Scottish Small claims court limit... Help

[x_miss_lori_x]

Hi, I want to claim back my charges but I live and bank in Scotland. I

know

they will be well over £750 but I dont quite understand how to go about it

if the Scottish Small Claims Court limit is £750. Can you please advise

me?

Thanks

[penquinabuser]

Hi, it's more difficult up here, eh!

If you've got to the stage of issuing a claim you can either split the total into two or more Small Claims and serve them one after the other or you can issue a Summary Cause claim if less than £1500 - after that it gets more complicated!

But, before you even think about claiming through the court, you need to send a preliminary letter asking for the charges back along with a spreadsheet detailing exactly which charges you are reffering to, followed by a letter (14 days later) DEMANDING your money back and threatening court action also accompanied by a list of the charges you want back and only then (after another 14 days), if they haven't paid up, do you start filling in the court papers.

Have you gone through your statements and found out how much is owed you yet?

[x_miss_lori_x]

Hi would appreciate if anyone could help me. I sent a letter to BOS 3rd Oct (sent recorded delivery) asking for all my bank charges in the last 6 yrs. I included a cheque for £10. I haven't had an acknowledgement or reply albeit my cheque was cashed on 18th Oct.

I sent the letter to Complaints Dpt. and didn't follow up with a phonecall.

Is there anything more I should be doing or should I simply wait the 40 days and hope I get a reply etc?

Thanks if anyone could advise me...........

[sarah13]

make sure you read as many faqs as you can, this will really help you if you know what you are doing. Check out this http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/6986-data-protection-act-non.html - hope it helps. Good luck.

[x_miss_lori_x]

Hi Sarah, Thanks for replying to me. I have been reading a lot of the stuff I just wanted to clarify that I simply wait and hope the bank replies to me or if I should be chasing. I had cut out something out the Daily Mail too and it said "back up the letter with a call" etc and I haven't done that.

Thanks will have another look.

[x_miss_lori_x]

Hi, I sent data protection letter asking BOS for my last 5yrs charges info and included £10. I sent this on the 6th Oct and chq was cashed 18th Oct but I have not heard a word from them nor an acknwledgement. As I am nearing the

40 days should I just wait and if I hear nothing then send the complaint to the Information Commisioner (template) or should I be phoning them as a chaser first. If I should phone what should I be saying. Don't want to feel intimidated from them which they will do if I dont exactly know what to say without getting involved in an unnecessary debate with them.

I would greatly appreciate any info whatsoever on this.

Thanks so much

[nathal]

there are various template letters on site to suit different circumstances.

 

at this late stage, a phonecall might help or email

[x_miss_lori_x]

thanks so much for your help. Wont be able to get back on computer till 2morrow now as have to get son from nursery. Might sound stupid but what exactly do you think i should say when I phone so I dont get confused with their (trying to put me off patter) or does it give me examples in your links. Thanks again. Im determined to get them back as theyve xxxxxx me looooooooooong enough

[nathal]

just tell them you sent a dpa sar request for statements and they havent arrived,

[x_miss_lori_x]

Plucked up the courage to phone them today. Couldnt find my letter etc etc. Told them it was recorded and theyve cashed to 10. He said "did someone tell you that it was only £10" I said no but I know that that is the the max you can charge. He had to phone another couple of dpts till my info was located and said they had 40 days to reply. I said I am aware of that just checking you were dealing with it. He said I should be hearing soon. He also said that they cant send a list of charges and that it must be all my statements. I thought they could send the list of charges. Doesnt matter anyway. Thanks again

[ukaviator]

They probably will be all the records of statements for 6 years. I had all comments made on my account with regard to loans etc. Some of the comments were not true,so i had them ammended.

 

Uk..

[x_miss_lori_x]

sent sar letter and chq for £10 6th oct chq cashed 18th. Followed up with a call. 40 days including 2 post days will be 17th nov.

Got a letter today saying duplicate statements have been ordered and will be sent under separate cover.

then says ..."with regard to your request for info relating to manual intervention on your account HBOS is under no statutory obligation to record this information and therefore I am unable to assist further with your request."

Firstly does the fact that they have not provided my statements within the 40 days means they have breached the Data Prot Act? Ifo so, should I go to the ICO or straight to:

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

Section 7 – Data Protection Act 1998

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Account: xxxxxxxx

 

I am in receipt of the documents that you have supplied in response to my Data Protection Act information request dated (Insert Date). The disclosure of personal data is incomplete in that at least the following documents are missing.

 

(Adapt this next section to your situation)

 

1) You have failed to provide a complete list of transactions and charges.(Add details of missing period - or a transaction that you know about which is not included)

2) You have provided no notes, or documents relating to any legal action between you and myself.

3) You have provided no notes, or documents relating to instances of manual intervention.

 

This is not an exhaustive list by any means, it is just an example of some of the information I am missing.

Accordingly, I have to tell you that you have not yet complied with your obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998.

 

You have a further (Insert number of days remaining) days to comply.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

Secondly I dont understand the 2nd part of their letter about the request to manual intervention .........etc (Any ideas)

[MARTIN3030]

Welcome to the site.

This is not usual for Hbos who are normally within the 40 days.

I would try calling the dpa officer who acknowledged your application and see whats happening.

You are free to send the letter meantime as its over the 40 days.

[x_miss_lori_x]

Hope this is the right way to do things and so hope folk can help me.

I wrote to HBOS and was told they couldnt send me list of charges but sent me a the last 6yrs statements. (hundreds of them) at the very 40day time limit. I went thru them and have loads of excess o/d chgs, loads of ret dd chgs, and a £15 per month account maint chg (every month). I also get interest for 1 month to the next usually around the £13 mark.

I have put everythiing into a spreadsheet (which I'm rubbish it but my nephew is helping me)

What Id like to know is: Which ones should I claim for and which do I not? Do I add the 8% interest at this stage and do I send this spreadsheet to them along with 2. Letter - Preliminary approach for repayment?

Remember I'm from Scotland and I need to know what is the max I can claim for and how many yrs I can claim for. Sorry for all these questions but Im desperate for help. This is beginning to make me so stressed but Im determined. THANKS

[aliboy]

Hi lorri. I`ve just sent my refund request. Totalled up charges of £1,576 so have asked for this amount to be refunded. Think you just add the interest at court stage but could be wrong.

Good luck with your claim

Ali

[aliboy]

Max you can go back in scotland is 5 years. Small claims action has a limit of £750 or you can do a summary cause which has a limit of £1,500. Have a look at the links for scottish procedures. Hope this helps you.

Ali

[smoorach]

lori,

interest is added at court stage for 8% you can claim back anything which is a charge but not something which is a serive for the account

[x_miss_lori_x]

thanks for your help. Started losing the plot a big bit. Had a helluva day today. Didnt even know I had done all these threads ands didnt even know I had all these helpful responses. Got a list of all chgs (no probs with that) Can I ask for my unauthorised overdraft fee £28 which I get frequently? Can I ask for the monthly unauthorised interest rate cos I went over my overdraft? (usually around £13 per month). Also right up to the last couple of yrs I got a £15 account maintenance charge every month. Do you know if I can claim for this?

Which spreadsheet should I use? is it only £750 I can claim in one go ie would I lodge it with the court and say the fee was £100 (I'd need to lodge each one separately at £100 each time) Can I lodge them all in the one day? Think my total chgs are about £3500 (thats since end of yr 2000)

In Scotland can I only claim from 2001? (ie 5yrs)

I know Im asking lot of questions but Im utterly desperate and once and for all I want this money back. Im getting ridiculous charges. Im single wi 2 kids and Im paying bank £90 chgs for 3 transactions in the one day totally under £9. THANKS TO EVERYONE HELPING ME and hopefully Im more on the ball but its hard to get time especially with my little boisterous 4yr old.

[smoorach]

ok here we go

1. unauthorised overdraft fee....yes

2.unauthorised interest rate..... only if your overdaraft is due solely to charges

3. account maintainence charge....no... this is a service

4. use simple scottish spreadsheet you will find this the easiest

5. £750 is for small claims however you may use summary cause in scotland for which the upper limit is £1500 there is a very slight risk in that they could award costs up to £750 against you however this is a very small risk. it also keeps the courts happy as we are not claim splitting to much which they dont like as it takes up court time.

6.court fee in scotland is £39.00 for small claims and summary cause this is per claim and its advisable to do one at a time as they could lump them together if they are on the same account. my advice is do one and see how you go next time round it will be easier as you know what you are doing.

7. go back 5 years in sctland from the date you sent you DPA SAR letter to them. you can go back further but this involves challenging the statue of limitations so do the simple ones first before deciding whether to pursue the older ones.

8. good luck and its ok to ask questions but please please read the info on the site as most of these are answered there. use the time between letters being sent to do your homework.

[smoorach]

that interest includes

everything you have spent as well and you can only claim back the bit apportioned to the charges it takes a lot of

working out and personally for what its worth to the claim i dont think its worth it

sorry if this doesnt make sense to everyone but its the answer to a question lori asked in chat

[x_miss_lori_x]

thanks hope to god we get this done once and for all and get our debts paid. It looms over you

[smoorach]

it does but her guess what now its looming over the banks head instead of yours. kind of satisfying isnt it that thought?

[donaldtramp]

Aright Folks not quite at the Court stage yet but I need to know how to structure my letters to Bank of Scotland.

Stage I'm at is;

-Received 4 years worth of statements totalling £780 worth of charges.

-I'm waiting on next batch of statements probably coming in this week.

 

So you can see my claim is going to be above the £750 claim limit.

 

My question is if my total charges that I am due comes in at say £1000, do I need to send 2 letters to the bank demanding refund? One for £750 and one for £250. :-?

Or do I just ask the bank for the lot and split the claim if it gets to Court stage?

 

Any advice welcome

DT

[Cheezah]

Hi this is my first post, can anyone post the link for the procedures for claiming if you live in Scotland please? It seemst be more of a hassle from what I can see.

 

Thanks,

Cheezah

[smoorach]

guys if you had read through my replies on loris post you would see what you have to do.

1. for claims under £750 its small claims. cost £39.00 local sheriff court.

2. for claims up to £1500 its summary cause. cost £39.00 local sheriff court. wait for papers to come through then take them to sheriffs officer to be served. this costs around £15.00 if it can be done by post.

anything over and above this you will either have to go next step up in court and you will need a solicitor or you will have to split your claim.... the choice is yours.