Charges Reclaim

[Moggymad]

Hi

After reading the successes of other members of this forum reclaiming penalty charges from MBNA I decided to reclaim the penalty charges that I've paid and would like to share my experience of claiming back charges from MBNA.

On 26th of May I sent off my SAR and a PO for £10 to MBNA requesting a list of charges that had been applied to my account over the last six years giving them 40 days to reply. I got the list of charges on the 44th day, the 9th of July with a letter thanking me for my enquiry and the uncashed PO that I had sent them.

11th July. I sent them a letter that was delivered/signed for on the 13th asking for my charges to be refunded plus the statutory interest. The 14 days they had to reply passed yesterday but as to date I have had no reply from them.

Should I now send the lba or give MBNA a few more days to reply?

Is it normal for MBNA to drag their heels so much when dealing with claims for charges?

Thanks

Jim

[rebel11]

Hi Moggy

 

It will take them more then 14 days to respond to your claim. I would give them another two weeks.

[dx100uk]

and why only 6yrs?

what about pre 6yrs?

 

dx

[ims21]

and why only 6yrs?

what about pre 6yrs?

 

dx

 

And why only stat int?

 

Why not the higher rate?

 

ims

[Moggymad]

Thanks for your replies,

It will take them more then 14 days to respond to your claim. I would give them another two weeks.

As long as that I was under the impression that most people got a response within the 14 days even if it was just a confirmation of the claim or the standard rejection of the claim.

 

and why only 6yrs?

what about pre 6yrs?

 

dx

Wouldn't it be statute barred after 6 years?

 

And why only stat int?

 

Why not the higher rate?

 

ims

I did consider going for the contractual interest as well but decided against it as I thought things would have been a bit too complicated. Over the last 8 years I've been on a debt management plan with Payplan and MBNA have changed the interest rates applied to the account so many times I wouldn't know what charge was made at what interest rate, the list of charges I got from them only had the date, description and amount of each charge. Also the spreadsheet that I used would only let you calculate interest at 8% and I've got not idea how I could get it to work with varying interest rates. It's been a long long time since I last used spreadsheets on a BBC model B computer.

 

Jim

[ims21]

Hi

 

The six year business is covered by S32(1)© Limitations Act 1980. Case Law on this is Kleinwort Benson V Lincoln City Council.

 

Here's a spreadsheet that will do a compound interest claim for you. You can use the average of the rate you were charged or a nominal rate of 24.9% APR.

 

With thsi spreadsheet you enter your APR in the blue section and then you only need to list data in columns A, B and C. Ther rest of the calcs are done for you.

 

Then just change your personal details in the blue section.

 

(That is if you want to use it)

 

Regards

 

ims

 

CISheet.xls

[Moggymad]

Hi

Thanks for your advice regarding the contractual interest and claiming beyond 6 years. I have decided to stick with my original claim as it being the easiest and quickest option for me.

As of tomorrow it will be 28 days since I sent the preliminary letter to MBNA requesting they refund the charges applied to my account. I have had no response whatsoever from them at all so would giving them a phone call reminding them that the deadline has passed and that they owe me money or should I now threaten them with court action?

This is the letter I've put together,

Dear Sir or Madam,

 

Repayment of penalty charges request. Letter before action.

 

 

Account number: ****************

 

 

I refer to penalty charges applied to my account for the last six years amounting to £304.00 and statutory interest of £92.55 totalling £396.55, which I have requested you pay back.

 

 

I wrote to you on 11th July 2011, making the original request for a payment in settlement of my claim. As I have not heard from you, I am writing to inform you I intend to claim the full amount claimed, together with interest up to the date of judgment and court fees in the proceedings through the county court. I will give you 14 days to reply to me accepting, unconditionally, my request in principle and letting me know a date by which I will receive a refund in full.

 

 

This is based on the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations, as I believe these penalty charges are unfair and not proportionate to your costs, and therefore the court will rule in my favour. As I am sure you are aware, the Office of Fair Trading also stated in its April 2006 statement into credit card charges that it considers charges are at a higher level than is legally fair.

 

 

I have attached a full schedule of the charges and statutory interest with this document.

 

 

If you ignore my request, or you do not respond positively within the 14 day time period, I shall commence a County Court claim against you and refer the matter directly to the Financial Ombudsman and Office of Fair Trading for further investigation.

 

 

Yours faithfully,

Moggymad

Does anything else need adding or removing from the letter?

As they have had 28 days already can I reduce the 14 days to respond deadline to 7 days?

Thanks

 

Jim

Edited August 7, 2011 by Moggymad

[ims21]

Hi

 

Letter looks OK to me.

 

Personally I prefer 14 days lba. If it ends up in court the judge would then see that you have been reasonable with your time scales and this will go in your favour. IMHO a 7 day lba is a bit too short.

 

Regards

 

ims

[Moggymad]

Thanks Ims. I'll get it sent off tomorrow.

Let's see if MBNA will reply to this letter this time now I've threatened them with court action.

[Moggymad]

Hi again,

Update:

I got a letter from MBNA today and got a bit excited before I opened it only to find that it was one of their template "We are currently investigating your complaint and will issue a response within 28 days" letters dated 26 th July and a copy of the complaints procedure leaflet and not a decision or a cheque that I hoped it would be

At this point should I stick to the 14 day deadline in the LBA or should I allow them to respond, however long that may take, before I start with the court stuff?

 

Thanks

 

Jim

[ims21]

Hi

 

Up to you of course.

 

If the 14 day lba is up then you can issue.

 

When taking court action, you set the time scales.

 

Regards

 

ims

[Moggymad]

Hi all,

I've just noticed I've made a couple of minor mistakes on my claim. I have been using a mistyped account number in all my letters, somehow I have been typing 4507...... instead of the correct 5407..... and on the schedule of charges I prepared I have got the date wrong for one of the charges, I've put 2 Feb 2007 instead of 2 April 2007 Will these small mistakes matter?

On a more positive note I phoned MBNA up today to have a moan about how long it's been taking them to reply to be told a decision has been made and I should get a letter in the next day or so. They have made a partial offer of the difference between the £25 charges and the OFT £12 recommendation plus contractual and statutory interest even though I did state in my initial letter, although it appears to have been completely ignored;

I will not accept partial repayment nor will I accept that the Office of Fair Trading report of 05/04/06 deemed £12 to be an acceptable charge, as it clearly did not.

If you believe that they are not penalties, then will you please demonstrate this by giving me a full breakdown of the costs you have incurred as a result of my breaches, in order to prove to me that your penalties really do reflect your actual losses.

They told me that my remaining balance on the card (£50 odd) had been cleared using the refund and any left over would be paid to me. This seems a bit odd to me because I had not received their offer at the time my balance was cleared, let alone accepted it. Hopefully when I get the decision letter things might be a bit clearer.

[Moggymad]

Hi

I received a letter and a cheque today from MBNA that I assume is regarding the charges claim but the letter explains nothing and doesn't appear to be about the charges I asked to be refunded. Here's the letter,

Dear Mr Moggymad

Thankyou for your recent enquiry in connection with the credit balance of £128 on your account. We have pleasure in enclosing a cheque as a refund for this account.

 

I hope this has been resolved to your satisfaction. You may be interested in our on-line banking facility - visit mbna co uk and register to have instant access to review your account.

 

Yours sincerely

MBNA

It's better than nothing but it's not the just under £400 that I originally claimed for. Should I send another LBA etc or just get started with a court claim for the outstanding amount ?

 

Thanks for the advice from everyone who's replied(especially Ims ) in getting me this far. I will be gladly making a donation to the forum from my "winnings" as I don't think I would have known how to go about the reclaim process without the information and advice on here.

 

Jim

 

Edit: I've just noticed that the letter from MBNA has the wrong account number on it. I don't know what's up with that:???:

Edited September 9, 2011 by Moggymad

[Still_surviving]

moggy

 

MBNA will just pay you what they want to unless you decide to push it further.

 

In our case they sent a cheque for £122 against a claim of £1400, when we rejected it, they just sent the cheque again.....

 

Only you can decide the merits or otherwise of taking your case to court.

[ims21]

Hi

I received a letter and a cheque today from MBNA that I assume is regarding the charges claim but the letter explains nothing and doesn't appear to be about the charges I asked to be refunded. Here's the letter,

It's better than nothing but it's not the just under £400 that I originally claimed for. Should I send another LBA etc or just get started with a court claim for the outstanding amount ?

 

Thanks for the advice from everyone who's replied(especially Ims ) in getting me this far. I will be gladly making a donation to the forum from my "winnings" as I don't think I would have known how to go about the reclaim process without the information and advice on here.

 

Jim

 

Edit: I've just noticed that the letter from MBNA has the wrong account number on it. I don't know what's up with that:???:

 

Hi

 

Maybe they've sent you someone else's refund?

 

Write back and point out that you believe they have made an error.

 

Regards

 

ims