bank_buster vs cahoot

[Bank_Buster]

can someone tell me how to delete a post..lol as i keep trying to edit it, and delete it that way, but it wont let me..pheww..

 

1 st letter to cahoots sent 13th November 2006

my address

13th November 2006

Cahoot/Abbey National House,

2 Triton Square, Regent's Place,

London,

NW1 3AN.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Ref: acc # *********

I understand that the charges applied to my account in relation to Overdraft Charges and Returned Item Charges are unlawful.

When I opened my account I entered into a contract with you, at which time you agreed to act lawfully. The fees you have been applying to my account in relation to the above are unlawful under Common Law, Statute and consumer regulations.

You have taken 640.00 pounds from me in the overdraft and returned item charges, plus the following 96.16 pounds in overdraft interest and I would like to request repayment of 736.16 pounds of this total sum. I also ask you to ensure any default notices entered against my credit record are removed entirely.

Please find attached a detailed list of these charges.

Please repay this money in full and remove any default notices within 14 days.

If this is not done, I will begin a claim against you for the full amount, plus interest and my costs.

Yours sincerely,

enclosed list of charges

13th November 2006

 

 

List of Charges placed on my account

 

Date Taken Type of Charge Charge

11th Nov 2005 Unauthorized O/D charge 30.00

14th Nov 2005 Returned Item charge 25.00

12th Dec 2005 Unauthorized O/D charge 30.00

11th Jan 2006 Unauthorized O/D charge 30.00

11th Feb 2006 Unauthorized O/D charge 30.00

14th Mar 2006 Unauthorized O/D charge 30.00

11th Apr 2006 Unauthorized O/D charge 30.00

4th May 2006 Returned Item Charge 25.00

12th May 2006 Unauthorized O/D charge 30.00

15th May 2006 Returned Item Charge 25.00

11th June 2006 Unauthorized O/D charge 30.00

5th July 2006 Returned Item Charge 25.00

12th July 2006 Unauthorized O/D charge 30.00

13th July 2006 Returned Item Charge 50.00

17th July 2006 Returned Item Charge 25.00

4th Aug 2006 Returned Item Charge 25.00

11th Aug 2006 Unauthorized O/D charge 30.00

14th Aug 2006 Returned Item Charge 25.00

15th Aug 2006 Returned Item Charge 25.00

11th Sept 2006 Unauthorized O/D charge 30.00

12th Oct 2006 Unauthorized O/D charge 30.00

11th Nov 2006 Unauthorized O/D charge 30.00

-------------------------

640.00

Overdraft Interest 96.16

--------------------------

Total Amount 736.16

Cahoots response to first letter on 18th November via email

From :

Sent :

18 November 2006 16:57:26

To :

Jennifer

Subject :

cahoot

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Inbox

 

 

 

Dear Miss. jennifer Thank you for contacting cahoot in Coventry. Our position in relation to bank charges, as stated in the terms and conditionsof our accounts, is that it is the customer's responsibility to ensure thatthere are sufficient funds in the account to cover any direct debits, standingorders, card purchases or cheques that they write. cahoot is up front andtransparent about all its banking charges as set out in its Tariff of Charges. cahoot's bank account is good value and our charges compare fairly with others. We review our fees and charges regularly against our competitors. Banking withcahoot need not incur charges. Bank charges are only imposed on those who gobeyond their agreed limits. Kind Regards,Emma Brookes Who would you rather be in cahoots with? (ha!!!..Not these guys that’s for sure!!!lol)

 

2nd letter sent prior to action on 23rd November 2006

my address

Complaints

Abbey

PO Box 5129

Milton Keynes MK9 2YN

 

23rd November 2006

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

CAHOOT ACCOUNT NUMBER # **********:

 

I am very disappointed that you have failed to respond positively to my letter of the 13th November 2006, instead I was sent a impersonal form letter by email dated 14th November and have not received any acknowledgement by post to date, as I sent to you duplicate letters one via email and one via post to ensure you received this important letter and document of charges.

I now understand that the regime of 'fees' which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations.

 

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 calculate that you have taken £736.16 from my account since I have opened my account with you.

I have enclosed a copy of the schedule of the charges, which I am claiming. I have already sent you a copy of this in my original letter of the 13th November 2006.

 

I require repayment in full of this money. If you do not comply fully within 14 days then I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount plus interest plus my costs and without further notice.

 

If you wish to defend yourselves by using the argument that your charges accurately reflect your costs, then I will require you to disclose a material breakdown of your charges to support this.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

jennifer aka bank buster..lol

14 days from this date for cahoots to respond will be the 7th December..yeehaw!!

[Bank_Buster]

well, just sent cahoot there letter prior to action this morning via recorded delivery, so they can not say they didnt receive it..lol i thought for some reason it would cost me about 5 quid to send the letter, but it only cost 1 pound, so its well worth it, as then you have a record of it arriving. if they then say they havent received it, then they look incompetent.. which can only work in my favour..lol

 

For anyone new here, my boyfriend sent the 1st letter to halifax and was offered 291.00 out of the 550.00 claim, and my best friend belle was offered half settlement from barclays after the first letter too. Both are taking it all the way to court if need be. my only question if anyone can answer it is...

 

if you have a letter from your bank offering you partial payment, and you decline their offer, then you take it all the way to court, then wouldnt that letter show the judge that they have acknowledged their charges were too high, to offer you a settlement in the first place? and surely the judge would see that offer for settlement shows they are accountable in some way, why else would they offer it?

 

i was just curious if the letter they send trying to make a part settlement can be used in court to show the judge?

[jkop]

nope - any offer from the banks always say "goodwill gesture without any admission of liability" or "a commercial decision" etc

 

keep at it you'll get it all back soon enough!

 

well, just sent cahoot there letter prior to action this morning via recorded delivery, so they can not say they didnt receive it..lol i thought for some reason it would cost me about 5 quid to send the letter, but it only cost 1 pound, so its well worth it, as then you have a record of it arriving. if they then say they havent received it, then they look incompetent.. which can only work in my favour..lol

 

For anyone new here, my boyfriend sent the 1st letter to halifax and was offered 291.00 out of the 550.00 claim, and my best friend belle was offered half settlement from barclays after the first letter too. Both are taking it all the way to court if need be. my only question if anyone can answer it is...

 

if you have a letter from your bank offering you partial payment, and you decline their offer, then you take it all the way to court, then wouldnt that letter show the judge that they have acknowledged their charges were too high, to offer you a settlement in the first place? and surely the judge would see that offer for settlement shows they are accountable in some way, why else would they offer it?

 

i was just curious if the letter they send trying to make a part settlement can be used in court to show the judge?

[Bank_Buster]

Thanks so much for the encouragement.. ill keep everyone posted..

 

i have another question if someone can help me.. im now at the stage where i need to start thinking about how to fill out the court forms, and im still unsure of each stage that i need to take with this.

 

could someone give me some guidance in regards to the next steps. eg..file my claim..and all that it entails???? i could do with a step by step version, so it is clear in my mind as to what i need to do.

 

also....i have read a few posts with draft letter to the court by others on here, but would feel much happier if one of the moderator could post me a copy of theirs, as then i know that it is correct.

 

thank you sooooo much for any assistance you can give me..

 

jennifer :?

[Bank_Buster]

ok..i have found the template in the library to fill out the MCOL form, but am still unsure if there is anything else i am missing in the way of what happens next now i have filled my claim.

 

Could anyone give me any more advice as to what happens next? :o

 

Thanks again for any advice you can offer..

 

jennifer

[Bank_Buster]

i just received another email from cahoot which says :

 

dated 28th nov 2006

 

Dear Miss ******,

I am sorry that you were unhappy with the previous response.

I have looked at your case in further detail and reviewed the charges that have been placed on your account. As my colleague previously highlighted the charges that you have received by cahoot were agreed to by yourself in the terms and conditions when you signed for the account. We feel that the charges are fair and we stand by the fact that we will not be offering a refund of the charges on your account.

I can assure you that this is my final decision in relation this matter. If you wish to continue with your complaint you will now be required to write to Abbey's Stage 2 complaints team. This department is an autonomous body within Abbey who will review your complaint on an independent basis. If you decide to write to them please state that cahoot has issued its final response in relation to this matter and please quote my name so that the relevant paperwork can be quickly obtained.

Stage 2 Complaints

Abbey

PO Box 911

Central Milton Keynes

MK9 1AD

Stage 2 Complaints will review the details of your case and carry out its own investigation. In the unlikely event that you are still dissatisfied you can write to the Financial Services Ombudsman at the address below.

South Quay Plaza

183 Marsh Wall

London

E14 9SR

If I can offer any further assistance with this issue please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind Regards,

Amy Lewis

cahoot Service Relationship Manager

Has anyone else had this letter? One good thing this is that its the first time they have sent me a letter which wasnt a standard response letter.

[Lager_Lou]

I didn't receive this version personally but it's quite clearly a delaying tactic. Just ignore it and stick to your timetable - we're right behind you!

[Bank_Buster]

ok, its been a while since i posed anything, but i would like to help others get their money back as i just received a full and final settlement from cahoot for 1040.27 pounds by check last week.

 

i have a couple of tricks which i can now see worked to get me my money.

 

1. when i posted my details on money claim, instead of entering abbey nationals proper address, i put a post box address which i found on one of my letters from them, as i didnt know which address to use.

here is the address i used. abbey national plc,po box 1981,coventry,cv1 2za.

 

only after speaking to abbey themselves did i learn that by using the po box address i actually slowed down the process of them receiving my claim, which was to my advantage because i filed my claim on 18th dec, and the court still hadnt received anything from abbey by the 6th jan, which was thier deadline to respond with a) to acknowledge the claim to the court b) to write to the court stating they wish to defend themselves.

 

Now because i sent it to the po box instead, it slowed down their time to respond, which worked to my advantage, because on the 7th jan i was able to file a judgement by default against them for not responing to the court within the 14 day period.

 

i called the court the day i filed the judgment by default, and enquired about when i could issue a warrant to get my money back, i was told i could file it today if i wished, it was up to my descretion.

 

 

With this knowledge i decided to track someone down from abbey to find out about my claim. It took me many phone calls to find out their

Hgh Level Complaints Department. I spoke to a woman called christine cody on her direct line 08706076000 (who left abbey last week, but the number still works and you will be put through to someone in that department. It seems the head honcho who had the power to get things moving was called Inga Kirkman direct on 02077564332. She had the power to decide whether i would be getting my money or whether she was going to defend. this is the woman you need to speak to!

 

So after getting through to Inga kirkman, i told her i just got off the phone to the court, who said that they still had not had a response from abbey, end that i was able to file a judgement by default,which i did yesterday. i told inga i took the courts advice to try one last time to settle things before they go to court, and that this is my last resort before issuing a warrant.

 

Inga immediatly said she had no knowledge of my claim, but that even thought they could still probably defend themselves, that she would prefer to settle out of court for the full amount. (she had no knowledge of my claim because the court papers were sent to that po box, which then made her feel like a idiot, as i had all the knowledge of my case and she had none, which worked to my advantage. wink wink) I also said that i was calling to either a) settle this today or b) i would need an address to send the warrant to. I said all this in a very calm and matter of a fact way. I didnt get mad, or shout, i just told her my position and then asked her what her response is to this information. in anycase it worked a treat, i didnt know if it would at the time, but im glad i tried.

 

It took them exactly one day to receive my claim after talking to inga for the first time. within 2 weeks i had received my check in the post. i bugged her twice a week until i got it, as she kept saying that they were waiting on a bundle of checks on wed, then on friday, they then had to check the list of names each time to see if mine was on there. Finally i got my cheque last friday, and banked it on the sat! YEEHAW!!!

 

One last thing i found out, with the cheque they sent me a form to say that i have received full payment and that i request to remove the judgement by default. now the court told me that IF 28 days has elapsed after filing a judgement by default, then the judgement can NOT be removed and that it will stay on their records for 6 yrs. When i spoke to Ing, she also said the bank didnt want to have judgements against them, so this seems to be a valuable piece of information to have.

 

Now that i have that knowledge i can choose to cash the check, and wait for the 28 days to elapse and let them panic and chase me, as i had to do to get them to respond to my case. This way the judgement will not be able to be retracted for 6 yrs. I feel they still made me wait the two weeks to get the cheque so they could earn interest off my money, and also that they knew exactly how long they had to play with, in regards to resolving my case. They knew that they had exactly 28 days from the time i filed the judgement to pay me, and still leave 7 days to respond to the court retracting my judgement.

 

I felt that my case went very smoothly, i wasnt waiting on them to throw me a bone, but they were the ones out of the loop, as they didnt have all the information about my case at their finger tips, which put me in a better position to call the shots and have some power in directing the conclusion.

 

I hope this helps someone in some way, Inga kirkmans number is her direct number, and i found that just by calling her twice a week for a update on what they are doing, ultimately helped speed things up, as knowone likes to be pestered daily. its easier to get them off their back and pay up a.s.a.p... he he

 

If anyone has any more questions i would be glad to help.. good luck everyone, you will get your money, and maybe by knowing and sharing some information and inside tips, can we all really put the pressure on these banks..

[Bank_Buster]

ok, its been a while since i posed anything, but i would like to help others get their money back as i just received a full and final settlement from cahoot for 1040.27 pounds by check last week.

 

i have a couple of tricks which i can now see worked to get me my money.

 

1. when i posted my details on money claim, instead of entering abbey nationals proper address, i put a post box address which i found on one of my letters from them, as i didnt know which address to use.

here is the address i used. abbey national plc,po box 1981,coventry,cv1 2za.

 

only after speaking to abbey themselves did i learn that by using the po box address i actually slowed down the process of them receiving my claim, which was to my advantage because i filed my claim on 18th dec, and the court still hadnt received anything from abbey by the 6th jan, which was thier deadline to respond with a) to acknowledge the claim to the court b) to write to the court stating they wish to defend themselves.

 

Now because i sent it to the po box instead, it slowed down their time to respond, which worked to my advantage, because on the 7th jan i was able to file a judgement by default against them for not responing to the court within the 14 day period.

 

i called the court the day i filed the judgment by default, and enquired about when i could issue a warrant to get my money back, i was told i could file it today if i wished, it was up to my descretion.

 

 

With this knowledge i decided to track someone down from abbey to find out about my claim. It took me many phone calls to find out their

Hgh Level Complaints Department. I spoke to a woman called christine cody on her direct line 08706076000 (who left abbey last week, but the number still works and you will be put through to someone in that department. It seems the head honcho who had the power to get things moving was called Inga Kirkman direct on 02077564332. She had the power to decide whether i would be getting my money or whether she was going to defend. this is the woman you need to speak to!

 

So after getting through to Inga kirkman, i told her i just got off the phone to the court, who said that they still had not had a response from abbey, end that i was able to file a judgement by default,which i did yesterday. i told inga i took the courts advice to try one last time to settle things before they go to court, and that this is my last resort before issuing a warrant.

 

Inga immediatly said she had no knowledge of my claim, but that even thought they could still probably defend themselves, that she would prefer to settle out of court for the full amount. (she had no knowledge of my claim because the court papers were sent to that po box, which then made her feel like a idiot, as i had all the knowledge of my case and she had none, which worked to my advantage. wink wink) I also said that i was calling to either a) settle this today or b) i would need an address to send the warrant to. I said all this in a very calm and matter of a fact way. I didnt get mad, or shout, i just told her my position and then asked her what her response is to this information. in anycase it worked a treat, i didnt know if it would at the time, but im glad i tried.

 

It took them exactly one day to receive my claim after talking to inga for the first time. within 2 weeks i had received my check in the post. i bugged her twice a week until i got it, as she kept saying that they were waiting on a bundle of checks on wed, then on friday, they then had to check the list of names each time to see if mine was on there. Finally i got my cheque last friday, and banked it on the sat! YEEHAW!!!

 

One last thing i found out, with the cheque they sent me a form to say that i have received full payment and that i request to remove the judgement by default. now the court told me that IF 28 days has elapsed after filing a judgement by default, then the judgement can NOT be removed and that it will stay on their records for 6 yrs. When i spoke to Ing, she also said the bank didnt want to have judgements against them, so this seems to be a valuable piece of information to have.

 

Now that i have that knowledge i can choose to cash the check, and wait for the 28 days to elapse and let them panic and chase me, as i had to do to get them to respond to my case. This way the judgement will not be able to be retracted for 6 yrs. I feel they still made me wait the two weeks to get the cheque so they could earn interest off my money, and also that they knew exactly how long they had to play with, in regards to resolving my case. They knew that they had exactly 28 days from the time i filed the judgement to pay me, and still leave 7 days to respond to the court retracting my judgement.

 

I felt that my case went very smoothly, i wasnt waiting on them to throw me a bone, but they were the ones out of the loop, as they didnt have all the information about my case at their finger tips, which put me in a better position to call the shots and have some power in directing the conclusion.

 

I hope this helps someone in some way, Inga kirkmans number is her direct number, and i found that just by calling her twice a week for a update on what they are doing, ultimately helped speed things up, as knowone likes to be pestered daily. its easier to get them off their back and pay up a.s.a.p... he he

 

If anyone has any more questions i would be glad to help.. good luck everyone, you will get your money, and maybe by knowing and sharing some information and inside tips, can we all really put the pressure on these banks..

[Bookworm]

3 threads merged, no need to post more than once, and to post than in more than 1 forum.

 

First of all, congratulations. Feels great, doesn't it?

 

Now, on to your "useful" tips:

 

You were very lucky, and someone in court was very careless.

MCOL should not, and usually doesn't accept PO Box addresses. If you had filed with an N1 ( where you hand it to court), the clerk would have handed you back your form and asked you to provide a correct address. I am surprised your form actually went through on MCOL, but there you are.

 

Secondly, holding on to the cheque: that would not be wise. Abbey can -and will - notify the courts that payment was made in full before the 28 days deadline, and they could bring to the court's attention that you acted unreasonably by holding on to the payment to ensure they would have a default. I am pretty sure that the court would take a dim view of such action.

 

Sorry to rain on your parade, you didn't get your money because of a couple of "tricks", you got your money because the banks settle, sooner or later.

 

Finally, I would thoroughly disagree with the notion of phoning them on a regular basis, this is the quickest way to ensure that people do not get full settlement, as it will make them look desperate, unsure of themselves, and therefore more amenable to pressure.

[Bank_Buster]

i wouldnt want to rain on your parade either, but all i can say is that what i did worked.

 

1. i agree if filed in court personnally i may have not gotten away with a po box address, but filing it online i did.

 

2. i feel that by alot of hard work on my part to track someone down at abbey, who had the power to make a decision regarding my claim, was a good thing because i was able to know from their side what they were going to do in regards to my claim, and so was able to feel more in control of MY CASE, rather than just playing the cowardly role of waiting for them to respond to me within their time limits.

 

3.it is up to the people who read my thread to decide if the information i give is worth acting on. we are all adults and we all make our own choices, and choose to go about things in different ways. so yes, yours is but one opinion, and mine is another.

 

at the end of the day, i got my pay out, and as we can all see the banks choose to pay out at many different points in the process. there is no right or wrong way to go about defending yourself, just choices..!

 

Good luck and good day xxx

jennifer.k

[Bank_Buster]

oh i forgot to mention..im not holding onto the check, i have took it to nationwide on sat to cash. but it still takes another week to clear. i am going to inform the court once my cheque has cleared but im not closing my claim with the court until it has cleared. and even then by the time the court recieves the seperate signed paperwork to retract the judgement, 28 days ill have elapsed, and so the judgement will not be removed from their records for 6 yrs.

[pennypainter]

blimey i just read your story i come on here thinking how am i going to get the bak charges of my basic abbey account... i went over drawn by 3 quid or something ages ago. now i have over 200 quid worth of charges on it. When i first got the charges i thought i had no rights to complain cus i knew they would charge, but i had made a mistake buying something on the net which put on a extra couple of quid for something or another but would have with in my funds had they not put on the last bit. anyway so i had about a 50 quid fine i thought well thats my mistake i'll pay it when i get extra cash to give to the bank then they out on more charges on top of that now theres no way i can pay it bank it's terrible i only went a couple of quid over drawn if i would have been happy to pay that bank straight away had they not put on all the stupid charges.

 

where did you get you knowledge that the charges are unlawful etc

 

please reply soon i see you have chating today

[Bank_Buster]

hi,

to be honest i was first told about reclaiming bank charges from a friend, then i saw a program on tv which showed people who were reclaiming. I personnally know of 3 people who have had full settlements from halifax/barclays/intelligent finance/ and cahoot for myself.

 

I have no doubt you will get all the charges back, plus by using the online calculator, you can claim 8% interest on those charges when you file your claim. basically its a very straightforward process in reclaiming. but i suggest if you have any queries you ask someone on this site to guide you.

 

hope this helps..

if you need anymore questions answered, just ask me..ill do my best to answer them

[pennypainter]

thank you for your reply

 

i suppose all i need is the law bit and i will get started where did you get the bit the it was unlawful etc?? ..