woodwa5 v abbaey and others

[woodwa5]

i'm still waiting for some advice as i need to send this letter ASAP. Is it just a case of sending another LBA with all the new charges on them together with a section 10 dpa letter?

[woodwa5]

well i sent them a letter saying that the account is in disupte and that i also dispute the £400 they say i still owe them. I also threatened them with the OFT as their guidance stipulates that if the account is in dispute and they ignore it then it is considered to be oppressive behaviour. This was all put in the letter.

 

Well I got another letter from the idiots at Abbey this morning. They mentioned that they will continue to charge interest at 28.7%apr. They stated that my letter was pushed straight to the complaints department (despite the fact that it was sent to collections). They said i need to get my account up to date and they are sending it on to a DCA for action.

 

HOW THICK ARE THESE PEOPLE.

 

I have contacted consumer direct as they are the only people open on a saturday and they have advised me to contact the FOS which aren't open until Monday. I am going to push this all the way because that £400 is largely made up of charges and they owe me over £7000 in charges.

 

Also they are charging me 28.7%apr. Should I ammend my bank charges letter and charge 28.7% on account that they shouldn't be unjustly enriched by my money and that is what they are earning from it?

 

Woodwa5:-x

[IR2365]

Hi, I think what will happen is they will default you anyway, they don't acknowledge any dispute letters and will send all sorts of DCAs after you to collect the balance due. There is one law for them and one for us underlings

[woodwa5]

Thank you for the reply.....it just reinforces my intention to goto the FOS on Monday and then the OFT. I know the ruling on historical T&C's is next week and being as they latest ones were written specifaically for the test case I am sure the result will be very different.

[woodwa5]

Well it's been a while.

 

I am considering contacting abbey with regard to financial hardship. I still have a mortgage shortfall of 28k (thanks Kensington), numerous other debts one of which is pushing me for bankruptcy. I am behind on numerous household bills and genuinely get to the middle of the month and have no cash.

 

The issue i have is that i have never filed in court as i can't afford it (it would be £250 odd) can i still conact them about hardship,

 

Woodwa5:(

[woodwa5]

oh and i forgot to say that i am £400 overdrawn on my abbey account and they send me at least 1 letter per week harrassing me despite the fact that i have told them i dispute it because it is mainly charges

[TUTTSI]

Well it's been a while.

 

I am considering contacting abbey with regard to financial hardship. I still have a mortgage shortfall of 28k (thanks Kensington), numerous other debts one of which is pushing me for bankruptcy. I am behind on numerous household bills and genuinely get to the middle of the month and have no cash.

 

The issue i have is that i have never filed in court as i can't afford it (it would be £250 odd) can i still conact them about hardship,

 

Woodwa5:(

 

Hi Woodwa5

 

I have just briefly read your thread and you have been treated very shabilly by Abbey. I have just had my hardship case claim agreed by Abbey on 65% of my claim which was originally stayed by the courts. The balance of my claim has not been predudiced and after I should be able to achieve the balance once the OFT win the test case. Abbey have told me the money will be in my account this week.

 

This is the draft of the letter but you will have to Tweek it to suit your own hardship grounds. If you have not already got a claim stayed then you should add a prem-lim letter then follow on with this letter. Remember as much info and documentary evidence as you can put in will help your case tremendously.

 

It took just under 4 weeks to get my offer and I believe it was because I gave as much detail as I could with all the back up evidence. If you do not try you will not get..

 

Good Luck and let me know how you get on.

Tuttsi xx

 

 

 

Your Name

 

 

ADDRESS 1

 

 

ADDRESS 2

 

 

ADDRESS 3

 

 

ADDRESS 4

 

 

 

TEL/FAX XXXXXXXXX

 

 

EMAIL XXXXXXXXXX

 

 

 

 

 

FOA: Mr Ronan Coyle

Location Code TS6 D03

Abbey National PLC

Abbey National House

2 Triton Square

Regent Park

London NW1 3AN DATE…………..

 

 

 

 

 

BY RECORDED DELIVERY

 

 

Dear Mr Coyle

 

YOUR NAME

ABBEY ACCOUNT NUMBER:- XXXXXXXX

CLAIM NO:- XXXXXXX

 

I am writing to you regarding my claim and my financial hardship

situation which I understand meets the FSA’s recent update to the

complaints handling waiver and their guidelines on financial difficulty.

 

I would like to attach documentation in support of my hardship

case which evidences my extreme financial difficulty, as follows:-

 

 

1 : An updated spreadsheet showing my claim value as £XXXXXXX with Abbey at the present time.

 

2 : A Joint/ individual personal budget sheet which shows a monthly deficit of £XXX

 

3.

 

4.

 

5.

 

6.

 

HERE WRITE A DESCRIPTION AS TO WHY YOU FEEL YOU ARE A GENUINE HARDSHIP CASE AND THE EFFECT IT IS HAVING ON YOU/ AND YOUR FAMILY, ETC ETC….

 

 

Change these paragraphs to suit

My husband and I are currently finding it very difficult to cope during the present economic climate coupled with the real threat of losing the residential home as a result of the suspended possession order.

 

This financial situation is putting a terrible burden on both myself and my family, and I please ask that you reconsider my claim and my circumstances given the current waiver criteria and the banking code.

 

I look forward to hearing from you shortly.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Edited September 8, 2008 by TUTTSI
spelling

[woodwa5]

thanx for the reply, i shall send asap

[woodwa5]

well abbey sent me another threatening letter today giving me 14 days to pay up (£400) or they will default me. Time to send the above letter i think:confused:

[TUTTSI]

The quicker you send them your hardship claim the better IMHO

 

Tuttsi xx

[woodwa5]

Another threatogramme from the abbey today (that's two in a few days). I have written the letter and just need to photocopy the supporting doc's tomorrow and send with the letter as suggested,

 

Woodwa5

[woodwa5]

letter sent so now it's a case of wait and see

[woodwa5]

finally over a month later i get an acknowledgement (haven't had chance to phone). I sent them loads of evidence so they shouldn't need any more

[woodwa5]

Well i have decided to start harrasing them for a decision now. They have had all my evidence since 20th September and so far all i have had from them is an acknowledgement which i received on 25 October. I have phoned Mr COYLE today and left a message on his answerphone, hopefully he will be able to clear this up

[woodwa5]

Well i got a letter from a peter saunders who is a senior customer rsolutions manager. They have agreed to pay me £2133.85 which is a little over 25% of what they owe me. I would love to know how they calculate how much they will give you.

 

I am now trying to get hold of him to find out how i will get the money. I am worried they are going to try and put it in my abbey account. This is now dead and with a DCA and nobody at Abbey can get access. Even having paid abbey what i owe them most of this money will still be available so i am worried i won't get access.

[TUTTSI]

Well i got a letter from a peter saunders who is a senior customer rsolutions manager. They have agreed to pay me £2133.85 which is a little over 25% of what they owe me. I would love to know how they calculate how much they will give you.

 

I am now trying to get hold of him to find out how i will get the money. I am worried they are going to try and put it in my abbey account. This is now dead and with a DCA and nobody at Abbey can get access. Even having paid abbey what i owe them most of this money will still be available so i am worried i won't get access.

 

When you get hold of him you can ask him what that sum represents and then if you are agreeable you can ask him to send you a cheque for this amount. This should be given to you as an interim payment and this should not prediduce you obtaining the balance after the test case - because it should not be in full and final. At the moment the test case is still proceeding with all side battling it out in the higher courts.

 

Have you taken a look at the thread for the GLO (group litigation(, you may want to take part as much as the test case which bank charges claims are being stayed there are other issues outside the test case which they believe could go to court with a barrister. Tom Brennan, Barrister for Atlas chambers is heading this. I did post up before xmas in the Abbey section a links to Tom's thread and poll. It is important as you are suffering hardship this may well be a way forward.

 

Tuttsi xx

[woodwa5]

Thank you Tuttsi,

I spoke to Abbey and they said exactly what you did and are forwarding me a check. They told me what the amount represented and that's no problem either.

I did have a look through Tom Brennan's GLO but i got the feeling he was looking for people who are entitled to legal aid which i am most definately not. I'll be there in spirit though,

 

Woodwa5

[TUTTSI]

That is good news, I am so pleased for you as it will make things a little easier for you to pay bills in 2009 once the cheque has cleared.

 

Although I also do not qualify for legal aid I still ticked the box to say I was interested as you never know it being a group litigation they could include us morsels.

 

All the best for 2009.

 

Tuttsi xx

[woodwa5]

quick update. Got letter promising payment on 22 December, it was allegedly ratified on 7th January and we are now at the 28th january and i am no nearer getting the money despite me phoning them every single day. It was financial hardship in September when i started this, it is now plain ridiculous

[woodwa5]

Still awaiting cheque from abbey, i've been waiting since 22nd december:mad:

[TUTTSI]

Still awaiting cheque from abbey, i've been waiting since 22nd december:mad:

 

Phone your contact who agreed the payment. Cheque may have got lost in the post, you should have received it by now!

 

Good Luck

 

Tuttsi x

[woodwa5]

Still no cheque, complained to the fos and wrote an email to the ceo of abbey. I got a phonecall from someone who deals with complaints on behalf of the chief exec'. He is now sorting this personally and I should get the cheque soon. He said he will then look at compensation for the inconvenience. INCONVENIENCE This was a hardship claim and by the time i have access to the funds it will be 6 months almost to the day that I applied to them in writing and 3 months from when they said they would refund me.

 

This has been extremely emotionally stressful, I have spent a few few hundred quid in phonecalls to them alone. What should I go for as far as compo is concerned. Or should I just ask for the remainder of my charged back (about 6k of 8k in total). I suspect he will try and offer me £50 which will really make me angry.

[TUTTSI]

Still no cheque, complained to the fos and wrote an email to the ceo of abbey. I got a phonecall from someone who deals with complaints on behalf of the chief exec'. He is now sorting this personally and I should get the cheque soon. He said he will then look at compensation for the inconvenience. INCONVENIENCE This was a hardship claim and by the time i have access to the funds it will be 6 months almost to the day that I applied to them in writing and 3 months from when they said they would refund me.

 

This has been extremely emotionally stressful, I have spent a few few hundred quid in phonecalls to them alone. What should I go for as far as compo is concerned. Or should I just ask for the remainder of my charged back (about 6k of 8k in total). I suspect he will try and offer me £50 which will really make me angry.

 

 

This is an extremely bizzare situation - them having agreed it and then you not receiving anything. I suspect the paperwork got lost somewhere along the line or they sent the payment to the wrong address. With me they banked the cheque in my account and it was there within a few days as they said.

 

I am quite sure you have not spent a few hundred on phonecalls - but you have suffered emotional stress! What has happened since 7th February to now, did you phone your contact! and what did he/she say!

 

Now that CEO office is dealing with it I am sure you will get the money very quickly. I think if they offer £50 for your stress that is probably as much as you are likely to be offered. I think that once you receive the money you can sort yourself out your hardship situation.

 

All the best

xx

[woodwa5]

WELL I STILL DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY.

 

The latest is that I received a cheque on 09th March with the wrong name on it dated 3rd February (how it took over 1 month to get to me i'll never know). I was advised to put the cheque in the bank by the person now dealing with me but SHOCK, it didn't clear. Today he has told me that they issued another cheque on 9th March and must have cancelled the last one. He then told me that this cheque has also been issued in the wrong name.

 

A timeline would probably help anyone new to this:

 

September 19th 2008 - Made hardship claim disclosing all evidence.

December 22nd 2008 - Received a letter agreeing that I am in financial hardship and they would refund about 1/4 of my total claim

December 22 - 28 February 2009 - Phoned at least once per day to chase up the cheque - no joy

28 February 2009 - emailed CEO for Abbey

1st March 2009 - received reply telling me not to worry and they'll sort it

9th March 2009 - received cheque dated 3rd February 2009 and put it straight into the bank (had wrong first initial on it)

12th March 2009 - Cheque returned by bank and had above conversation with Abbey

 

They are stating that huge mistakes have been made by them and that I am likely to receive substantial compensation as a result of this.

 

I am still at least another month away froom this being resolved. When the cheque arrives it is still unlikely to clear as it is made out to the wrong person. I have considered my position on this and I am going to explore the possibility of sueing them for emotional stress.

 

This is very different from any past attempts people have made as it is not based on the charges themselves being legal or not, i also know that you no longer have to prove that you are suffering from a recognisable illness. I would welcome anyone with any knowledge around this to comment and perhaps point me in the right direction. I am also looking at the possibility of publicity although that is very much a last resort.

[srfrench]

Contact a national paper....publicly shame them and expose the incompetance of the staff behind this!

 

Go for it, the pleasure will be all yours, believe me!