pv1511 vs A & L

[pv1511]

Have just been slapped with £25 (paid item charge) and £25 (overdraft fee) by A & L on a Premier Direct account. A/c has been maintained very healthily since Sept 2005. Timeline:

Wed 20/12 Paid in cheques via PO counter.

Sat 23/12 Cheques showed up in account uncleared - presumably delayed by Christmas mail.

Thu 28/12 Outgoing payment made (CC bill), triggering paid item charge and unauthorized overdraft charge.

Overdraft (presumably for two days, until cheques cleared) was just under £150.

I complained by phone on receiving the standard computer-signed letter; I received a further computer-signed brushoff letter today denying any refund.

Presumably I should now move straight to the LBA, giving them 14 days to respond? Is this likely to succeed?

thanks for any advice.

[Rooster-UK]

Hi PV1511

 

Yes letter before action, next.

If no results after 14 days then MCOL.

 

Good luck.

Regards, Rooster.

[pv1511]

OK, am about to submit a claim using MCOL - substance of claim to be as below. DOes that look OK? Anything missing?

thanks, Andrew.

 

"The claimant has held a current account xx

xxx xxxx xx-xx-xx with the defendant,

conducted on their Standard terms and

conditions since 2005. The defendant from

December 2006 to present day has applied

charges to the claimant account, totalling

not more than £50.00. The bank's charges are

a disproportionate penalty and therefore

unenforceable. Penalty charges are

irrecoverable at common law. The precedent

for this was Dunlop Pneumatic v New Garage

[1915] AC 79.along with Murray v. Leisure

play [2005] EWCA Civ 963. The Defendant's

charges are also contrary to the Unfair

Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations

1999. Para.8 and sch.2(1)(e)) The claimant

has asked the bank to refund their charges.

The bank has declined to do so.

The claimant claims no more than £50, being

the sum unlawfully debited."

[pv1511]

A & L settled in full after acknowledging service of the claim with MCOL. OK, only £50 (plus fees), but still a minor victory. Now, however, they have written to say they will be closing my account next month "as it is clear that you do not accept certain aspects of the terms and conditions" and so on. As it happens, I don't really care - it's not my main account and I don't need it any more, the only advantage being the ability to pay in cheques at the Post Office. But it smacks of pettiness and is quite inexplicable given the very healthy credit with which the account has always been run. Is it worth my complaining to the Financial Ombudsman?

[younganfree]

Hi, pv1511. You'll need to make a complaint to the A&L first, before you can take it to the FOS.