Nicho1120 Vs Sterling Credit

[nicho1120]

I have been charged over £250 in charges for phone calls and letters with regards to late repayments. These have been £18 a go for each letter or phone call. I have also had to pay £120 for what they call a legal sealing fee when i paid the loan off early. do you think i am worthy of being able to claim any of this back ?????

[nicho1120]

anyone any advice please, would be appreciated ???

[nicho1120]

i have been charged £18 every time they have had to write to me or phone me for late payment.It comes to nearly £300 of charges. am i able to claim this money back ????

[Rooster-UK]

Most definitely.

First send a Data Protection Act SARs letter from the templates library

Click this link.........

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/516-data-protection-act-subject.html

 

Then while you are waiting for your statements to arrive, spend a few days reading the FAQs and the step-by-step guides. Also read the information available in the library sections.

 

Note that this is a self-help forum so please try to read some of the wealth of information that is available. If you still have any questions then the answers won't be far away.

 

It may seem a bit daunting at times, but if you follow the well-tried and tested procedures suggested on this site, then you WILL succeed.

 

Good luck with your claim.

[nicho1120]

I wonder if anyone could help me. I have written a letter to a Sterling Credit with regards to a secured loan that I did have with them but have paid off in full now. They had charged me £18 for phone calls and also £18 for letters sent to myself. I wrote to them to say that I believe that they were unlawful and tyhat I wished to claim the money back. They have basically replied to say that the changes in legislation and consumer relations only relate to credit cards and not to secured loans. It also says that the legislation is not retrospective therefore, even if it had been included secured loan amounts, it would not be applied to your account, which was discharged in April 2006. It states that the charges were applied strictly in accordance with the terms and conditions of the agreement.

 

The answers I need :-

 

1. Can I still not claim these charges back on a secured loan??

2. Did the legislation and consumer regulations not cover secured loans ??

 

Thanks in advance for your help

[nicho1120]

anyone ????

[zootscoot]

They are telling you nonsense.

 

There has been no change in legislation. The OFT report did relate to Credit cards, however, the law which makes credit card charges unlawful, applies equally to loans. The OFT does not have the power to make the law. They are simply using this to put you off claiming.

 

So yes you can claim these charges.

 

Zoot

[nicho1120]

cheers zootscoot. What should i include then in my letter back to them then. Obviously from the first letter they are confident that they have done nothing wrong I just need some advice on what to write to counteract this ???

[zootscoot]

ACCOUNT NUMBER: XXXX

 

Request for repayment of charges

 

Dear XXXX,

 

 

Thank you for your letter dated XXXX in response to my request for the refund of charges. Whilst I acknowledge that the OFT report was in relation to credit cards the law regarding the unlawful levying of charges for a breach of contract applies equally to loan accounts.

 

In the case of Castaneda and Others v. Clydebank Engineering and Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (1904) 12 SLT 498 the House of Lords held that a contractual party can only recover damages for actual or liquidated losses incurred from a breach of contract as oppose to a charge which represents a penalty. This law was confirmed and upheld in Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co Ltd v New Garage and Motor Co Ltd [1915] AC 79. A charge will be held to be a penalty if the sum stipulated for is extravagant and unconscionable in amount in comparison to the greatest loss that could conceivably be proved to have followed from the breach. A penalty clause is void in its entirety and unenforceable.

In addition your charges appear to represent an unfair term of contract which is contrary to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (SI. 1999/2083). My account falls within the ambit of Regulation 5 of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 as I am a consumer. Your charges constitute an unfair penalty under Schedule 2 of the said Regulations which provide an indicative and non-exhaustive list of terms which may be regarded as unfair. Under paragraph 1(e) of schedule 2 this specifically includes terms which have the object of requiring any consumer who fails his obligation to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation. I vigorously contend that this is the position regarding the fee of XXXX which you deemed fit to apply to my account.

 

Furthermore a fee levied requiring me to indemnify you for costs related to a breach of contract is also contrary to s.4 Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. I am confident that a court is likely to consider the charges to be unreasonable within s.11 of the said Act as a large commercial institution such as yourselves is in a far better placed position than myself as a consumer to bear the burden of the vicissitudes of business.

 

I believe that the charges you have levied of XXXXX for late payment and return of debit fees far exceed any true cost to yourself as a result of my breaches and any genuine pre-estimate you could conceivably reach. If you disagree, then will you please demonstrate this by letting me have a full breakdown of the costs to which you have been put to as a result of my breaches, in order to reassure me that your charges really do reflect your costs.

 

 

I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that we took out the loan. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law.

 

I am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise. I consider that your repeated representations that your charges are fair and reasonable are deceptive and that they have deceived me into agreeing to pay them. Your concealment of the true nature of your charges has prevented us from asserting my rights until now.

 

I really hope that this matter can be resolved amicably and without the need for redress to the courts. Thus we are asking that you refund the charges which have unlawfully been levied on my account. Failure to refund all the money unlawfully taken will result in further action. I will give you 14 days to reply accepting, unconditionally, my request in principle and letting us know a date by which we will receive payment. If you do not respond, or you do not respond positively, within this time period, I shall issue a court claim.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

XXXX

Hope this helps

Zoot

 

 

[nicho1120]

Cheers Zootscoot for all your help. Sent the letter yesterday will see what the response is from them.

 

Thanks again

[nicho1120]

Sent the letter and have received this reply.

You refer to the "unfair terms and and consumer contract regulations" which clearly state a term is only unfair if " contary to the requirement of good faith it causes a significant imbalance in the parties rights and obligations under the contract, to the detriment of consumers" and in addition a standard term must be expressed in plain and intelligible language. This condition does clearly not breach this test.

 

You also mentioned fees of £### that have been levied to your account . These fees were clearly identified on our tariff card and provided on completion fo your loan. The OFT has clearly identified late payment fees on credit cards as unfair and set a maximum of £12 but are still investigating other charges levied by banks and financial institutions. Obviously, the facility provided to you does not fall under this definition and furthermore the OFT comment was not retrospective.

 

We trust that this now clarifies the situation for you.

 

What should I do now. Is there any reply to this or should I just leave this case ????

[ukaviator]

Hi . . .

 

This is a standard response. The charges are unlawful and the OFT have'nt been doing their job correctly as we see it. They can take the banks to court and sort this out once and for all, but they won't for some reason. Damage limitation is the way i see it. Send the Letter Before Action to get your late charges etc back.

 

Good luck

 

Ukaviator

[zootscoot]

I think that was your letter before action so it is now time to file your claim. They won't be able to ignore the law much longer then!

 

Best of luck

 

Zoot

[ukaviator]

Opps mis read. Yes start your claim now. Good luck

 

Ukaviator

[nicho1120]

what should i put as my reasons for moneyclaim. They have put that I can take my complaint to the Financial Industry Standards. Might be worth doing this before going down the moneyclaim route. If they cant help then start the moneyclaim.What do you think ???

[ukaviator]

Hi . .

 

Go straight to Moneyclaim is my advice. You get no where with the other routes, they seem to side with the banks. The info you need is in the Bank Templates library area. Jonni2bad wrote a good Particulars wording for everyone to use. Good luck

 

Ukaviator

[zootscoot]

Hi Nicho

You can use this for your particulars of claim. No good going to the FIS they will not get your money back for you.

Best of luck

Zoot

I am claiming the return of money taken by the defendant in the way of arrears fees from account no xxxx. These charges relate to my breaches of contract in that I failed to pay on the contractually agreed date. The defendant's charges represent a disproportionate penalty and therefore unenforceable as they are contrary to common law as established in Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co Ltd v New Garage and Motor Co Ltd [1915] AC 79. Further, as disproportionate penalties they are invalid under the Unfair (Contracts) Terms Act 1977 s.4 and under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Para.8 and sch.2(1)(e). I have repeatedly asked the defendant to justify their charges but they have declined to do so.

 

 

[nicho1120]

Sorry not replied for a while but been on holiday and busy at work. I am about to fill the MCOL in and just wanted to clarify that the charges with regards to letters and phone calls are covered by the OFT report for secured loans. I have been reading a few threads but none of them give reference to loans only the PPI charges.

[zootscoot]

The above particulars of claim is what I used on a secured loan account and I had my charges returned.

 

Don't forget to tick the box for claiming interest which will bring up the wording you need for that.

 

Best of luck

 

Zoot

[nicho1120]

Sorry I haveny been in touch for a while but had a family member really ill and not had touch with internet for a good while. I am back now and wish to take the action further. Last time I got to the LBA and took it no further. Am i o.k to start the whole process again??? I also want to claim back for my PPI as I was mis-sold this also. Should I send two seperate letters.One for the bank charges and the other for the PPI or just the one.

[nicho1120]

Sorry to bump my own thread but really after some advice on this issue.

 

Anyone able to help??

[nicho1120]

I wonder if anybody has had any action with a company called Sterling Credit. I have had charges put on me for telephone calls and letters which I believe are way over the top with regards to what it costs to carry out those services.