Abbey Charges

[spicester]

I changed my job not a very big thing in this day and age, but becuase of the way I have been paid by my previous employer I actually owed them wages so as such did not get paid.

 

Of course all my monthly bills were setup to go out on pay day and did not realise this until the actual day. So guess what even though we went into the branch and warned them that this was going to happen they still let everything go out and we have now incurred over £600 from just one day!!! They have offered an overdarft to cover these charges which i have had to accept but in the meantime nothing else has been paid, they have restricted my account and even though told me I had to keep a close eye on it to ensure it did not go over the limit have withdrawn the internet banking facility so i cannot even keep an eye on it - I work away a lot of the time.

 

This is scandalous and prompted me to do some research which led me here. This site and many others has given me a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel and as such have started to follow the advice laid out here - starting with the Data Protection Act request for my statements for the last 3 years - one of the charges were for going over the limit by 29p and the charge is £50. This is wrong and if enough of us challenge them and take it all the way they will soon back down when it hits them where it hurts rather than hitting us hard working people who trust them with our money.

 

I will be opening up a new account tomorrow with another bank and transfer all my wages etc there and just pay the £86 repayment scheme they have put me on until such time as this matter is settled. These problems for us started when we moved our mortgage from them to aother company - before that they bent over backwards to help us but not anymore. They started out really nice on the phone today and then became very snotty and official. My problems have been the same as many in some cases direct debits going out before they were supposed too, the old debit card payment being approved then them allowing the money to be used for something else etc and all the other charges that have been incurred because of this. I would say at least 70% of our charges have been incurred because they allowed me to go unauthorised overdrawn, and then wehn they knew i would have problems paying it back just sat back and charged us even more. This has to stop. Will keep you posted

[Guest stephen]

welcome and good luck, and please ask if you need any help.

[spicester]

Thankyou for that very kind offer, will be in touch if I need any help as this is all new to me, as it probably is too many others - I really did not realise you could challenge these charges and over the last three years have always paid them - some have been refunded in the most obvious cases where i was not at fault but the latest ones the £600 I mentioned were the final straw , I had not been informed we were paid in advance by my employer and as such was in no way able to predict these events taking place. They are penalising me for advancing my career by moving companies and it just isn't right - all i wanted was a £800 overdarft and the charges either reduced or got rid of all together as gesture of goodwill acknowldeging that it was not my fault (this time) The branch staff even said that up until this happened we could have had a £800 fee free overdarft due to conducting our account well over the last six months. We had previously had one for £1000 that we had cleared off in August in full. To be honest the branch staff were really helpful and did their best for us in this case but to no avail. They really tried and fought for us to get it be3cause they could see what this whole sorry mess was doing to us. The problem I find is that local branches no longer have the control over accounts the days of the manager making decisions has been replaced by those morons in indian call centres who most likely have target related pay schemes. I really hope to solve this without going all the way - but if I have too i will, I will not cave in not anymore, because without knowing the exact figures yet I can imagine the charges probably run into thousands of pounds.

[Guest stephen]

That one has always puzzled me, most of the high street banks now have transferred their call centers to India, which has to bet be a massive cost saving on the admin

 

Therefore, they have cut their costs, so why is it so strange that when they are now faced with a cheaper way with dealing with customers. Have they upped the price of there charges yet again.

 

Most company would pass on the saving to their customers, The banks seem to pass on there own saving to themselves, along with charging us more for doing so.

[norma]

Hi - what is a DPA request?

[gazza]

Hi - what is a DPA request?

You need to read the FAQ's first, they are VERY useful on this forum.

Gaz

[BankFodder]

Hi - what is a Data Protection Act request?

 

Please read the FAQs and forum material before you start posting on this forum. This forum provides support encouragement and information without charging for it. However we do at least expect Users to make some effort on their own behalf consumer forums

consumerforums

[alf_child]

Sounds like what they did with me, but did they give you any notice that your account was been restricted? they didn't with me, I went 2 months without been able to take money out.

[spicester]

They would have let me keep my account normal if I could promise to cover the charges - I could not obviously so they have taken back the cheque book cards etc - told me to keep an eye on the account to ensure I don't go over the limits - yet even though I work away from home and use internet banking to keep an eye on it they have restricted me from being able to do things online so now I can't do anything without going into the branch. On top of that they have very quickly altered my credit file and I can't even get a new account elsewhere. Any suggestions??

[spicester]

Right finally got all my statements in full for free!!! Tallied up the charges and not including those which have already been refunded since 16/01/2003 upto 16/04/06 total of 76 charges to the value of £2134. At the moment I am not able to setup another current account due to Abbey black listing my credit file so will have to settle the overdraft with Abbey, find another account and then continue.

[34Flipper]

Right finally got all my statements in full for free!!! Tallied up the charges and not including those which have already been refunded since 16/01/2003 upto 16/04/06 total of 76 charges to the value of £2134. At the moment I am not able to setup another current account due to Abbey black listing my credit file so will have to settle the overdraft with Abbey, find another account and then continue.

 

I got a letter today telling me I have to pay for my info as it has been archived.They seem to make the rules up as they go along....

[Tinkerbelle]

Try NatWest Step or Alliance & Leicester Current Account!

[spicester]

Try NatWest Step or Alliance & Leicester Current Account!

 

Thanks for that suggestion have applied for the Natwest Steps account - shame it does not allow you to do bill payments etc or transfers online so thats me stuffed but at least it has a debit card with it and thats what matters to me really. Anyway assuming they approve us and it gets setup will trasnfer all direct debits etc then start action against Grabby.

[batley1]

I opened a basic cash card account with nationwide, and you can set up dd and act on the account online. Just thought this might be useful for you. Please see my thread Starting from from today batley1 vs abbey. I have had the same problems. good luck

[spicester]

Well its been a year now since the Abbey angered me enough to take action lol.

 

Well finally I have a parachute account all set up and ready to go. Natwest Steps so thanx to the ppl who suggested it. Currently changing direct debits and wages when completed going to start legal action etc.

 

I am now in the black with Abbey so they can close my account and try to time waste as much as they like because I am not in a rush, they can't bully me, just means they have to pay me more the longer they leave it!!!

 

As of today ammount to be claimed £2,260 plus interest at 8% APR = £2,584.02

 

Will update this thread as and when I start with the first letter. Good Luck everyone.....

[spicester]

just so you all know will start a new thread here once I actually start legal proceedings.

[spicester]

Query regarding these Gesture of Goodwill payments the shabbey seem to be giving since I no longer need the account will closing it to stop them being able to force this payment on me affect the overall picture of my claim or not?

[Lula]

If you close the account they will not give you a GOGW, not a bad thing really as it can only complicate things when you get your payout - but just incase they try and get a bit crafty, if you close the account get them to write to you and say that they have closed the account, they dont automatically give out GOGW, I have had two claims and on neither occasion have they given a GOGW

[spicester]

Thanx for that, finished the move over to Natwest now just gotta let 3 more direct debits plus 1 cheque go out then I am gonna close the crabbey account and proceed.....

[spicester]

One other question, with regards to overdraft interest a lot of times when I incurred charges I already had an authorised overdraft so was already being charged interest, which was part of the agreement to having one - so how do I calculate the overdraft interest or do I just claim for the actual ammount they charged me in the months I had the charges?? At the mo used the simple spreadsheet to calculate the total and 8% APR should it get that far, but I want to do this properly.

[charleyfarley]

Hi spicester,

 

This is new to me as well but as I understand it the calculation of overdraft interest involves an assumption that you wouldn't have been this overdrawn if Abbey hadn't taken all those charges, although you probably would have been overdrawn so they can charge you some interest.

 

I may have done it wrong but my interest charges on the overdraft were small compared to the actual charges so I have decided not to include the interest in my claim, but assume everything goes to court and claim the 8% instead.

[Mad Nick]

Spicester, if I might be so bold, you have either done the sums wrong or are being a bit forgiving. If, like me, you were more or less always in the red but within your overdraft limit (except around when charges were levied because you exceeded it) you have been charged their authorised overdraft rate on the charges ever since they levied them, and each month there's been interest on the interest. You certainly don't let them off the interest on the charges "because you had an agreed overdraft". To put it in context, a £30 in June 2000 will have netted them £53.69 interest from you at the authorised overdraft rate of 16.9%. You should claim both charges and interest.

 

Some argue that one should go even further and apply their unauthorised overdraft rate (c27%). Justification would be that the charges were unauthorised withdrawals from your account, and argue that the contract works both ways, so you are applying their unauthorised rate.

 

Have you spotted this thread :

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/18313-why-no-one-claiming.html

which discusses the ins and outs. Regards Mad Nick

[spicester]

Hi spicester,

 

This is new to me as well but as I understand it the calculation of overdraft interest involves an assumption that you wouldn't have been this overdrawn if Abbey hadn't taken all those charges, although you probably would have been overdrawn so they can charge you some interest.

 

I may have done it wrong but my interest charges on the overdraft were small compared to the actual charges so I have decided not to include the interest in my claim, but assume everything goes to court and claim the 8% instead.

 

It does eem a lot of hassle but see my next reply lol

[spicester]

Spicester, if I might be so bold, you have either done the sums wrong or are being a bit forgiving. If, like me, you were more or less always in the red but within your overdraft limit (except around when charges were levied because you exceeded it) you have been charged their authorised overdraft rate on the charges ever since they levied them, and each month there's been interest on the interest. You certainly don't let them off the interest on the charges "because you had an agreed overdraft". To put it in context, a £30 in June 2000 will have netted them £53.69 interest from you at the authorised overdraft rate of 16.9%. You should claim both charges and interest.

 

Some argue that one should go even further and apply their unauthorised overdraft rate (c27%). Justification would be that the charges were unauthorised withdrawals from your account, and argue that the contract works both ways, so you are applying their unauthorised rate.

 

Have you spotted this thread :

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/18313-why-no-one-claiming.html

which discusses the ins and outs. Regards Mad Nick

 

Wow that is quite shocking actually lol. I am going to read that thread - I had briefly before but noticed many were not bothering because in many cases it was not worth it. But certainly worht looking at anyway. Thanx

[spicester]

Prelim Letter sent today to the Abbey today, assuming they will receive it tomorrow so 14 days will be Valentines Day!!!