Bloc V's B-Card

[bloc]

Hi

 

I'm new to all this and have put message on welcome forum so please bear with me.

 

Nearing £100 over limit with b-card due to their charges. Had phonecall from them today saying that a default notice will be applied to my account. Explained that due to being on maternity leave i'm have very limited cashflow. The adviser said that this is noted on their computer notes and that she will note my circumstances again and this will hold off the default notice for 7 days only but charges are being applied to my account.

 

I have not used my b-card since going over limit due to their charges.

 

Also If I wrote a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act would this mean that I am in dispute of my account and that they would not be able to add a default notice to my account?

 

Any advice welcomed.

[Michael Browne]

Also If I wrote a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act would this mean that I am in dispute of my account and that they would not be able to add a default notice to my account?

 

No, not necessarily. You need to give them written notice that your a/c is in dispute:

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: XXXXXXX

 

Dear Sirs

 

Re: Account in dispute

 

I am writing to clarify that I am currently in the process of requesting a refund of bank charges unlawfully made to my account.

 

I note from your latest correspondence that you are proposing to issue me with a Default Notice on this account - I need to make you fully aware that I am disputing the sum owed and, as such, you must refrain from any further action until this dispute is fully resolved.

 

If you do not stop this default action and proceed by making any adverse comments on my credit reference files, I shall be forced to take legal action against you under the Data Protection Act 1998.

 

Yours sincerely,

[bloc]

Hi Michael

 

Thanks very much for that. I have typed up letter and will be sending it recorded delivery today. Will keep you posted on what happens.

[bloc]

Hi Tanzarelli,

 

Thanks for the help with my SAR will send it tomorrow.

 

Bloc x

[TANZARELLI]

Not a prob.

[bloc]

Sent SAR off today with £10 fee to Barclaycard.

 

When post arrived however there was a letter from Mercers Debt Collections ltd.

 

It said:

 

Important You Should Read This Carefully

 

Default Notice served under section 87(I) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974

I was under the impression that if my account was in dispute then they could not enter a default against me. I have previously writen to Barclaycard to tell them that my account was in dispute. I am really peed off about this.

 

What should I do?

 

Please help?

 

bloc

[TANZARELLI]

Hi bloc,

 

I'd try pm'ing a MOD to ask for their opinion. It might be worth wrting to Mercers to explain that the account is in dispute, also enclose a copy of the letter which you mentioned you sent. This will hopefully stop them from applying anymore to your claim I would have thought. Also you will have to try and get this removed within the POC when you get to that stage. I'll help all I can but as you know I am having a default removed from crap one hopefully.

 

Tanz

[bloc]

I have just pm'd one of the site helpers livelylad, as the only other mod about was bookworm and i could not send a personal message to her as don't have skype. Hope he can help

 

bloc

[TANZARELLI]

No reply yet then I see bloc try pm ing again.

 

Tanz

[bloc]

Please could someone help with this as I need to wrtie to Barclaycard and tell them they shouldn't have put the default against me, I need to ask you all what I should put in the letter to them, Any ideas please please please help???????????????

 

I am getting very worried about this.

 

Thanks

 

bloc

[TANZARELLI]

Still no answer bloc, try pming another mod.

 

Tanz

[bloc]

Hi Tanzarelli, I have tried pm'ing Dave the administrator but his inbox is full, so pm'd zootscoot to see if he could help.

 

I was wondering do I need to send a 'Notice pursuant to s.10 of The Data Protection Act 1998?

 

Any thoughts anybody?

 

bloc

[zootscoot]

Hi Bloc,

 

From reading through your thread it seems that you sent a letter saying the account was in dispute before you had actually taken any steps to dispute it. You have now sent off the SAR and have now started the ball rolling on the dispute.

 

Send this letter to Mercers:

 

 

Dear xxxx

 

Account number xxxx

 

I am writing with regards the default notice you sent me in relation to a credit card account I hold with Barclaycard. The account is formally in dispute. Barclaycard are aware of this fact and should not therefore have passed the debt to yourselves. No action can be taken by yourselves with regard to the above account until this dispute is resolved by the courts.

 

Any action you take specifically in relation to passing my details on to the credit reference agencies will thus amount to a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998. Please note, if any adverse data relating to this account are recorded, court action will be taken to remove the adverse data and a claim for compensation will be made.

 

In consideration of the above I request that you pass my account back to Barclaycard to resolve the pending dispute.

 

Yours faithfully

 

xxxxx

 

Send the following to Barclays:

 

Dear xxxx

 

Account no XXXX

 

I am writing with regard to the above account which you passed on to Merceers Debt Collections. I wrote to you on XX/XX/XXXX formally disputing the debt and I am currently in the process of reclaiming the unlawful charges which you have applied to the account. I am at present awaiting a response to my SAR in order to calculate the amount you have taken from me.

 

I am thus, concerned that you have passed the account to Mercers given that the account is disputed. I request that no action is taken by you on this account until there has been a satisfactory outcome of the dispute. This would include the processing of any adverse data in relation to the account by registering a default notice with the credit reference agencies.

 

If it is found that any adverse data has been passed on, please note court action will be taken to remove such adverse data and a claim for compensation will be made.

 

Yours faithfully

 

xxxxx

 

All the best

 

Zoot

[bloc]

Thanks loads for that.

 

I did write a letter to Barclaycard on 14th November saying that my account was in dispute, I was acting on the info posted by Michael Browne above. However it took me a while to get round to sending the SAR, this was sent 18th Dec.

 

I will send those letters though but which address do I send them to as the one on the statements for Barclaycard is a PO Box and I want to send this recorded delivery?

 

Has anyone got the address for the head office?

 

bloc

[TANZARELLI]

There you go, great response zootscoot. Worth the wait and perseverance bloc eh?

 

Get them sent off asap

 

Tanz

[bloc]

Many thanks to both of you (Zootscoot and Tanzarelli). Really appreciate all the help. Currently off work with stress and got six month old to look after so when i do find spare 5 mins I'm trying to get this sorted, so thats why very appreciative of any help.

 

Hope everyone on site has fab crimbo and a wicked new year.

 

Bloc x

 

:razz:

[TANZARELLI]

Not a problem babes, Charli is a beauty though isn't she.

 

You know me, I do love playing this game with the banks, i find it very satisfying sending off letters and quoting stuff in response to their half hearted, feeble attempts to wriggle out of paying back what they have unlawfully taken from us for years. Oh and when you win, what a great feeling that is, knowing you have done a good job, and stood up for your rights.

 

Have it!!!!!!!!!

 

Looking forward to spending our first christmas in the new house, with our new daughter. Lots of love XXXXX Tanz

[bloc]

Hi all,

 

Just had a call from Barclaycard (David Prunty), He has just said to me that he was ringing in regard to my SAR letter of 18th December 2006, plus letter dated 23rd December 2006. He said that as my account was opened in August 2005 he is copying the list of charges and sending them to me. In total there is 13 charges at £24. He then said that due to the OFT's ruling of charges over £12 they will refund the difference to my account, so my account is in credit now.

 

However I am still going to reclaim the rest of this money as I still believe this to be unlawfull. Prelim letter to be sent off tomorrow.

 

Lets get this show on the road!!!!!!!!!

[noomill060]

You need to write back to them saying that you will accept this as part payment only and that you will persue Barclaycard through the courts for the balance plus all interest unlawfully levied on these unlawful charges.

 

Go girl!

[bloc]

Hello to you all,

 

Sorry not been around much recently but been busy with the little one, firtsly Happy new year to you all.

 

Just to update i sent the following letter with help from Tanzarelli my partner:

 

Barclaycard

Barclays Bank PLC

1 Churchill Place

London

E14 5HP

 

 

3rd January 2007

 

Request for repayment of charges

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

CREDIT CARD ACCOUNT NUMBER: **** **** **** ****

 

 

My request

Following my telephone conversation with you on 28th December 2006, in which you informed me that I have 10 charges at £24.00 and 1 charge at £12.00 and 3 charges which have been refunded to me and thank you for the goodwill gesture of £25.00, however I feel it necessary to write to you.

I am writing to ask you to refund to me the charges which you have levied from my account over the last 2 years.

I now understand that the regime of fees which you have been applying to my account in relation to Over Limit Fees and Late Payment Fees and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent consumer regulations. If you say that they are not, then will you please demonstrate this by letting me have a full breakdown of the costs to which you have been put by as a result of my breaches, in order to reassure me that your penalties really do reflect your costs.

Additionally, it has now been confirmed that your particularly high level of penalties are considered to be unfair per se by the OFT who reported on the 5th April 2006 and are therefore presumed to be unlawful in the absence of specific proof to the contrary. Please also note that this did not state that £12 is acceptable, as I believe this to also be unlawful. You will also be aware that the OFT has said “We are not suggesting that default fees should be set at £12, and a court will certainly not consider that a default fee is fair just because it is below the threshold”. You have already agreed to refund me £120 to my account and I will accept the sum offered only as part settlement and on the clear understanding that I will pursue recovery of the remainder, with a County Court claim if necessary.

 

Your responsibilities

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 consider that your repeated representations that your charges are fair and reasonable are deceptive and that they have deceived me into agreeing to pay them.

Your concealment of the true nature of your charges has prevented me from asserting my right until now.

 

What I require

I calculate that an outstanding balance of £227 plus interest is still to be refunded back to myself. A detailed schedule of charges will follow when I receive the information that I have requested from you in my Subject Access Request. Please note also, that as of today’s date, you now have 30 days to supply me with this information.

Additionally I received a letter from Mercers Debt Collections Ltd dated 11th December 2006, which stated “Default Notice served under section 87(i) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974”. This default occurred merely in respect of unlawful charges levied by you or was the result of impecuniosity caused directly by the taking by you of penalty charges which you had applied unlawfully to my account.

 

In addition to full payment of the sum mentioned above, I require that you remove the default entry from the register. Please note that mere correction or amendment to the entry will not be acceptable.

 

 

My targets to resolve this matter

I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me about this matter and I am writing this letter to you on the assumption that you will prefer to do this than merely respond with standard letters and leaflets.

 

I will give you 14 days to reply to me accepting, unconditionally, my request in principle and letting me know a date by which I will receive payment.

 

If you do not respond, or you do not respond positively, within this time period, I shall send you a letter before action giving you a further 14 days in which to reflect. I believe that these targets are more than sufficient for a large company such as yours with dedicated staff and departments.

 

After that, there will be no further communication from me and I shall issue a claim at the expiry of the second deadline.

 

Yours faithfully,

Miss Bloc

Cc Barclaycard, PO Box 5592, Northampton. NN41ZY

[bloc]

Today I have recieved the following:

 

a) Letter from Barclaycard dated 5th Jan 07 saying that my my request is being dealt with. Signed Katrina Downs

CRM, Enc We value your feedback leaflet (which has gone in the bin).

 

b) Letter from Barclaycard dated 5th Jan 07 which says the following:

 

Dear Bloc,

 

Having reviewed your request for a refund of charges I would like to take this opportunity to confirm your Barclaycard account was opened on 13th April 2005 and since that date you have incurred a total of 13 x $24.00 and received the equivalent of 2 x £24 in refunds resulting in a total of £264.00.

 

Please note, although a further 4 x £12.00 has been incurred on your account since the OFT recomendation, you would not be entitled to any refund as these represent the amount the OFT consider to be fair and acceptable. (do they really, i think not)

Following your conversation with David Prunty on the 28 December 2006, I can confirm that he has calculated the refund you were entitled to ion relation to the charges incurred between May 2005 and August 2006 and processed a credit for £120. However , as you were entitled to a 50% refund of charges incurred during that period, I have today applied a further credit of £12.00. The credits will be reflected on your January statement.

 

Our position remains that we believe it is fair when cosutomers break the terms of their agreement with us, we recover the costs. Therefore, I am not prepared to consider any request for further refunds.

 

As previously advised, when your Barclaycard account was opened, you signed and agreed to our Terms and Conditions and this included details of our charges. The information provided at application stage clearly explains our obligations to our customers, as well as their obligations to us. If we make any changes to our Terms and Conditions we provide details of these to our customers. (well if I hadn't contacted you, would you have contacted me to inform me I was entitled to a refund? I think not so don't lie)

I appreciate that this is not the best outcome you expected, however I trust that this information I have provided has clarified Barclaycards postition.

 

Should you have any further questions blah blah blah, FOS crap.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Tracy Burgess

CRM

 

I am going to wirte to them and refuse their offer of refund and say that i will only accept it as partial payment, but will continue to claim for the outstanding balance.

 

Is this right?

 

Bloc

[bloc]

Oh I also had another letter dated 4th Jan providing part of my SAR request back but was missing statements from Jan 2006-Dec 2006 so will ring them to request this is supplied asap.

 

Bloc

[zootscoot]

I am going to wirte to them and refuse their offer of refund and say that i will only accept it as partial payment, but will continue to claim for the outstanding balance.

 

Is this right?

 

 

 

Yes

 

Keep going Bloc!

[Bailiffchaser]

I am currently at the aq position. here is the paperwork i have recieved to date :

 

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/barclaycard/56475-barclaycard-legal-papers-here.html