Bank Charges - illegal?

Marisan

Having followed this thread with great interest,I have just written to GE Money (formerly (GE Capital Bank). I have a storecard account with them and have had numerous "administration fees" added for late payments (£15 each time.)I actually cut up the card about a year ago,so there has been no spending on the account,but with these charges,the very high interest rate and PPI the balance is increasing.At the moment I am making the minimum payments but seem to be making no headway.

I have written to them before but they didn't want to know,so I'm not holding my breath,but thought it worth a shot.I will post their response here.

As an aside,I was signed up for this card instore a few Christmasses ago when I was shopping (it was Bhs) as I fell for the offer of an instant discount on the stuff I was buying there and then.Okay,nobody forced me,but looking back it seems a bit naughty to entice people this way.

inmypocketnottheirs

Marisan wrote:

I have written to them before but they didn't want to know,so I'm not holding my breath,but thought it worth a shot.I will post their response here.

If they don't respond within 7 days, take tempest42's advice above. Write to them claiming the figure they have charged, give them 7 days notice to pay up, head the letter something like 'Final Demand Before Action' and if they don't pay up commence proceedings via https://www.moneyclaim.co.uk. Also keep copies of all your correspondence.

Good Luck!

dchurch24

https://www.moneyclaim.GOV.uk

;-)

exil

tempest42 wrote:

Corrr did this one have me thinking

Penalty fines - suppose this means motoring fines - cloudy on this as the motorist is the target of the goverment now, how else are they going to get all the money they are going to lose through tobacco and alcohol revenue

I mean penalty FARES. If you get on a train without a ticket, you
can be charged £10 or £20 plus the cost of the ticket. This is clearly "punitive", and the train co. are not charging you with fraud
so it's not an actual fine.

Motoring (parking, speeding) fines are of course penalties for committing traffic offences, so are a different thing altogether.

The Congestion Charge, might, however, come into this category of
a disguised "penalty".

Clamping - I do take on board what has been said - but if I park on your driveway - don't you have a right to remove my car and charge me for doing so?

---

If a "punitive" charge is illegal, what about

- library fines
- penalty fares
- charges for releasing clamped cars[/QUOTE]

dchurch24

exil wrote:

Clamping - I do take on board what has been said - but if I park on your driveway - don't you have a right to remove my car and charge me for doing so?

You have a right to call the council and report a dumped vehicle, then that govt. agency can impose a fine and/or remove it.

The Congestion Charge, might, however, come into this category of
a disguised "penalty".

Again, sadly, the fine/charge etc... is imposed by a Govt. appointed agency, so doesn't count.

I mean penalty FARES. If you get on a train without a ticket, you
can be charged £10 or £20 plus the cost of the ticket. This is clearly "punitive", and the train co. are not charging you with fraud
so it's not an actual fine.

But you didn't sign a contract with them, so there is no breach of contract, therefore no penalty for a breach of contract. They are merely charging for an extra service - in this case, collecting money for a ticket whilst on the train rather than at a ticket desk.

pink_fairy_5

I have finally recieved a reply from abbey to my 'your charges are punitive, pay within seven days or legal action will be taken letter'

It basically says that the charges are valid, they wont be refunded and if i write to them again they wont reply.

these charges have caused a huge unauthorised overdraft as i am refusing to pay them, som more charges are being added all the time.

Along with this letter i recieved a debt collection letter from abbey demanding full payment. it also says that once paid they will cose the account.

I was so mad i got staright onto moneyclaim and started filling out the details.

Could anyone who has been through this please advise me on the best wording for 'particulars of cliam' do i keep it short and to the point and go with punitive charges or go into full detail.

Any advise much appreciated x

:wall:

dchurch24

“The claimant held a current account (insert number) with the defendant since before (insert date), until (insert date).
Between (insert first date) and (insert last date), the defendant made various deductions from the account in respect of: ‘unauthorised overdraft fees’ (levied daily/ monthly when the account debit balance exceeded the specified overdraft limit) and ‘debit under advice’ (levied if a cheque or direct debit payment was returned unpaid because the specified overdraft limit had been exceeded)1.
If the defendant is able to establish that the contract between the claimant and the defendant did contain terms purporting to entitle the defendant to levy these charges, the claimant will contend that they are unenforceable at common law, being penalty clauses rather than being liquidated damages clauses.
The claimant claims from the defendant a sum equivalent to the total amount unlawfully debited to the claimant’s account during the above mentioned period, being (insert total amount of all disputed charges).
The claimant further claims interest pursuant to s69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% per annum, being the sum of (insert amount).
The claimant further claims the court fee of (insert amount).”

It does fit into the amount you are allowed - just, you have to take out all line breaked and spaces after full stops - but it can be done!!

Also, go to https://www.bankactiongroup.com - there are lots of people who have had dealings with Abbey (including me) who can talk you through exactly what they weill do next.

homer_j_3

I have just written off to MBNA re my visa card to request the last 6 years statements as I have received quite a few of these late payment fees over the years due to the fact that I dont have a dd setup to pay this account.

Following my letter, I have received a letter saying that they have received my request for a data subject access and will get back to me within the next 40 days. Within 40 mins of opening the letter, I receive a telephone call from MBNA's compliance department to say that they want to clarify what information I want. I just said that I needed copies of statements from the last 6 years and advice of interest rates charged if possible.

We did quote the Durant case, both in letter and on the phone and they stated that they have checked with their legal department and we have no rights to these free through this method. When we queried this they said that it is because they have already sent these free of charge under the consumer credit act. She did skirt around this and then we said that we wanted a list of all late charges, over the limit charges and any other charges that may have been incurred other than the normal interest we would expect.

At this point she said she would look into this and get back to us. She didn't advise how or when but I get the feeling that they are receiving quite a lot of these requests and getting a bit defensive about them.

Any advice on what action we should take, if any???????

dchurch24

Phone them back and give them a tenner - it's the most they can charge.

You ARE entitled to this information under the DPA - tell them that you will report them straight away to the information commissioner if they refuse; then do so.

That will make them wake up.

homer_j_3

we have paid them the required £10