Reclaim Unfair Bank Charges article discussion Part II

bubbles_darling

hi every1

wonder if u cud help me u lot. Got QA (copy) form back from natwest solicitors saying that i havent shown reasonable grounds for bringing the claim.. and the lack of particulars of claim within 14 days, that i ave failed to do so (which is a lie i sent off a list of charges to them). the defendant therefore request that the claim be struck out..
sorry to ramble on but do i do anything or sit back and wait for a court date. They sent this letter 4 june so got only a few days left if i ave to send anything...

many thanks B xxxxxxxxxxxx

crazyworld_2

IZZY01 wrote: »

Hi cyberman,
As you can see from my post above, I was told that they did not have the facilities to do this. ie. provide a breakdown. As I am going through the FOS, should I put what you said regarding the charges being unlawful on my notes to the FOS
Regards Izzy

Hi Izzy, obviously i'm not cyberman, so can't speak for them, but when I spoke to someone yesterday from the Ombudsman they said they would look very seriously at issues relating to fairness and the excessive nature of charges.

Personally, on the part of the ombudsman's form where it says "please give us any more details" I will write something along the lines of the banking code stating that the Nationwide should behave in a fair and transparent manner in its dealings.

Then go on to say that the fact that their template computer generated refusal letters responding to complaints are not adequate, they do not specifically address any of my own concerns in relation to their breach of the unfair terms in consumer contracts regulations 1999 and they do not attempt to be fair and transparent in detailing how their penalty charges are proprtionate to their costs, merely spilling out phrases such as "Only in exception circumstances do we refund charges" and so on...

The regulations as far as i'm aware state that where a contract has not been individually negotiatied (banks terms and conditions could never be classed as individually negotiated, they're just template terms), and gives the supplier a disproportionate advantage over the consumer (i'd say that the banks attempting to levy disproportionate charges on customers definitely gives them an unfair advantage) the terms of the contract are unenforceable under the law.

In that context, the charges I believe cannot, and should not be imposed, if the bank wishes to argue that you should pay at least some charge, then you could write on that section also that you'd welcome a full accounting of how the bank has arrived at the figure for each charge, as any attempt to take away your rights as a consumer would be a further attempt to apply unfair terms to your contract. You could then say however, should they wish to fully disclose their charging structure, you would welcome a fair settlement based on the real costs of processing the breach of contract, as you cannot agree to another party acting unlawfully.

Please don't just use the above though, and take a look through all the available arguments, these are just my own thoughts at present as i'm in the process of drafting out what i'll be writing in the form.

However you word it, best of luck to you, and everyone else getting your money back.

Sorry, just an extra bit you could also say that your bank hasn't been fair and transparent in that it hasn't explained to you adequately how they can apply charges to your account when you have gone over your agreed overdraft limit. Exactly what system is in place which allows them to manage your account in a way which permits your account to exceed its overdraft limit?

This also seems to be a cynical move to claw back more charges. Perhaps the bank would like to explain exactly how this allows them to maintain that they are in compliance to the part of the banking code which states that you should be able to enjoy secure and reliable banking and payment systems you can trust. How can you trust a system which allows you to exceed an overdraft limit when you have not agreed to that? That is another unfair advantage to the supplier over the consumer in my humble opinion.

cyberman_3

IZZY01 wrote: »

Hi cyberman,
As you can see from my post above, I was told that they did not have the facilities to do this. ie. provide a breakdown. As I am going through the FOS, should I put what you said regarding the charges being unlawful on my notes to the FOS
Regards Izzy

I agree with crazyworld, regardless if it's business or personal, if the charges contravene the law, you have a claim. Keep asking them to provide a full breakdown of the charges

cazemle32

grayclose31 wrote: »

Carry on take it all the way and you will get what your due.

a friend has told me that i can take the money they offered as part payment and to carry on with the court to claim the rest, but in the letter that the bank sent me they stated that "on this occasion and without any admissions of liability i am willing to offer £1487.00 towards the total amount you are seeking. This is with the cost and inconvenience inhereht in a futher dispute in mind and is intended as a good will gusture, in full and final settlementof your complaint....... i need a template letter to send to them stating that's what i am doing................. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

grayclose31

As far as i am aware not many have done this and i think that the ones that have had the offer put in their accounts without accepting it. I am not aware of any template for this situation but i wrote my own and did not get any more money offered. As they state accepting would be full and final.

I was tempted but read the sucsess storys for inspiration.

I am into Barclays for £8k and today they have defended my claim. Ah well on with the delay but i will get what i need. Their offer of £2k was a slap in the face as far as i was concerned.

PM me if wou want to see a copy of the letter that i sent (without any joy).

cazemle32 wrote: »

a friend has told me that i can take the money they offered as part payment and to carry on with the court to claim the rest, but in the letter that the bank sent me they stated that "on this occasion and without any admissions of liability i am willing to offer £1487.00 towards the total amount you are seeking. This is with the cost and inconvenience inhereht in a futher dispute in mind and is intended as a good will gusture, in full and final settlementof your complaint....... i need a template letter to send to them stating that's what i am doing................. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Simon7685

Posted this earlier today, can anyone offer any advice?
Thanks

Hi Everyone

I can't believe how quiet it is on here at the moment! Anyway to get to the point, I received the letter from MCOL stating my case had been transferred to my local CC and the AQ dispensed with. Rang the local CC a couple of weeks ago and they said case went to the district judge on 18th May.

Still no news or date through the post or anything, time goes by and I've started thinking as you do.......

When I claimed through MCOL, I did so online. I entered the appropriate words got from the help sections in the POC box, pressed the button paid my money and off we went.......I did not send any info or supporting documents or anything else in addition, the help threads said to wait for the AQ, to elaborate on the POC etc. As a result of the AQ being dispensed with I hav'nt sent anything to anyone, so the district judge sits there assesing the case with the banks defence papers and nothing from me! I have to admit that this worries me, do I sit and wait for the CC to contact me or should I have forwarded something even if it is only the schedule of charges?

If anyone can help put my mind at rest or tell me I've screwed up somewhere then please do so before this whole thing consumes me all together!

Thanks in advance
Simon (the worrier)

pjnobbyR

pjnobbyR wrote: »

:beer: good news bank payed up today after three months not bad i thought,Lloyds tsb payed me the lot i clamed for ,it went as far as they was going to put up a defence in court and then to day had letter telling me they payed the outstanding sum in to my account. for all that are still trying stick with it you will come out on top????

only you can paddle your canoe

Twinkly

Simon7685 wrote: »

Posted this earlier today, can anyone offer any advice?
Thanks

Hi Everyone

I can't believe how quiet it is on here at the moment! Anyway to get to the point, I received the letter from MCOL stating my case had been transferred to my local CC and the AQ dispensed with. Rang the local CC a couple of weeks ago and they said case went to the district judge on 18th May.

Still no news or date through the post or anything, time goes by and I've started thinking as you do.......

When I claimed through MCOL, I did so online. I entered the appropriate words got from the help sections in the POC box, pressed the button paid my money and off we went.......I did not send any info or supporting documents or anything else in addition, the help threads said to wait for the AQ, to elaborate on the POC etc. As a result of the AQ being dispensed with I hav'nt sent anything to anyone, so the district judge sits there assesing the case with the banks defence papers and nothing from me! I have to admit that this worries me, do I sit and wait for the CC to contact me or should I have forwarded something even if it is only the schedule of charges?

If anyone can help put my mind at rest or tell me I've screwed up somewhere then please do so before this whole thing consumes me all together!

Thanks in advance
Simon (the worrier)

If and when the court require any input from you they will contact you. There is the possibility that your local court has a backlog of these claims to deal with and they are going to get around to you eventually, dont worry. To ease your mind further I'd suggest that you ring the court tomorrow and find out what is happening with your particular case. Good luck

Balletshoes1

I believe the 14 days relates to working days ie 5 or 4 in the case of a public holiday

Simon7685

Thanks Twinkly

Nice to get some reassurance. I did hear that claims submitted with no schedule were being struck out which un nerved me a bit more, have you ever heard of this?
It baffles me how that could be, there is no way to do it when submitting online and no inference that you should forward one in addition!!
Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks again
Simon