FSA To Review Waiver

[MacBoy]

Great start kog!

 

A suggestion from me: 2nd highwayman (with gun more obvious), called 'FSA/FOS/OFT', with 'Consumer Champions' written on the toothless donkey; saying 'Don't worry madam, I'm right behind you' ?

 

If we can find a cartoonist among our number who can help kog bring this to life that would be great! I could also help with any DTP/Photoshop work, or putting comic speech bubbles and text into the cartoon (I have special software for that!); and generally cleaning up the background etc. (I can design and do layout pretty professionally, but can't draw to save my life, I'm afraid!)

 

Anyone?

[kog]

I'm limited on where I can put things without making it too cluttered.

I just had an Idea - that the FSA highway man can carrying a flag and on it I can put what you have suggested in your post.

 

The image says a lot now - the bank on a high horse looking confident, big nose to sniff out the money. We have the FSA highway man on his toothless donkey, looking stupid and useless, with the FSA man holding a joke gun totally unprepared and out of his depth and offering to help the bank not the elderly woman.

 

What I need is a reply from the bank man which makes it a little more clear that its he who the help is being offered.

[MacBoy]

The toothless donkey of government consumer protection - I like that

 

I think he should be offering to help the woman myself, but it's your call - my point being that that's what he's supposed to do (I'm sure they haven't deliberately set out to help the banks), but ends up helping the banks indirectly anyway! This ties in better with the idea of the toothless donkey...

[pjdavies2000]

How do you upload an image to here - I have an idea, but i can't really explain it - Kog or Mac, maybe you could PM me an email addy so I could send something to you?

 

Peter

[Determined damsel]

I am helping a best mate, who filed a claim under MCOL, nearly a month ago. I have contacted Northampton and they have said that her case is proceeding as normal. Given all the lastest news on this web site though, I am expecting to hear that our local court will grant a stay on her case. I am gutted, it took her weeks to save the money for the court costs and now she has to potentially wait 3 year..? Scandalous - I used the comparison that Trading Standards would not allow an unscrupulous car dealer to carry on trading un road-worthy cars, they would shut them down, so why are these banks allowed to carry on illegally charging customers, without any censorship?? I have a court letter here stating quite clearly in black and white, that my claim against Lloyds TSB was settled as "the defendant agrees that the facts stated in the original claim are true" - my original claim being that they had unlawfully charged me penalty charges on my bank account. They must have admitted in writing to claimants hundreds of times over that these charges are unlawful - why can't we use this??

 

Anyway, we have sent off the template letter to our local MP, lets try and get something to happen.

[MacBoy]

Determined dsamsel - that's great thanks! Could you please also list your MP here too? Ta!

 

Mac

[skintcumbrian]

About sending letters to MPs....if you ask your MP to bring the matter to a Minister (prime or otherwise) on your behalf, they are legally bound to do so. You can send letters to the Minsiter in question yourself but unless you are their constituent they don't have to do anything about it if they are busy/disinterested etc.

 

So, I suggest we add into the letter to our MPs that they bring this issue to the attention of Gordon Brown and the Treasury Minister on our behalf. That way we know that our MPs are hitting the targets.

 

And Gordon has had to cancel his holiday anyway cos of FMD so we know he's in the office this weekend....!

[moneyhelp]

That said - I will get an email off to Mr Brown this evening

[jules1973]

sent mine to Angela Smith yesterday

 

also had letter from Southend court to stay that all cases are being stayed pending the decision on the test case, and due to the vast amounts of claims at this court, official orders have been delayed in being sent out and will be with us all within the next couple of weeks.

 

This is SOOOOOO unfair, how can judge decide to put a blanket stay on all claims, it is sooooooo frustrating that even though the banks have abused the system and peed off judges, the judges are paying right into their hands.

 

I will be asking for the stay to be lifted, however, is the judge likely to do it, when it was his decision to put the stay there in the first place.

Rant over, going back outside to enjoy the british weather (only good thing at the moment that is british, coz the banks and judges certainly arent).

[tifo]

About sending letters to MPs....if you ask your MP to bring the matter to a Minister (prime or otherwise) on your behalf, they are legally bound to do so.

 

My MP is the current cabinet Justice Minister and as he is in charge of the courts, it might be an idea to write to him?

[kog]

[MacBoy]

tifo - I'd certainly write to him, but in his capacity as an MP, not a Dept. Of Justice Minister. As such, he is likely to be be extremely wary of doing anything that might be perceived as trying to influence the Judiciary.

 

But he's still your MP!

[stonedecroze]

In the abscence of anything else, have a look at this letter to your MP. Please let me have any comments and any way of improving it.

Thanks.

 

The link to the MP is here ( thanks davebeek)

WriteToThem.com - Email or fax your Councillor, MP, MEP, MSP or Welsh, NI, London Assembly Member for free

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr xxxxxxxx MP

xxxxxxx

xxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxx

 

 

1 August 2007

 

 

Dear Mr xxxxx,

 

I am one of your constituents in Anytown. I write to you in the hope you can help me in my plight with the bank and in particular the FSA.

 

You may be aware that on 27 July 2007, the OFT commenced litigation proceedings against the big seven banks to try and establish once and for all as to whether these overdraft fees are actually unlawful.

 

Whilst we agree with this course of action, the FSA has waived the regulation that enforces the banks to process claims of this nature until the outcome of this hearing.

This means that any claims going through the banks now for reclaiming charges (sometimes in their thousands) are put on hold and will not be processed for what could take up to two years if any appeals are allowed.

 

The FSA has also allowed the banks to apply for a stay in all court proceedings of this nature until the case has finished. The Banks are now to apply to the Master of Rolls to issue a blanket stay on all court hearings.

 

This is a ridiculous situation for all local people who are in the process of reclaiming charges. And, just to rub salt in the wounds, they have allowed the banks to keep on charging!!!

 

The majority of the people I have spoken to ( including myself) were not able to afford the court fees to take the claim to the next step. They have had to save every spare penny to raise the £120.00 needed so they could take the bank to court. In some cases where the claim was over £5000.00 they have had to stump up £250.00, something which was very, very hard for these people to find, considering it was the high cost of these charges that have put them in this position. Some even took out short term loans so they could take the bank to court to try and recoup some of these charges. They are now left with no claim, no compensation and hundreds of pounds out of pocket.

Although there may be a slim chance of them being able to recoup some of the court costs, the issue is that they should be allowed to continue with this claim and get their charges back, as have thousands of consumers all over the country.

 

To allow the banks to still charge and not allow the consumer the right to reclaim is against everything the FSA and the OFT and the FOS are supposed to stand for.

 

The OFT web site states :

 

The OFT is responsible for making markets work well for consumers. We achieve this by promoting and protecting consumer interests throughout the UK, while ensuring that businesses are fair and competitive

 

The FSA website states :

 

We have a wide range of rule-making, investigatory and enforcement powers to enable us to meet four statutory objectives summarised as one overall aim: to promote efficient, orderly and fair markets and to help retail consumers achieve a fair deal

 

The FOS Website states;

 

So when we look at a complaint, we give both sides a fair hearing.

 

Protecting consumer interests? - help retail consumers achieve a fair deal? Give BOTH sides a fair hearing? One word that appears in all of their statements is FAIR. How is this fair?

 

How can they be protecting the consumer interest by stopping them reclaiming what is rightfully theirs and still allowing the banks to charge these ridiculously high penalty charges.?

 

I understand that the banks disagree they are unlawful, so why have they kept paying out to consumers at the rate of around £500 million in the last 12 months? This alone should tell the FSA that the consumer has to keep claiming against the banks.

 

This situation alone will save the banks hundreds of millions of pounds, firstly through not paying out claims, not having to pay legal fees and more importantly, due to the Limitation Act 1980, the longer this case goes on the more they will save under the 6 yr rule of the above Act.

 

So, whilst this will save the banks money, the consumer goes further and further into debt by having charges still applied.

 

This is just the tip of the iceberg Mr xxxxx, I am sure there are many more people out there that will be destined for financial hardship as a result of this legislation. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of consumers all over the country who have started their claims and some may also be made bankrupt by allowing the banks to still charge. All this caused by a regulator who is supposed to have the consumer in their best interest.

 

I would like to see how they explain that this benefits them. The problem with all this is, it was all done behind closed doors for months without anyone knowing except the banks, the FSA , the OFT and the FOS, and then, without a care in the world for consumers or anyone else, put into practice. The nice little arrangement that the banks had already sorted with the FSA, the OFT and the FOS, the three regulators set up to protect the public. Mr xxxxxx, someone is having a laugh at your constituents’ expense and it is not the slightest bit funny for us.

 

I also understand that It could also interfere with our rights under the European Convention on Human Rights directly and as enacted in the Human Rights Act 1998.

 

Art.6 1. of the Convention provides that “ In the determination of his civil rights … everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time.”

 

It is unreasonable to allow an indeterminate stay which depends on some litigation unconnected to the instant case, between other parties who have no relation to the parties in the instant case.

It is not clear that the matter will be heard as predicted and in the event that it does go to trial, there could then be appeals and subsequent appeals so that the matter might become protracted and even last as long as 3 years or more – from the date of the commencement of trial.

 

I sincerely hope that you can help us in getting the FSA to revoke this unfair and biased legislation and allow the consumer to continue to fight for what is rightfully theirs.

 

I thank you for you time.

 

 

 

To long to email to MP @ houses of parliment. limit of 4000 characters. This includes spaces, paragraph spacing your details on top of Official message form. I edited it to fit and lost quite a bit including all of human rights section. I have also copied and altered with my personal story to send snail mail or deliver by hand to Constituancy Office on Monday.

[MacBoy]

stondecroze - use this edited version I created, which is shorter and passes through OK.

 

Mac

[stonedecroze]

stondecroze - use this edited version I created, which is shorter and passes through OK.

 

Mac

 

 

 

Thanks Mac, but I have already emailed and will follow up with letter on Monday

[SOMEFRIENDLYUK]

just bumping this up as its a great idea-just droped thread down as well!!!

If anyone can come up with a fsa complaint template i'm in!

[MacBoy]

Somefriendly - why don't you modify this template? It's just as valid a complaint to the FSA or OFT as it is to a political representative. J.barton1 modified it for that purpose I believe.

 

And while you're at it, why not drop a copy to your MP here too and have it recorderd here?

 

Thanks

Mac

[MacBoy]

please remove - duplicate post

[MacBoy]

A reminder to all posters - How to send our complaint letter to your Representative

 

• It's recommended that you use this template to write to your MP
  

 

• You may also use it, should you so wish, to send to the FOS, FSA, OFT, your MEP, the press/media, or anyone else who you think will be able to raise the profile of the issue. Modify it yourself as necessary. We're not going to spoon-feed you!
  

 

• Once you've created your masterpiece, if it's intended for a Political representative, we suggest that you use the link at the bottom of the template; repeated here. This excellent site will find your representative if you don't know him/her, give you space to compose your letter (copy/paste in our case!), check it and send it all from the same site!
  

 

• Once you've sent your letter (Westminster MPs only), please let us know which one you sent it to here, so we can check it off - we're aiming to send to every Westminster MP and this will help us know where we are.
  

 

Thanks for your support!

Mac

[dj59]

Have attached a list of 156 MPs who have signed Early Day Motions regarding bank charges and excessive profits made by banks.

 

If your MP is on this list be sure to send them a letter.

mps.xls

[MacBoy]

Thanks and well researched dj59 - Folks, these are our Prime Target MPs! - we want to get every MP of course, but these people have already shown an interest in related issues and are therefore more likely to help us raise the profile of our complaint!

 

Download the spreadsheet and see if your MP's in there!

 

I'll filter them into the existing worksheet too.

[dj59]

If you are writing to the FSA it may be worth addressing your letter to HECTOR SANTS. Mr Sants took up the post of Chief Executive on the 20th July 2007.

[dj59]

If you are writing to the OFT it may be worth addressing your letter to the Chief Executive JOHN FINGLETON.

 

And if you are writing to the FOS address your letter to WALTER MERRICKS, Chief Ombudsman

[MacBoy]

Thanks again DJ!

[jailbird]

Hi Everyone,

 

What about putting a piece in the letter about the people who are receiving benefits and have had them taken to pay their bank charges.

Are they going to go on loosing their benefits in charges whilst this is sorted out ?

 

JB