Mr&Mrs B v Clydesdale (FOS)

[Mr&Mrs B]

Just to bring you up to speed this is where we're up to:

 

08/01/07 – S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) sent

 

19/02/07 – Having received statements, sent off 1st letter. At this stage the whole issue of using more than one small claim hadn’t really become a problem so, we intended to claim using several small claims. In the letter we did only specifically refer to the charges in our first small claim (incurred in 2002) not the total amount we would be pursuing.

 

21/02/07 – Received the usual fob-off from our branch manager. T’s & C’s blah blah in fact anyone who’s written to the Clydesdale re. charges will no exactly the letter we mean but obviously just in an attempt to prove just how incompetent they are, the opening paragraph said “…..I note from your letter that you feel excessive charges were applied to your bank account during the last 15 months”!?!?

 

26/03/07 – Sent LBA to Customer Relations however, having taken account of the advise on the Forum, we revised the basis of our complaint in that we were looking for the total amount of the charges applied to our account since Feb 2002 and that if we didn’t receive a response within 8 weeks (by 21st May - we were trying to cover our backs basically, thought that because we were revising the complaint that it might not count as a continuation of the existing complaint) we would refer our complaint to the FOS.

 

11/04/07 – Hadn’t heard a dicky bird so thought we better get in touch just to be sure they’d received our letter. Phoned Customer Relations - they had and it had been forwarded to the Advice Quality Unit – Charges Section in Leeds. The very helpful bloke said that we should get a letter confirming everything but they were unfortunately very busy. Wonder why?!?!?!

 

16/04/07 – Sure enough letter received from Charges Section in Leeds confirming re-opening of complaint.

 

09/05/07 – Received a letter saying that our 8 weeks had now lapsed and the investigation is still ongoing, hope to be able to issue a final response within the next 4 weeks. If you’re not happy with the progress to date you can refer the matter to the FOS.

 

So, how to proceed? Do you think we should give them until the 21st May before sending the forms etc. to the FOS, as that’s what we said we’d do in our letter. Not because we want to give them more time just because it might not look good for us.

 

Secondly, what do we include in the FOS complaint form and as supporting documentation. Do we describe the complaint as we do in the letters e.g. referring to common law and UTCCR or more generally. Do we send copy statements etc. etc. There's loads of info on here about the court process but not so much about undertaking the FOS route.

Thanks look forward to your thoughts.

[stevokenevo]

Well, it doesnt look like you have followed the step by step instructions, or the tried and tested methods so far, but, never the less, i would advise you stick to the timescale you have laid down to them and proceed with your next step.

I would forget worrying 'how things look'. At this stage i dont believe anyone will be paying particular attention to your claim, they are dealing with so many yours is unlikely to be singled out for personal attention.

If you are going down the FOS route good luck, i personally havent used it, but i believe if you use the search function above, you may find more info to help you with the form filling.

 

All the best

 

S

[rory32]

Two reasons for using the FOS is:

1. You don't need to go to court or fill in court forms

2. The bank gets fined £400 for each complaint the FOS investigates.

 

Downside is it can take longer than the court route.

[Mr&Mrs B]

I think we have stuck to the step by step instructions as best we can in the circumstances. We are looking for >£3k back therefore "tried and tested" ain't going to cut it with this crew as they'll defend against split claims so we deviated very slightly and timescales slipped as we waited the outcome of some of the bod's cases on here. We have followed the step by step instructions to the letter on our IF claim and it worked but Clydesdale are a different kettle of fish and we did what we thought was best so that we can get all our money back.

 

We're finalising our FOS complaint and will get it sent off in line with our timescales ie. 21/05 and see what happens. I'm not expecting we will get any personal or preferential attention just so long as we get our money back that's the main objective.

[stevokenevo]

Thanks look forward to your thoughts.

 

What the point on asking for peoples thoughts, and then going on the defensive when someone give's there opinion?

 

It doesnt matter how much you are claiming, the step by step instructions and tried and stested methods are exactly the same for everyone, up until the point of issuing the court claim.

 

Thats means, sending the template prelim letter, and giving them 14 days. Sending your LBA and giving them a further 14days to refund your charges, then issuing your court claim OR going down the FOS route.

 

It doesnt matter who the bank is or how much the claim is for, we are all in the same boat.

 

Never the less i wish you all the best with your claim

[Mr&Mrs B]

I wasn't being defensive. I was trying to clarify the circumstances surrounding why we had moved away from tried and tested. I appreciate we are all in the same boat and their is a process (which we have used when dealing with IF) but the main reason we modified in this case was because of the experiences others have had (and shared) on this site when dealing specifically with Clydesdale. Sorry you disagree with how we handled things but what's done is done if this was wrong then we'll live with the consequences. As I said, we did what we thought was best and we are by no means experts. Maybe you're right, maybe we should have stuck with tried and tested. Anyway, no hard feelings and may all your claims be successful ones

Does anyone have any advise on completing FOS forms? I've done a search but can't seem to find anything.

[rory32]

The FOS forms are located here our complaints procedure and how to complain towards the bottom of the page. If you have a specific problem with what to fill in on the form just post.