Gerrywalt

[gerrywalt]

I sent an SAR to Abbey on 14th Feb, Had reply on 23rd Feb.

 

I would like to post the entire letter here, but me not know how.

Advice please.

Firstly, Abbey sent back my £10 cheque.This what they wrote.

"The transactional information you require is available on our systems and will be forwarded to you, free of charge under separate cover.

Therefor we are returning the £10 fee for this service.

With regards to any 'manual interventions' that may have been made on your account.

We consider 'manual interventions' to mean an action that is not automatic or computer-driven. Not all manual interventions are recorded, for example if a member of staff looks at a paper document relating to an account, a record is not always required. Similarly some interventions may relate to work carried by a department rather than individuals where no record of activity is kept because this is not the kind of information we need, or more importantly, that a customer would usually request. "

 

Thats it. Now how should I respond? Any ideas, or is this a situation that I can just let run out to the 40 day i gave them in my SAR letter?

[Mad Nick]

Gerry, that £10 back is the only goodwill you'll get !! Sit back and wait for the statements/microfiche and, if you haven't already, read the FAQs and Guide. The guff about manual interventions is good - it means they haven't got a clue whether there were any, so it was all automatic/computer generated, so the charges were indeed disproportionate to their costs/losses. Regards, Mad Nick

[gerrywalt]

Thanks Nick,

 

I actually had a bundle of statements in the post within days of my request/demand.

All I need to do is to calculate the the total penalties and go for it. Just one point, is the interest charged that which relates to the cost of the overdraft, or is the interest they charge when they have levied penalties which put me further unorthorised overdrawn?

[Advoc8]

It's the extra interest you've paid on the charges, not the whole amount of interest on the overdraft.

[gerrywalt]

Thanks for that. Now I know!!

[gerrywalt]

Here is the situation to date.

26th March; I sent letter asking for all charges and interest charged to my account to be returned. No threat mentioned.

29th March; Received from Abbey Letter telling me that they will 'investigate' my complaint and that it will take four weeks to complete.

30th March; I respond that I am not prepared to wait for investigations and I want an answer by return whether or not they are prepared to repay my money. Should I include a threat of court action at this point? (I have not yet sent the letter)

[Gez]

Yes, tell them that there is no investigation necessary. The charges are unlawful & must be repaid in full & unconditionally within 7 days or you will begin legal action to recover them.

[gerrywalt]

I sent the Letter of Intent on 31st April. When the 14 day deadline is reached I will start proceedings.

[gerrywalt]

I set the 'Letter Before Action' dated 31st April. Still some days to go before going to court.

There is one question, there is more fees added since I calculated the claim sum. I know I can add on extra at a later date, but what is the proceedure? Please advise.

[Robdblynd]

You can add all charges up to the date you file a claim.

 

After that you have to fill in N244 form and it costs £35 which is non-refundable (you can't claim back off Abbey cos you changed the claim not them).

 

Good luck.

[gerrywalt]

Thanks for that Robdblynd. And good luck to you too. Just had a letter from Abbey telling me that they will cancel my overdraft 1st July, and want all money back. They have not acknowledged my 'LBA', they just want to screw me over again.

[Robdblynd]

If the refunds are more than the overdraft tell them you'll consider a settlement if they refund the fees, deducting the amount of the overdraft and paying the rest to you in the form of a cheque.

 

They can legally call in your overdraft at any time but it usually is a 'sulking' move by them cos they know you're going to reclaim your money.

 

By my reckoning you can file a claim on 16th May, so go get 'em.

[gerrywalt]

What a service!! You are the best!!

Next question. I can't find the page with the Abbey Head Office, need it for the court form. Please , if you will.

 

I will make the offer to Abbey, not that I expect any kind of sensible reply. They never acknowledge my letters if they think I am getting serious.

Should the offer be by phone or letter?

[Robdblynd]

Letter, everything in writing and recorded, so you've got a papertrail.

 

Head Office is Abbey National Plc, Abbey National House, 2 Triton Square,

Regent's Place, London. NW1 3AN

 

Don't forget, if you file using MCOL then send them a schedule of charges and an extended Particulars Of Claim through the post, to the Northampton address. 3 copies, one for them, one for Abbey and one will be returned to you duly stamped.

 

I prefer to fill in N1, gives you more room etc and you hand it over to court personally so you know it's on it's way.

 

Good luck and keep us up to date.

[gerrywalt]

Sorry to be a numpty, but I can't input into the court Particulars Of Claim form. What do I need to do so that I get my stuff i.e fiill it in ,onto the form?

[gerrywalt]

I feel a bit of a twit. I've got it, so no worries folks.

[gerrywalt]

This is it. Thursday 17th May is when I lodge the court papers.

I wish I knew how to get the experts a look over the paperwork before it goes into court, but I don't know how.

[Robdblynd]

Can you scan the documents and put them on here?

 

I'm sure someone will run their eye over them for you, however, if you've used the advice on here you should be fine.

 

Are you using GaryH's 'Abuse of Process Order'

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/abbey-bank/87766-abbey-abuse-orders-keeping.html

 

it's brilliant and has worked for several people. Basically it asks the judge to strike Abbey's case cos they've never actually defended a case in court.

 

Have a read & see what you think.

 

You could do what I did and save it for the AQ but with so many judges doing away with the AQ it's a bit of a risk.

 

Good luck, you'll be fine.

[gerrywalt]

Hi,Robd,

Thanks for the help to date. Just one more numpty question. To whom, do I send the scans?

As for the Abuse of Process Order, do I send it in with my summons, or hold on for later on.

[Robdblynd]

Hi Gerry,

Been thinking about this, if you've filled in the particulars of claim using the templates and advice from the site you should be fine.

 

Given that the AQ is being dispensed with by many judges you might be advised to use the extended POC instead of the basic one.

 

If you PM me with your email address I'll send you a copy and you can see whether you think it's relevant.

 

The abuse of process is great but with no AQ it's not gonna get an airing unless you do what I did, after filing the AQ cos they sent it I got a letter saying it had been dispensed with, so I wrote directly to the judge and asked him to consider it in the interests of saving the courts time.

 

If you want to send the scans directly to me I'll have a look for you, I'll PM my address.

[gerrywalt]

Got 'em, I have now Judgement for Claiment (in default) notice. Abbey did not defend, nor acknowledge receipt of claim form. I suppose this a means of further dragging out the process. They can always say they did not receive the forms, so they can petition to have the Judgement set aside. If that happens, what would be my next step?

[jules1973]

Gerry

 

Have a look at the following thread http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/abbey-bank/99851-help-witness-statement-exhibit.html

 

This is exactly what happened to them and Abbey requested for it to be set aside, stating they didnt receive the paperwork blah blah blah.

 

Abbey have until this monday to acknowledge my claim, so will be interesting to see if they do or not.

[gerrywalt]

I have just got my Judgement by Default from the court office. Abbey did not acknowledge receipt of the forms nor post a defence. So I can assume they have lost. But I suppose that I must go thro' the rigmarole of waiting for them to apply to have the Judgement set aside, or whatever process is is legal. I would love to have bailiffs with me to march into my branch and threaten to remove goods to the value of my claim!!

[jules1973]

hee hee that would be good:D , I would def go and see that considering I dont live that far away

[Robdblynd]

At last you're making progress Gerry.

 

They may not apply for set aside if your claim isn't that great. It's a lot of work for them for very little then.

 

I'll keep my fingers crossed that you get paid very quickly.

Congrats,

Tricia.