A little owed from the Alliance & Leicester

[reduk054]

Thought that I would join this group as currently am owed a little from Alliance & Leicester.

Being a very new customer (infact this was a parachute account from Lloyds my main account) I have all of my charges, totalling £102.00 for non payment of DD (three in total)

Sent a letter giving them 14 days to put money back into account (deadline yesterday) from the Library section of this website. This was the letter before action. I only did this because I knew how much they owed and did not need to contact them for any further statements (which most people seem to have to).

Now I am on the Money claim website to start the next part of my claim.

Alliance & Leicester did acknowledge my letter (kind of) by sending a standard " we are sorry to hear you are not happy with the service you have received, ....we will get back to you" blah blah.

Will keep you all posted......

[reduk054]

2nd letter arrived from Jan Smeaton Customer services advising me that the charges are clearly shown in their literature and that they are unable to make any adjustments to my account.

Money claim here i come

[reduk054]

Visited Money claim - Notice of Issue Claim no 6QZ26588 in Northampton County Court issued on 26th April 06, deemed to have been served 1st May 06. Defendant has until 15th May 06 to respond.

[reduk054]

27th April 06, Claim 6QZ26588

 

Notice that Acknowledgement of Service has been filed. Defendant has 28 days from the date of service of the claim form to file a defence.

 

Jackie McGuirk (busy lady) intending as (defendant') Solicitor to defend all of the claim.

[reduk054]

Saw a familiar typeface on a white envelope in my mail this morning - that of Alliance & Leicester. Got excited as with all of these quick turn arounds of full refunds occuring on this site (well done all!) I was hoping for the same.

 

Mind you the postage pre-paid was 1st Class so I really should have guessed that it was not a refund, but infact a letter telling me (six weeks after the request) that I would not be getting the £250 overdraft I had requested.

 

I had applied for the o/d before I had really dealt with this fantastic site, now I have submitted a claim, so not surprised that I have had the knock back.

 

I can see some more unlawful charges heading my way - hope this will go in my favour for any potential court action, as I am trying to run my account effectively, and stay within my t&c's haha:razz:

At least I have the relevant letters on my desktop thanks BAG!

[reduk054]

Settled in full. Cheque for total claimed including court costs.

 

Normal non-admission covering letter from the bank.

 

Thank you all!!

Helpful message for all of you dealing with Money CLaim on line, you cannot change the information stating that Defendant has paid in full on that site. You must send the claim number and date of payment by e-mail fax or letter to the Court,and they will update accordingly.

[dave]

Excellent news - but not unexpected ;-)

 

Would you (are indeed, have you?) complete the survey for us?

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/survey.php

 

Cheers,

 

Dave.

[sparol]

Well done!

 

My claim was acknowledged the same day so let's hope I've got a nice surprise waiting on my doormat!

[Fuz]

Once I've digested the FAQ I'll do the same, I too am looking for £102.00, I could go further as I've had an account with A&L for over 15 years.

 

Its only a basic cash account and the problems always arise due to them taking 8 working to days to clear cheques ( is it fair that current accounts only take 4 days ? )

 

Will open a thread when I start.

[reduk054]

Since winning my claim:) I have been advised by A&L when my account is teetering over with unpaid direct debits that they will not be charging me on this occasion as my accounts are in the process of being switched!

 

Think this is because I swapped over to A&L after starting legal biz with my premier account Lloyds, rather than the fact that they dont want me threatening court action with them again!

 

Good luck everyone, keep going or start your claims...its worth it

[caro]

That's an added bonus then. Well done:p

[reduk054]

Hi again everyone - thanks for your messages. This forum gets more exciting with every day that passes, and I hope you all will be grinning like me soon!

 

Sparol - have you received your cheque yet?

 

Fuz - if you need any help getting started then pm me, A&L claim was quite straight forward, go back for the full 6 years of charges, and start with asking for a DPA request - contact info is in FAQs/other threads.

 

Spoke to A&L today to ask them to cancel a DD, which should be coming out of my account and asked them if they would charge me tongue in cheek! They said no (good, saves me a letter!) oh, and I phoned them on their cheapy tel no which is not the 0870 / 0845 number so money saved all round! Yippee:)

[Fuz]

Hi, I just got my umbrella account set up but

it doesn't allow any online banking ( Lloyds TSB basic crap a/c ).

 

So time for a re-think.. I need to be able to pay creditors online, I need to be able

to recieve payments from clients online.. can't afford to have the account closed before I have another to replace it and the Ltsb just doesn't cut it. I will only use that for cheques coming in.

[NeilP]

FUZ - the Natwest Step Account allows you to set up DD and SO online (not sure about Bill Payments though). I have only just opened mine, but used to deal with them donkeys years ago, and have been the best bank i have used (don't mention this to anyone from the Natwest threads!!)

 

Good Luck

 

NeilP

[reduk054]

Fuz it sounds as if you need a good business account. Unfortunately my business account is with Lloyds so I can't advise you on that issue (although I can say that Lloyds have kept the business account open even with the late stage that I am at with them and my impending court case for unlawful charges on my personal account - separate thread under relevant bank action group forum) . Lots of people on this site have been opening a natwest parachute / umbrella account, but again I have not so can't tell you what facilites they have!

There have been various comments/discussions regarding bank account closures, although I have not actually read of anyone being forced to close their account, although some banks have flexed their muscles say asking for cheque books etc to be returned, how this affects on line banking i don't know, maybe any moderator could assist here????!!!!

I like your comment regarding using the Lloyds account for paying cheques in.....for example cheques for unlawful bank charges!

[Fuz]

I know I need a good business account but I won't be getting one anytime soon

 

I went to Lloyds with someone who was " a good friend of the manager " .. expecting to be waived through the hoops and get a normal current a/c.

No such luck so rather than say " forget it" I allowed myself to be lumbered with an account with half the usability of my A/L account

 

I guess if I try for a Natwest a/c they see all the searches etc and ask why I need so many

 

So not really ready to send THAT letter to the A/L yet .

[reduk054]

HELP

Have received notification that A&L will be closing my account on 30th June 06 because I have refuse to abide by their terms and conditions.

Has this happened to anyone recently? What do I do now? Do I have any grounds to challenge.

A&L seem to have had the last laugh, and I am furious.

PLEASE REPLY!

[slimliz30]

what a bunch of b*****ds a & l are...my advice to you is write to a & l saying that you are not happy about the acct closure and say that you will be sending the letter you recd from them to the office of fair trading as you believe this to be a retalitary action by them regarding unlawful charges...then see what happens...good luck paul

[reduk054]

Paul, thanks for your words. I am a little calmer now, after all of my posts regarding the unlikely event of the bank threatening closure, and then as if by magic it happens to me!

I will make a decision over the weekend, but I think i need clarification from A&L as to which t&c's i have not agreed to. Also i have another current joint account with them, which they have not YET threatened to close. Better not bring that one up!

[caro]

A & L have done this to a few people. Take a look through the forum as I am sure this is covered somewhere, and others in this situation have started taking action. From memory McUth is one of them, so look for his posts in the A&L forum. Sorry I can't be more specific but this is just why it is recommended that you have a parachute account. Don't let them get to you.

[reduk054]

Caro, thanks for your words, and advise, I will search this particular BAG forum for more help with this impending premature closure of bank account. My other searches for genuine customers with similar predicaments has proved fruitless! You have made me determined to persevere!

 

The irony is, is that this A&L account IS my parachute account!

 

What another fine mess I have got myself into, to paraphrase a fine comedy duo!

[reduk054]

In the Legalities section of the genreal forum came across this useful link, Bank threats to close your account may be unfair which was last added to on 26th may, this is not specific to A&L but certainly, a few interesting points in general. Probably fair to say that I am not going to be allowed to keep this account open but I will go kicking and screaming (or maybe talking loudly)!

[caro]

Personally I think you will be will rid of them. I was only with them about 7 months, before I closed it despite the "interest free" overdraft for 12 months. I could not afford to stay with them any longer.

[reduk054]

This topic was closed on 09 March 2019.

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