The MP's campaign-Responses

[MacBoy]

Thread running nice and smoothly now I see.

Yes - it's running great, LL - thanks in no small measure to your own Herculean efforts yesterday - thanks again!

[ja-de]

Hi all, glad everyone are happier now we have our discussion thread, but don't forget that you can still check our list on our original thread here to see who has replied, & who hasn't. I'll also keep posting the stats update list on this thread.

[olden]

Hi does anyone want me to copy the letters I received here? from John Griffiths AM,from Alistair Darling, and Rhodri Morgan.??

[MacBoy]

olden - absolutely - that what the thread's been created for

[smutley]

yes please Val.... eventually Rhodri replied...cant wait to see this !!!

[jules1973]

I actually received a response from an MEP that wishes to help.

 

Dear xxxxxxx

 

Thank you for your email dated 6th August 2007, addressed to Jeffrey Titford

MEP. Mr Titford has asked me to reply on his behalf.

 

May I firstly apologise for taking a while to reply but we have had a very

large postbag and your email arrived during the holiday season, when we were

short staffed. However, I have now read your email with great interest and

can certainly understand your frustrations. We would certainly be willing

to write to the Chief Executive of the Financial Services Authority, on your

behalf, to point out to them the misery that they are causing. Before doing

that, I would be very interested to know if any of the other politicians

that you wrote to at the same time, have done the same thing. Naturally, we

are anxious to avoid duplication. Equally, if there have been any further

developments as a result of the activities of the other MEPs, it would be

useful to know the details.

 

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Stuart Gulleford

Political Advisor to Jeffrey Titford MEP

[livelylad]

Nice response.

[jules1973]

I have replied back to him asking him to write on my behalf, I also sent him the email I had received from Andrew Duff MEP, who also said that he was going to write to the FSA and ask them their reasoning behind the waiver.

 

Hopefully, I should hear back from one of them.

[olden]

I do hope you get something better than the standard letter I have received from the FSA. Anyway here are the ones I refer to in post 628

you can forget Rhodri !!!

Y Gwir Anrh/Rt Hon Rhodri Morgan ACI AM Prif Weinidog Cymru/First Minister for Wales

From the Assistant Diary Secretary

Oddi Wrth Cynorthwy-ydd Ysgrifennydd Dyddiadur

 

Llywodraeth Cynulliad Cymru Welsh Assembly Government

Valerie xxxxxl

Xxxxxxxxxx

Xxxxxxxxx

Xxxxxxxx

18th September 2007

Dear Valerie xxxx

Thank you for your attached letter dated 10th September 2007.

Unfortunately, the matters you have raised fall outside the remit of the National Assembly for Wales and we are unable to provide a substantive reply.

Unfortunately due to the Data Protection Act we are unable to forward your letter on without your express written permission. Therefore, I suggest that you send your enclosed letter to:

The Correspondence & Enquiry Unit 2M/I

HM Treasury

1 Horse Guards Road

London

SW1A 2HQ

Yours sincerely

Clare Burns

Assistant Diary Secretary to the First Minister

 

John Griffiths AM

Assembly Member for Newport East Aelod y Cynulliad dros Dwyrain Casnewydd

t 029 2089 8303 f 029 2089 8308

e [email protected]

Cynulliad National Cenedlaethol Assembly for Cymru Wales

Wednesday, 19 September2007

Re: Banking Charges

Please find enclosed copy letter received from UK Government Minister Kitty Ussher MP regarding the above issue for your information.

Best wishes,

Yours sincerely,

John Griffiths AM

National Assembly for Wales I Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru

Cardiff Bay I Bae Caerdydd

Cardiff I Caerdydd

CF99 1 NA

 

 

b~

Thank you for your letter of 16 August to Alistair Darling enclosing correspondence from your constituent, Ms xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx South Wales about bank charges and the Financial Services Aufhority (FSA). I am replying as I have Ministerial responsibility for this policy area.

 

Your constituent has complained about the FSA's decision in principle to grant firms, who apply for it, a waiver from the time limits contained in the FSA's complaints-handling rules in relation to unauthorised overdraft charges. Whilst the Government provided the power to the FSA to make waivers through the Financial Services and Markets Act, the enforcement of this power is a matter for the FSA as it is independent of Government.

 

The FSA has informed me of its reasons for making this decision. These are detailed below.

 

For some time some customers of banks and building societies have been complaining about the charges they have paid for going into unauthorised overdrafts. Some institutions have settled with their customers, without admitting liability, and a large number of further complaints are in the pipeline. However, the law in this area is not clear and the current situation provides neither certainty nor consistency for consumers or current account providers.

 

In these circumstances the Office of Fair Trading and some firms have decided to initiate a test case in the High Court to resolve legal uncertainties on the level, fairness and lawfulness of these charges. In order to facilitate this process the FSA has issued a waiver of its complaints-handling rules as they apply to complaints about unauthorised overdraft charges.

 

The FSA believes it has made this decision in the best interests of all consumers so that all consumer complaints could be dealt with in a fair and consistent way going forward.

 

The FSA has also monitored how banks and building societies have been handling complaints about unauthorised overdraft charges. Its aim was to find out whether firms were treating these complaints promptly, fairly and consistently, as required by FSA complaints-handling rules. The FSA saw significant shortcomings in some firms' handling of complaints about unauthorised overdraft charges, which is leading to inconsistent outcomes for complainants.

 

1/51375/07

 

The F"8A is clear that the way in which complaints have been handled in the recent past - against a background of uncertainty about what the legal position is on these charges - is unsatisfactory and not in the interest of all consumers. When the legal position on these charges has been clarified, firms will be required to deal with complaints within the nonnal timetable in a fair and consistent way. In the meantime, the FSA is requiring finns to acknowledge any further complaints they receive on this issue within five days, to keep records of such complaints, and to be prepared to deal with them once the FSA lifts the waiver.

 

To protect consumers' interests while the test case proceeds, the waiver contains a number of

conditions that firms must adhere to. The FSA will review the waiver at the end of September to ensure, among other things, that firms are complying with its conditions. The FSA can revoke the waiver at any time if it considers that it is no longer appropriate because, for example, the test case is not progressing or if a delay in the resolution of the test case is likely to cause undue risk to consumers.

 

The FSA has also imposed a condition in the waiver to preserve consumers' rights so as to prevent complaints becoming time-barred. This means that the clock stopped when the waiver was granted and will start again when the test case is resolved or when the waiver-is removed. So, for example, if a consumer was applying to reclaim charges for the last six years and the test case took one year, that year would not count. Similarly, the waiver will not cause you to become time-barred from taking your complaint to the Ombudsman. For customers wishing to bring a complaint to the Scottish courts, the position is' slightly different, and the frequently asked questions on its website explains this more fully.

 

If you would like more information, you can find answers to frequently asked questions on unauthorised overdraft charges on the FSA's website at

Home page : FSA Money made clear.

 

In making the decision on the waiver, the FSA has particularly considered consumers facing financial difficulty. High street banks and building societies subscribe to the Banking Code that covers how firms deal with cases of financial difficulty; the Ombudsman also considers the Code when making its decisions. The waiver does not apply to complaints about the way that banks and building societies have dealt with financial difficulty. The waiver requires firms to identify such complaints and to progress them throughout the waiver period. If these complaints cannot be resolved, the Ombudsman will be able to consider them.

 

Please pass on my thanks to Ms xxxxx for taking the trouble to make me aware of these concerns and I hope she finds this response helpful.

 

KITTY USSHER MP

 

National Assembly for Wales I Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru

Cardiff Bay I Bae Caerdydd

Cardiff I Caerdydd

CF99 1 NA

[olden]

Sorry about the way the muddled look, but I am not very good as this!! It's still the same old cop out story:(

[Beserker]

Andrew Mackay, Con Bracknell

Replied

 

"Thank you for your recent letter which I very much endorse because I also believe that the FSA waiver negates against consumers and is unfortunate. I have already made representations to the FSA and received a very unsatisfactory response which I enclose. I have also written to the Treasury Minister on behalf of anothr constituent and will make sure you see a copy of his response as soon as it is too hand"

 

As many Bracknell residents know Mr Mackay is a fine constituency MP, the party may not be to my taste (I lived in Sunderland during the late 70's - I will never forgive them for that) but credit where it's due.

 

The FSA reply to Andrew Mackay was blather and eye wash - I will scan and post if people want.

[smutley]

Tell me something new Val (Olden) - what a disappointing letter from Rhodri. I received a reply today from Glenys Kinnock & Eluned Morgan MEP (so long ago that I wrote to them, but they had been on holiday) ... basically ....

appreciate my concern and comments noted but falls outside their European remit.....

 

"We agree that it does appear as though banks are demanding unjustifiably high charges as penalties for services such as unauthorised overdrafts, and clearly many people have been left in very difficult financial situations as a result.

Labour MEP's agree it is certainly unfortunate that people are currently in a position where they have to wait for somebody else's court case to conclude before they can expect any compensation. However, we would urge you to be patient with this, as there is far more chance that you will receive compensation following this test case then there is at the moment.

Hope this helps"

 

.. and does it help - not a lot!!

[ja-de]

I do hope you get something better than the standard letter I have received from the FSA. Anyway here are the ones I refer to in post 628

you can forget Rhodri !!!

Y Gwir Anrh/Rt Hon Rhodri Morgan ACI AM Prif Weinidog Cymru/First Minister for Wales

From the Assistant Diary Secretary

Oddi Wrth Cynorthwy-ydd Ysgrifennydd Dyddiadur

 

Llywodraeth Cynulliad Cymru Welsh Assembly Government

Valerie xxxxxl

Xxxxxxxxxx

Xxxxxxxxx

Xxxxxxxx

18th September 2007

Dear Valerie xxxx

Thank you for your attached letter dated 10th September 2007.

Unfortunately, the matters you have raised fall outside the remit of the National Assembly for Wales and we are unable to provide a substantive reply.

Unfortunately due to the Data Protection Act we are unable to forward your letter on without your express written permission. Therefore, I suggest that you send your enclosed letter to:

The Correspondence & Enquiry Unit 2M/I

HM Treasury

1 Horse Guards Road

London

SW1A 2HQ

Yours sincerely

Clare Burns

Assistant Diary Secretary to the First Minister

 

 

Hi Olden, thank you for the copies of your letters. Please don't worry about how muddled they are, you have tried, & succeeded, which is more than some ppl have done.

I can't understand what Rhodri Morgan is saying by "Due to Data Protection Act, we are unable to forward your letter on without express written permission", yet other officials have been able to obtain information regarding this matter, so yes, you are definitely correct, it is a kop-out, on his part anyway, lol. At least his colleague has tried, & it's also helped to introduce another Westminster MP to our list.

 

 

[ja-de]

Andrew Mackay, Con Bracknell

Replied

 

"Thank you for your recent letter which I very much endorse because I also believe that the FSA waiver negates against consumers and is unfortunate. I have already made representations to the FSA and received a very unsatisfactory response which I enclose. I have also written to the Treasury Minister on behalf of anothr constituent and will make sure you see a copy of his response as soon as it is too hand"

 

As many Bracknell residents know Mr Mackay is a fine constituency MP, the party may not be to my taste (I lived in Sunderland during the late 70's - I will never forgive them for that) but credit where it's due.

 

The FSA reply to Andrew Mackay was blather and eye wash - I will scan and post if people want.

 

 

Hi Berserker, Yes, please do scan & post your letter, this thread has been created for discussion & all letters we have received from MP's etc, who have been contacted.

[ja-de]

Thanks smutley, I suppose on one hand they both sympathise, but on the other, they don't sympathise that much, because otherwise they'd have tried to get in touch with someone who does - I'm sure Glenys' hubby Neil Kinnock would know someone. But thanks for trying anyway.

[ja-de]

Stats for Wednesday 25th Sept 2007

 

MP's

101 Contacted

41 Replied

1 Not Interested

 

MEP's

40 Contacted

14 Replied

5 Not Interested

 

MSP's

2 Contacted

2 Replied

MWA's

8 Contacted

2 Replies

1 Not Interested

 

Master of the Rolls

1 Contacted

1 Reply

 

Lords

1 Contacted

0 Replies

 

As you can see, there is a slight change; but we need more.

PLEASE HELP! We have only managed to contact 101 MP's, there are over 600 MP's in the UK, we hope to contact every one of them - but we can't do it without you! Please contact your local MP, you can use one of the template letters, see post 94 on this thread here

[olden]

Yes Jenny, I think like ja-de about Glenys, only she's probably too busy making the family an even bigger fortune and so is Neil I expect.!! and yes ja-de how stupid was that? since his member John Griffiths and others have done exactly that .? I think I will drop him a brief letter about this? is it worth bothering? or is it a waste of time. Berserker that is one rare MP to actually to agree with us about the FSA

[ja-de]

Hi olden, I suppose you could drop him a line about that, but IMHO I don't think it's worth it, he just can't be ar**d.

I don't think these ppl know exactly how many of us there are on CAG, & that we most probably make up a big part of the voting population & if they can't be bothered to help us when we need them, & they don't get our votes, they'll be pretty upset!

[ja-de]

All it takes are just 5 easy steps

1. Use the template letter here
   
2. Copy the text, you can amend this to your own circumstances, if necessary, but it shouldn't need to be amended for most people.
   
3. click the link to the site shown at the bottom of the letter or click here
   
4. Follow the instructions on the site to send to your MP (it will tell you who your MP is if you do not know.
   
5. Go here to tell us which MP you've contacted, &/or received a reply from.

[olden]

Rhodri Morgan is there for his own sake, greed, he made a statement before the election earlier this year that he would step down if the people did not vote him in, instead he signed up with plaid to stay in his massively overpaid job, and couldn't care less about us, what a waste of public money!

[ja-de]

I wholeheartedly agree there olden, ppl like him must think joe public are so thick & stupid, they think that they can pull the wool over our eyes. & again your right about all that waste of ppl's money, it's absolutely scandalous.

Have you checked this out yet ? Contact-Your-MP-Regarding (post 6 onwards)

[ohoh4312]

Humph ... you can put my MP down now as a definate "Not Interested" - well he has more pressing matters on his plate................

 

.....like being arrested for assaulting his wife, and consequently being suspended!

 

OMG I voted for him too!

[smutley]

Have you checked this out yet ? Contact-Your-MP-Regarding (post 6 onwards)

Im sure the majority of MP's etc that we have written to are aware of our letters at the very least, and I am sure that the responses I have had have been written by them, we may receive templated responses but we are achieving our goal by keeping up the awareness and not letting them brush us under the carpet.

[ja-de]

Humph ... you can put my MP down now as a definate "Not Interested" - well he has more pressing matters on his plate................

 

.....like being arrested for assaulting his wife, and consequently being suspended!

 

OMG I voted for him too!

ohoh, could you let me know what his name is please, you forgot to give me it, thanks

[ja-de]

Im sure the majority of MP's etc that we have written to are aware of our letters at the very least, and I am sure that the responses I have had have been written by them, we may receive templated responses but we are achieving our goal by keeping up the awareness and not letting them brush us under the carpet.

 

Absolutely, I completely agree with you smutley.