Help needed

classychick

I wonder if anyone can help.

we bought a caravan in germany 4 yrs ago when we lived there now back in englad but as we had a german loan we transfer money to our german back account every month to pay for it with out fail. i had a phone call this morning to say two gentlemen have come to england to take the caravan back as they have not recived payment for 6 months what a fright. so i rang the english back to make sure these payments have gone though and they have so i phoned the german bank to see if they have recived it there and they had so whats the problem. well the german bank did not tell us they had upgraded their system in july last year and our account no had changed but the money still went in but the direct debit that was paying the caravan stopped due to a number being added to our german account no. so now they have come to take our caravan away unless we pay the outstaning amount 12,200 euros which we have managed to find but they also want 3,300 euros for coming to the country to pick the caravan up which i can not pay as i stretched me self , but they are saying they although we can pay off the 12,200 euros they will still take the caravan if we dont pay the xtra 3.300 but all this is no fault of our own as its the banks fault for not letting us know they have added another digit to our account. cansomeone please help in what am i to do . i have spoken to the bank and they will not help in any way so at mo i am on tender hooks waiting for a knock on the door for then to take my pride away from me. is not that i cant pay for it as i have the money ready i just cant afforn to pay their airfare and hotel fees. what o i do :eek: :mad:

Little_Miss_Winner

well the german bank did not tell us they had upgraded their system in july last year and our account no had changed but the money still went in but the direct debit that was paying the caravan stopped due to a number being added to our german account no.

But surely that isn't your fault!

Britt

Your English Bank has confirmed money was paid to the German Bank, they have confirmed they received the money. It seems to me that the German Bank is totally at fault for not notifying you of the change to your account and the fact they had stopped the Direct Debit. Also the company you bought your caravan from should have notified you long ago that they were not receiving the Direct Debit payments, so they are at fault also.
Can you get your caravan moved to a safe place until this is sorted out, so that it cannot be taken away?
I am no expert in these matters, but if I were you, I would:
1. Go to the police, they may be able to advise you on where you stand.
2. Go to Citizens Advice ASAP, they may have a legal expert on European law who can help you.
3. Write a strong letter of complaint to the Chairman of the German Bank, they have been negligent, and they should be made liable for the extra charges the Caravan Company are claiming. If possible make sure you get some form of Recorded Delivery.
4. Keep records of all the telephone calls you make to the German Bank on this subject. Have you retained all your English and German Bank Statements, you will probably need them to prove your case?
I wish you the best of luck, don't give up.

classychick

thanks for the replys
yes kept all info going to cCA tomorrow to see what they can do
caravan in a safe place as not told them where it is. This is the banks fault i know but its just letting them know that as they think they are not wrong . typical but will persu all avenues untill satified thanks for the replys

jobbingmusician

There are a few more questions to be answered here, as well. Analysing the problem, the real issue is that they want 3300 euros for coming to this country. But why did they do this, without writing to you or notifying you of the problem in any way? Clearly the problem is NOT that you don't have the money to repay the loan - presumably this is still sitting in your German bank account, not having been transferred. It's only this 3300 euros which is the issue. This charge could so easily have been avoided, no matter how much your German bank screwed up, by the company writing to you and informing you that payments were not being made. It is totally outrageous that their first approach to you is to turn up on your doorstep - sounds like a scam to me!

bikerqueen

did you give the German bank your new address? Did the caravan compay have your new address?

classychick

yes the german bank had our new address it was a direct debit going out of the german account as a digit changed on our account when they changed their banking system and failed to notifie us of the change of acc no.