Seminole v Abbey: £10,235 RECEIVED

[carlyt123]

Massive congrats!!!

Have been following this thread tentaviely for a whiel.

 

Can I ask, when would you recommend the declaration, when a claim amount is very high or when they are messing you around? Just curious!!

 

Well done, inspiring!

 

Carly;)

[Seminole]

One question though Semi, do you still have an account with them or did they close it?

 

I closed it two years ago after it took them a week to process a same day chaps transaction.

[Lula]

Massive congrats!!!

Have been following this thread tentaviely for a whiel.

 

Can I ask, when would you recommend the declaration, when a claim amount is very high or when they are messing you around? Just curious!!

 

Well done, inspiring!

 

Carly;)

 

I think that has to be a judgement call Carly, its a dangerous business and it can all go pete tong, I dont think that Semi would endorse anything like that, it is what is appropriate at the time to your own specific case

[Seminole]

I wouldn't want to take the responsibility of advising anyone to go down the path of seeking a declaration. It is risky.

 

However, I intend to try to make Abbey have to explain why they took this approach to my claim. There is only one answer and they won't want to give it.

[carlyt123]

All very interesting-thank you!

[welly]

Seminole

Welldone and have enjoyed the ride and enjoy the money what was yours anyway but enjoy what ever you do with it.:)

[goforit]

Crap, crap, crap.

 

Grand total is £8,196.50 plus interest of £3.050.74= £11,247.24

 

No wonder they didn't want to send me the bloody statements.

 

Think how much you would of got if you claimed contractual interest - you could of got onto the Multi-track if you wanted.

[Seminole]

C'es la vie

[catherinebear]

Hi there have just read your thread with interest we have just received a letter back from abbey saying that the charges are not excessive and if we do proceed with it we will risk the closure of our account. We have already opened another bank account in readiness our claim is for £10,700 plus interest. We are going to go the fast track do you have any help for us with completing the forms or advice? we would really welcome this as we are a first time novice at this.

 

Regards

Catherine:)

[Seminole]

I do but I am going out for a couple of hours. Please could you start your own thread and I'll answer properly when I get back.

[andrew1]

I hope you're not going to do a Spicey on us and retire to the backbenches? Mind you, both of you deserve at least a long holiday with all you've both put into all this site whilst having your own claims going on. I take my hat of to you. Well done anyway Seminole.

[Seminole]

Email to Working Lunch:

 

Dear Mr Knight

 

Dave XXXX from the Consumer Action Group (CAG) suggested that I should contact you regarding my successful claim against Abbey for the return of just over £10k of charges and interest. I am one of the moderators on the CAG web site.

 

I first wrote to Abbey about my former bank account with them in February asking for a refund or a full report under the subject access provisions of the Data Protection Act (Data Protection Act). Abbey refused to refund me and failed to properly comply with the DPA. I was eventually forced to launch a Section 7 DPA claim to seek compliance. In the meantime I submitted a county court claim for an estimated £5k of charges. When I eventually received the statement information from Abbey I amended my court claim to the correct amount of £8,218.50 plus interest and costs.

 

I pointed out to Abbey that a claim of this size would be likely to be allocated to the fast track of the court hearing process. This would expose me to a risk of costs but would also mean that there would be standard disclosure.

 

Standard disclosure requires both sides to a case to provide full documentary and other evidence to support their argument and also the inclusion of information that may prejudice their case. In a bank charges claim the bank would be required to provide full details of the costs they are seeking to recover through their charges and would demonstrate whether they are making a profit. No bank has been prepared to allow such disclosure in any of the claims that have been submitted.

 

On 13 July 2006 I received a copy of Abbey’s defence. On the same day I wrote to Abbey’s solicitors informing them that unless their client settled my claim in full by 5.00pm on Tuesday 18 July 2006 I would further amend my claim to request the court to declare that the charges levied on my account were unlawful. This means that the claim would no longer be merely for money but would also specifically challenge the lawfulness of the charges. It also meant that any subsequent offer of settlement could be rejected unless Abbey publicly agreed that its charges were unlawful. On Monday 17 July 2006 I received an email from Abbey’s solicitors offering full settlement of my claim excluding a small amount of charges that were argued to be time barred by virtue of the Limitation Act.

 

In summary, rather than risk disclosure and an escalation in the seriousness of my action against them, Abbey conceded my claim within two working days of me demanding that they do so. They have now sent me a cheque for £10,235.37.

 

I believe that Abbey’s speedy concession of this matter has several implications:

 

• They do not want the specific issue of the lawfulness of their charges determined by the Court
• They are not prepared to go into court on a track that requires disclosure
  
• Their argument that they settle claims for commercial reasons no longer holds true because I was prepared to use a court track where there was a risk of significant costs being awarded against me. If Abbey are too scared to take on someone with deep enough pockets to confront them at a full hearing, they cannot have much confidence in the lawfulness of their charging regime.

I have attached various documents to this email including:

 

• Original claim form
• Amended claim form
• Email of 13 July 2006 from me to Abbey’s solicitor offering settlement
  
• Letter of 17 July 2006 from Abbey’s solicitor offering settlement

I would be more than happy to discuss this matter with you. I am quite happy for you to report this story if you wish to do so and I am prepared to discuss it with you on the record.

 

Yours sincerely

[Seminole]

Being sent to the Mail, Guardian and the Sun:

 

PRESS RELEASE

ABBEY SURRENDER IN £10,000 BANK CHARGES CLAIM

Abbey National plc have failed to defend a claim for a refund of more than £10,000 in bank charges to a Bromley based company director.

XXXXXX, 41, claimed the refund of charges applied to his account between 2000 and 2004. Like thousands of other people Mr XXXXXX used information and templates provided by the Consumer Action Group website (www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk) to prepare his claim.

The claim was so large that it would have fallen outside the small claims procedures in the county court. As a consequence, the bank would have been forced to declare its costs for bounced transactions and other charges. Instead of doing this the bank caved into a demand for full settlement.

Mr XXXXX commented:

“Abbey told me that they were settling this claim for commercial reasons because it would not be economical to fight a court case. Yet I was prepared to run the risk of costs in this claim.

The simple truth is that Abbey, like the other banks, are terrified of letting a court decide whether their penalty charges are lawful or not. If Abbey are not prepared to defend a claim like this one, it’s hard to believe that they will defend any claim”.

XXXXXXX

Tel:

Email:

Notes to editors:

The Bank Action Group and Consumer Action Groups were set up in January 2006 to assist members of the public reclaim their rights as consumers. They now have nearly 50,000 members. Their website is at www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk

This claim was for £8,218.50 plus interest and costs.

Claim forms and correspondence are available on request.

[welly]

Cant wait to see this in the papers and I would think that working lunch would run with the story as the interest in the bank charges story and how many claims are now going though the courts seems to be generating more and more interest.

Keep up the good work:)

[eyespy]

Fantastic news, can u lend me a few quid? Ha Ha.

 

Relax and enjoy.

[give_me_it_back]

Hi Semi. Any of the papers or Working Lunch taken this up yet?

[Seminole]

Hi Semi. Any of the papers or Working Lunch taken this up yet?

 

No, I wouldn't expect to hear anything until later today, or more likely tomorrow.

 

It's quite possible or even probable that they won't take this up.

[give_me_it_back]

I reckon they will... Keep us posted!

 

You mentioned before that there was 'more' you wanted to say... Are you in a position to do that yet?

 

By the way - what happened to the pretty kitty!!? He's a scary dude!!

[Seminole]

I reckon they will... Keep us posted!

 

You mentioned before that there was 'more' you wanted to say... Are you in a position to do that yet?

 

By the way - what happened to the pretty kitty!!? He's a scary dude!!

 

No, not yet.

 

Oh, and he ate the cat.

[give_me_it_back]

:o

 

Looking forward to the update/s...

[lookinforinfo]

Seminole-I was delighted to read of your success today.[ I have been away for much of the last ten days and have only had a quick scan over some of the threads

from time to time, and missed yours totally].

 

It would be interesting to know if you are considering going after them for the

other £1000 odd from beyond the 6 year limit. To be honest, I did think that you might insist on it as part of the settlement, on the grounds that if they weren't prepared to argue over £10,000, another £1,000 wouldn't be sufficient to get them in Court.

 

If you haven't ruled it out, did you include something in the settlement that would

allow you challenge them, since they were asking for a full and final settlement?

And that would presumably prevent you claiming for it again. Or is there a way round it?

[Seminole]

:o

 

Looking forward to the update/s...

 

Well Working Lunch have expressed an interest but it may take a few days.

[give_me_it_back]

Excellent! Do let us know when it will be on.

[eileen hodge]

Well done Semi. It seems as if all of us that were around the same stage are getting our refunds!!!!!! That got to add up to a lot of money. God help those still banking with Shabby cos they just might have their charges put up to pay our refunds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(would be just like Shabby to do thAT)

Well done agen

Eileen x

[notsmilingyet]

Well done