J Vs Abbey

[enterprise_jj]

Having recently read and heard about all the media coverage of claiming back unfair bank charges I decided to do a bit of research into how to go about it.

 

Having recently and quite unexpetedly had my overdraft taken from my account I have over the last year or so had £600 worth of charges applied to my account.

 

So what I've done is as suggested been through my statements from the last year (there were no charges before then as I had an interest free overdraft which was not breached) and highlighted each charge and written to Abbey requesting the amountis retuned to my account.

 

That letter was sent yesterday recorded delivery, I checked tonigh ton the Royal Mail website and my letter was received by the Abbey at 10:32am today.

 

What i'm here for is to canvas the opinion of those more experienced in this procedure.

 

With the amount being reasonably small (compared to what others are requesting) What are the chances of Abbey just settling?

 

Also if they don't settle i'd be looking for a bit of advice on taking the situation further. My letter states that I'd start court proceding without further notice if they dont credit my account within 14 days. Should I do this or send them another letter telling them i'll do it within, say the next 7 days if the amount isnt credited!

 

Any advice and help would be much appreciated!

 

Cheers,

 

J.

[Mad Nick]

With the amount being reasonably small (compared to what others are requesting) What are the chances of Abbey just settling?

If they are true to form, here's what will happen :

• your Prelim will get either a basic denial or maybe a 10% GOGW
  
• assuming you don't accept GOGW, your LBA will either get ignored, more basic denials or give us 4 weeks to look into it
  
• you file your Court Claim (sticking to your timetable not theirs), Abbey acknowledges, it will go through AQ, you get your Court date, you and they submit Court bundles a few weeks before, then just before the actual Court date Abbey will ring you up and look to settle, you negotiate as close to your claim amount as you like.
  
• In other words, they will settle but count on it taking 3-6 months !

NB - other things, like referrals to Fast Track and Mercantile, can happen but they are not the norm.

 

Also if they don't settle i'd be looking for a bit of advice on taking the situation further. My letter states that I'd start court proceding without further notice if they dont credit my account within 14 days. Should I do this or send them another letter telling them i'll do it within, say the next 7 days if the amount isnt credited!

Was your letter the Prelim off this site ? My advice would be to give them two chances (it'll look better in your Court documentation). It sounds like you would only be giving them one - ie send them an explicit LBA as well. Regards, Mad Nick.

[enterprise_jj]

Thanks for the advice. I hope it doesn't go that for, though

[enterprise_jj]

Thanks for the advice. I hope it doesnt go that for, though I am more than willing to take it all the way!

 

I didnt use the template off this site. I used the documents I came across on the BBC Website. But I will use the proceduce I found here from this point.

 

I'm expecting to get a letter back from them saying "blah blah very sorry you have a complaint blah blah... please give us 4 weeks to investigate blah blah blah..." To which I'll repond saying they have a further week and then court. Then I'll file court procedings and take it from there.

[enterprise_jj]

So my claim is still on going.

 

I received a reply from Abbey asking for 4 weeks to investigate my complaint. Look's like the standard reply.

 

At the time of receiving the letter I had a lot going on so I didn't reply and gave them their 4 weeks. Perhaps it was a mistake, but it may look good at the court stage if we get that far. Just before their 4 weeks were up I got a letter asking for a further 4 weeks.

 

I decided enough was enough and penned a response saying this wasn't good enough and giving them 7 days to respond. I also had to up my claim in this letter as they have taken further charges from my account.

 

So at this point i'm looking forward to their reply. Not expecting a lot, but should nothing come of this by the 12th March i'm off to file a claim.

[enterprise_jj]

OK. I've had an update on my claim and i'm after a bit of advice.

 

I've Had a letter from a bloke called Ricard Evans in response to my claim. Of course his letter is very understanding but is the normal corporate nonsence. They're right i'm wrong. However they made me a GOGW.

 

His wording is:

 

"Although the charges were correct, as a gesture of goodwill, I am happy to cancel £50." 50 measley quid.

 

Now i'm not sure if this means they're going to credit £50 to my account, therefore I deduct £50 from the amount of my claim. Or does this mean they're going to cancel £50 worth of charges from the sceduled, and at this point monthly deduction due on the 15th March.

 

Also any help on my next step would be appreciated. I put in a second letter on Thursday upping my claim and giving them 7 working days, taking them to 12th March. Now should I:

 

a) Wait till the 12th March and file my claim with the courts.

 

or

 

b) respond to this letter about the £50 GOGW.

 

Any help at this stage wouldbe most appreciated.

 

There's a paragraph in the letter which I though was great. "You have requested a breakdown of how our charges are apportioned and I regret that I am unable to provide you with the specific information you have requested"

 

When I take this to court, won't that sentance win me the case should we get that far????

[Armsoft]

OK. I've had an update on my claim and i'm after a bit of advice.

 

I've Had a letter from a bloke called Ricard Evans in response to my claim. Of course his letter is very understanding but is the normal corporate nonsence. They're right i'm wrong. However they made me a GOGW.

 

His wording is:

 

"Although the charges were correct, as a gesture of goodwill, I am happy to cancel £50." 50 measley quid.

 

Now i'm not sure if this means they're going to credit £50 to my account, therefore I deduct £50 from the amount of my claim. Or does this mean they're going to cancel £50 worth of charges from the sceduled, and at this point monthly deduction due on the 15th March.

 

Also any help on my next step would be appreciated. I put in a second letter on Thursday upping my claim and giving them 7 working days, taking them to 12th March. Now should I:

 

a) Wait till the 12th March and file my claim with the courts.

 

or

 

b) respond to this letter about the £50 GOGW.

 

Any help at this stage wouldbe most appreciated.

 

There's a paragraph in the letter which I though was great. "You have requested a breakdown of how our charges are apportioned and I regret that I am unable to provide you with the specific information you have requested"

 

When I take this to court, won't that sentance win me the case should we get that far????

 

 

Read the following thread from j2b about rejecting GOGW payments -

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/25716-rejecting-offers.html

 

It seems to cover all bases, and cuts down on time and also will shw you in good light if it ever got to court.

 

At the end of the day, you will end up filing in court with this, as at the moment Abbey still won`t play ball, but I`m sure that the situation could change if the media keep on the case:D

 

I`m guessing that the letter from Richard Evans was headed WITHOUT PREJUDICE ?

If it was, then it won`t help you in court as you will not be able to use any letters that are headed in this way.

If it wasn`t, then I`m sure that this could help you to get an earlier settlement as it could be used at AQ stage within a Draft Directions Request.

 

Keep in touch

[enterprise_jj]

Thank's for the advice Armsoft,

 

The letter from Richard Evans isn't headed WITHOUT PREJUDICE, so I guess i'm free to use it.

 

Below is the second letter I sent to Abbey

 

"In regards to my previous letter regarding the illegal bank charges you have applied to my account (attached) and the subsequent responses (also attached) I am writing to express my disappointment that you are yet to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion. I have received two letters from you the first requesting four weeks to investigate my complaint. Initially I was not happy with this but content to give you the time to investigate fully. The second letter requested a further four weeks to investigate and this is unsatisfactory.

 

I initially gave you 14 days to resolve my complaint and then allowed a further four weeks. The primary purpose of this letter is to inform you that if I don’t receive a satisfactory response within the next 7 days I will be filing a claim with my local county court.

 

The secondary purpose of this letter is to inform you of an increase in the amount I am claiming for illegal charges applied to my account. The amount in my initial letter was £600. Since that claim was registered a further £195 in charges has been applied to my account (statement attached). Several of those charges were to cover direct debits which I had actually cancelled on-line. It’s amazing how one automated process can work so well and another not. Unsurprisingly both work in your favour.

 

Therefore I require you to refund me a total of £795.00, representing the total, unlawful amount charged during the last 6 years. I hereby give you 7 days to refund the charges back on to my account.

May I also add that a further deduction of £145.00 is planned for 15th March (Also shown on the attached statement). If this amount is deducted from my account it will bring the total to be claimed for unlawful charges to £940.00. I ask that it doesn’t get to this point."

Our two letters crossed in the post so I received the letter from Richard Evan's and he received mine today. I think I'm going to wait till the 12th and then file my claim, as I think the £50 gogw is just a cancellation of pending charges, not actually money that i'm at this point claiming for, which makesit difficult to reply and say no thanks as I'm not actually claiming for that money at this point.

 

Does that even make sense or am I just confusing the issue.

 

I'm definatly confusing myself!

[Armsoft]

Thank's for the advice Armsoft,

 

The letter from Richard Evans isn't headed WITHOUT PREJUDICE, so I guess i'm free to use it.

 

Below is the second letter I sent to Abbey

 

"In regards to my previous letter regarding the illegal bank charges you have applied to my account (attached) and the subsequent responses (also attached) I am writing to express my disappointment that you are yet to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion. I have received two letters from you the first requesting four weeks to investigate my complaint. Initially I was not happy with this but content to give you the time to investigate fully. The second letter requested a further four weeks to investigate and this is unsatisfactory.

 

I initially gave you 14 days to resolve my complaint and then allowed a further four weeks. The primary purpose of this letter is to inform you that if I don’t receive a satisfactory response within the next 7 days I will be filing a claim with my local county court.

 

The secondary purpose of this letter is to inform you of an increase in the amount I am claiming for illegal charges applied to my account. The amount in my initial letter was £600. Since that claim was registered a further £195 in charges has been applied to my account (statement attached). Several of those charges were to cover direct debits which I had actually cancelled on-line. It’s amazing how one automated process can work so well and another not. Unsurprisingly both work in your favour.

 

Therefore I require you to refund me a total of £795.00, representing the total, unlawful amount charged during the last 6 years. I hereby give you 7 days to refund the charges back on to my account.

 

May I also add that a further deduction of £145.00 is planned for 15th March (Also shown on the attached statement). If this amount is deducted from my account it will bring the total to be claimed for unlawful charges to £940.00. I ask that it doesn’t get to this point."

 

Our two letters crossed in the post so I received the letter from Richard Evan's and he received mine today. I think I'm going to wait till the 12th and then file my claim, as I think the £50 gogw is just a cancellation of pending charges, not actually money that i'm at this point claiming for, which makesit difficult to reply and say no thanks as I'm not actually claiming for that money at this point.

 

Does that even make sense or am I just confusing the issue.

 

I'm definatly confusing myself!

 

It makes sense.

 

I note that you have not indicated the `Interest` element of your claim in your letter/s?

I would write another LBA to them, include the interest to date (decide if your going for `Contractural @ 28.5% or s.69 @8%), give them 7 days to respond and then file in court.

When filing in court you will need to word the interest entry to match the rate being claimed (should be a template in the library).

Abbey may respond (once you`ve filed) telling you the court will not agree Contractural Rate, but it is not for them to tell you, and anyway it will not be going to court, so they will just have to pay it as part of your settlement.

 

Some people may advise that you don`t need to indicate Interest being claimed at LBA stage, but if you do it now the banks know you mean business.

 

HTH

[enterprise_jj]

Thank's for that.

 

I was under the impression I couldn't add interest until it got to the court stage, and I had actually planned to add interest at that point. I'll dig out the spreadsheet i've seen people mention and go about calculating the interest. I think I may even go for cantractual too. If they can shaft me, I'm going to do everything I can to do the same back.

 

I might put it that seems as they responded with such an insulting gogw I am now adding interest at the contractual rate to my claim when I file in court.

[enterprise_jj]

****WON****

 

On a bit of a whim I decided to check my bank account on-line to see how much money I didn't have.

 

Turns out I have a bit. Abbey yesterday, with no warning, no letter or anything put £850 back into my account, the full amount I was claiming for.

 

I haven't updated on the site for a while with the progress of my claim, but anyway... Since my last update my deadline came and went and because I didn't have the money to lodge a court claim I decided to use the Financial Ombudsman to see if that might push a few buttons. I wrote to them about 3 weeks ago and yesterday I won my claim.

 

I'm chuffed to bits and quite literally dancing round my office.

 

Please can the admin change my thread to include the word WON!!!!!!!