Santander/ Cahoot, I want to sue!

[glasmale26]

Hi, Just looking for any quick advice! Cahoot withdrew an overdraft facility on me about two years ago and agreed I would not incur unauthorised overdraft charges so long as I paid it back at £30 per month. Santander then took over and I was aware that I was being charged £30 monthly regardless of what I paid into the account. I queried this with them and they said they had no record of our agreement.

 

I got them to send me all my statements and as I remembered in the months that I ha paid in the required amount there was no charge whilst in the few months that I failed to pay in the £30 they did charge me which is fair enough.

 

I feel that because of this I can therefore argue that this agreement was in place and Santander who now own Cahoot owe me around £350 in charges I have paid when I shouldn't have (as I had been playing off the overdraft as agreed).

 

I have sent them a LBA letter and called today to see if that had looked at it but the said they are passing it to debt collection as they want the final balance back of me (this balance is ofcourse made up of charges they had placed on the account illegally in my mind).

 

So, Im now about to complete a money claim online to recover my monies. Just looking for advice, do I have a case? with nothing in writing will the courts believe me? Will Santander bother to defend? Who can I contact at Santander to deal with it before it goes that far if possible???

 

Any help appreciated!

 

Steven

[ims21]

Hi

 

I think you need to be careful about suing for current account charges especially as nothing is in writing. Current account charges are really a non starter in my opinion due to the outcome of the Court Case.

 

I would be inclined to go through (and exhaust) their formal complaints procedure and escalate it as far as the CEO.

 

Regards

 

ims

[glasmale26]

Ok, thanks for this advice! Anybody have the address?

[ims21]

Ok, thanks for this advice! Anybody have the address?

 

http://www.santander.co.uk/csgs/Satellite?appID=abbey.internet.Abbeycom&cid=1210607166846&leng=en_GB&pagename=Abbeycom%2FPage%2FWC_ACOM_TemplateA2

 

ims

[shaun.lewis01]

glasmale26,

 

Reading, it sounds as though you had an oral agreement to vary the terms of contract you had with Abby regarding the imposing of contractual charges (the recovery of which by your own action, as ims said, is a non-starter). You have nothing in writing, but the banks conduct would support your contention that an agreement exists as you stated.

 

I agree with ims, in that starting a claim would not really be the easiest thing the world in the circumstances, but I do think you have a defence to any claim they might make in respect of the £350.

 

Exhausting the complaints procedure, including the FOS, is a good idea, but in the meantime, if you havn't already paid the £350 but paid the rest of the arrears, and Santander are passing the balance to a DCA for collection, you could write (never phone) to whatever DCA it ends up with and put the account in dispute. Tell them that you had an agreement to vary the terms of the overdraft, you have paid the balance you are liable for, and that accordingly no further payments will be forthcoming. Tell them that any claim issued in respect of the £350 you dispute will be vigorously defended.

 

It is likely that you will receive 101 threat-a-grams, but no claim. Generally, these DCAs are looking for the easy targets without a prospect of defending their claims (if it every gets that far without selling it on), and wont expend the time and expense over a genuinely disputed £350.

 

By the time it gets that far, you should have an answer one way or another from the FOS.

[BankFodder]

Would you mind telling us why they withdrew the OD facility in the first place? Also, you say it was about 2 years ago. Could you say exactly which month it was.

[citizenB]

Is there any update on this one please ?