Fumingmad v GE Capital

[fumingmad]

I sent off my SAR to GE on 16th february. My cheque cleared on the 19th Feb and i can prove that they received my letter on the 19th. Strange that the cheque cleared the same day???

 

Well by my reckoning the 40 days expire on the 31st March. Still haven't heard a thing or received statements. I have 4 accounts with them. 3 have already been paid off for a while but my DP account has only just been paid off......well i received a statement from DP with the Payment received on the 19th Feb and the copy statement charge on the account on the 23rd February. it seems to be taking forever to get my statements, and their time is running out.

 

2 Questions really. 1 What do i do if i don't receive the statements. is it DPA office or Court? 2. Whichever route it is how long til i get my statements?

[MrBump]

Send them the DPA reminder letter from the templates library. It will need amending slightly. You can also report them to the ICO after 40 days, which should encourage them. It might also be worth phoning and telling them that they will be in breach of the DPA very shortly and that you will be reporting them and pursuing your request for data through the courts. They should get the statements to you fairly quickly then with luck.

[fumingmad]

Thanks Mr Bump

 

I received them this morning and even though they stated in the letter that they couldn't find a few i have found a whole years worth missing. Now they will be in breach on saturday so should i write to them and then report them?

[MrBump]

I would, yes. Another option is to assume that they have charged you on the months that statements are missing. If you report them they will take notice. Another CAGer received the following letter after reporting them:

 

Your complaint has highlighted the need for changes to our current processes and systems, which we have now implemented.

 

I understand that this will not resolve the issue of your missing statements for July 2003, April 2004 and October 2004 on your Debenhams Account and January 2004 on your Fraser Account. However, I can confirm that all arrears charges have been removed from your account balance.

 

Where statements are missing we have made an assumption that a fee was charged to ensure you that you do not lose out financially. I have therefore removed a further £18.00 for each missing statement to over compensate. A total refund of £270.00 will be sent to you under separate cover.

 

I also understand that you were sent a statement in the name of Mrs M Hilton. The data we hold on fiche is in alphabetical order and therefore statements for Mrs Hilton would follow your account information. I fully understand this should not have happened and hope you will accept our apologies. We have implemented a more rigorous checking procedure to avoid this happening again in the future.

 

I hope this letter addresses your complaint in more detail. If you have any further questions in relation to this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Miss L Cole

Complaints Resolution Team

 

Keep up the pressure and they will sort their act out.

 

B.

[MrBump]

Have a read through this: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/store-cards/40553-suzy-h-ge-capital.html#post319551

 

Also, they don't actually issue statements when there is a balance of zero - might be worth calling them and seeing if this is the case with you. The telephone peeps are able to go back to 2004, I think.

[fumingmad]

Thanks Mr Bump.

 

Ive just been through my account statements and using the spreadsheet it comes out with £486.00 in penalties but a whopping £580.92 in interest when using 29.9%. this doesn't seem right to me. Would this seem correct?

[MrBump]

That's perfectly plausible if the charges go back a few years - the interest is compound and accumalates rapidly. Why 29.9%?

[fumingmad]

because that's the APR they have charged me.

[MrBump]

are you sure? I have 29.3% in my T&C ... surely if it's the same card it should be the same rate? Where did you get that figure?

[fumingmad]

On the other threads people have been charged 29.9% and i do remember that the APR was that some years ago. Obviously if they can prove what the rate is then i'll amend accordingly but a simple calculation from the iinterest on the statements does tend to suggest a APR of that region.

[MrBump]

Well, there's not much in it, it's unlikely to ever get to the point where you'll need to prove it, and they seem to have paid out at 29.9% before. Having said that I would have thought the burden of proving the rate to be correct would be with the claimant if it did reach court. It would be a shame to have it dismissed for such a small figure! I have my T&C from when I signed up and these state 29.3%, and when I try and calculate the rate from what they've charged it comes out at around 24%, strangely. I wonder if my sums are right. I'm calculating what percentage of the balance the interest constitutes and multiplying it by 12. Is that what you've done?

[fumingmad]

I have taken the balance and * 29.9% then divided by 365 and multiplied by number of days in month.

 

Ie: £500.00 x 29.9% = £149.50 / 365 = 0.41 x 31 (or 30) £12.70

 

£12.70 interest for the month.

 

Does that make sense?

[MrBump]

It makes sense in terms of finding out interest at 29.9% - what I was trying to do though was work it out the other way round, i.e. take the interest charged and the balance and work out the APR from that ... it always seems less than 29.9%, but maths was never my strong point! I suspect that this level of accuracy is unnecessary anyway - I've already asked for 29.3% but you may as well go for the higher amount - they're not going to quibble, I reckon.

[lillboy]

This may be a silly question, i am just glancing through the site so i know it will be covered somewhere.

But are you claiming for the £15.00 late payment charges. i did not think they would repay these as they are close to the OFT £12.00 recomendation.

 

I had loads of these in the last 6 years simply because my balance is always around £20.00 but i forget to pay min payment.

[MrBump]

Yes those are the ones. The OFT recommendation has no legal bearing and the fact that they suggest £12 does not mean that figure - or indeed any figure - is a fair charge. Me and Fumingmad are claiming these back and charging interest at the FraserCard rate. You should do the same!

[fumingmad]

received letter from GE offering to pay back all charges but they will not entertain any interest on these charges. Should i go after the interest as it is my money they have had all these years and i should be entitled to the interest shouldn't i?

[MrBump]

I'd say that as long as you asked for the interest from the start then go for it. They won't want to go to court so you will almost certainly get at least 8%. I would proceed and give the judge the option of awarding the unauthorised rate, the authorised rate or the statuatory court rate - unless you need the money any time soon that is!