Bank Charges - illegal?

dchurch24

mjanet wrote:

answer to my first email ............

Dear XXXX

Thank you for your e-mail dated xx March 2006.

Regarding your request for details of charges on your account for the past six years, I can advise you that I have asked for copy statements to be produced for the period in question, which will highlight the charges you have referred to and I will send these to you within the next three weeks, which I trust will be acceptable.

As a final point, I am not sure what you mean by “ manual intervention” in the penultimate paragraph of your letter but I will arrange for you to be sent a print of any notes that staff have made in the customer records system. I hope that this will be helpful.

Yours sincerely


btw dchuch I did email bankfodder offering to help but he never replied , maybe to busy ?
I have again this month recommended Dchurch24 for post of the month I think he deserves some recognition for the advice and time he puts into this thread .

Thank you very kind.

Tabs_2

tempest42 wrote:

I got the same letter as Paul -C from the clydesdale after asking the same from the Yorkshire (both same company now), I rang the number and was told its their policy not to give this information, quoted Durant vs Lloyds and a few more recent ones, all she would say was she was aware of that but it didnt apply, I then said I would report them to the ICO she just said OK.
Does anyone know if you have to wait the full 40 days or should I just report them now ?
Also is it 40 calender days or 40 working days ?

d.

Hello,

As you know, we are also trying to claim back charges from the Yorkshire Bank (also known as Clydesdale Bank).

They really do drag their heels and so I would report them to the Information Commissioner now if I were you. If you don't, then the Commissioner won't have any idea of the true number of cases the Bank are refusing to comply with. From the sounds of it, the Yorkshire won't be doing anything further with your request ... It's so annoying :mad:

Remember that they actually don't have to provide you with copy statements but they do have to provide you with a breakdown of charges ... either in the form of a typed list or even a printout of their computer screens.

We received a response from the Commissioner today saying that they can't make a full assessment of our case at the moment as the 40 day time limit that Yorkshire have in which to provide us with the info has not yet elapsed. If we don't hear back from Yorkshire by 18th March, we have to let the Commissioner know and they will take it further. They also said that, in any case, the Commissioner will be contacting the Yorkshire to "reiterate our view regarding the provision of the personal data contained within bank statements and instruct it to ensure it responds to your Subject Access Request within the 40 day limit".

Regardless of whether we hear back from Yorkshire by 18th March, we have still proceeded with our claim via the online Small Claims Court. They just seem so obstructive that we couldn't just sit and wait until the Commissioner has to tell them to respond to our Subject Access Request. Time would be ticking by and we would be into another month; thus making our amount of claim reduce as the 6 year period would then only go back as far as April 2000.

p.s - The 40 day time limit appears to be just 40 calendar days.

icefall

I have received a 50% offer today from Barclays along with a form to sign, would like to word a reply that says yes to 50% but am still going for full amount, within 7-14 days? Not sure how, any ideas from anyone welcome!

Tabs_2

Paul_-C- wrote:

I received this letter from Clydesdale, in reply to my last letter sent (requesting a list of all charges)

Dear xxxxxx,

Thank you for you recent letter which has been forwarded to this area by xxxx as we are responsible for Data Subject Access requests.

Under the Data Protection Act you have a right to see what our organisation holds about you, this is known as Data Subject Access Reques, which entitles you to be told if any personal data are held about you. This information should include what sort of data we hold, the purposes for which the data are processed and the type.

Application for copy statements does not fall within this policy, and must be ordered through your branch seperately. I have therefore returned your cheque for £10.

Sincerely

xxxxxx


The letter also came with a phone number, so I called it up. When I spoke to the same girl who sent the letter I explained that I thought she misunderstood me. I wanted a list of the charges, but would accept a copy of the statements as substitute. She then told me that the bank doesn't hold any info about the charges. She could maybe bring up the last few on her screen, but that's all. She said the only way to get that info would be requesting statements, which aren't covered under the Data Protection Act.

Is this true? If I want to get the bank charges info then I need to pay £360 for the statements, because the bank doesn't hold that information seperately?

Hello,

I have just replied to another post but I am also claiming back charges from Clydesdale (under the form of Yorkshire Bank).

They just refuse everything you will ask for, even just a list of charges or a computer print out. However, the Information Commissioner is contacting them very soon to reiterate what they have to supply when asked :beer:

Of course the bank holds details of charges applied .... what a completely stupid thing to tell you!!! They are just stalling tactics.

Under no circumstances should you pay more than £10 for the info, but it may not be in the form of actual statements. I would say, however, that if they treat you the same as me, you won't receive anything at all from them r.e. the charges.

I would recommend that you report them to the Information Commissioner just so they have a clear picture of how many people the bank are acting illegally with. The Commissioner won't be able to do anything until the end of the 40 day time limit but I think they should be told how bad the Bank are being ....

Tabs_2

icefall wrote:

I have received a 50% offer today from Barclays along with a form to sign, would like to word a reply that says yes to 50% but am still going for full amount, within 7-14 days? Not sure how, any ideas from anyone welcome!

If I were you, I wouldn't use any words saying that you accept 50% .... just refuse their offer and tell them you won't accept any less than 100%.

Stick with it! If they are prepared to make any kind of offer then they know they are acting illegally and they WILL pay up! :j

kaznelson

icefall wrote:

I have received a 50% offer today from Barclays along with a form to sign, would like to word a reply that says yes to 50% but am still going for full amount, within 7-14 days? Not sure how, any ideas from anyone welcome!

At the moment it looks like barclays are making a 50% offer.

I had one last week and replied saying they had 14 days to pay in full or I will proceed for full amount

davilown

icefall wrote:

I have received a 50% offer today from Barclays along with a form to sign, would like to word a reply that says yes to 50% but am still going for full amount, within 7-14 days? Not sure how, any ideas from anyone welcome!

I got the full amount (£225) offered firsttime with no forms etc. send them another letter threatening legal action. Worked for me!

good luck

:beer: monster

moonrakerz

I wrote to Alliance & Leicester requesting details of charges over last six years, I have just recieved a form from them (after 3 weeks) asking me to give more details of what info I require iaw the Data Protection Act etc, etc. I don't know if this is just stalling, but have just sent them a request for full refund of 2005 charges, of which we have full details. £970 - see what happens ! Will fill out their form for the other years in slower time and return it.

Also, last week, I had a Direct Debit actioned 10 days before the agreed date - which "bounced", they tried again two days later (still 8 days early), this time succesfully, this depleted my account so that two other Direct Debits "bounced". So far, the various charges for this fiasco have totalled nearly £150.
I am putting a claim into Capital Bank (part of RBS) for all the charges imposed by A & L, plus I am quoting Capital Bank's words about "losses and expenses incurred" back at them and claiming an additional £50 for my time, effort and tears to sort out the mess THEY made.
These people really are bloodsuckers !!!!!

tempest42

Tabs, Got this of the ICO website, Think we may go for option a.

Q. What can I do if access is not given to me?
A. Although there are some limited circumstances in which access can be withheld,
access should normally be provided to you. If you feel your request has not been
complied with you may take further action, as follows: -
1. Write back to the data controller setting out why you think that the information
should have been provided to you. If you receive a response with which you are not
satisfied, then the options available are as follows: -
(a) You may apply to the court alleging a failure to comply with the subject
access provisions of the 1998 Act. The court may make an order
requiring compliance with those provisions and may also award
compensation for any damage you have suffered as a result and any
associated distress.
(b) You may write to the Information Commissioner. The Commissioner
may do one of the following: -
(i) make an assessment as to whether it is likely or unlikely that the
data controller in question has complied with the 1998 Act.
(ii) issue enforcement proceedings if she is satisfied that the data
controller has contravened one of the Data Protection Principles.
(iii) recommend that you apply to court alleging a failure to comply
with the subject access provisions of the 1998 Act.
Further information on individual rights is available, see paper entitled “Using the law to
protect your information”, which can be found @ https://www.dataprotection.gov.uk under Guidance &
other publications/sub heading your rights. More specialist information on access to credit
health social services, school pupils and local authority housing records is also available.

icefall

thankyou to tabs, kaznelson and davilsown for your advice! I am going to send the letter before action tomorrow for full charges.

:j

this to the bank, after all those years of worrying about the next charges to come, finally I feel like I am getting my own back.

and to Dchurch for starting it all, and his helpful advice throughout this thread that inspired me!