Steven4064 v Goldfish *** WON ***

[steven4064]

Sent SAR two weeks ago. Got a phone call from helpful lady saying they wanted proof of ID - at last a financial institution that seems to know what they are doing. Let's see if they can keep it up.

 

Sent certified copy of passport today.

 

Steven

 

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[ellielou]

Hi

COuld you tell me which address you sent the SAR off to. I'm chacing them for charges my ex may have paid. The docs he has are from 2003 so not sure if the address is still the same.

 

Mnay thanks

Ellielou x

[steven4064]

Hi ellielou

 

The address we used is

 

Goldfish

PO Box 3598

Glasgow

G68 9YG

 

After a week they phoned me (actually I wonder where they got mynumber from? Humm, anyway) and wanted proof of ID. I had to send them a certified copy of my passport - cost me £5 - but they are entitled to that under the Data Protection Act.

 

Steven

 

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[steven4064]

31 days in and I have receieved a letter saying they want me to pay £10 for the SAR. Now, I sent them a cheque (got the number) with my original request. If they are going to carry on like this, then we could fall out.

 

Steven

 

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Any opinions are without prejudice & without liability.

Almost everything I know concerning the law I learned from this site

[princess_pocket]

Hi Steven, any joy yet with Goldfish?

[steven4064]

Hi Steven, any joy yet with Goldfish?

Nope! It's now 38 days since I sent them the second cheque for £10 (they lost the first one) - I'll give them until Thursday - that will be 40 days from when they received the second cheue (Track and Trace says they recieved it on 23 June)

 

.

[steven4064]

I phoned Goldfish as 40 days is now up since I sent my second cheque.

 

You will never guess what!! They have lost that one too!!

 

They checked on Track and Trace and could see that my letter was receieved on 23 June - the man I spoke to is going down to the post room to find out what they did with it. I hope threir efficiency improves or there is going to be a serious falling out!

[LS123]

Goldfish are a nightmare - I originally requested my SAR back in May - have made 10 calls sent 3 cheques and still nothing! Even sent an email to the CEO and it was never acknowledged!

 

Reported them to the Info commissioner and they are now going to write to them - so watch this space!

 

I just hope after all this fuss I actually have some charges - lol:p

[steven4064]

Yesterday, finally, I got my statements after phoning them on Friday and them phining me back on Monday.

[jaxads]

Hey Steven - you're having a time with this lot aren't you. I hope you've lots of nice charges on there that you can claim back

 

Best wishes

[steven4064]

Now I've got the statements we're on my timetable not theirs. Charges are justr over £200 and interest almost doubles it. So, worth going for. Here is the preliminary letter

Goldfish

PO Box 3598

Glasgow

G68 9YG

 

Request for repayment of charges

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

ACCOUNT XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

 

I have recently come to realise that the fees which were applied to my accounts in relation to late payments substantially exceed your costs in handling these events and amount to penalty charges, which are contrary to common law and to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

 

This letter constitutes a formal request for you to repay £x in late payment charges and listed in the attached schedule, plus interest of £y based on my bank’s authorised borrowing rate of 14.9% compounded, which is what it would have cost me to replace this money, making a total of £x+y.

 

This letter is not a complaint and so I do not expect it to be treated as such. Rather, I expect a positive response within 14 days accepting my request in principle. I believe that this is more than sufficient for a large company such as yours with dedicated staff and large resources.

 

Yours faithfully,

Steven4064

[steven4064]

Let my timescale slip a bit on this as I've been busy with other things. LBA in the post in the morning.

[Paintball]

Let my timescale slip a bit on this as I've been busy with other things. LBA in the post in the morning.

 

It's all too easy to let your timescales slip a bit Steven, I'm about to send a prelim to Capital Bank that should have been sent in October Never mind, better late than never.

 

Please can I use your prelim above? I propose to tweak it a bit for my own use. TVM

[mrsfoot]

Steven who do you propose to name on the court papers? Is it Morgan Stanley / Lloyds TSB or Goldfish? Reason I ask is i am in middle of claim and they are stating (Morgan stanley) saying it is not there fault? Would appreciate some details if possible

 

Thanks

[steven4064]

Hi Mrsfoot

 

I am going to name Goldfish Bank Limited (T/A Goldfish) as that is the company name on the letters they have sent me. Registered office is 2 Hertsmere Road, London, E14 4AB, which I will use rather than the Glasgow address which I have been corresponding with so far.

 

I hope to file the claim Monday or Tuesday this week. I will post the PoC I use later, in case that's of interest to others.

[steven4064]

Just discovered they sent exactly 6 year's worth of statments in response to my SAR. That will not do. Sent a stiff letter asking for the rest. Court claim will have to wait a couple of weeks.

[LS123]

I finally received my statements after 6 months from Goldfish - they have requested that I write to Lloyds TSB though as apparently Morgan Stanley didn't own Goldfish when I held my account.

 

I am now at LBA stage with Lloyds and have only had a standard letter telling me about bank charge claims being on hold - not sure what that has to do with my credit card claim.

 

Am due to file at court next week - should I continue with my Lloyds details or go for Goldfish... I am V confused.

 

LS

[steven4064]

You should go with Goldfish as that is the company your contract is with. The fact that Goldfish is owned by LTSB is irrelevant - they are just the shareholders.

 

In you claim, name "Goldfish Bank Limited (T/A Goldfish)" and give their address as the registered office:

 

Hertsmere House

2 Hertsmere Road

London

E14 4AB

 

Keep us informed - do you have your own thread? If not, start one and we'll keep in contact as we go through the process roughly in parallel. (my claim is going to have to be postponed for a couple of weeks - see above).

[steven4064]

I receieved a reply to my second Subject Access Request on 8 January and there are more charges in 2000 and 2001. I am therefore sending a second LBA (to override te first). I have also revised the interest rate I am going to claim in restitution for Goldfish's unjust enrichment - 17.9%APR. I have also pre-empted a discussion on the Limitation Act 1980:

Goldfish

PO Box 3598

Glasgow

G68 9YG

 

Letter Before Action

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

ACCOUNT XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

I wrote to you on 11 August requesting repayment of £xxx in unlawful late payment charges. I also sent a letter before action for these amounts on 6 November 2007.

 

Having realised that your reply to my initial Subject Access Request under s7 of the Data Protection Act 1998 was incomplete, I sent a further request which you replied to on 9 January 2008.

 

Using this information, I calculate that between 4 February 2000 and 13 March 2005 you added unlawful charges to the above account totalling £xxxx and levied interest on those unlawful charges of £xxx. I am therefore requesting repayment of £xxxx. The charges and interest thereon are listed in the attached schedule.

 

If I don’t receive a positive response to this request within 14 days I will make a claim in the County Court without any further notice.

 

I am also requesting payment of interest of £xxx as of today’s date based on your credit interest rate of 17.9% APR compounded, as restitution for Goldfish’s unjust enrichment by making unlawful charges to my account, making a total of £xxx. The interest will continue to accrue at a rate of 0.0451%/day.

 

I realise that some of the charges I am reclaiming were levied before 21 January 2002, that is, longer ago than 6 years. Because this action is based on simple contract, s5 of the Limitations Act 1980 would be thought to apply and the action to be time-barred after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued – the cause of action being, in this case, the levying of the respective unlawful late payment charges.

 

However, I did not seek repayment of the charges at the time because I mistakenly believed them to be lawful and therefore paid them mistakenly. I have also recently discovered that Goldfish have systematically and deliberately concealed the true nature of the charges they have levied, facts that are relevant to my right of action.

 

I will therefore be claiming that s32 of the Limitation Act 1980 applies as the action is for the relief from the consequences of my mistake (s32(1)©) and that Goldfish have deliberately concealed facts relevant to my right of action (s32(1)(b)). The limitation period of 6 years thus begins from the point where I could reasonably have discovered my mistake and your concealment, namely the broadcast of the BBC’s Moneybox programme on 18 February 2006.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

steven4064

[patrickq1]

However, I did not seek repayment of the charges at the time because I believed mistakenly (BASED UPON YOUR OWN INFORMATION)for them to be lawful

would that not be easier based on their mis information steve just a thought to say they were mis leading you

patrickq1

[steven4064]

Thanks patrick

 

I will make a note to include that thought when I file my N1. (too late for the letter now). If I get a reply (none receieved to anything I've sent so far apart from DPA request) I expect it will say their charges are 'fair and transparent' or words to that effect which I will then use as an example of them concealing the true nature or their charges.

[steven4064]

Recieved an offer over the weekend to repay the difference between my claim and the £12 charge they have implemented. No need for me to tell you my response to that

 

Also they say they "do not recognise the value of your interest credit request..." This is hardly surprising since I am claiming contractual interest as restitution for the fact they have had my money all this time.

 

I am sending this reply

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

ACCOUNT XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

 

Thank you for your letter of 22 January 2008.

 

In your letter you say there have been four £15 and eight £20 late fees applied since the account was opened. From the statements you have sent me there were one charge of £12, seven of £15 and eight of £20. These are listed in the schedule attached to my revised letter before action dated 21 January.

 

I note that you have offered to repay me the difference between the charges you list in your letter of 22 January as being levied against my account and the £12 charge you have now implemented.

 

I note that your letter effectively seeks to justify this charge on the grounds that it complies with OFT guidance. In that guidance, the OFT says:

 

As a practical measure, to help encourage a swift change in market practice, we are setting a simple monetary threshold for intervention by us on default charges. The threshold is £12. (paragraph 5.3, emphasis mine)

We regard the setting of the threshold as a provisional practical measure to move the market towards compliance. We should make it quite clear that we are not inviting the banks to align their charges at such a threshold figure. We are not proposing that default fees should be equivalent to the threshold, and a court will certainly not consider that a default fee is fair just because it is below the threshold. (paragraph 5.5, emphasis mine)

 

The threshold is not intended to be a permanent feature of our intervention in this market. We will consider further action if trends in the market suggest that this threshold approach is insufficient to bring about appropriate and early change in the market. (paragraph 5.6, emphasis mine)

 

It is also important to note that the threshold for action is a statement of our regulatory intent. We have no power to constrain private civil actions or to determine what a court should decide and other enforcers may apply for injunctions under the UTCCRs. (paragraph 5.7, emphasis mine)

 

It is quite clear from the above that Goldfish cannot claim the charge of £12 to be sanctioned by the OFT in any way.

 

I therefore accept you offer only as a partial settlement of my claim and intend to continue with a court action since the OFT guidelines say that the fairness of the charges should be determined by a court.

 

Should the action go to allocation, I will be seeking an order from the court for Goldfish to disclose the actual costs to them due to breaches of contract. Knowledge of the actual cost base will allow the court to determine if the charges levied are in excess of actual costs. The law on penalties in contracts is well established and this simple arithmetic comparison will settle the issue.

 

In your letter, you say that you do not recognise the value of the interest totalling £xxx I have claimed. I do not recognise it either. In my letter before action dated 21 January I have claimed £yyyy interest actually charged by Goldfish on the unlawful charges and £zzzz in restitution for Goldfish’s use of the money claimed to unjustly enrich itself. For this I claim the authority of Sempra Metals Limited (formerly Metallgesellschaft Limited) (Respondents) v. Her Majesty's Commissioners of Inland Revenue and another (Appellants), House of Lords [2007] UKHL 34.

 

In my action in the county court I will also be claiming interest at a daily rate of 0.0451% from the data of my letter (21 January) until judgement or earlier settlement.

 

Since your letter seems to have crossed with my revised letter before action, as a gesture of goodwill, I will give you a further 7 days to reply before commencing court action.

 

 

I hope this clarifies my position and I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

me

[steven4064]

I've given them longer than 7 days - not as a gesture of good will but because I haven't had time to fill in a N1. I'm awaynext week, it will have to wait until I get back.

[patrickq1]

ive not heard a peep from goldfish since i faxed and posted my put up or shuttup letter two weeks ago ,all quiet on the western front lol

patrickq1

[Fred_Funk]

Another fantastically informative thread from steven4064. I'd like to subscribe but, as per usual, have forgotten how - doh! - hence this post.