grattans

[fkelanne]

sent first letter on the 24th of april. got a reply today saying

" i have to note the comments in your letter however i would point out the under consumer credit legislation we are justified in applying a charge where defualt of our payment terms has occurred. The OFT considered the question of default charges in relation to store cars. it is questionable whether thier findings apply to other forms of credit, including mail order. the oft did NOT state that these charges were unlawful, but that in general terms, should not exceed £12 per charge.

I have interrogated out systems and note two default charges of £20.

Accordingly,i am enclosing a cheque to the value of £16 which represents the difference between uor prvios charges, and the OFT recommended threshold.

 

What do i do now? I havent sent the second letter yet just the first one?

[steven4064]

i would point out the under consumer credit legislation we are justified in applying a charge where defualt of our payment terms has occurred

 

No they are not. It is unlawful.

 

The OFT considered the question of default charges in relation to store cars. it is questionable whether thier findings apply to other forms of credit, including mail order.

 

The law is the law: it applies to everyone.

 

 

the oft did NOT state that these charges were unlawful, but that in general terms, should not exceed £12 per charge.

 

They weren't asked to comment on the legailty only the reasonableness. THe £12 is an absolute maximum. The OFT said that their findings DID have wider application and that they expected charges normally to be much lower than £12.

 

What do i do now? I havent sent the second letter yet just the first one?

 

Send them an LBA. Stick to your timescales. You are in the right.

 

Steven

 

If this post is helpful, please click the scales

[fkelanne]

do i send the cheque back with the LBA

[steven4064]

do i send the cheque back with the LBA

 

It's the simplest thing to do. They cannot argue that you have accepted their offer then which they just might if you bank the cheque. (Having said that, we banked the chequet that GE money sent and still carried on)

 

Steven

[fkelanne]

got this letter this morning,

 

i refer to your letter dated 14th may 2007 which has been passed for my attention. I have noted your comments, however, i feel we have acted fairly in offering to refund the difference between our previous charges, and the OFTs recommended threshold for such charges. the OFT did not find these charges to be unlawful, and as previously stated it is questionable as to whether they apply to mail order.

 

Also in view of the recent case of Berwick-v lloyds tsb, in whivh the court dismissed the claiments claim we are not prepared to issue a refund.

 

What do i do now?

[steven4064]

i refer to your letter dated 14th may 2007 which has been passed for my attention. I have noted your comments, however, i feel we have acted fairly in offering to refund the difference between our previous charges, and the OFTs recommended threshold for such charges. the OFT did not find these charges to be unlawful, and as previously stated it is questionable as to whether they apply to mail order.

 

This is travesty of what is in the OFT report - they have obviously not read it! It says that the charges are penalties (and therefore unlawful) if they are greater than the actual losses or if they can be shown to be unfair in any other way. They certainly didn't say "it is questionable as to whether they apply to mail order" - they said the report specifiacally applied to credit cards but they expected similar conclusions for other sorts of accounts,

 

Also in view of the recent case of Berwick-v lloyds tsb, in whivh the court dismissed the claiments claim we are not prepared to issue a refund.

 

This is irrelevant as the judgement will almost certainly be reversed on appeal. It only went the way it did because the judge did not have acpoy of the account contract in front of him and therefore could not demonstrate breach of contract. We just need to make sure we don't make the same mistake - ie not having a copy of the contract.

 

What do i do now?

 

Sue them in the county court. Follow the advice on this site and you will win, don't worry.

 

Steven

[fkelanne]

i cant really afford it till the middle of the month but i dont want them to 4get about me can some please write a letter for me saying this is your last chance to pay up or i will take you to court plus somethink about that case with ltsb? Thanks.

[steven4064]

You told them in your LBA that you would take them to court without further correspondence. It doesn't matter that you don't do it straight away and they certainly won't forget about you when they do receive your claim.

 

THe timescales are for you to set not them. If it is not convenient for you at the moment then let it slip. Imagine their pleasure whenyou suddenly reappear.

 

As for the ltsb case, it is not relevant. THey were naughty bringing it up (Is your bank quoting the Lloyds victory to put you off claiming? - Contact the BBC)

 

Steven