Alliance & Leicester (merged)

melissa'smoney · 18 January 2008 at 7:10PM

Greg1974 wrote: »

In addition to my post above, which Alliance + Leicester address should my next letter be
better off being sent going to. My first letter was addressed to my local branch in Bury.

Alliance + Leicester Bank, 27, The Rock, Bury, Lancs, BL9 0JP.

Or would it be better off being sent to . . .

Alliance + Leicester, Customer Contact Centre
Bootle, Merseyside, GIR 0AA

Or the registered office . . .

Alliance + Leicester PLC
Carlton Park, Narborough, Leicester, LE19 0AL.

I want to make sure it gets to the most appropriate department to deal with it.

I have sent all my correspondence to this address and had replies

Geezah_2 · 19 January 2008 at 11:30AM

I decided to reclaim my charges from Alliance & Leicester, I had an overdraft of £350.00. My charges amounted to £325.00.

I wrote to them on 6th December 2007, asking that they close my account and repay my charges. I received the 'standard' letter back from them dated 8th January 2008. I have not used that account since my initial letter and transferred all my dd & sto to another account.

I have today received another letter (dated 16th January 2008), informaing me that 'Quote':
While your agreed overdraft limit is £350.00, your account is presently £484.99 overdrawn.
Please note the overdrawn figure quoted above does not include any administration or overdraft fees for which you are now liable. These will be notified to you on your next statement. Full details of our fees etc. etc.
If you have not already done so, please ensure that the excess overdrawing is repaid by 22nd January 2008. You should not use your card(s) or stationery until the excess is cleared.

Firstly I requested that they close my account!

In one week I went over my limit by £1.60. They 'slapped' on a 'Payment Review Fee' of £25.00. This had a snowball effect on my account as my wages would have been enough to cover me bills, but after the charge there wasn't enough money! so I got hit with another charge.

Therefore I stopped using the account and decided to reclaim! Surely they should have suspended charges, as they had suspended my complaint?

They charge me an overdraft usage fee of £80.00, then again charge me an overdraft usage fee of £5.00, then charge me another £25.00 for exceeding my limit. I've just checked my statement online and they are continuing to do this!!!!! I'm now £509.00 overdrawn. My account was only £325.00 overdrawn when I stopped using it.

So on top of the £350.00 charges they already applied to my account they have since applied nearly another £200.00

Please help - any advice greatly appreciated... (Is there another letter template that I could possibly use?). Surely they can't keep applying these charges when I stopped using the account and requested that it be closed?

Regards
Ian

Orford · 19 January 2008 at 2:00PM

You've done the right thing by opening another a/c. They can keep adding as many charges as they like. If they eventually issue a claim, you can play then at their own game and apply for a stay pending the outcome of the OFT test case. In the mean time send them this letter:

ACCOUNT NUMBER: XXXXXXX
Dear Sirs

Re: Account in dispute

I am writing to clarify that I am currently in the process of requesting a refund of bank charges unlawfully made to my account.

I note from your latest correspondence that you are proposing to issue me with a Default Notice on this account. I need to make you fully aware that I am disputing the sum owed and, as such, you must refrain from any further action until this dispute is fully resolved.

The current Banking Code (Section 13.6) states: We may give information to Credit Reference Agencies about the personal debts you owe us if:
You have fallen behind with your payments,

The amount owed is not in dispute; and

You have not made proposals we are satisfied with for repaying your debt, following our formal demand.

I would also like to make you aware of The Office of Fair Trading Code of Guidance in which it states: putting pressure on debtors or third parties is considered to be oppressive This includes ignoring disputes about whether money is owed and refusing to freeze action if the debt is in dispute.

If you do not stop this default action and proceed by making any adverse comments on my credit reference files, I shall be forced to take legal action against you under the Data Protection Act 1998.

I therefore hope to receive your full co-operation in this matter and would like to request a written response to that effect.

Yours sincerely,

emmaroids · 19 January 2008 at 2:03PM

you have my sympathy mate.
i am having similar problems with nationwide,they are continuing to charge me regardless of my closing the account.

i spoke to the financial ombudsman and he said until this test case sets the standard they are within there rights to charge us, so i should pay it off and claim it back later. however i am not paying mine (been on a tight budget) off so i suggest you do the same.

hang in there.

Geezah_2 · 19 January 2008 at 3:23PM

Orford wrote: »

You've done the right thing by opening another a/c. They can keep adding as many charges as they like. If they eventually issue a claim, you can play then at their own game and apply for a stay pending the outcome of the OFT test case. In the mean time send them this letter:

Many Thanks for your advice, greatly appreciated. I'll type out a letter straight away.

:T

Kindest Regards

a11waysindebt · 19 January 2008 at 4:05PM

This case is going to take a fare amount of time to sort out,You need to be carefull they do not pass it on to an agency to collect the outstanding money.

big_chief_2 · 21 January 2008 at 1:31PM

i had/have an account with these people.i decided to go back to my old bank.
didnt cancel a direct debit,but there was a little money left in the account,albeit not enough to cover.it put me £1.02 overdrawn.as i was no longer using this account,i never checked on it, until i got a statement saying that i was now £100 overdrawn.they are charging me £5 per day.ive just checked on line,and i am now £187 overdrawn.
is this right or are they taking the p***s out of me.can i try to claim this back or not

damski23 · 22 January 2008 at 11:16PM

So it appears Alliance & Leicester have stopped charging "kick you when you're down £30 penalty's" and moved onto either (a) a very bad exchange rate or (b) forgetting how to use a calculator and making up charge amounts out of thin air.... as usual.

Can you spot the mistake?

see pic.

excaliburp · 22 January 2008 at 11:39PM

hehehe! alliance &leicester *%$!*£&^%!
feel better now.....

headcoat · 23 January 2008 at 12:06AM

I've noticed the overdraft usage fee recently....i presume we were told about this in the change of terms they send out ever so often that I never read.

Alliance & Leicester (merged)

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