credit card charges

[Desmondo1]

I have been pursuing £900 pound odds of charges from AQUA card but today they have written to me quoting the following. Are there any letters/templates on the forum as i couldn't see anything in the library. The letter itself is not actually correct as most months it was £24 in charges albeit 2 x £12 charges for differing things.

 

Private

 

 

I have completed a review of the points you raised regarding the repayment of late payment fees

and over limit charges applied to your account.

I confirm that I am unable to offer you a refund on the fee's that you have previously been

charged as they do not exceed £12.00 and I have closed your complaint.

 

 

 

You may have noted the media coverage of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) investigation into

default charges. The OFT stated that a default charge should only be used to recover certain

limited administrative costs. These may include postage and stationery costs, staff costs and a

proportionate share of the costs of maintaining premises and IT systems necessary to deal with

defaults.

Although we were not party to the OFT investigation that led to its report, aqua is aware of the

report and its recommendations regarding charges. In light of the OFT statement, but without any

admission of liability as to the previous level of charges, we have reconsidered and lowered our

charges to their recommended rate of £12.00.

If you'd like to raise any queries, please contact Customer Services in writing or on the following

telephone number OB45 601 0436.

 

 

•....

----~--o

 

 

 

Monday to Friday

Saturday

Sunday

 

 

OB.OO - 21.00

09.00 - 17.00

10.00 - 1B.00

 

 

 

If you remain unhappy, you also have the option to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service

(FOS), so long as you do this within six months of the date of this letter. I've enclosed a leaflet

providing contact details and information about their service.

[silverfox1961]

Hi

At least they admit the OFT case was nothing to do with credit cards. The OFT have said that they won't intervene where charges are no more than £12 however, this does not mean they are lawful.

 

Aqua will also not supply a breakdown of these figures as they are 'commercially sensitive'-bowlarks. They know the charges are a penalty.

 

As they are not giving in, you may have to begin court action but before doing so, you need to give them the opportuniy to settle with a Letter Before Action. If they continue to refuse, the only way afterwards is court action.

 

Don't send the LBA unless you are prepared to follow through and make sure that your figures are absolutely correct

[Desmondo1]

Hi thanks silverfox1961 I will be happy to get the ball rolling on this. The charges are worked out based on the CIS sheet and their interest rate which was 44.9% apr. Everything i have is from a DSAR which i have kept.

 

That's is fine i had read something similar, I am happy to go to court as i believe they are 100% unlawful particularly given that they have never sent me any letter regarding the charges and they were only ever included on there statements which they issue as par of the course. I just need to find an lba to alter a little.

 

Thanks

[Desmondo1]

Hi would something like this do

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?387431-Letter-before-Action-Removal-of-Charges-under-Hardship-criteria-BCOBs

[ims21]

No that won't be the right one.

 

Can you type up the text of your preliminary letter to them please?

[Desmondo1]

Yes no problem i keep all of my letters

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

I recently became aware of media reports on the investigation into credit card charges by the Office of Fair Trading.

 

I now understand that the regime of fees which you had applied to my account in relation to late and over limit charges are unlawful at Common Law & under both Statute and Consumer regulation as they do not represent a genuine pre-estimate of your actual costs, but more a fixed PENALTY.

 

I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that this account was opened.

 

It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law and in consideration of fair business practices and good faith.

 

It is my contention that you have failed to operate my account in a manner conducive to the above and have demonstrated a lack of fiduciary duty.

 

I calculate that you have taken £324.00 plus £594.65 which you have charged me in interest which totals £918.65.

 

Therefore this letter demands a refund of all PENALTY charges indicated including interest to the date you settle.

 

As the account concerned is closed, I request that payment is made directly to me, either by cheque or by BACS transfer.

 

I trust this clarifies my position.

[ims21]

Ok thanks....one last question...do any of these charges go back further than six years?

[Desmondo1]

No 6 years only

[ims21]

Ok you can use this as a basis for your Letter Before Action...

 

Account number................... ................ date etc

 

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Following media reports,and an investigation into credit card charges by the Office of Fair Trading,which I have recently been made aware of,I now understand,that the regime of fees which you have been applying/applied to my account in relation to late fees, and over limit charges, are unlawful at Common Law,Statute and Consumer regulations,in that they did not/do not, represent a genuine pre-estimate of your actual costs.

 

I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that this account was opened. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law,and in consideration of fair business practices and good faith.

 

It is my contention, that you have failed to operate my account in a manner condusive to the above.

 

I calculate that you have taken £xxx plus £xxxx which you have charged me in interestwhich total £xxx. Additionally,you have entered a default notice against my credit record. This default occurred merely in respect of unlawful charges levied by you, or was the result of impecuniositiy’ caused directly by the taking by you of penalty charges which you had applied to my account.

 

 

Therefore this letter requests a refund of all charges indicated including interest 14 days from the date of this letter.

 

I request that payment is made directly to me,by cheque,and that any refund in whole or part should not be allocated to any set off or third parties.

 

Should this occur,my claim will be deemed as unsettled and I will proceed to the Courts for recovery.

 

You now have 14 days to respond positively,and in the absence of this,I will issue court proceedings without further recourse to yourselves.

 

 

Yours Faithfully

 

Enc; Schedule of charges

 

 

You should remove the bot about the default if it is not relevant.

 

Also enclose an updated spreadsheet of charges and ensure that the figures in the LBA match those on the spreadsheet.

 

Finally, only send the LBA if you actually intend to go through with court action.

[Desmondo1]

Ims21 cheers