First Direct - (merged)

alisonjs

Sorry - posting again has haven't had any luck with replies

Question - my amount INCLUDING interest exceeds the maximum of £5000 I can claim through MCOL/small claims court.



I'm being really thick, I'm sorry.

In Martin's guide to the process he says:

Small claims in England and Wales are cases under £5,000, that’s before any statutory interest is added; those asking for more than that may want to consider lowering the asking amount (even if your earlier letters demanded more) to minimise the risk.

So does that mean that as the fees amount EXCLUDING interest is under £5k, I can go ahead and claim via MCOL and THEY will add on the interest if I win? I did notice from MCOL and the template text this site suggests you paste in, that you state that you're claiming the fee amount and hte interest, but that take me over the £5k limit.

Or should I just exclude a few fees off the end of the period to bring the total INCLUDING interest under the limit of £5000? I guess I can always claim for those in a seperate claim if I want to.

I'm sorry I'm being a total pain, I just want to get this right.

ategid

I have today sent a claim to FD for £1050 plus £45 interest. I have got say other than charges they have been a really good bank to deal with so I have also emailed them saying that I would accept £850 if it was settled quickly. It might work or I have dug a big hole!! We will see.

FUNNY-ABOUT-MUNNY

Please can someone help me. i didn't get any replies to this question before and its really bugging me.

can i claim for First Directs 'overdraft fee' as well as the 'excess overdraft fee'? if so, can i make a second claim for the overdraft fee (around £35 a time) even after i have had a successful claim for the Excess overdraft fees?

please can you reply or PM me if you know. thanks

thanks

Sally x

lmeehan67

FUNNY-ABOUT-MUNNY - yes you can claim for the overdraft fees. When you claimed the first time did you sign anything to say that the matter was finalised/settled or anything....if so i dont know if you could now go back and make another claim. If you didnt sign anything then i would say yes, go for it.

ategid

ategid wrote:

I have today sent a claim to FD for £1050 plus £45 interest. I have got say other than charges they have been a really good bank to deal with so I have also emailed them saying that I would accept £850 if it was settled quickly. It might work or I have dug a big hole!! We will see.

First response by email today. Stating that they would review the charges once they had recieved my letter.

getwhatsmine

Have just gone through 6 years worth of statements calculating charges to send with second letter. I am really shocked at the total amount....£2644.03.
What worries me is the difference in overdraft and excess overdraft charges from month to month.
In one month I was charged £35 O/D charge plus £95 excess O/D!! but on another month I was charged £35 O/D plus £75 excess O/D. Another time I was charged £30 plus £15. They seem to have plucked figures from the air!!!! Anyway, I would like to know if it's advisable to send this recorded/signed for?
Thanks.

alisonjs

getwhatsmine wrote:

Have just gone through 6 years worth of statements calculating charges to send with second letter. I am really shocked at the total amount....£2644.03.
What worries me is the difference in overdraft and excess overdraft charges from month to month.
In one month I was charged £35 O/D charge plus £95 excess O/D!! but on another month I was charged £35 O/D plus £75 excess O/D. Another time I was charged £30 plus £15. They seem to have plucked figures from the air!!!! Anyway, I would like to know if it's advisable to send this recorded/signed for?
Thanks.

As far as I understand it - and I'm a novice at this - the excess overdraft fee is related and equated to the amount you've been over your overdraft. IE if they've had to authorise a payment that took you over your overdraft by £500 the amount you'd be charged would be more than if they'd had to authorise a payment which took you only £50 over.

I might be wrong - but that's how I've understood it.

alisonjs

Hey - just an update - and thanks for all the help - although nobody actually replied to my last question

I've now submitted my MCOL claim. Let's see what happens....

steve_w

Hi all,

My situation is that I have a bank account and a loan with First Direct. I know there's a risk of them closing my my bank account, but
is there any risk of my loan being affected from reclaiming my bank charges?

They were the only one's that accepted me for my loan because I already had my bank account and credit card with them (I've closed my credit card account down now).

I do have another account with Nationwide but that's only recently been opened which I'm using for business. They haven't given me debit card facilities on that account yet as I'm self employed (since November) - they said wait 6 months and then we might be able to give that to you. I do need a debit card but if FD close my account down then I'm stuck - I don't know of any other banks that would give me the facilities as I've only recently gone self employed (and there's quite a few rejections on my credit history now). It'd be even worse if my loan gets affected but I can't see how it can.

I think I'd probably be owed a couple of hundred quid from the charges...if I can get it back and they keep my account open then great...if I get it back and they close my account then I think I'll be screwed. Is it worth it?

Cheers,
Steve

Edinburghlass_2

Have a read of other First Direct customers experiences as above. Your loan is a different agreement and provided the loan has been kept in good order it shouldn't be affected.