American Express - reclaiming recharges

[woodpop]

hi there

 

thank you so much for this forum - it inspires confidence to take action against the outrageous behaviour on the part of the banks. it's completely invaluable - thank you !

 

ok so i sent my preliminary letter for repayment (£350) to amex on the 18th may. i received a letter from them dated 22 may saying:

 

"thank you for your letter . . .

we are currently in the process of investigating the issues . . . .

please find enclosed a copy of our complaints procedure . . ."

 

then, i received another letter the following day, dated 23 may saying:

 

"i refer to your letter . . . .

 

Whilst i appreciate your comments concerning the recent announcement by the Office of Fair Trading, American Express maintinas that our charges are fair and reasonable and are avoidable by complying with the Terms and Condistions of our agreement with you.

 

We are, however, going to be reviewing our charging policy with respect to default payments in light of the OFT recommendation, but no decision has been made at this stage. in the meantime our existing charges for defaulting on payments will stand.

 

yours sincerely

 

cilla adcock - executive office manager"

 

so, i just want to confirm that i send the letter before action on the 1st june acknowledging their letters and their decision to decline to repay . . . ?

 

woodpop

[libertie]

Hi Woodpop,

 

I am new to this too but have spent a fair bit of time reading lots of threads, I would say yes you are right, stick to your time plan and send your letter before action 14 days after your prelim letter.

Interestingly I sent my prelim to Amex on Mon 22 May and just got the standard reply back this morning ( scarily efficient compared to other establishments!)

 

Hope all goes well for you, its good to know others are out there in the same boat.

 

keep in touch

 

 

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Prelim to Amex sent 22/5/06

Prelim to Halifax sent 23/5/06

[woodpop]

hi libertie

 

will definitely keep you posted - actually, i sent my letter to barclaycard and barclays bank and neither of them have got back to me yet . . . quite nervous about the whole thing i have to say . . .

 

cheers

 

woodpop

[lolly]

Hi Woodpop

 

Dont be disheartened, we received a cheque from Amex for our total (just over £300) within a week of sending our prelim letter. It was so hassle free, we were completely flabbergasted!

 

Within 2 days of sending our prelim letter we received a standard complaint response letter, saying 'we will get back to you' etc but the next day received a letter offering us full payment. Then a couple of days later the cheque arrived. Incredible! I was impressed, they certainly are efficient!

 

So definitely move onto the next step!

[Seminole]

We are, however, going to be reviewing our charging policy with respect to default payments in light of the OFT recommendation, but no decision has been made at this stage. in the meantime our existing charges for defaulting on payments will stand.

 

 

So that's all right then.

 

Show the tosspots you mean business by sending the letter before action.

[libertie]

Hi woodpop,

 

Just wondered if you have heard anything from those amex boys?

They sent me a nice letter telling me the APR would be changing next month.....which is nice!

[woodpop]

hi there

 

sorry, i've been away for a bit with no internet !!

 

anyway, sent letter before action - got one back saying they're reviewing their default charging policy policy blah blah and that they once credited my £50 for late payment charges, and that's enough of a goodwill gesture as far as they're concerned.

 

marvellous.

 

so i'm filing a claim as we speak - WOO WOO !

 

does anyone know what i'm supposed to put in "particulars of claim" ? do i just list the amounts >

 

i.e. £350 unfair charges + 8% interest = £378

 

and can i stick on another £50 for my time / admin costs ?

 

cheers

[Michael Browne]

Example of POC :

 

Claimant has account (A/C No) with Defendant from (Date)conducted on their standard terms and conditions. Claimant is claiming the return of (£0.00) taken by Defendant in charges over (X) years. The Defendant's charges are a disproportionate penalty and therefore unenforceable as they are contrary to common law. They are also invalid under the Unfair Contracts Terms Act 1977 s.4 and under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.Para.8 and sch.2.1.e.

In the event that the charges are not a penalty they are unreasonable within the meaning of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 s.15. Defendant has declined justification of charges despite repeated requests. Claimant claims interest under Sec.69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at a rate of 8% a year from(Date) to (Date) of (£0.00) and also interest at same rate up to the date of judgment or earlier payment at a daily rate of (£0.00).

 

 

The 8% is calculated on each charge from the date of that charge to the date of your claim. There is a spreadsheet in the library by Vampiress to calculate. this

The daily rate is your claim (£350) multiplied by 0.00022 = £0.08

 

You should have receipts for any other costs you want to claim (and basically that means your time isn't one of them)

[blackrain]

I had an interesting paragraph in my letter from them though that went along the lines of 'we have lowered our charges to £8 which reflects the costs incurred managing accounts in default'.......so I asked them if that reflects the costs incurred hwo come they've been charging more then????!!!!

[woodpop]

they wrote the same to me. thereby implicating themselves in having been charging over and above what our breaches cost them.

 

not that i understand how it costs them £8 for me to make my payment 2 days late . . . .

 

looks like we're getting there though !

 

anyway - i've issued claims now against barclaycard and amex - do i wait 14 days from the date the claim was issued for them to acknowledge or 14 days from when the claim was served, and if so - how do i know when they'll have been served ?

 

cheers

[woodpop]

amex settled in full !! WOO WOO WOO

just barclays and barclaycard to go . . . .

[libertie]

Woodpop,

 

Nice one, well done!!

 

Libertie

[Michael Browne]

Congratulations.

 

Please complete bank survey.... and maybe a donation

 

Wel done. Enjoy.

[blackrain]

Woodpop, they will be deemed served five days after your claim is accepted. You will recived something through th epost. 14 days later you will be able to request judgment. If the 14 days isn't up then the moneyclaim site wont let you request, so it's all straightforward.

 

Well done with Amex!

[woodpop]

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