Reclaim Unfair Bank Charges Discussion Area

megscaits

Can anyone tell me if I have messed up with my claim. I have just submitted my court papers with Money Claim but I have put a different amount in the particulars of claim to the amount I am actually claiming. I have added charges for this month on the total amount but not in the particulars. Will I get the chance to change this.

Twinkly

geoff1057 wrote: »

Thanks Twinkly ,,,, Daughter rang Barclays and complained strongly ,at first they said they could only cancel Additions account , but no refund , after more complaining they said that they would refund 6 months charges ,still livid my daughter refused said that she wanted the whole amount back ( circa £250 ) or she would take it further,they are ringing her back before Wednesday if they dont budge anymore,what next????????

Well...hopefully they will settle the full amount and if they dont she can complain to the Financial Ombudsman on the grounds the account was missold.

However, if they give her unwarranted stress over this matter and she is forced to fight further I've just been looking at the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations (the regulations that reclaiming default charges is based on) and have found the following points that I think may apply in claim through the small claims system. I think they can at least be quoted in a letter to Barclays as arguement for refund and leave it to them to deny the points and give explanation for their actions. Purple bits are my comments and interpretation of the points.

SCHEDULE 3

Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts

1. Terms which have the object or effect of:


( b ) inappropriately excluding or limiting the legal rights of the consumer vis-a-vis the seller or supplier or another party in the event of total or partial non-performance or inadequate performance by the seller or supplier of any of the contractual obligations, including the option of offsetting a debt owed to the seller or supplier against any claim which the consumer may have against him;

Total Inadequate performance in selling the account without her prior knowledge and taking charges for same.

( c ) making an agreement binding on the consumer whereas provision of services by the seller or supplier is subject to a condition whose realization depends on his own will alone;

Refusing to refund all charges even though she didnt even know she had to pay charges related to the account.

( f ) authorizing the seller or supplier to dissolve the contract on a discretionary basis where the same facility is not granted to the consumer, or permitting the seller or supplier to retain the sums paid for services not yet supplied by him where it is the seller or supplier himself who dissolves the contract;

Allowing them to end the account on their terms but
not her and so disallowing full refund.

( i ) irrevocably binding the consumer to terms with which he had no real opportunity of becoming acquainted before the conclusion of the contract;

Or even become aware of the beginning of the contract stating she had to pay a fee per month !

( o ) obliging the consumer to fulfil all his obligations where the seller or supplier does not perform his;

Retaining some of the charges she paid. They were obligated to advise she had to pay a fee per month for this account and failed to do so. She should not be held responsible and penalised for it.

( q ) excluding or hindering the consumer's right to take legal action or exercise any other legal remedy, particularly by requiring the consumer to take disputes exclusively to arbitration not covered by legal provisions, unduly restricting the evidence available to him or imposing on him a burden of proof which, according to the applicable law, should lie with another party to the contract.

If they flat out refuse to refund the full amount under threat of court action and suggest remedy through the Ombudsman (which is still a valid choice but hers alone not theirs ) and requiring her to prove that she had no knowledge of the fees charged on the account. They need to prove she did, not the other way around.

This is merely my interpretation of the terms of these regulations and I strongly suggest you seek at least a 2nd opinion - which may well be given by someone else after I post this.

£250 is a lot of money to lose, it was taken without her knowledge or agreement to the account and I wish her the best of luck in rightfully getting this back

geoff1057

Thanks very much ,excellent information, seems she has a good case for mis selling, i will keep you posted on the situation ,thanks again Geoff1057 :beer: a second opinion would be greatly appreciated, if anyone could oblige

Twinkly

skywatching wrote: »

Hi, I hope I'm writing this in the correct category. My question is a complicated one. At the beginning of December last year I requested my six years statements/charges details. Two weeks later they wrote and said there was a charge for this of £5 which we went down and paid on the 20th. A couple of weeks later when we enquired about the charges/statements we were told we couldn't get them because we hadn't paid for them. We took the reciept to our branch to show them and they explained there was a mix up because we'd paid this with cash, not to worry our 6 years' statements were on the way. We eventually got them at the beginning of February. We counted the charges, added the interest and sent the letter off. I had a phone call two days ago and a confirming letter today with an offer of all the charges going back to 6th February 6 years ago, minus the interest. This comes to £306. i.e. Six years back from the date they recieved our letter. Should I argue the point that if they'd sent us the charge details a bit sooner, with none of their mix-up about if/when we'd paid the £5 that we'd also be able to claim the charges we got in December six years ago which are over £75? After all, it was their mistakes that caused the delay in the first place and the mix-up cost us a month longer in waiting for our details. I should add that we requested details from our other bank account at the same time and we're still waiting for the statements for that. They sent us 144 pages of statements from that account going back only one year and said the rest would follow. We now have an unbelievable 5 piles of identical statements for that account which only cover Dec 2005 to Dec 2006. They've even apologised and refunded the fiver for that one because of the mistakes and I'm still waiting for the full 6 years details.

My opinion would be yes and they will try to argue it is out of time as regards the Statute of Limitations Act. You can respond to this with:

Using section 32 (c) to counterclaim and state :
(1) .... where in the case of any action for which a period of limitation is prescribed by this Act, either-
(a) the action is based upon the fraud of the defendant; or
(b) any fact relevant to the plaintiff's right of action has been deliberately concealed from him by the defendant; or
(c) the action is for relief from the consequences of a mistake;
the period of limitation shall not begin to run until the plaintiff has discovered the fraud, concealment or mistake (as the case may be) or could with reasonable diligence have discovered it. ....


Namely (c) whereby they made the mistake of not realising you had paid for the statements at the time and neglected to send them and you did not know until you enquired as to where on earth your statements had got to.

Good luck

Twinkly

jarofnothing wrote: »

Does anybody know how mouch more I would have to pay if a court date has to be set ?please!! The money claim online has already cost £80

Please see post #4175 made two above you at #4173 by Edinburghlass and if you press the thanks button on my post press hers too

In exact relation to your case however Acknowledgment of Service does not neccessarily mean they will defend it just gives more time for them to file a defence. Effectively it delays things if they have no intention of filing defence and serves to intimidate the claimant.

Relax for now until a defence is filed. From then the Allocation Questionnaire fee is £100 for claims over £1500. If you are on certain benefits you can apply for exemption of costs.

Good luck

sophs1806

I have just taken out a loan for £3500 from my bank Lloyds. They have charged me outrageously over the years and am owed hundreds. I am worried if they try to close my account. My credit rating isnt horrendous but i'm not sure ill get a loan elsewhere to cover it?? is it worth it and will they try to close my account. I;m a student and lloyds wont even give me a student account

maxinex

Rich66 wrote: »

Bank; Halifax
Amt Claimed £1991
Amt received back £1750

My Story: after getting the data protection stuff back (twice!) I sent off my first letter by recorded delivery, to which I got no reply, so sent the second by Special Delivery. Yesterday 2 days before due to file at court I got an offer of £1205. This fell short of an amount I was willing to accept as settlement and so rang the telephone number on the letter, and negotiated the new amount of £1750 over the phone. Just actually waiting for the money to go into the account now (up to 14 days)
Thanks for the advice and site Martin, the money will go to pay off other debts built up because of charges.

If you have to sign acceptance form, send it back by recorded delivery, I was promised 14 days and still waiting, they say it is because of the backlog of paperwork, but they first tried to say hadn't received form etc, so they are stalling.

Twinkly

geoff1057 wrote: »

Thanks very much ,excellent information, seems she has a good case for mis selling, i will keep you posted on the situation ,thanks again Geoff1057 :beer: a second opinion would be greatly appreciated, if anyone could oblige

You're very welcome. Lets hope it doesnt come to a fight but perhaps a visit to the CAB with a list of the points might help too ? Or one of those half hour free sessions with a solicitor ? Just a thought

Natalieee_2

sophs1806 wrote: »

I have just taken out a loan for £3500 from my bank Lloyds. They have charged me outrageously over the years and am owed hundreds. I am worried if they try to close my account. My credit rating isnt horrendous but i'm not sure ill get a loan elsewhere to cover it?? is it worth it and will they try to close my account. I;m a student and lloyds wont even give me a student account

Not Sure I Understand?!

But If Your Worried About Them Demanding You Pay Your Loan Off They Cant Do That .. The Loan Is A Seperate Agreement ..

Funny How They Wont Give You A Student Account But Will Give You A Loan WHICH THEY WILL MAKE MONEY ON!!

You Should Try And Get An Account Elsewhere!! I Had Awful Credit Rating Afta The HSBC Fiasco (I Closed That Account Before I Did This Re-claiming, About A Year Ago I Closed It) And Natwest Still Took Me On x

Twinkly

sophs1806 wrote: »

I have just taken out a loan for £3500 from my bank Lloyds. They have charged me outrageously over the years and am owed hundreds. I am worried if they try to close my account. My credit rating isnt horrendous but i'm not sure ill get a loan elsewhere to cover it?? is it worth it and will they try to close my account. I;m a student and lloyds wont even give me a student account

I'd advise looking around for another bank account in this case as they might do. This action is subject to complaint to the Financial Ombudsman for which you may be able to claim £200 compensation.

The loan is a seperate agreement and theoretically shouldnt be touched but in the event that they do try this:

As for getting a loan to cover the loan I would strongly advise against borrowing to cover it, unless the new loan is at a lower rate of interest and it would benefit you to do so.

If the loan is offically recalled it would be in retaliation for reclaiming charges. Complain to the Financial Ombudsman about this and any issue surrounding their taking the refund against the loan.

Please see here for some information on this:

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/40/40_setoff.htm

If the loan is not in arrears and they try to offset the refund against it there are conditions to their Right To Set Off that will apply. Namely that loan must be due and payable. If it is paid by instalments an instalment must be due for them to take it and not the entire loan. They can only take the refund against it if in arrears or they officially recall the loan.

As regards payment of the loan after recall you retain the same rights as a debtor as usual with payments calculated on your income and outgoings. They can demand full payment but they cannot expect it and the upshot will probably be that even if they recall they will still receive the same payment as before, so there's little point in doing so.

That was a bit long winded and I hope it explained things clearly and helped you make a decision. Dont be scared there are things you can do to fight back if they 'play dirty'. I would strongly advise you get a 2nd opinion on this and further advice as each case is different and personal circumstances differ. The Financial Ombudsmans opinion is the only one that counts in the end after complaint is made.

Good luck