give_me_it_back vs Abbey WON!!! YAY !!! *SETTLED IN FULL*

[give_me_it_back]

Hi fellow Scots!

 

I have sent my letter to Abbey, received the usual response and sent the letter giving them 40 days to send my statements, or I will start court proceedings under DPA. My query is... do I file in Scotland (I live JUST in Scotland - only 7 miles from England).

 

Is it more complicated in Scotland, and do I really have a choice if my address is Scotland?

 

The helpful folks on the Abbey forum said that to use Moneyclaim:

 

"your address for service must be within England and Wales

the address of the person(s) you are suing is within England and Wales "

 

The Abbey's address IS England, and mine is Scotland... Confused...? Thanks in advance, and good luck to everyone out there in the same boat as me. It's getting quite a heavy boat, isn't it..?!

[woolfie]

Hi there,

 

My understanding is that to file a claim in England you must have an address in England. Now I am fairly sure this can be a friend or relative as long as you have someones address for them to serve papers.

 

The main benefit of using the County Court is that the small claim limit is £5000 a huge jump from the £750 in Scotland. If your claim is for less than £750 then I dont think there is any real benefit at all.

 

Also you can sever or split your claim to keep it under the £750 threshold in Scotland if that suits you better.

 

 

Hope this is of some help

 

Woolfie

[give_me_it_back]

Thanks Woolfie - that's a great help. I will wait to get my statements and add it all up, then decide if I want to give an English address...

 

Thanks and good luck!

[give_me_it_back]

Just wondering... has anyone else filed a claim against Abbey in Scotland..? Is there a Scottish Abbey thread..? Abbey do seem a particularly difficult bunch, so I need all the help I can get!

 

Thanks all

[give_me_it_back]

Is there anyone in Scotland who have taken on Abbey..?

[woolfie]

I am taking on Abbey Credit Cards for a friend and have had a 50% settlement so far, at the second letter stage.

[give_me_it_back]

Thanks Woolfie - you're a great help, as always!

 

Keep us posted!

[DanG]

Hi

 

we are in Scotland and just about to send off our letter for the info request to Abbey to see how much they have charged us.

 

At a guess, over 5 years, it must be about £5000. And we want every penny back because they crippled us with charges month after month!

 

Be interested to know how other Scots are getting on with Abbey!

[give_me_it_back]

Hi DanG! Good to know it's not just me! Keep us posted - I will watch your thread with great interest, and if you need a court buddy - please let me know - I'd be more than happy to support you!

 

Good luck!

[manolo]

i am in scotland and going up against abbey, return date is 29th of june so only a few days now to go, will keep you all posted.

[msneddon]

I am in Scotland and have just filed a claim to my local branch as this appeared to be the best couse of action to mimimise finantial risk. I am now claiming £2180.I will have to claim several times as the small claims court limit is £750.

[give_me_it_back]

Great. Do keep us posted... I am still waiting for statements.... the clock is ticking....

[give_me_it_back]

BBC1 Scotland - Panorama programme starting right now (10.15pm) about banks and their tactics.

[give_me_it_back]

Did anyone watch the Panorama programme I mentioned in my last thread..?

 

It was very interesting.

 

Also, I found the following on 'this is money's' site:

 

ABBEY STILL TOPS BAD BANK LEAGUE

 

A MONTH into the Daily Mail's Fair Play On Charges campaign, banking complaints from readers are still flooding in. While Abbey keeps the top spot in our Bad Banks League, its lead has been cut by the chasing three, while Lloyds TSB has overtaken HSBC for fifth place with a sudden wave of complaints in the last week.

 

It seems banks are getting wise to clued-up customers and are becoming increasingly stubborn when they receive formal letters arguing that charges are too high.

 

They have had to pay out so regularly that now customers are having to resort to the final straw - filing a complaint with the Financial Ombudsman Service or the small claims court in order to reclaim all the charges.

 

Persistence is the key. Do not be put off by the 'legalese' and jargon the bank will quote at you. And do not just accept the first offer that the bank gives you. One reader used the complaint letter we put on http://www.thisismoney.co.uk to reclaim £550 in charges accrued over six years with her bank. She was offered £250 straight away, said this was not acceptable and accepted £300 to settle the case. She says: 'I agree that I failed to fight a good fight and gave out on an offer rather than pursuing it to the end.'

 

And credit must go to Northern Rock, Norwich & Peterborough, Smile, Leeds BS, Cumberland BS, Coventry BS and Clydesdale Bank, about whom we have not received a single complaint.

 

 

Hmmm... maybe we should alert the Clydesdale and Smile forums to this..?

[give_me_it_back]

Still no further statements from Abbey - surprise surprise! sending the following off Monday morning (registered):

 

I am in receipt of the documents that you have supplied in response to my Data Protection Act information request dated 7th June 2006.

 

The disclosure of personal data is incomplete in that the following documents are missing.

 

1) You have failed to provide a complete list of transactions and charges. I have still to receive statements from 7/6/2001 - 15/10/04.

 

Accordingly, I have to tell you that you have not yet complied with your obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998.

 

You have a further 5 days to comply (ie – to 16th July 2006).

[gail]

Hi there,

 

On posting in the Abbey thread I was told to look out for you. I see you are a fellow Scot also trying to get YOUR money back through the Scottish system. I'll follow your progress, and let you know how I'm getting on with my claim.

 

To date I've sent SAR, got microfiche rubbish, sent 2nd letter recorded saying - yeah whatever, you only have 30 days left. Received 13 months statements totalling £1115 charges. So I have enough to file my first claim, they can take their time over the rest of the information meantime. That just makes it less complicated for me. Have a look at my thread Gail v Abbey.

 

Good luck with yours.

 

Gail

[give_me_it_back]

Hi Gail! fairydust told me you were around! I'll go and look on your thread, and keep you unpdated on this one. They only have until the 24th to come up with the remaining statements - not holding my breath! Good luck!

[give_me_it_back]

Abbey have now defaulted on the DPA. 40 days is up and it's time to commence court action for non compliance of DPA.

 

Is there anyone out there who can keep me right - bearing in mind I'm in Scotland? How do I take the next step for this particular type of action?

 

Thanks very much.

[give_me_it_back]

I am ASSUMING it is forms 1, 1a and 1b...? (wish there was more Scottish based info..) Am I right..?

 

Is there anywhere I can read some previous wording for Data Protection Act non compliance claim..? i can only see English information, and Scotia's (very helpful) information regarding monetary claims - nothing actually on Data Protection Act non compliance.

 

When I am asked to fill out the bank Manager's name - Do I complete Pam Speed..?

 

I am going to complete only minimal costs (eg - costs to send recorded delivery letters), as I understand the courts get a bit confused if there is no actual MONEY in a claim..

 

Please could someone get back to me... I am going to be late filing this claim, and I don't want to give Abbey any more time than I said I would...

 

Also - From reading Bankfodders recent posts, it seems that writing to the Information Commissioner is probably a waste of time. Do you agree, or should I drop him a line with copies of all correspondence?

[give_me_it_back]

anyone...?

[give_me_it_back]

Robertxc has advised me that, although I cannot claim for non compliance, I can "do an action to make them provide me data or give me money". Robert - can you please advise how to head my form 1 and 1b? I HAD headed it 'delivery of subject access infounder Data Protection Act', but this is probably misleading for the court - who DO seem confused...

 

I went to Duns Sheriff Court (my closest), and they advised me I have to go to Jedburgh (about 40 miles away!) I'm going to have to post it, and I DON'T want to get it wrong and have it all sent back!

 

I spoke to Jedburgh court, who said "Oh - this isn't a small claims action,as there is no money'. I politely said that it DOES go through small claims, and I am putting in that the defendant has an alternative - he can pay me 750.00 for the inconvenience of raising the action. The court are obviously still confused, and I just KNOW this is going to be a bit of a haul...

 

Robert - part 3 of the claim asks for the name of the person against whom the claim is made. Should I name our friend Pam Speed?

 

Part 4 of the claim (form of decree or order sought), I have filled in as:

The claimant claims for delivery of the data she is entitled to under the subject access request under the DPA 1988. Alternatively, the claimant claims £740 + £5 costs for the inconvenience of raising this action.

 

The details of the claim are:

 

The persuer requested a full and comprehensive list of all bank charges from her account xxxxx on 7th June enclosing the statutory fee of £10. This was a DPA disclosure/subject access request under the DPA of 1988. The defendant has 40 days in which to comply (section 15 (2) ) The persuer has not received all the information requested (namely data covering 7.6.2000 - 15.10.2004) The 40 daydeadline expired on 16th July 2006 at which time the persuer wrote giving a further 7 days (ie to 24th July 2006) The information has not arrived and the persuer now wishes to enforce compliance via court.

 

Extra info:

 

 

1. The Defendant is a Data Controller within the meaning of the Data Protection Act and is responsible for the processing of data of which the Claimant is a Subject.

 

2. The Claimant has an account number (xxxxxx) ("the Account") with the Defendant which was opened on or around 1971.

 

3. On 7/6/06 Claimant sent a Subject Access Request, pursuant to Section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998 to the Defendant. The statutory fee of £10 was enclosed and accepted by the defendant.

 

4. The Defendant has failed to comply.

 

5. By virtue of the Defendant's failure to comply with the Subject Access Request the Claimant has suffered damage

 

6. The damage is caused is:

 

Extra costs incurred in addition to court costs, due to the Defendants failure to comply - this includes the cost of additional correspondence and time spent preparing documents and seeking legal advice, I estimate this cost to be £5.00.

 

7. The Claimant seeks an order that the Defendant do comply with the Claimant's Subject Access Request. Alternatively, costs of £740 are claimed for the inconvenience of raising this action.

 

8. Under the terms of Section 15(2) of the Data Protection Act 1998, where the Defendant contests that information requested under the Claimant's Subject Access Request is not included within the scope of Section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998, the Claimant requests that the Court inspects that information, and where it finds that the Defendant's opinion is unfounded, that it orders such information be included within the information supplied to the Claimant under the Subject Access Request.

 

9. Damages and costs within the discretion of the Court.

 

I AM a bit concerned about claiming for the full amount allowable without evidence to back it up, and I know the courts take a dim view of people who appear to be 'greedy'. I originally had only £5 in - which is the cost of stamps for the letters. However, it appears that unless there is a fairly sizeable amount (does not appear to be quantifiable) in as a monetary amount, the sheriff officer does NOT see this as a "small claims" procedure...

 

Could we please open some dialogue about this?

 

 

Comments welcome - in fact - encouraged!

[give_me_it_back]

...anyone?

[give_me_it_back]

Thanks karnevil. I haven't pm'd Robert, 'cos I have been thinking.. It's so different in Scotland, and we can only claim up to 750 at one time. Each case has to be settled before another starts, and I do have statements from Abbey for the last 18 months... Their date for paying back this before I start action is up on 31st. I know we can't run 2 cases together, pr they may force us out of small claims. I think I will start action for recovery of the money I CAN prove first, then start separate actions after that for estimated amounts. I think the ourselves DPA Non Compliance thing could be a lot of trouble for the same end result...

 

It sticks in my throat, beacause I DID threaten them with Data Protection Act non compliance action, but I have written to Information Commissioner (who takes ages anyway). If he's on their case, as well as me starting action against them on 31st, they will see that I do mean to see this through - even if they won't play by the rules.

 

The Sheriff Officer is bound to take a very dim view of the way they have conducted themselves!

[give_me_it_back]

Of course, still no statements from Abbey...

 

The deadline for the amount I do know about is now up. Last letter will go on Monday:

 

I am very disappointed that you have failed to respond to my letter 17/7/06 (copy enclosed). I also take this opportunity to point out that you are now in breach of the Data Protection Act, 1988. You have cashed the cheque for £10 which was sent on 7th June, yet I am still waiting for statements. It is now 55 days since my request. You have been reported to the Information Commissioner and I await his response.

 

I am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary.

 

I calculate that, between dates 16/10/04 and 19/6/06 you have taken £547.00 plus £16.17 which you have charged me in interest for the sum which you have taken. Total £563.17.

 

I am enclosing a copy of the schedule of the charges which I am claiming. I have already sent you a copy of this in my original letter of 17/7/06.

 

I require repayment in full of this money. If you do not comply fully within 14 days (ie by 14th August) then I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount plus interest plus my costs and without further notice.

 

Furthermore, I shall submit a Consumer Credit Act 1974 complaint to the OFT upon the basis that you have failed to comply with the OFT's direction of 5 April 2006 and are therefore not a 'fit and proper person' to hold a consumer credit licence under the 1974 Act.

[give_me_it_back]

My last LBA letter was posted to Abbey today. I also received a letter from them (Bit late Abbey!) with the usual badly spelled claptrap: "microfiche not under DPA... please be assured I've carried out a full investigation..." blah blah blah. I REALLY hope that Abbey are hauled over the coals about this nonsense they give out about microfiche not being covered as it's not part of a relevant filing system! It's an utter lie and they are going to look extremely silly in court (as if!). The Information Commissioner have confirmed that it IS - many times.

 

Anyway, I (along with many others) have reported them to IC, and I will be starting action against them in 5 days time for the first claim for £547.00.