I got compensation from Abbey for default after reclaiming charges

[Robertxc]

I've just got back from court, where Abbey settled my claim for compensation, after they defaulted my account, where the default amount was made up entirely of unlawful bank charges.

 

My claim was in the Scottish Sheriff Court, and was for the removal of the default, or for the alternative of £750 compensation for the period from the date the default was notified to the CRSa to the 19th of June 2006.

 

Abbey could have just removed the default, but instead decided (for unfathomable reasons) to pay the compensation instead. The sheriff was a bit baffled, especially since it leaves the way clear for me to keep going back and claiming compensation from them for as long as the default stays in place. As we speak, I am preparing an action in the English county court, at which I will be claiming very substantial compensation indeed for the period from the 20th June 2006 to the present.

[callumsgran]

Good on ya Robert, go get 'em!

Congratulations and all that

[gizmo111]

Congratulations - but waht a bizarre decision from Abbey

[Tinkerbelle]

Go get em tiger!!

[jonni2bad]

Is it too late to amend my claim?

[breadline]

can i ask if i could use this against Lloyd's regarding my PPI on loan.

They have failed to start my insurance policy, I'm now 12 months sick and status 8 on a this particular loan on my experian.

 

Now with a name for my illness i wanted to make a claim.

 

Could i use the fact that my position would not be a status 8 if my policy had been started as i would have 12 month back pay being paid against my loan.

 

they are at this time looking into the none applied PPI and have failed to supply the contract which they say they haven't got:rolleyes: .

 

Wonder what they have done with the insurance money i had already paid?

Thanks

Bl:)

[angeljen]

They'd rather pay out than go around all the Credit Reference Agencies to tell them that they've made a mistake. If they make a mistake, they are, I believe, breaking the contract they have with the CRAs (the information must be accurate). The CRAs rely on the accuracy of the information they are given, so basically, the more the company tells the CRAs that they've been making mistakes, the more stupid the company looks. They'd rather pay out small (to them) sums of money than embarress themselves.

 

But congratulations and good luck for the future x Jen x

[Robertxc]

Actually, I have a letter from Equifax stating that all their clients have computerised access to their systems. So all the bank or lender needs to do is log in and make whatever changes they wamt.

 

At the end of the day, if you can prove that the data is factually incorrect, you can have it removed or corrected, and you can claim compensation.

[lickthewallfatboy]

HAHAHA-top result Robert!!

 

Very well done-how stupid are these banks anyway?

[trundlecat]

1st of all congrats! Would like to ask though how did you work out the amount of compensation to claim Robert? I've just started action against Yorkshire Bank to get an incorrect default removed & have threatened them with court action including a compo claim if they don't get it off by next week.

 

Thanks,

TC

[ED1237]

Well done Robert, excellant news. This paves the way for my second claim with this lot. The default they entered against me was entirly for the charges so will follow your lead.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Presumably this was done under Scottish law; would the same procedure apply under English law?

[bathgatebuyer]

Great news! I'm about to do similar with Halifax, but to be honest would rather have the default removal than the money. Or both! Ha ha!!!

[meagain]

I second the request that someone look at whether this can be done in England and Wales, and at apprioriate compensation levels. (For one, while HSBC continue to play silly buggers, I cannot convert my new current account to the student service).

[Robertxc]

I don't think it has anything to do with Scottish or English law. I think Abbey just didn't want to defend it at all. The Data Protection Act is UK legislation, so if the persoanl data (the default) is factually incorrect, and you can show that you have suffered a loss because of it, you can claim compensation.

[meagain]

In most cases, people have not lost out in any way other than an adverse credit rating. How do we price that when stipulating an alternative to removing the default?

[Guest ian cognito]

In most cases, people have not lost out in any way other than an adverse credit rating. How do we price that when stipulating an alternative to removing the default?

 

I think it has been done by comparing actual interest rate paid on loans/mortgages compared with the best interest rates available at the time, on the basis that, if you had not had the default, you could have got more favourable rates.

 

What interests me is, if they don't want to fight it in court, why give them the option of paying compensation to stay out of court? They are obviously working on the theory that the default will be more damaging to you than the compensation will to them.

 

Have you alll seen the latest developments in Daygo's default thread?

[meagain]

I think it has been done by comparing actual interest rate paid on loans/mortgages compared with the best interest rates available at the time, on the basis that, if you had not had the default, you could have got more favourable rates.

 

That, I believe, is something other than an adverse credit rating.

 

What about those that haven't directly lost out in any way other than this? For instance, I've been refused current accounts, and until this matter is resolved, I can't convert my account to get facilities I might need, such as an overdraft, or a debit card that isn't useless when I'm not present. If people have been declined for loans, it makes calculating interest useless. Plus, I highly doubt anyone not borrowing on the doorstep actually pays £750 of purely excess interest in only 5 months. Even on your mortgage, I doubt your rate would instantly increase by 3% on the basis of a default registered by another unconnected company.

[Kathymc]

Well done on that, My problem is a default with Barclays bank, I have just lodged my papers with the courts for £3119.67plus 8% of £776.23 total of £3895.90 on one account and for £3487.96 plus 8% of £1106.48 total of £4594.44 grand total of £8490.34. Now the silly thing is that if they had paid me before when first asked they could have saved themselves £1882.71, if they are going to pay anyway why do they do this....... Now I have to do another court paper to try to have the default removed... Luckly we get working families tax credits and child tax credits so we dont pay court costs. Thank god.....

[bigkacker]

Well done, I know that the £750 seems good but this Default is on your credit notice for 6 yrs. If I was you I'd turn down the compo and get it removed. I work for a large American Financial Institution (no names given) and it is a simple matter to reverse a default on a credit file. All you need to do is fill in a form in excel get it signed by a manager and post it to either equifax or experian. We do it all the time the banks are not embarrassed to do this it is a simple process. It updates within 30days.

 

My advice to you is get it reversed from your credit file £750 is alot of money but the Default will cause you more hassle in the long run.

[peteandtina]

My Abbey account was put into "Default", without any notification to me. There were no charges as my account never even came close to my authorised overdraft limit.

I was defaulted because I "had not made regular payments into my account" I was told that I was obliged to pay a minimum of £50.00 into my account every month as per the T&Cs given to me whenI opened the account. As I had not done so that is why they had entered a default to the CRA.

The T&Cs only say "regular payments had to made" no mention of amount or frequency.

After being shoved from pillar to post for several months within Abbey, they eventually caved in and removed the default when I said I would take it to the banking ombudsman and that they would have to notify every account holder of a change to the T&Cs (a big cost) which I presume made the difference.

The only way I found out about the problem in the first place was by subscibing to a CRA to get regular checks on my data. Let this be a lesson to anyone who does not already keep a check on data held by the CRAs

[Classmate]

Our account was defaulted last year, only found out when a loan application had been excepted and later rejected, made a phone call to the halifax and kicked up a fuss and they removed it. Don't know how long it was on our file possiblly months? If they can put a default on your CRF electronically would they have to provide this info with our S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) ? all they have given us is copy of statements!!! would we be best going for return of all charges that created this first ? and compensation later?How did you arrive at the £750. figure for your claim?

Sorry for all the ?s but really interesting and relevant issue to us.

Steve

[sycostill]

my accounts were defaulted 2 years ago and i have successfully got all my charges back and i have cleared the outstanding debt with them, one default was for an account within its overdraft limit. they only seem to have defaulted this one because they were defaulting the other.

 

the money isn't that important to me, i could do with getting the defaults removed. on what legal basis are you using for compensation? and how substantial can i go for for 2 years with poor credit rating!? i don't have any credit/debits cards or a mortgage, just a basic bank account. cheers

[Robertxc]

my accounts were defaulted 2 years ago and i have successfully got all my charges back and i have cleared the outstanding debt with them, one default was for an account within its overdraft limit. they only seem to have defaulted this one because they were defaulting the other.

 

the money isn't that important to me, i could do with getting the defaults removed. on what legal basis are you using for compensation? and how substantial can i go for for 2 years with poor credit rating!? i don't have any credit/debits cards or a mortgage, just a basic bank account. cheers

you can claim compensation because the data protection act permits compensation to be claimed for the loss you suffered because of inaccurate personal data being held by the bank. The amount of compensation you can claim depends on how much you've actually lost if you haven't actually suffered a loss because of the inaccurate data then you will have difficulty claiming compensation for it. the main reason people can claim compensation for inaccurate personal data is if they've been denied access to cheaper credit because of the default.

[sycostill]

well i have been denied all credit for the last two years, but this would be very difficult to quantify. i have the searched on my credit file to show how many times i have applied for credit 6 or 7ish.