Rougesept v Capital One

[rougesept]

Hi Folks, thought I'd start my thread as the SAR has gone off today:

 

SAR - Posted 14 Dec 2006 by Special Delivery to:

Legal Compliance Specialist

Capital One Bank (Europe) PLC

Trent House

Station Street

Nottingham

NG2 3HX

Let's see how long that takes. Will update when it arrives but don't expect it for a while.

 

Can't say for sure yet, but I think my claim will be around £1500. Has anyone else received anything similar or larger from Cap One?

 

Rouge

[ukaviator]

Hi ROUGE

 

I managed to get back £1313 from them.

 

Uk

[Don4071]

Hiya

 

Mine was for about £1200

[rougesept]

Thanks guys, let's see what happens. As you were both successful, I'd be really appreciative of your advice along the way.

 

From reading these CapOne pages, it seems that they have a similar process for everyone (Mr Udy letters etc) and claims arrive at a successful conclusion eventually? I can't see anyone they've made an example of or challenged too harshly? They're in the wrong after all!

 

Cheers

 

Rouge

[rougesept]

Ok, they received SAR on 15th Dec so I thought I'd give them a bell on the 18th to see how they were getting on.

 

They informed me that I will receive statements 7-10 days after they receive the request.

 

7 days later then (today), I called India again to check if they'd been posted as promised. She said they were posted on Mon 18th! SAR received Fri 15th - statements posted next working day? Didn't believe her but she assures me that I'll receive them in 7-10 days from posting? Xmas is in the way a bit so I'll give her a couple of days extra.

 

We'll see.....

 

Rouge

[rougesept]

Update and question: Statements arrived today so took around 3 weeks which to be fair is quite good considering that includes xmas.

 

Couple missing so I rang up and she gave me the details of one from 2003 over the phone, but couldn't see the one from 2005 as it was 'quite a while ago' and the system was having problems (but she just read one from 2003??!!!). I think I'll let them off one statement as I don't want to wait 3 weeks for it.

 

Charges add up to over £1600 (without interest!) which is just amazing. Now, contractual interest. I'm going to use the monthly rate from statements x 12 for this. Problem is, the rate changes 3 times over last few years? Which do I use?

 

Cheers

 

Rouge

[rougesept]

Scrap the above question, many thanks to Bill-K for his help.

 

My charges total over £1000 over 6 years (I was a student for a long time - it got messy!) which produces contractual interest of over £2000 (total over £4000) - which scares me. A lot. Seems like a lot of interest to ask for?!

 

Anyone got any reassurance that this huge claim won't bite me if I go through with it?!

 

Rouge

[rougesept]

Hi, below is my prelim letter. Any comments? I'll send it tomorrow if none.

 

Request for repayment of charges

 

 

Dear Sir / Madam,

 

Regarding: Capital One Bank Acc Number: xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx

 

My request:

I am writing to request that you refund the penalty charges which you have levied from my account over the last six years. I now understand that the regime of fees which you have been applying to my account in relation to overlimit fees and late payment fees are unlawful at Common Law, Statute, and recent consumer regulations. If you claim that they are not, then would you please demonstrate how by providing a full breakdown of the costs to which you have been subject as result of my breaches (in order to reassure me that your penalties really do reflect your costs).

 

 

Additionally, it has been confirmed that your particularly high level of penalties are considered to be unfair by the OFT (5th April 2006), and are therefore presumed to be unlawful in the absence of specific proof to the contrary.

 

Your responsibilities:

I draw your attention to the terms of the contract agreed 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 as I should (and have) in reciprocity. I am disappointed that you have operated my account in this way as I have always maintained confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary.

 

I consider that representations that your charges are fair and reasonable are deceptive and have deceived me into paying them for a long time. Your concealment of the true nature of your charges has prevented me from asserting my rights until now.

 

What I require:

My statements show that you have taken £x,xxx.xx in unlawful penalty charges (late payment and overlimit fees) from me over the period of the past six years (Dec 2000 – Dec 2006). In addition, I claim contractual interest (compounded daily) on the above charges amounting to £x,xxx.xx. Thus, my refund request amounts to £x,xxx.xx in total.

 

For your reference, I have attached a detailed schedule of these charges.

 

 

I trust that you will enter into a sincere dialogue regarding this matter, I hope you will not send standard reply letters or leaflets.

 

I will allow 14 days for you to reply with an acceptance (unconditional) of my request, providing an acceptable date by which I will receive payment.

 

If you do not respond (or do not respond positively) within this time period, I shall provide a ‘letter before action’ allowing you a short time period to respond before I pursue my claim at court without further communication. I believe that this timescale is more than sufficient for a large multinational company.

 

 

Yours Faithfully,

[bill-k]

Hi, below is my prelim letter. Any comments? I'll send it tomorrow if none.

 

Request for repayment of charges

 

 

Dear Sir / Madam,

 

Regarding: Capital One Bank Acc Number: xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx

 

My request:

I am writing to request that you refund the penalty charges which you have levied from my account over the last six years. I now understand that the regime of fees which you have been applying to my account in relation to overlimit fees and late payment fees are unlawful at Common Law, Statute, and recent consumer regulations. If you claim that they are not, then would you please demonstrate how by providing a full breakdown of the costs to which you have been subject as result of my breaches (in order to reassure me that your penalties really do reflect your costs).

 

 

Additionally, it has been confirmed that your particularly high level of penalties are considered to be unfair by the OFT (5th April 2006), and are therefore presumed to be unlawful in the absence of specific proof to the contrary.

 

Your responsibilities:

I draw your attention to the terms of the contract agreed 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 as I should (and have) in reciprocity. I am disappointed that you have operated my account in this way as I have always maintained confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary.

 

I consider that representations that your charges are fair and reasonable are deceptive and have deceived me into paying them for a long time. Your concealment of the true nature of your charges has prevented me from asserting my rights until now.

 

What I require:

My statements show that you have taken £x,xxx.xx in unlawful penalty charges (late payment and overlimit fees) from me over the period of the past six years (Dec 2000 – Dec 2006). In addition, I claim contractual interest at an annual rate of xx.xx% (compounded daily) on the above charges amounting to £x,xxx.xx. Thus, my refund request amounts to £x,xxx.xx in total.

 

For your reference, I have attached a detailed schedule of these charges.

 

 

I trust that you will enter into a sincere dialogue regarding this matter, I hope you will not send standard reply letters or leaflets.

 

I will allow 14 days for you to reply with an acceptance (unconditional) of my request, providing an acceptable date by which I will receive payment.

 

If you do not respond (or do not respond positively) within this time period, I shall provide a ‘letter before action’ allowing you a short time period to respond before I pursue my claim at court without further communication. I believe that this timescale is more than sufficient for a large multinational company.

 

 

Yours Faithfully,

 

Looks brill to me, Rouge - I would prefer to add the rate (as shown in red), but that's a minor pick. The rate is shown in your spready, anyway, I expect !!

 

Yeah - go with it, I say !!

 

But see if any more opinion arrives first.

 

[rougesept]

Strange coincidence today, went to the post office this morning to send my LBA - 'I'm very disappointed that you haven't replied' etc...

 

and ten minutes later back at the house, postman delivers me an offer letter for £700 from the infamous Mr Udy!

 

LBA will be followed by acceptance in part on Monday, still sticking to original timescale though. Offer is actually 12% of what I'm asking for. Tut tut Cap One.

 

Rouge

[bill-k]

That's not an offer -that's an insult !! Very R Ude if you ask me !! Keep on going, yeah.

 

Any use? :-

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/59205-how-deal-goodwill-payments.html

[rougesept]

Thanks for the link Bill!

 

Quite confusing at first with which charges and interest to take off (but that doesn't matter for us credit card customers - right?!). Cap One payments will be 'scenario 2' as you call it - just a payment to be taken off the total claim for settlement?

 

Cheers

 

Rouge

[bill-k]

Thanks for the link Bill!

 

Quite confusing at first with which charges and interest to take off (but that doesn't matter for us credit card customers - right?!). Cap One payments will be 'scenario 2' as you call it - just a payment to be taken off the total claim for settlement?

 

Cheers

 

Rouge

 

Yeah - scenario 2. Perhaps I was overcomplicating matter by that link. Sorry.

[rougesept]

Don't be sorry Bill, you've helped me a few times now and I'm extremely grateful for everything.

 

Rouge

[martinhw]

Rouge,

 

Just a quick question... in your posts above you mentioned not having statements for a certain period. Have you received them yet? If not, I would be chasing them for the missing statements. Unless there were no charges on them. You are going to need the statements for your court bundle if you are claiming any charges on them. They will be part of your evidence.

[rougesept]

Hi Martin,

 

They missed two statements over the six years. I called up and they read one of them to me over the phone listing charges and dates but couldn't find the other one. After investigating it, they were unable to find anything on record for that month but my statements either side indicate there were no charges anyway. To be fair, on my credit record that month shows up as unrecorded for some reason? Strange, but it's one statement (without penalties) and I'll let it go.

 

Rouge

[rougesept]

Can anyone answer a court fee question for me? I can't find a clear answer on this so I'll try here:

 

When assessing the fee at MCOL, is interest included on the claim or is it just the charges total that counts for the fee? My contractual interest pushes my claim just over 5k (shiver) and whacks the fee up to £250 if interest does count....

 

And does that have any bearing on small claims status?

 

Rouge

[doo]

Hi, thought I knew this then realised you are claiming contractual. I know with normal claim its just your charges that count the 8% stat interest has no bearing and doesn't count. Claims over 5,000 are dealt with fast-track. Are you much over?

[bill-k]

According to CPR and Pearl, interest is not included when determining the allocation, but is included when determining the fee.

[rougesept]

Thanks guys, I'm just over by £100. My charges are nearly £2000! So Bill, big fee for over 5k claim but still small claims as without interest it's 2k?

 

Rouge

[bill-k]

Yep, Rouge, that sounds right to me. Might be worth considering weighing up "losing" £100 off the claim if the fee is more than £100 less in the next level down.

[rougesept]

What's a good way of losing £100 though if you want everything to look 100% accurate? It is a big fee, but it's just leaving my bank account for a small amount of time before it comes back to me with the rest. That's what I keep telling myself to justify it anyway!

 

Rouge

[bill-k]

It is a big fee, but it's just leaving my bank account for a small amount of time before it comes back to me with the rest.

Rouge

Of course, you're right, Rouge !!!

 

100 points for positive attitude, mate !!

[rougesept]

Hi all, need some advice again! I've read conflicting ideas about whether or not MCOL can be used if claiming contractual interest? Is there a nice example anywhere anyone knows of? I'm sure some have claimed through MCOL recently but I can't find them now.

 

So, MCOL or N1?

 

Cheers

 

Rouge

[bill-k]

Hi all, need some advice again! I've read conflicting ideas about whether or not MCOL can be used if claiming contractual interest? Is there a nice example anywhere anyone knows of? I'm sure some have claimed through MCOL recently but I can't find them now.

 

So, MCOL or N1?

 

Cheers

 

Rouge

 

I have always used N1. MCOL seems geared to very simple claims, and claims for CI are just too much for its' limited means. It is becoming rapidly accepted here that N1 is better for CI claims. I don't think there's that much difference in time taken to settle - unless you're currently residing in cardboard city, in which case an N1 would be "de rigeur !" - anyway !!