Fizzbin vs The Bank; ** WON **

[fizzbin]

Hi All

 

Have just emailed the preliminary approach letter to my bank, not a hugh amount, but I don't see why they should be allowed to take it from me! I shall use this forum to keep you informed as to how my claim is progressing.

[Loula]

Welcome!

 

Yes, keep us posted.

 

Have you read the FAQ's and other information so you are fully prepared for what may lie ahead?

 

LOULA

[nearlyoldwoman]

me too, this is great isn't it?i would love to be a fly on the wall when all these letters start dropping onto whoevers desk at tsb!lets see who gets a reply first!

[fizzbin]

Thanks for the words of welcome, yes I have fully digested the FAQ and various other docs on the subject and am prepared to go all the way because I have lost count of the number of times that the bank has driven me into the red and bounced DDs' by applying their charges.

 

Anyway heres to a successful outcome

[suga1982]

Good luck dad!!! Gonna do my letter tomorrow along with my partners....

[Loula]

HEY!

 

That's what I like to see... a family in the BAG (bank action group).

 

Glad to have you all aboard!

 

LOULA

[suga1982]

haha yeah i recommended this site to my dad, gotta work together

[fizzbin]

Have received the bog standard acknowledgement letter this morning, ball is now in their 'court'

[fizzbin]

Have now received the standard 'bugger off' reply which I have pasted below:

 

Re: Account Charges for Overdraft Excesses and Returned Items

Thank you for taking the time to contact us about your account.

I understand that

· You feel that the charges you have incurred are unlawful.

• You are unhappy with the amount of charges you have incurred as a result of being overdrawn and from returned items.
  
• You have requested that all charges incurred should be refunded for the past 4 years.

When you become a customer, we give you details of any charges for the day to day running of your account. Details of our charges are also available from our branch staff, telephone helpline or our website.

For the vast majority of our customers banking with us can be completely free as charges are not made for services such as debit cards, cash machine withdrawals, balance requests, statements, cheque books and Internet banking. We also do not charge for processing Direct Debits and Standing Orders when they are paid through our customers' accounts.

One of the few services we apply charges for are when a customer does not have enough money in their account to meet payments they have requested us to make. If customers think they may exceed any limit they have, we urge them to contact us to discuss their requirements. Any requests for further lending are then assessed in line with our usual credit policy. Similarly, when we return an item, we are preventing a customer from exceeding their limit, and again as we explain clearly to our customers, this process incurs a charge

Typically, we do not levy customers an excess overdraft fee the first time they go overdrawn without agreement, as long as it hasn't happened in the past twelve months and we limit excess fees to a maximum of three occurrences in any one month.

As a business we are entitled to set charges to cover additional work. These charges are not hidden and are notified in the guide to banking charges leaflet we produce. We advise our customers to ensure cleared funds are available in their accounts to meet payments due. You will also note that in the front of each cheque book we request that funds are available before cheques are issued.

You incurred charges because you did not ensure funds were available in your account to cover the payments set up by you. It is your responsibility to operate your account within any agreed limits and within the terms and conditions.

You accepted these terms when you opened your account and when you agreed your overdraft. We did not agree to pay your account in excess of the amount agreed without charges being made.

Accordingly, I am unable to agree with your request to refund the charges. We do expect your account to be run in line with the terms and conditions of its operation. This means that you must ensure that cleared funds are deposited into the account the working day before any payments are due. If you do not feel you will be able to run your account in accordance with the terms and conditions, we may have to consider withdrawing certain facilities, such as any debit cards, overdrafts and chequebooks. Alternatively, you may wish to consider alternative banking arrangements.

In case you haven't received a copy of our leaflet called 'How to voice your concerns' I've enclosed one with my letter. This tells you all you need to know about resolving your complaint with us.

If you are unhappy with my decision and feel that you have something to add which might change the outcome, please get in touch. If we cannot agree on a solution at that point, I will help you refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service for independent arbitration.

Yours sincerely

 

 

David Just

Assistant Manager

 

 

I shall now wait the allotted 14 days before I send them the letter before action.

[nearlyoldwoman]

thats the letter i'm waiting to receive! should be any day now. this is whats so great about this forum....we know exactly whats coming. thanks for keeping us up to date.

[fizzbin]

OK, 14 days have now elapsed since the sending of the preliminary approach letter and the only communication received is as listed above. I have today sent my letter before action and will of course keep you posted as to the outcome.

[fizzbin]

Sorry I have not around to update but I did receive the standard reply from Lloyds which I have pasted below.....

 

Thank you for your letter dated 25 April 2006. I am sorry to hear that you have not been happy with my response to date.

Unfortunately there is little I am able to add tomy letter dated 12 April 2006 and I am only able to refer you back tothe terms and conditions of your account, although I do respect youopinion about our charges.

This letter is the bank's final response, whichmeans that if you remain dissatisfied you may refer your complaint tothe Financial Ombudsman Service. If you decide to pursue yourcomplaint through the Financial Ombudsman Service you must do so within6 months from the date of this letter. I have attached, which outlineshow to contact them.

Yours sincerely

 

David Just

Assistant Manager

 

Oh dear......looks like another template reply.

[fizzbin]

Claim filed with moneyclaim today. Claim no. 6QZ29716......

[sweetcyanide]

Eeek, good luck! I'll be watching with interest, as I'm just about to send off my LBA to Lloyds.....

[fizzbin]

Have received the bank's defence today......exactly the same as most of those that I have seen, so I will now wait for the AQ to arrive.

 

Getting close to the end now!

[fizzbin]

AQ has now arrived and will be sent back to the court ASAP, quick question.....I noted that some people send a copy of the completed AQ to the bank, is this necessary?

[fizzbin]

*Bump*

[Taffoire]

hiya Fizzbin,

 

I too have been wondering about sending the AQ to the bank and have read lots of threads about it. I've been told that you don't have to send it to the bank but it's better to for a couple of reasons; first is that you're covering your own back, and second is that it seems from other threads that if you send the copy to the bank's solicitors they can see that 1st hand you're not kidding here!

 

I'm awaiting Lloyds' defence right now but will be sending a copy of the AQ to the bank when it arrives.

 

Sorry this isn't a foregone conclusion but I hope it helps a little!

 

Taff

[fizzbin]

Morning All,

 

Just to let you know that I have received my settlement letter from the bank today, they have agreed to settle in full with very few conditions (not even an account review!). The only condition I will not accept is the one concerning confidence which will be struck out before the agreement is signed and returned.

 

Will let you know when the money is in the bank.....

[marlow]

When you have to go as far as making the moneyclaim thing, do you have to pay for it there and then?

[fizzbin]

Hi Marlow,

 

When you go to Moneyclaim and fill in the form to start proceedings a payment is required, this payment depends on how much you are claiming and will be included in your costs which are added to the claim. I'm not sure about the scale of payment but in my case on a claim of £776.00 I had to pay £80.00. There is some info in the FAQs concerning this so I would suggust you have a look there.

 

Best wishes and good luck with your action.

[adamski]

Hi

Weel done Fizzbin crongratualtions you are an inspriation to me, im chuffed for even though i dont know you.

In anwser to Marlows question im almost sure from what i read here that for a claim over £1500 it £120 to file a claim

Regards

adamski

[suga1982]

Well done dad, got your settlement exactly a week after mine like i said you would.

[fizzbin]

Thanks to everyone and the site owners for all help received. I now have my money in the bank with little or no fuss and have made a donation to the BAG....

 

Best of luck to all those who are action in progress.

[Janet-M]

CONGRATULATIONS

can I please ask you to take a minute to fill our survey in

 

Thank you for your donation this will go towards the running of the site so many more can also claim their bank charges back to