Going after the charges for my girlfriend...

[Richy Freeway]

Ok, so I've printed the letter, addressed the envelope... Who do I make the £10 cheque payable to?!

 

Doing this on behalf of my girlfriend, she's nervous about it all. I've assured her it should be plain sailing!

 

Thanks in advance!

[Michael Browne]

LLOYDS TSB BANK PLC

[Richy Freeway]

Nice one, I'll update as things move alone.

 

Cheers

[POCA]

This may be blindingly obvious but...your girlfriend has signed the letter hasn't she? You can't sign it for her, as the bank will (quite rightly) not talk to you about it.

[Richy Freeway]

Fear not, I'm doing it all in her name.

[Richy Freeway]

Right, massively confused now.

 

I've got back a list of all the charges, it has entries as such :

 

10/09/2001 CHG O/DRAFT INTEREST 3.16DR

10/09/2001 CHG O/DRAFT USAGE FEE 5.00DR

09/10/2001 CHG O/DRAFT INTEREST 2.12.DR

...

09/05/2002 CHG O/DRAFT INTEREST 1.93DR

09/05/2002 CHG O/DRAFT EXCESS FEE 25.00DR

 

Right, now I understand it's the excess fee's I'm going after. I know I've got to write the letter saying how much I'm claiming back, but what I don't understand is what parts of that I can be claiming. Can I claim all of those things or just the excess fee's?

 

Also I have to include a schedule of fees? What goes on this?

 

I've seen all the spreadsheets but I have no idea which one to use.

 

Arrgh! I'm usually quite bright but this is TOTALLY baffling me. Any help is gratefully received, by me and my girlfriend!

[BARTY]

Hi

You can also claim O/D Usage fees.

You can claim O/d excess fees, unpaid DD Charges, unpaid CHQ Charges, unpaid SO charges.

The o/d interest is quite a complicated one to work out, you can claim back part but not all, and I personally, along with some others on here, didn't bother claiming this as it didn't add up to a great deal.

If you fill one of the spreadsheets out, I think I used the basic one, and then print this out as your schedule of charges to send to the bank.

Hope this helps a bit, it will all become clearer the more you do!

Good luck!

Barty:)

[Richy Freeway]

The letter is now sealed and stamped! Cheers for the advice, I'll report back as soon as I hear more!

[Richy Freeway]

Since mailing the letter she has incurred another £60 in charges, what should we do in these circumstances?

[Michael Browne]

You can add any additional charges to your LBA and right up till you file at court. Amend the schedule too.

[Richy Freeway]

Right, lemme get this straight. I'm still waiting for them to get back to me after I sent the first letter. They've got til Feb 1st to respond (assuming 14 working days). Once they respond (assuming they do) I should then send another letter with the revised amount? Or should I just send another letter now with the revised amount and then count the 14 days from then?

 

Cheers in advance!

 

PS. What's LBA?

[GuidoT]

No need for a further letter with the new charges, just issue the claim form including all the latest charges per your timetable.

 

Once you issue the claim form then it becomes more difficult to add the charges.

[BARTY]

Hi

LBA = Letter Before Action

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/92-3-letter-before-action.html

It's 14 calender days, not working days.

 

Barty:)

[Richy Freeway]

Got a letter through from the bank on Saturday.

 

Dear Mrs xxxxxxxx

Thank you for getting in touch with us. I am sorry you are unhappy about your account charges.

Like any business, we do make a charge for some of our extra services. When customers don’t have enough in their accounts to cover a payment, this always means extra work - and it has to happen very quickly. We have to agree to make the payment by setting up or increasing an overdraft, or tell customers we can’t agree it. We feel it’s fair to charge for this service.

Of course it’s only fair too, that we’re completely open about any charged-for services before you take them up. That’s why we take care to give every new customer the latest guide to our charges. You can also get up-to-date details about fees and borrowing rates at all our branches, through our helpline and on our website.

Just as importantly, we do everything we can to help our customers avoid these charges altogether. I’m sure you’ll know how easy it is to keep a running check on how much is in your account. You’re free to get an up-to-date balance at any of our cash machines, over the phone, on line and by weekly text to your mobile.

If you know a payment is going to take you over the limit we’ve agreed, you’re welcome to see if we can raise it — and we can usually give you an answer straight away. Again we can do that for you by phone, on line or at any of our branches.

You’ve mentioned the new guidelines from the Office of Fair Trading on credit card default charges. We don’t agree with the OFT’s thinking on this and we’re still talking it through with them. But the important point is that the guidelines are about ‘default’ charges that people pay when they break an agreement with us. The fees we charge for dealing with your request to go over your agreed overdraft limit are not default charges because you haven’t broken your agreement. They are our prices for the service we provide in these situations.

 

 

I do hope you can see that we make our charging system as fair as possible — and why I can’t agree to cancel your charges.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do. If we cannot come to an agreed solution after this I will help you refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service for independent advice.

 

If you are happy with the way I have dealt with your complaint, there is no need to reply to my letter. If I have not heard back from you by the 14/03/2007, I will close my file, though I will be happy to reopen it should you come back at any point afterwards.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Debbie Gilbert

Team Manager

Customer Service Recovery Centre Andover

What's my next course of action? LBA?

[GuidoT]

Standard nonsense letter, issue your LBA and include any further charges you have incurred sine the issue of your preliminary letter.

[Richy Freeway]

I thought as much. Thanks for all the advice guys, we'd be lost without you!

 

As soon as we get a payout there'll be a donation to the board on the way!