Starting my journey now

[hannanshah]

Last August I sent a cheque to Capital One to pay off my credit card bill. Unfortunately there wasn't enough money in my Halifax account because a Direct Debit had gone through the day before.

 

On my Capital One statement the receipt of this payment is acknowledged (August 8th). However, 8 days later it mentions a payment reversal together with a return cheque fee of £20 and a late payment fee of £20 (as well as the mention of this late payment on my credit record).

 

Halifax charged me £39 (I was a sent a letter dated on the 9th to confirm this). On my Halifax statement there is no mention of me going into an overdraft (as in a payment being sent to Capital Once) and the £39 charge was taken on August 16th.

 

From Halifax's side it seems as though they never sent any money to Capital One and simply applied a £39 charge on my balance on the 16th. However, on my Capital One statement it says I paid in £138.20 on August 8th but then the payment reversal and charges are applied on the 16th.

 

Is there something fishy going on here? I am planning to claim my charges back but can I get the late payment removed from my credit record?

 

Also, if I want to claim back interest on the charges Capital One made do I simply mention the 8% figure from the spreadsheet? I was under the impression that this was only for use if the case went to a County Court.

[whistleblowing fairy]

this is something to do with payment processing times. they've got your cheque and asked your bank to pay. In the mean time (whilst waiting for your bank to pay) they credit your account with the payment. When you bank eventually tells them they won't pay it, they need to reverse the amount they credited.

[hannanshah]

I have taken the draft of the preliminary letter and have edited it. I have been a bit cheeky to request that the cost of posting the letter be included in any settlement! Do you think the letter is fine? I plan on using this letter for my action against Barclaycard and Halifax too. My changes to the letter are in bold.

 

[my address]

 

Legal Compliance Specialist

Capital One Bank (Europe) plc

Trent House

Station street

Nottingham

NG2 3HX

 

Request for repayment of charges

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

My request

I am writing to ask you to refund to me the charges which you have levied from my account over the past year.

I now understand that the regime of fees which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations.

 

Your responsibilities

I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law.

 

I am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary.

 

What I require

I calculate that you have taken £xxx plus interest. I require full payment of this sum including any interest that I was charged as a result of these illegal charges.

 

I also request that you compensate me for any costs that I have incurred as a result of your illegal charges. To date the only cost I have incurred is the cost of posting this letter to you and this is specified by the Royal Mail postage stamps on the envelope that contained this letter.

 

My targets to resolve this matter

I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me about this matter and I am writing this letter to you on the assumption that you will prefer to do this than merely respond with standard letters and leaflets.

 

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 payment.

 

If you do not respond or you do not respond positively within this time period, I shall send you a letter before action giving you a further 14 days in which to reflect. I believe that these targets are more than sufficient for a large company such as yours with dedicated staff and departments.

 

After that will be no further communication from me and I shall issue a claim at the expiry of the second deadline.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

 

 

 

Hannan Shah

[scottishpol]

Good luck!

 

I too will be following in your footsteps shortly

 

NO MERCY

[hannanshah]

Okay just got a reply from Capital One to my preliminary approach on the day of the deadline. They have confirmed that they will refund £40 and checking online shows that this was done on April 26! However, I have been charged £60 in fees and I also asked for interest and costs (ie. postage fees!).

 

I assume I now have to right back with a letter before action asking for the remaning £20, interest and costs. The only thing I really expect out of them is the remaining £20. I will then be ready to pursue the interest and costs in court. It'll be hilarious taking them to court for just a few pounds!

 

I was refunded an overlimit fee and a late payment fee but not a cheque return fee (from the same day as the late payment fee).

[Guest Lueeze]

Interest? You cannot claim the interest till court, and if they have paid in full (after the £20), you cannot claim full stop, and in that case you havent had any costs!

 

 

Re-read, saw you want to clim postage? A judge is hardly gonig to be happy if you take it to court on that im afraid, you wont have anything of substance to claim on...

[hannanshah]

Interest? You cannot claim the interest till court, and if they have paid in full (after the £20), you cannot claim full stop, and in that case you havent had any costs!

 

Well sending letters costs money and I made that clear in my preliminary approach. Also, I'm not talking about the 8%APR. I'm talking about the credit card interest as a result of the charges (ie. charges meant I had to pay more in interest!).

[Guest Lueeze]

But this will be a pittance yes?

 

If the charges are £60 owing and they charged interest at 30 % that would be £18 perhaps as a very upper limit?

 

So if you went to court asking the judge for £18 plus £2.00 postage (just a rought est.)

 

Even though they have paid the £60 back (thats of course saying they will pay the other £20)

 

Im not sure a judge would look kindly on you asking for this, and then expecting The bank to pay court costs of £30 and andother 8% interest on that....

 

Im just very very unsure you would win let alone the hassle for that amount?

[Posh Stars]

I have worked out that in 7 months there have been over 500 taken in charges from capital one on my account, I am now waiting for my statements for the last 2 years from them to be sent to me so I can send my initial letter asking for what sounds to be £000's from them for what they have taken illegally!

[Bookworm]

If I undertand right, you still have 1 x £20 charge to reclaim, yes?

 

If that is the case, and if you have to issue a claim, then you should definitely claim that, charges interest if you can work it out, and 8% APR.

 

HOWEVER: If they pay you back the remaining £20 before you issue a court claim, you really need to look at your options before proceeding. A judge will not look kindly upon a claim that could be deemed frivolous, and attempting to reclaim a very low sum could well be construed as such. Don't forget that in such case, the judge could decide to award costs to the other side. So trying to claim a couple of pounds for stationery could end up a costly mistake... for you.

 

I'm concerned that you find taking a multi-national to court over a few pounds "hilarious". It might be a good idea to set the hilarity aside for one moment, and seriously consider your next steps.

[hannanshah]

If I undertand right, you still have 1 x £20 charge to reclaim, yes?

 

If that is the case, and if you have to issue a claim, then you should definitely claim that, charges interest if you can work it out, and 8% APR.

 

HOWEVER: If they pay you back the remaining £20 before you issue a court claim, you really need to look at your options before proceeding. A judge will not look kindly upon a claim that could be deemed frivolous, and attempting to reclaim a very low sum could well be construed as such. Don't forget that in such case, the judge could decide to award costs to the other side. So trying to claim a couple of pounds for stationery could end up a costly mistake... for you.

 

I'm concerned that you find taking a multi-national to court over a few pounds "hilarious". It might be a good idea to set the hilarity aside for one moment, and seriously consider your next steps.

 

Hey it was just a thought! I will obviously be more than happy to close the matter if I get all my charges back. What I really want to see is someone take one of those non-existant entities that work for Halifax to court?

 

I've sent my letter before action asking for the £20 plus any interest I've been charged. On a side note, Halifax just back back a £39 charge after my preliminary letter to them. Almost seems a bit too easy.

 

 

 

Merged threads, please keep to the same one.

[hannanshah]

Okay it's past the 14 days now and I have had no reply to my LBA. I guess I should now head for Money Claim.

 

I'm still a bit confused about the interest stuff. I guess I use the spreadsheet but so I add the interest they charged me and then 8% on top of everything or do I just add the 8% to the charges? Also how do how work out exactly how much interest I had to pay as a result of the three charges?

 

Also on Moneyclaim do I sue using the Capital One Bank address? Finally what happens if I start the claim and I then receive a letter say tomorrow offering a refund (ie. I start the claim just as they are responding to my LBA)?

[MICHFERGIE]

I am in the process of starting a money claim re capital one do I use the same details as the one in the templates.

I would appreciate any help

Thanks

[hannanshah]

Come on guys I need some help here!

 

What address do I use to sue Capital One?

 

Also the Particulars of Claim in the Library section is well above the 1080 character limit on the MoneyClaim form (around 1700 charcters). How do I trim this down? Do I need to mention the specific charges in this section?

 

Also I have been refunded £40 of the £60 I am owed which means I am claiming £20 plus interest at 8%. Can I claim interest on the other £40?

[hannanshah]

Just submitted the following Particulars of claim through the Moneyclaim site. Tough meeting the less than 24 line limit (ended up around a 1000 characters):

 

The Claimant has an account xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(‘the Account’) with the Defendant which was

opened around 2004. During the period in

which the Account has been operating the

Defendant debited numerous charges to the

Account in respect of purported breaches of

contract on the part of the Claimant. The

Claimant understands that the Defendant

contends that the charges were debited in

accordance with the terms of the contract

between itself and the Claimant. The

Claimant contends that the contractual

provision that permits the Defendant to levy

such charges is unenforceable by virtue of

the Unfair Contract Terms in Consumer

Contracts Regulations (1999), the Unfair

Contract Terms Act 1977 and the common law.

The Claimant claims the return of the amounts

debited in respect of charges in the sum of

£20; Court costs; Interest under section 69

of the County Courts Act at such rate and for

such periods as the court deems just. The

Claimant has asked the Defendant to justify

their charges but they have declined.

[hannanshah]

Just got a letter from Capital One which says they don't admit liability but as a goodwill gesture are offering me £50 (£20 fee + £30 court costs). The letter says that if I don't want charges applied in the future then I should ask them to close my account.

 

However, on the form that needs to be signed, I have to confirm whether I want my account closed but there is no mention of me agreeing to future charges. Either way it doesn't matter as I'm pretty careful these days about going over my limit.

 

Case settled before court.

[hannanshah]

The Capital One letter says I need to inform the court of the agreed settlement.

 

Do I phone them, write to them or can I do it online?

 

When I go online the only options are to ask for judgment (not needed in this case) or that the defendant as admitted that all the money is owed (well I never got a court admission form from them and they aren't offering the interest I claimed so I don't think I can use this option either).

[hannanshah]

Sent back the settlement form and entered judgment online saying the defendant has offered to pay. Checked online to see that they gave the refund with costs yesterday to my account. Capital One and Halifax sorted. Currently in litigation vs the stubborn Barclaycard.

[hannanshah]

This topic was closed on 03/07/19.

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