First Direct - (merged)

IntheMoneyIhope

Hi everyone,

Letter sent on January 8th to FD requesting charges of £1,401.50 plus interest of £343.47, giving a total of £1,743.97.

Reply recieved from FD on Jan 23rd offering £1192 "in full and final settlement".

I know I cannot legally claim the interest at this stage (and could get it back if it gets to court) but I'm cross that they they won't even pay back the full legitimate amount of my claim of £1,401.50.

Does anyone think it's worth continuing the claim i.e. if I write and tell them I'll accept the full amount of £1,401.50 and won't take them to court for the full amount with interest?

Any pointers gratefully received!! Thank you.

Rex_Mundi

IntheMoneyIhope wrote:

Does anyone think it's worth continuing the claim i.e. if I write and tell them I'll accept the full amount of £1,401.50 and won't take them to court for the full amount with interest?

Only you can decide. The offer you've had is 85%, this is not bad. The bank is allowed to charge enough to cover their costs in each of their charges, so legitimately, you are not fully entitled to £1401.50.

Although we don't normally recommend dealing on the phone, some people are getting increased offers by talking to the bank after an offer. It may be worth trying a call, and upping the settlement to maybe £1300??? This may or may not work.

IntheMoneyIhope

Thanks Rex_Mundi,

Sounds like it may be time to claim victory I think then. I'll take the money and get it paid into my Alliance & Leicester account quick!

As always, brilliant advice from everyone who contributes to these boards - I wouldn't have got this far without you, so HUGE thanks again!:T :T

williamh1

I've had a similar message from First Direct offering 84.9% of my claim (excluding interest) - £2.7k rather than £3.1k (exc. interest). I think I'm going to go for the larger amount and threaten court action unless they re-pay all the charges but drop a claim for interest - the interest was a bargaining tactic anyway, as far as I'm concerned.

Little_Legs_6

Letter received today from FD stating that they will courier me 6 years statements free of charge.

So far so good....

PollySW6

First Direct have closed my account because I went £50 over my overdraft limit BEFORE I have had a chance to make a claim. To get money from my account, I have to ring and make a special arrangements each time to collect cash from a branch. Meantime I have been asked to have my salary paid into another account. Anyone think its still worth sending a letter or do I have no chance now ? I did ask for help last year but they refused to stop the charges while I got back on my feet and its just got worse from there. What do you think ?

Edinburghlass_2

Have a read of the previous First Direct posts as they seem to make a reasonable offer fairly quickly.

Get another account set up for your salary now and then go for it.

PollySW6

I have an Abbey National savings account that I can have my salary paid into but if I try and open a Current Account, wont these problems with First Direct black list me from opening another account ?

nickmack

PollySW6 wrote:

I have an Abbey National savings account that I can have my salary paid into but if I try and open a Current Account, wont these problems with First Direct black list me from opening another account ?

You won't be 'blacklisted' as such, but depending on your credit rating and account requirements, you may not be able to open account with full facilities.

polly5

I am helping my son reclaim charges from First Direct, do I include DR INTEREST which has been added monthly on the months he was overdrawn