smesin v Nationwide

[smesin]

Follow My Claim From Start To Finish

[smesin]

Hi, I'm Chris and i'm taking on Nationwide. Having done alot of reading in various forums I thought it might be useful to have a claim that can be followed from start to finish for all those who are currently in my position.

 

I will post my progress at every stage aswell as problems that were encountered and how they were overcome.

 

I will try to make it as clear and consise as possible for those who wish to begin the progress of reclaiming there right.

 

Please feel free to ask advice or any questions from me or others who post if you feel something has been missed.

 

Here is my progress so far:

 

1) Sent a letter and cheque (£10 Payable to Nationwide Bulding Society- My Name) to Nationwide requesting statments for past 6 years (S.A.R - (Subject Access Request), see templates library)

 

Address:

 

Data Protection Team,

Nationwide Building Society

Kings Park road,

Moulton Park

Northampton

NN3 6NW

 

2) Received a package via special delivery 8 days later containing short letter regarding manual intervention of my account (please ask) and a huge pile of statements from the day I opened the account to the most recent.

 

3) Went through the statements highlighting all of the charges incurred. Used a special calculator on moneysavingexpert.co.uk to add on 8% interest to each charge from the day it was taken.

 

4) The same day I sent a letter reqesting my money back (Preliminary letter, see templates library) along with the 8% interest that the court would award should my claim go that far. £640 (charges) + £29.88 (statutory interest)

 

Address:

 

Charles Bacon

Solicitor

Legal Compliance (Corporate Affairs)

Nationwide Building Society

Nationwide House

Pipers Way

Swindon

SN38 1FN

 

 

At this stage, I went on the chatroom (hugely helpful, see link above) and did further research and found I should not have mentioned the 8% at this stage- this should only be bought about when filing a claim form as it can look like you don't understand the process (as I didn't), the 8% statatory interest will be increased by the time you reach the day you make the claim.

 

In addition, on advice from the members in the chatroom, I decided not to persue claiming interest on my interest charges. If you get this wrong on the spreadsheet, your claim can be thrown out or set back, as the amount in question was only about £30, I decided it wasn't worth the risk.

 

5) Will post again shortly, Nationwide have 13 days remaining to reply to my preliminary letter.

[scotlady]

I am a bit confused & thick sry but is the 8% something to do with court costs or the interest on the charges?

 

This is when I wish I lived with a solicitor:oops: :-|

[smesin]

I am a bit confused & thick sry but is the 8% something to do with court costs or the interest on the charges?

 

This is when I wish I lived with a solicitor:oops: :-|

 

 

The 8% is the amount that you are allowed to add on by law when filing a claim against the bank. Each charge is elegible for 8% APR from the day it was taken from your account by the bank.

 

 

For example: A charge of £30 on 23/01/03 (4 years ago) would have £9.62 added to it (8% of £30 each year) by law as this is the rate at which you are entitled to when reclaiming your money. Think of it as the bank borrowing your money (unlawfully) and you are charging them interest for having it over that period of time.

 

See: Bank charges: Reclaim them, they're unlawful, so you can get six years money back | MoneySavingExpert: Consumer Revenge, Credit Cards, Shopping, Bank Charges, Cheap Flights and more,

 

Look for the Bank Charges Interest Calculator- About halfway down the page

 

Hope this helps. Chris

[darling1]

I thought you were only suposed to add the 8% to your claim at the point that you put in your claim at the court. Untill then, I thought you were only suposed to claim your charges and interest thereon, as writen on the bank statements.

I am at the moment taking on the Nationwide -pelim stage.But have just won against the Halifax and am taking on LTSB as well - at the court stage now.

Please could a more worthy member than me comment?

[smesin]

I Quote in my first post:

 

4) The same day I sent a letter reqesting my money back (Preliminary letter, see templates library) along with the 8% interest that the court would award should my claim go that far. £640 (charges) + £29.88 (statutory interest)

 

At this stage, I went on the chatroom (hugely helpful, see link above) and did further research and found I should not have mentioned the 8% at this stage- this should only be bought about when filing a claim form as it can look like you don't understand the process (as I didn't), the 8% statatory interest will be increased by the time you reach the day you make the claim.

 

In addition, on advice from the members in the chatroom, I decided not to persue claiming interest on my interest charges. If you get this wrong on the spreadsheet, your claim can be thrown out or set back, as the amount in question was only about £30, I decided it wasn't worth the risk.

 

I said it was wrong, however, it doesn't really matter that much.... Its just best not to until the claim stage....

[smesin]

What happened after you filled in the Allocation Questionnaire?

Did they pay up? Close your account? Write to you?

 

Let us know....

[smesin]

Digital photo prints offered - myPIXmania - free online photo albums

 

Can someone please check these.... I am not claiming interest on my interest charges. So have edited this out of the 'Value' and 'Particulars Of Claim' Sections.

 

Please could someone have a look through to check if I have made any mistakes or missed anything....

 

Much appriciated

 

Chris

[indebtstudent]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you won't get any replies. Now if you had asked for people who were told that Nationwide would defend the claim in court you would get a healthy number of replies, all of them resulting in Nationwide paying in full at the last minute. All of the banks and building societies seem to adopt the same scare tactics.

[smesin]

1 reply and counting.... That is what I meant, rather than simply acknowledging the claim... putting in a defence aswell. I'm aware that no-one has actually been to court with them yet....

[harrow1]

I am on my 2nd and final letter before action with the Nationwide after them referrring me back to my terms and conditions and repeatedly informing me they only refund if they are in error. despite promising me that failed direct debits do cost them money and that £30 is a fair reflection of these costs, they have failed to send me a breakdown of them despite a supervisor at Electra house informing me they would if I wrote in and requested as such. The correspondence I have received to date has been pretty standard template stuff. My que is as I'm sure they will fail to reply satisfactorily how do I go about instigating court proceedings???

[smesin]

You can find your local county court online at hmcs.gov.uk or something like that and fill in an N1 form or you can do it online at moneyclaim.gov.uk, it's up to you.... both are pretty much the same, apart from doing it manually, you can attach you schedule of charges. See the templates section and step by step instructions for more advice.

[harrow1]

Thanks for your advice, I'll keep you all posted.

[redsue]

I'm currently waiting for the judge to allocate the time for a hearing

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/nationwide/28574-authorised-interest-unauthorised-interest-6.html#post396471

 

It's a pretty long thread but stick with it if you can - I think there are a few of us who are in a smiliar position - benforlini, taylormandy, itrends to name a few - but we are all claiming for contractual interest at 24.9% (i think)

[harrow1]

Many thanks for your advice, its all helping me get a better picture of where to go from the LBA position

[smesin]

5) Ok, I received my generic, fob off, get stuffed, what? open and transparantmybottom, make alternative banking arrangements, heres my number, go away.... letter today (31st January) from:

 

Mr. Richard Huntley

Nationwide Building Society

Member Account Servicing

1st Floor Electra House

Farnsby Street

Swindon

SN2 1SR

 

I am now going to send the LBA back to him with a list of charges and the dates they were taken.... I am not claiming any interest on my interest charges and am not going to mention the s69 amount on my charges, I will however, make them aware that I will be claiming the 8%.

 

 

Smesin

 

 

Once again, any questions, any tips, just post....

I will keep you updated....

[smesin]

LOL, thanks Karne, your a star...

[KenSpe]

I am just completing the Allocations Questionaire and pursuing my claim in full as there is the small matter of £909.00 outstanding from my original claim.

 

Is there any info or advice anyone can recommend when completeing the Other information section of the form.

 

My Nationwide account closes on 11th February.

 

Any help gratefully accepted.

 

KenSpe

[smesin]

Hi Ken,

 

You've probably already read this, but it may help...

 

Give details of any other information that you consider will help the judge to manage the claim, referring as necessary to any documents you might have attached. Bear in mind however that at this stage you need not attach all other documents which you wish the court to consider at the hearing. This is something you will later be asked to provide.

 

You should state here that you believe the case will last no longer than 1 hour.

 

You may wish to add reasons why the case is more suitable for Small Claims Track if your claim value exceeds £5,000 or provide reasoning why the other side should provide evidence of their costs! You could include similar text to this....

I am respectfully requesting that my claim be allocated to the small claims track. This issue is not a complicated one; it is an issue of fact and not of law. The issue is only whether the money levied by the Defendant in respect of its customer’s contractual breaches exceed their actual costs incurred. I am happy to pay their actual costs and I am surprised the Defendant did not counterclaim for these, because I would have paid them without argument.

 

However, the continuing problem is (in common with the 100s of other cases currently being brought by other bank customers) that the banks refuse to reveal the details of their penalty-charging regime. As the banks have a fiduciary duty towards their customers, they have a duty to deal straightforwardly and in utmost good faith.

 

Accordingly, I would respectfully ask that the court in this case, not withstanding allocation to the small claims track, order standard disclosure. I understand that it is in the courts discretion to do so. I believe this would bring a rapid end to this litigation.

 

 

 

 

Did you have to pay a fee? If so, how much and will this get refunded when you win?

 

Smesin

[smesin]

Ok i wasn't going to claim for interest, but if i was to claim for interest .... there are charges some months and not others should i just claim for the months that charges were taken...... or all months after the first charge???

[Woodyrocks]

Hi there. I am no expert but having spent the past few hours with my nose buried in the site and reading Toilet Bandit's thread in its entirety, I deduce that interest should be calculated from the onset of the very first charge. At least that is what I shall be doing when I get to that stage. I am due to post off my SAR in the morning to Nationwide.

 

Hope this helps!

[Bigmac versus]

You cant have a simple answer to this you need to read up on this as there are so many scenarios.

 

basically if your claiming contractual you need to mention it in both your prelim and lba

 

if judicial interest then you dont claim that until court stages.

 

if the interest you refer to is the interest you have been charged by the bank for being o/d then this is a complicated process but spreadsheets are available to do this.

[MilkTrayMan]

Hello smesin!

Any particular reason why U aren't wanting to Claim the same Contractual Interest that Nationwide have been charging U?

(i.e. 24.9% APR...instead of the s69 Satutory Interest @ 8%)

[smesin]

Hello smesin!

Any particular reason why U aren't wanting to Claim the same Contractual Interest that Nationwide have been charging U?

(i.e. 24.9% APR...instead of the s69 Satutory Interest @ 8%)

 

 

I find it complicated to work out, I have already confused myself by asking for £640 instead of £320 as the charges appeared on the statement twice but were only debited once. I don't want to ruin my credibility anymore...

 

If you really think I should go down this path, then i would need some clear, foolproof instructions- I have been on hundreds of other threads in an attempt to work it out aswell as the chat room but have had no answers to my questions about which months I can apply for the interest back e.g. just the ones I had charges in....... or all of the interest charges on my statement (this wouldn't make sense as some months I have no charges thus I would not be owed any interest)..... all of the months forward of the first charge.

 

My AUTHORISED overdraft is not only made up of charges, other transactions aswell. I've heard that this also makes a difference???!??

 

I also found this on another thread ..."basically if your claiming contractual you need to mention it in both your prelim and lba". Is this true?

 

I can however, change this if I was to get a reply within the next two days as I have not actually sent off my LBA yet (despite what it says above). I would just need some precise instructions.

 

Nevertheless, on £320, the result of applying contractual interest would be negligable would it not?? These charges only do back a maximum of 2 1/2 years??

 

From reading other threads, I know you are an advocate of the contractual interest so any advice would be appriciatted ASAP as I need to get my LBA off by Tuesday at the latest.

 

Thanks

 

Chris

[MilkTrayMan]

Hi smesin!

Download the following spreadsheet (courtesy of Mindzai) and fill in your personal data according to the easy-to-follow instructions:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/51736-excel-contractual-interest-spreadsheet.html?highlight=Mindzai

 

The spreadsheet will work the maths out for U.

If U prefer to ignore any Contractual Interest on any Interest charged, to simplify things, then do so.

Just enter the dates and amounts (...in the left-hand set of columns) that any unlawful charges were actually debited from your flexaccount.

Remember that C.I. is Compounded Daily.

Easy-Peasy really...lol