pursue a settlement without the need to invoke the time of the courts

 

If you do not intend to defend your charges in court, but hoping that I will "just go away" I should to point out that this will not happen and you will incur further costs against you.

 

Take note that I will draw the Court’s attention to the fact that you have not made any attempts at settlement in accordance with the overriding objectives of CPR. Furthermore I will submit this letter to the Court as further evidence of your intransigence with my case despite my attempts at settlement and the settling by your company of all other similar claims to date.

 

Alternatively, in accordance with the overriding objectives of the Civil Procedure Rules I would like to give you the opportunity to settle this issue without the need to take the time of the Courts. My claim is for £380.00. If you could ensure that this sum is paid into my bank account within seven days I will inform the court that this matter is settled. If you wish to pursue this course of action please telephone me to obtain my account details.

 

Please do not waste any further time with something you do not intend to defend.

 

Yours sincerely