Postie v Abbey :claim acknowledged

[Postie]

Encouraged by this group and the OFT ruling this week I've jusr posted off my letter to Shabbey demanding the refund of £202 in charges.

What particularly pees me off about the charges is that they arise from Shabbey sitting on my cash for a day.

I transfered some money from my business account into my personal Shabbey account. Under the BACS system the money is with Shabbey the next day but they don't credit your account for another 24 hours.

So, they hold the money back from my account for 24 hours forcing my account to overdraw and then charge me Shyloch like fees.

Is this taking the piss or what ?

[Spiceskull]

Good luck in getting your money back.

 

Was this the preliminary letter requesting refund, or the actual letter before action? Either way, you have set a timetable, and you need to drive it - do not be deterred by the banks 'looking into it for 28 days' type responses...

[Postie]

Oops - I got the subject wrong !

It was the preliminary letter requesting immediate repayment taken from the templates section.

[Spiceskull]

That's okay - you have given them 14 days to respond positively before you send a second letter before action.

 

For £202 you are likely to get a letter back offering half, which you are strongly urged to refuse...or at least accept it as part of your claim, but you will still be pushing for the rest. This is YOUR money - you want it ALL!

 

They will also fob you off with 'we'll get back to you in 28 days...' Fine, but that doesn't concern you...after 14 days send the second letter before action.

 

Good luck.

[Postie]

Received 2 standard looking letteres from Shabbey, shown below for the benefit of others.

 

I'm now moving to stage 2 and fully intend to take the bastards to court. I don't really care if I win, I'll just bog the bastards down in paperword and hassle.

 

Letter 1.

 

Dear Mr xxx

 

Thanks for contacting us and I'm sorry you've been so unhappy you've felt you must complain.

 

One of my colleagues will be responsible for investigating your complaint and I've enclosed our Customer Satisfaction Leaflet, which explains our procedure fordoing this. High quality customer service is of great importance to us at Abbey and we’ll do everything we can to resolve your complaint in a timely and satisfactory manner.

 

I know it's important to you that we resolve your complaint quickly but we want to do a thorough investigation and sometimes this can take time. We’ll write to you within the next four weeks to let you know what's happening.

 

Although I don't know what the outcome will be, I do hope we’ll be able to find a. solution that you're happy with.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Antony Turbitt Manager, Banking Servicing

 

 

Letter 2.

 

Dear Mr xxx

 

Thank you for your letter of 8 April 2006.

 

I'm sorry to hear you're unhappy about the bank charges. However, as stated in the terms and conditions of the account, it's up to you to make sure there's enough money available to cover any due payments.

 

With regard to your request for a refund of charges under Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations, we don't accept that Abbey's charges are unfair. It's well known that banks make charges and Abbey's charges are in line with those of other banks. The terms and conditions of the account and the charges that apply are clear and fair and were provided to you at the time that you opened it. You freely agreed to the terms and conditions and the charges when you opened the account. You weren't under any obligation to do so and could have gone to another bank if you didn't agree to our charges. Equally, you're free to move your account to another bank at any time if you don't agree with them.

 

In any event, we don't agree that the charges are disproportionate. They are reasonable and proportionate to the administrative costs incurred by Abbey in dealing with the matter.

 

If the complaint escalates into a claim in the County Court, we'll review each case individually and if we feel that our relationship with our customer has broken down completely, we may decide to give notice to close the account under the terms and conditions.

 

We've already shown some flexibility in reducing your fees in the past and I'm therefore, unable to refund any more on this occasion, I'm sorry.

An investigation of the charges relating to your complaint has been carried out. As they've all been applied in line with our current tariff of charges and haven't arisen as a result of a proven Abbey error, no further refunds will be applied.

 

Please be assured I've carried out a full investigation for you and I hope you feel I've offered a fair response to al! of the issue's you've raised. 1'11 keep your file open for the next eight weeks and if I don't hear from you within that time, 1'11 assume that everything is resolved and will close your file.

 

If you remain dissatisfied though, the leaflet you’ll find with this letter explains your rights and how to take your complaint further with Abbey. The leaflet also explains your ultimate right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

 

Your sincerely,

 

Jackie Hammond.

Banking Servicing.

[Postie]

Real letter before action sent today, taken from the templates section and reproduced below.

I guess I now have 14 days to read through the steps for issusing the claim in the court as I don't expect Shabbey to roll over.

 

 

Letter below;

 

Abbey,

PO Box 382,

Prescot Street,

London.

E1 8RP

 

Letter before action.

 

Dear Sirs,

 

Account number xxxxx

 

I note your reply to my letter dated 8th. April, 2006 and your refusal to refund the unlawful fees you have levied against my account.

 

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.

 

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.

 

I calculate that you have taken £190.00 in charges plus £12.88 in interest, total £202.88.

 

I require repayment in full of this money. If you do not comply fully within 14 days then I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount plus interest plus my costs and without further notice. The will be no further communication from me.

 

Furthermore, I shall submit a Consumer Credit Act 1974 complaint to the OFT upon the basis that you have failed to comply with the OFT's direction of 5 April 2006 and are therefore not a 'fit and proper person' to hold a consumer credit licence under the 1974 Act. If you do not understand what this means then seek advice from your legal department.

 

 

Yours faithfully,

[Loula]

Suggest you send it First Class recorded Delivery (should cost £1), then you know they have received it.

 

Remember to wait the full 14 days even if you receive an answer before going on to court action (unless by off you all your money back!!!)

 

LOULA

[Postie]

On to the next stage.

 

I've issued the claim to to the court today after no response from shabbey.

[Postie]

Shabbey have acknowledged my claim (12th. June) in the court so they now have 14 days to enter a defence. From the time it's taken so far I assume that's 14 working days, so they have until 30th. June to respond.

I'm not getting any emails from the moneyclaim.gov.uk about this - is this normal or is my junk mail filter a bit over- enthusiastic ?

Also, from reading various posts are the banks getting a bit more aggressive ? They don't seem to be rolling over at the threat of a claim in the small claims court.

Great to see some really good results on the forum though, keep hammering the bastards everyone - some of the charges people post are criminal.

[Postie]

Letter from shabbey legal department today.

 

Normal waffle about 'without prejudice', 'no admission of liability' and the like but they have paid the whole £232.88 into my shabbey account (so it says). When I know it's there I'll close the account.

 

A 100% result.

 

I realise that my claim was tiny compared to some I see on this forum, but it was worth the trouble to get it back. I really did do exactly what the advice in the FAQ says and it realy did proceed as the FAQ says - brilliant.

 

So you people persueing a claim right now - hang in there, take a deep breath and follow it through to the end - it is worth it.

 

Anybody reading this and thinking my claim isn't worth the effort - it is. £200 is a lot of money and now I have it back. More to the point - the banks' are ripping us off left, right and centre - no way is £30 justified for processing a direct debit. They also rip us off in the way they deliberately take their time processing payments into our accounts (3 days) but take them out straight away.

 

Made my weekend. Thanks to the moderators for a brilliant site, a suitable donations will be made.

 

Happy Postie......

[Movingon]

I think that's the first time I've seen Abbey roll over and play dead; WELL DONE!!

 

You only have to read about three threads to realise that Abbey are prize tossers... so I'm doubly amazed!

[Jane Austen]

They haven't even bothered to acknowledge srvice in my case so I hope I can get as good a result. Well done you! :-)

[Postie]

This topic was closed on 03/08/19.

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