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[Toony]

Cheers Louis,Jules, Here is a copy of an email I nicked off you Jules(hope you dont mind)

 

Dear Sir/Madam,(Pam Speed)

Regarding your ref:-D

Account number :-

As stated in my letter to you on 15th March 2007 I require outstanding information that you have failed to send to me under the Data Protection Act 1998.Your 40 day deadline under the Act expired on 24th April 2007, and despite a phone call today 3rd May 2007 you have failed to send or inform me of when I can expect this information..

 

I appreciate that your department is busy due to the influx of recent claims, however you have a duty under the Data Protection Act 1998 to comply within the 40 days stipulated, and you have not done this, and seem to have no intention of sending me the remaining information.

 

As per the Data Protection Act 1998 (Part II Rights of Data Subjects and Others), Section 7 ( states "a data controller shall comply with a request under this section promptly and in any event before the end of the prescribed period beginning with the relevant day"

 

Section 7(9) states "If a court is satisfied on the application of any person who has made a request under the foregoing provisions of this section that the data controller in question has failed to comply with the request in contravention of those provisions, the court may order him to comply with the request"

 

Section 7(10) states

 

 

"prescribed" means prescribed by the Secretary of State by regulations;

"the prescribed maximum" means such amount as may be prescribed;

"the prescribed period" means forty days or such other period as may be prescribed;

"the relevant day", in relation to a request under this section, means the day on which the data controller receives the request

 

 

 

Therefore, I am emailing you out of courtesy to inform you that a complaint form and a copy of all correspondance is being sent in tomorrows post to both the Information Commissioner and the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Yours faithfully

G M Thompson

 

Lets see what happens now:D

[jules1973]

Toony

 

Of course I dont mind you using my email. Hope it helps you.

 

A copy of your reply that came through to my email address showed your account number. unless you have already done it, I would go into your last thread and delete your account number.

 

Good luck x

[Toony]

Well Jules that did the trick!! microfiche statements arrived this morning 10th May.

 

I have just worked out that they owe me over £2k

[jules1973]

Toony

 

Glad I could help in a little way, ours was the same just over £2k, I sent the first letter yesterday requesting my charges back.

 

Good luck,

 

I have subscribed to this thread so I can see how you are getting on.

 

Julie

[Toony]

It was a great help thanks!

 

I am now ready for the next stage which is asking them for the dosh I believe. The total amount comes to £2244.50 but with the interest £2792.89 Do you have a copy of your letter or did you use one from the template library ? Did you ask for the interest ?

 

(You can tell Im excited now)

[Guest louis wu]

Toony, how are you working out the interest? Is it just the statutory 8%, if so, then no, don't add it yet

 

Louis

[Toony]

Thanks Louis, yes it is just the 8%. I used the template.

 

Can you tell me which letter I can use now to request payment?

[bp]

hi Toony (i know your q was for jules) use the template letters on the site they are just fine also with regards to the interest, you can ask for the interest as long as you can prove that had it not been for the charges, you would not have gone overdrawn hence incurred the interest. I never claimed interest because i had an overdraft and my acc was always overdrawn anyway. If it was the charges which made you overdrawn then yes! go for it!

[Guest louis wu]

Toony, I can help this nagging feeling that the interest you have quoted is too much (sorry, its just the cautious side of me coming through)

 

Have you included any O/D interest in that figure as well, or is it purely the 8% on the £2244.50 charges?

 

Sorry mate, just want to be sure

 

Louis

[Toony]

No O/D interest added

[Toony]

No problem Louis.

[Guest louis wu]

Toony, sorry mate, I have just seen my mistake, I read this

 

The total amount comes to £2244.50 but with the interest £2792.89

 

for some reason to mean that you were claiming £2792.89 as interest, when it was the inclusive of interest amount.

 

Sorry for the extra work I've caused you. I will go away and crawl back under my rock now

 

Louis

[jules1973]

i used the letter from the template library, and I wont claim for 8% interest until it gets to the court stage. Like you, I am anxious to get on. Sent my letter yesterday recorded and frustrated that each time I checked it today, it wasnt showing as being delivered:mad: Espcially as every other letter I have ever sent recorded arrived the next day. I have a good mind to walk into the town, hand deliver it and get them to sign a copy to prove they have received it.

[Toony]

Here is the letter I sent today:-

 

Pam Speed

PO BOX 1109

Bradford

BD1 5ZJ

 

10/05/07

 

 

Request for repayment of charges

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER:(see Im learning!)

 

 

My request

I am writing to ask you to refund to me the charges which you have levied from my account over the last 6 years.

I now understand that the regime of fees which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent consumer regulations. If you say that they are not, then will you please demonstrate this by letting me have a full breakdown of the costs to which you have been put by as a result of my breaches, in order to reassure me that your penalties really do reflect your costs.

Additionally, it has now been confirmed that your particularly high level of penalties are considered to be unfair per se by the OFT who reported on the 5th April 2006 and are therefore presumed to be unlawful in the absence of specific proof to the contrary.

 

Your responsibilities

I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. 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 as my fiduciary.

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 me from asserting my right until now.

 

What I require

I calculate that you have taken £2244.50. I enclose a schedule of the charges which I am claiming with this letter

 

My targets to resolve this matter

I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me about this matter and I am writing this letter to you on the assumption that you will prefer to do this than merely respond with standard letters and leaflets.

 

I will give you 14 days to reply to me accepting, unconditionally, my request in principle and letting me know a date by which I will receive payment.

 

If you do not respond, or you do not respond positively, within this time period, I shall send you a letter before action giving you a further 14 days in which to reflect. I believe that these targets are more than sufficient for a large company such as yours with dedicated staff and departments.

 

After that, there will be no further communication from me and I shall issue a claim at the expiry of the second deadline.

I was not sure about the O/D interest so have not included that (yet)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest louis wu]

Toony, if you are claiming O/D interest it should be added now. Are you unsure how it works, or whether or not it applies.

 

If you are having trouble getting your head around it, maybe this will help

 

If you are £1000 o/d, and your charges total £1000, then you can claim ALL the interest charged that month.

 

If your charges total £500, then you can claim HALF your interest charged that month.

 

The way I done it was to have a running total of charges, and compared that to my current o/d (month by month). I worked out what % of my o/d was charges, and then claimed that % of my interest back. It’s a bit time consuming, but as it’s YOUR money, it’s worth it.

 

Best of luck

 

Louis

 

[Toony]

Thanks Louis, your right I was not sure how to work it out however the letter is on its way to Abbey as we speak.

 

I feel sure that I will get further opportunity to include the O/D interest again unless of corse they agree to just send me the full amount requested.

 

To be fair I would be happy with that!

 

Jules has your letter been recieved yet?

[Guest louis wu]

Toony, if you are going to claim the O/D interest, just add it to your next letter.

 

Louis

[jules1973]

Toony,

 

No, I sent it recorded delivery on 9th, will have to send it again on monday as website keeps asking me to come back as it hasnt been delivered. Thats the last time I will send it through work and let the postman collect it, he has probably lost it in his van. Wouldnt mind, I posted it RD from basildon, to my branch in Basildon. I will walk to the Post Office in Basildon and personally hand it to the cashier, that way it cannot get lost. When I have done it this way before, it has always got there.

[Toony]

I just recieved the letter telling me that all charges against me are legal this morning.

 

What would be my next step?

 

Thanks

[jules1973]

If possible can you type up the letter you have received from Abbey this morning, so that people can have a look at it, that way we can try and help you out. Knowing Abbey it is a standard letter. Have they offered you a GOWG or settlement amount yet?

[Toony]

I recieved £250 GOGW some time ago but stated then that I would be pursueing further.

Here is the letter -

"Thank you for your letter dated 16th March 2007,about your bank charges.I am sorry you feel these charges are unlawful.Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to you.

 

Having carried out a further investigation ,we do not believe the charges are unlawful and therefore cannot agree to refund them.

 

The unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 say that we must explain our charges in plain language and that we have to act in good faith,which,according to the office of fair trading, means dealing fairly and openly with customers.

I therefore reviewed the literatureand information you recieved when you opened your account,including the terms and conditions.This explains that charges will be applied if you do not keep to the terms of the account. Because of this,I believe we have been fair and open in telling you about them.The charges were correct because you did not have enough money in your account to cover payments requested from it.When I looked at the history for your account I found that unfortunately this was not the first time this has happened.

 

I can see we have refunded charges in the past as a gesture of goodwill.I am sorry that because of this I cannot agree to cancel these charges.

 

Our records indicate that you have now recieved the requested statements.Please contact me on 0845 600 6014 if this is not the case.

 

I am confident that I have been fair and have taken into account all the points you made in your letter,but if you have any additional points that you would like to discuss please call 0845 600 6014.I have enclosed a leaflet about the financial Ombudsman Service,in case you are not happy with my investigation or decision.If so, you should contact them within six months of the date of this letter, enclosing a copy of it,as they would need it for their investigation.

 

I hope we can work together to help you avoid charges in the future.Little things can help, like checking your account balance as often as possible and looking at the dates of direct debits to make sure they are taken shortly after money is paid in.In addition we might be able to help by providing an overdraft facility to give you more flexibility.This could help to keep your costs down as there are no charges unless you exceed your overdraft limit.So if you would like to talk to someone about the options available please call our telephone banking centre on 08459 724 724. Alternatively if you think you might need longer-term help to manage your bank account please call 0845 603 9035 and we`ll be happy to help.

 

Yours Sincerely

 

Richard Evans

Senior Customer relations manager"

[jules1973]

I am sure I have seen this letter elsewhere and it is a standard letter, but pm one of the moderators just to confirm. Personally i would continue with the claim.

[Toony]

Thanks Jules,

 

There is no doubt that I will be continueing with my claim, just not sure how to go about it. As you can see they have not offered me anything and dont look as if they intend to!

[Toony]

I think my next step is to submit an N1 form to my local county court.

 

Do I need to print the official version and fill this in manually ? I have already copied from the templates Library onto word so that I can fill it in and print if this is ok?

 

I`m a bit lost as to how to move forward now (Yes I am a bit thick!!)

[jules1973]

Toony

With regards to your question about the N1, That is what I have done.

If you havent already done so, check out either my thread jules1973 v abbey or kev2b3 v abbey, or sutherm v abbey, as we have all subscribed to each other's threads and we are all at around the stage stage and you may find answers to any questions you have.

A couple of us are considering emailing [email protected] a letter before we issue the N1, just incase by a miracle she is in a good mood and is ready to settle before court action. If not, then we are going to issue the N1 then a week or so after it has been served, email her again and see is she then wants to settle out of court.