Alliance & Leicester (merged)

malestrom07

This is a tricky one, if you do nothing the bank may prosecute you through the county court, you could defend any claim on the basis that it should be set aside or thrown out.

However any judgment will be handed down within current legislation. And you'd incur costs and further credit file damage. You could try and have the charges waived but I can't see the bank doing this as it would certainly indicate that they know the test case will prove the banks are wrong. Why would they go to court to defend charges that they are prepared to waive.

Offer them an affordable monthly payment, say £10.00 per month and buy your self some time before the test case. Good lucj

Imperial-Dan_2

Hi all,
im very new to this and just can't get my head around it all!
I wrote to my bank (Alliance & Leicester) using the template letter asking for my charges back and received there reply today (16th oct 2007) basically sayng what i already know that they wont be doing anything until this test case is resolved but im being told by many people that i should still proceed to the next step in relcaiming my charges, is this true or should i do what Alliance & Leicester say and just wait to see the out come to the test case? Also i have been unable to work through disability for 10 years now and i did include in the letter that the Social Security Administration Act 1992, says that banks must not take charges from benefits as this money is needed for a person to live on, does this help my claim anymore?

Any advise would be great, many thanks

pjness

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I have an appeal hearing on the 8 Nov its like starting all over again has anyone had a win or got any information on this

Tim_L

Just wanting to understand the scheme of charges. Am I right in thinking that for a single transgression at A&L you get two charges, i.e. a "paid item charge" and an "unauthorised overdraft charge" applied later?

Went into the red accidentally for 24 hours for a small amount. It does sound like A&L are absolutely taking the p1ss here, even by bank standards.

Jed_Exodus

Got a statement from A&L today explaining that they're changing their charges, the new charges will be as follows.

The Authorised Overdraft fee is changing to 50p per day, capped at 10 days per month, maximum monthly charge is £5)

Unathorised Overdraft Fee is changing to £5 for each day that you exceed your overdraft (doesn't say this is capped at all)

Failed Transaction Fee and Paid Item Fee is now £25 for both.

They will no longer charge you interest for being overdrawn.

If you have an unathorised overdraft for a while it could prove costly, but if you check your balance regularly it would be better. Being overdrawn for one day will only cost a fiver instead of £25.

kcmatt79

ARGH! They've done it to us again! Can't believe it. Is there any point complaining?

kcmatt79

Had £84 deducted this month because of their "debit before credit" system. Rang twice, spoke to two different people. Partner had about 20 minute conversation with them and they are downright refusing to refund because of the test case. No way, Jose.!!!!!!.

maytaurus

This post is a bit long..(understatement ) :eek:
I opened a new account with Alliance & Leicester after looking @ BEST bank accounts on MSE
I have had nothing but problems with them :mad:
mY FIRSTCARD DIDN'T ARRIVE SO THEY HAD TO CANCEL IT AND SEND ANOTHER ONE OUT RECORDED DELIVERY......
They ASSURED me that all my direct debits would be transferred from my existing account,sent me list of them and I thought everything was ok,
until the letters started arriving saying my dd's had been cancelled and payments were needed
so far this has cost me a £20 charge with Egg credit card
I have lost my discount with Npower dual fuel £80
as I had to contact everyone and sort out the dd's myself as Alliance & Leicester hadn't done it and npower say dd's were cancelled so new dd's will have to be in place 12 months to get my discount :mad:
After setting up new dd's I was charged £34 THREE TIMES IN ONE DAY :mad:
for none payment of dd's when there was £ in the account
STILL CAN'T FIND OUT WHY THEY WEREN'T PAID!!!
I looked on my internet account which said there were no dd's set up on my account and I couldn't understand the information re; acc & debit before credit system so....
I went into branch and explained what had been happening.They looked at the info they had and said they couldn't understand why the payments hadn't been made as the could see there was £ in the account.
I said I needed to find out if dd's were now set up and when they would be taken?
I was told they can't access any info unless it's for items already gone through account and that I would need to contact telephone banking.
They also told me that I shouldn't have ANY charges as it is a new account
(I was told when I opened it that no charges would be made in the switching process)
I rang telephone banking and the automatic service said it didn't recognise my security pin number ,so I pressed 9 to speak to someone and when I asked if they wanted my account details,they said they already had them as I'd come through on the telephone banking and that my security and pin number had been accepted and there was no problem with it so they didn't know why I'd been told there was :mad:
I explained the situation again and was told that the charges were correct because of the debit before credit system so....
I would have to contact customer services and ask to speak to the switching team if I wanted to discuss the matter further ......
THIS IS THE STORY SO FAR
THE ACCOUNT HAS ONLY BEEN OPEN 6 WEEKS
& has already cost me £134
so much for saving money l-o-l :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: I don't know whether to laugh or cry

No matter how bad things get, you got to go on living, even if it kills you............

The cost of living's going up, and the chance of living's going down

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Jed_Exodus

I opened an A&L account after advice from this site, switched from Abbey. Had the same problems with direct debits not being paid and therefore cancelled, then having to set them up myself and pay by debit card. Have wrote and complained about this and still recieve letters saying they haven't had a chance to sort out my complaint yet. Fortunately it never cost me any money.

Their explaination for it is that they can't let money be taken by direct debit until it's been set up for 5 days, so why change direct debits that are due within 5 days, why not just leave them until they've gone from the old account, then move them. All other companies, including Abbey (who I have my mortgage with) told me they've never heard of this 5 day rule. But to A&L's credit they constantly told me that any charges I incurr from other companies because of this will be refunded by them.

Other problem with them is that I have 3 bank acounts with them, same as I did at Abbey, and transferring between them online takes 2 working days, whereas at Abbey it was instant. Will probably leave my account's there until the 0% overdraft runs out then move on.

guidel

Perfect letter,

I have sent that letter to Barclays who I reckon own me loads and by surprise or not really, after 3 weeks, my account was closed down?! I was £1oo overdrawn since 8 months due to unfair charges. However, it save me doing it, my only question now is to whether I should carry on with the process and reclaim my money for the last 6 years they over charged me.....I am now with HSBC and doing well. So far so good, trust deed will soon be over!! Thank you MoneySavingExpert!!!!!

Rex_Mundi wrote: »

I had this situation with one DPA request and Natwest. This is the body of the letter I sent as soon as the 40 day time limit was up. The letter was sent registered post to arrive the next day. Two days after sending the letter, Natwest were on the phone saying that the statements are on their way. They arrived another two days later. Fill in your details where needed, this should get A&L moving.

(text of letter)................

ACCOUNT NUMBER XXXXXXXX

I sent a letter and £10 cheque on the [insert date of first request] requesting six years of bank statements as is my right under the Data Protection Act. I have been expecting copies of my statements within the 40 days stipulated under the D.P.A. As yet I have not received any correspondence from you.
By not supplying the information I requested, you have breached my rights under the D.P.A. You leave me with no alternative that if I do not receive copies of my bank statements within the next seven days, I will forward copies of my requests to the Information Commissioner.

I look forward to your timely response.

Find enclosed a copy of my original letter.