It's Bailiff Time

[Beaker_smiles]

Well here goes. I sent my DPA request on the 10th April, and the cheque left my account today, so I know they have my letter. What stung me into action was the £380 charges against me this month, following the £180 charges last month.

 

As I am currently between jobs their charges have really hurt. Most of it is happens the day before cheques clear into my account which is most frustrating.

 

I must be one of their favourite customers at the moment as I'm also complaining about their credit card services. I missed a payment, so they phoned and asked me to make a payment there and then. I refused, for security purposes, (how do I know it's the Abbey phoning me?) and offered to make an online payment. Of course their high tech computer system takes four days to transfer funds, during which time I got two angry phone calls and a snotty letter. And yet if I had given out my card details and had money stolen, who would they hold responsible? I think we all know the answer to that one.

[Seminole]

Welcome to the forum. Please let us know how you get on and post any questions here.

[lostinparadise]

Hi Beaker Smiles

My DPA arrived with them on 10th April and cheque cleared yesturday so we seem to have similar timelines.....ill be watching your story unfold with interest!!

Ill be posting every interaction i have with shABBEY and I look forward to reading yours.

Good Luck

LIP

[Beaker_smiles]

Well for those who read a lot of the threads on here this will come as no surprise, but .......

 

....... In the post this morning I received fourteen months worth of statements from shABBEY. A great result, except I asked them for details going back to June 2000. I'll give them another day to see if anything else turns up in the post (as I haven't yet received my microfiche fob off letter), but I'm not holding my breath. I suppose I should use the time to start crafting my ass kicking reminder letter to them, as they only have twelve days left.

[Beaker_smiles]

Well I've slept on it, and decided the best thing was to tweak one of the letters in the library.

 

I would like to thank you for the fourteen months of statements (covering 16th February 2005 to 16th April 2006) that you sent to me, which were received on 8th May 2006. My original request, however, was for a full set of transactions and charges relating to my account since 1st July 2000 – in short, a list of charges with dates and amounts – alternatively, a complete set of account statements would be acceptable. This should be easily retrievable from your accounting systems, and easy for you to produce. I will accept a computer print out of these transactions.

 

I am aware that you have been willing to supply other customers with a print-out of transaction information covering this period, which has been recovered from microfiche records – and am willing to bring this to the attention of the Information Commissioner should it prove necessary. I would also like to draw your attention to Smith v Lloyds Bank plc (2005) EWHC 246 (Ch)

 

This letter has been sent by first class recorded delivery, and therefore should have reached you by 10th May 2006 – as you are aware, as of this date you have just 10 days in which to comply with my original request. As stated above, a complete set of account statements for the period in question will be acceptable; however, I expect this to be provided within the time period allotted for DPA compliance.

 

Should there be any further attempts to delay compliance, I will be left with no alternative but to escalate this matter into an official complaint to the Information Commissioner and/or the County Court under s.7 and/or s.13 Data Protection Act. If you have already sent the remainder of the information requested (covering 1st July 2000 to 16th February 2005) then please disregard this letter.

 

Hopefully the the slight changes will pre-empt any cr@p about data stored on microfiche, which I have been spared so far. The total charges over the fourteen months thay have managed to send so far is £1500, so it looks like it could be a big claim (although its only recently that the charges have started to snowball, but all those odd £30 from three years ago will build up.)

 

I'll keep you all posted with my progress.

[lostinparadise]

Hi Beaker_smiles,

 

Well well well....i received statements for the last 12 months although one in this period is missing.

 

So we definately are head to head.....

 

Ill put the full details in my own thread.

 

Thanks for posting your letter, ill be sending something very similar!!

 

GOOD LUCK.

 

 

LIP

[Briar_Rose]

Same thing happened to me and my claims about the same time as yours as well - last years statements today but nothing further back so i sent off a snotty letter as well - recorded of course - lol.

 

£750 of charges just for last year - and that was a good year!!!

[Beaker_smiles]

Just to confuse me, I recieved what looked like a computer print out of transactions from January 2005 this morning. At first I thought I might have been jumping the gun a bit, sending the reminder letter yesterday, but now I'm certain it was the right move.

 

If Abbey keep sending me one months statements every day, I'll have everything I need in about sixty days time (assuming they post out at weekends) LOL.

 

Perhaps it would be quicker if I phoned, asked to speak to somebody by a window, get them to pull up my account details, and then looked for myself from the central reservation outside their offices. A masterplan ............... if only I could find my binoculars.

[andrew1]

The statements will come. I received my first batch of 13 months in the usual current statement format about a week ago and the rest came today in three different formats. Print outs from what looks like an old printer and printed sideways, some which are no doubt the photocopies of microfiche and another in another format I'd never seen before - so they do arrive. I just think they are swamped by applications. Got loads a money coming back!

[lostinparadise]

Hi

I received some printouts too today (The sidways ones too - Movements enquiries) relating back to the end of Jan 2005.

As per usual ill put this is my own post but we are all definately hitting the same stages at the same time.

Im glad for the support...Thanx

LIP

[Beaker_smiles]

OK, I received a letter this morning telling me that "as previously advised (????? When?)" they had sent everything I was entitled too under the DPA. So I've read through Smith Vs Lloyds TSB, looking for something to clobber shABBEY with, and was looking for some clarification.

 

Was the ruling in favour of Lloyds TSB, but only because the information was about Smiths company DEL, and not personnally anout Smith. And had it been about Smith himself, he would have won? Is that the gist?

 

Secondly, checking back through my records, I have started my 40 days from 11th April when shABBEY received my request by recorded delivery. However shABBEY sat on my cheque a week before banking it. Do I have to give them the extra time because they have to have received cleared funds, or can I just argue that they chose to sit on my cheque, ergo their problem!

 

Should I send a second reminder (I sent one a couple of days ago, see my earlier posts) and argue their points, or are they just being futile, because angry customers go a pretty shade of red?

[Bigfishnet]

My understanding is exactly the same as yours:

 

1) The info was NOT personal and therefore was relevant to the case of the Company

 

2) The 40 days starts ticking from when they actually receive the request

 

This link I think clarifies it (Section 7 part 10)

 

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts1998/80029--b.htm#7

[Beaker_smiles]

This has slipped a little because I've been busy, but I'm ready to send my final DPA request. And this is what it looks like.

 

Thank you for your letter dated 10th May 2006, I have noted your comments but feel obliged to point out some inaccuracies in your letter.

 

In your letter you state that the information I have requested has been archived onto microfiche and is therefore not covered by the Data Protection Act. Unfortunately this is not true. The information was formerly held on computer and has been processed, and is also specific to me and my account. It therefore does fall under the data protection act, and I refer you again to Smith v Lloyds TSB Bank plc (2005) EWHC 246 (Ch), as I did in my previous letter, as well as Durant v Financial Services Authority (2003) EWCA Civ 1746.

 

Accordingly I have to tell you, that you have not complied with the Data Protection Act 1998. The time limit within which to comply expired 10 days ago, and I still have not received all the information that I requested. I am now offering a further 7 days, from the date of this letter, for you to comply with my Subject Access Request. Failure to do so will leave me with no option but to inform the Information Commissioner of your breach, and to apply to the County Court for an order to enforce compliance, together with damages at the discretion of the court.

 

As a reminder, my original request was for a full set of transactions and charges relating to my account since 1st July 2000 – in short, a list of charges with dates and amounts – alternatively, a complete set of account statements would be acceptable. This should be easily retrievable from your accounting systems, and easy for you to produce. I will accept a computer print out of these transactions.

 

Lets see what that does.

[Beaker_smiles]

Ooopps. Missed out the final paragraph.

 

You also start your third paragraph “As previously advised …”, however this was the first letter I have received from you. I would be grateful if you could also send any correspondence prior to the 10th May for my records, so that I may fully understand what I am being advised.

 

In my reminder to them I referred to Smith v Lloyds, and so I think that the third paragraph is bog standard automated. If theh have no prior letters, this would prove my point.

 

LOL

[Beaker_smiles]

Well, the 7 days expired today, and do you think I received anything from shABBEY?

 

NOPE!!

 

Oh well, off to the court tomorrow to get an N1 form.

 

Does anybody know how much it will cost to lodge a DPA section 7 claim on an N1 form? I have seen varying amounts bandied about, the lowest being £30 - but that was thought to be the incorrect fee.

[lostinparadise]

Hi Beaker-smiles

Have a look at my thread lostinparadise vs Abbey for some tips on the N1 for DPA non compliance.

Ive asked a few questions for clarity so they may help you too.

I should get this in to the court on Fri im hoping. Just stalled for a bit while i got my head round things and tried to work out how i was gonna actually hand it in and also to summon the courage!!

Were still on track together......

LIP

[Beaker_smiles]

Now I've just filled in the N1 forms for Abbey's DPA non-compliance, but before I hand them in I was wondering.

 

If I have been charged £1500 for the last year (which I can proove) do I need to actually need to start litigation for the missing statements? If I can proove that I have tried to obtain them, why not just submit a claim for £4950 (to keep it under the small claims limit) and stuff Abbey if that amount is wrong. This would appear to be a win-win scenario, or could Abbey magically produce my missing statements and say "Well actually we only make it £2500 in total" just to pee on my bonfire?

[Michael Browne]

I would do both. Submit the N1 for non-compliance and send a prelim letter for £4950 explaining that this is an estimate due to their non-compliance.. This should concentrate their minds!

[Beaker_smiles]

Yes, but what if when I finally get my statements I discover I can only claim a smaller amount. Not that I think there would be that much difference, but why not save the hassle of two trips to court, and just bang in a claim a little shy of £5000.

[lostinparadise]

Hi Beaker_Smiles

Just wondering how you got on with the N1 form for DPA non-compliance at the County Court.

I had a bit of a palava trying to get them to take it on an N1 form but it now seems sorted and im handing it in tomorrow. (Have a read of my thread).

Let me know what happened when you did yours.

LIP

[Beaker_smiles]

Right, I'm back. I've been in my new job for eight weeks, and I've got myself settled so I am ready to pick up where I left off. Sent my prelim letter asking for £1400 that I can discern from the 14 months of statements they have sent me, and £3400 as an estimate for the rest of the time. Also turned my lack of movement into a complaint against them, suggesting that I had been waiting for further response from Ms. Small in Data Compliance (well they said that even though I wasn't entitled to my own bank statements they would try and post them to me and it would take time. Surely 8 weeks is sufficient time.)

 

I sent the letter last Monday, so the deadline is Tuesday 29th. If I don't hear anything then onto the LBA, and then court.

[Beaker_smiles]

............ Oh, and I didn't bother with an N1 (don't have enough money). If Abbey want to dispute my claim, let them provide the paperwork. I don't mind revising down if I have to, and it highlights their unhelpful attitude.

[lostinparadise]

Hi Beaker Smiles

YEY...wondered where you had gone. Welcome back.

Its all been fun and games with my claim. If youve got a day or 2 have a read of it LOL. Im still here.

Good Luck again.

LIP

[Beaker_smiles]

I'll be posting more about this in my thread in the next day or two, but as the response to my LBA I have a letter from Mike Bennett - Senior Customer Resolution Manager - who writes

 

"We can, as you asked, supply you with details of all the charges on your account over the last six years. Please accept my apologies but I cannot see that we have received the previous request you mention in your letter. If you would like us to do this, please contact our Telephone Banking Centre on 08459 724724 or visit one of our branches. There is a fee of £10 per account, to cover the cost of producing the information."

 

I will be responding, especially as I shall claim it all back in the small claims court, as there is no mention of microfiche or relevant filing systems. In fact Mr Bennett makes it sound quite easy. Perhaps if I pry hard enough I can expose a chink in their armour, especially as my SAR was sent back in April, and the delightful Sheena Small has told me that it is on microfiche, and therefore not relevant.

[Number6]

Also I thought the fee was £10 (max) per organisation not per account? A DPA SAR will get you all the information an organisation holds about you whether you have one account or one hundred.

 

Pete