Reclaim Unfair Bank Charges article discussion Part II

cyberman_3

202rosalind wrote: »

My bank has submitted a defence against my claim and has asked for lots of extra information from me. The question I can't answer is "what part of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999 am I claiming under".
Can anybody help me please? Ros.

It's a silly stalling tactic, they know full well what you are talking about


The law is plain: any charges banks levy on their customers must be proportional to the actual costs.

Clearly £!!! is not proportional to your costs and therefore I request you provide me with a complete breakdown of how you arrive at £!!!!

Answer their question with your question, they will understand where you are coming from !

donna24

The letter from the court seems to suggest that the deffence was filed on time but not logged, on the mcol site. i have just looked at the copy of their defence and it was signed on the 30th may, it was served on the 6th may so they had till the 21st to file a defence so is this wrong??

jayneg_2

I know its a stressful time for everyone claiming their own money back so thought I would copy this email in my sister sent me yesterday - wont help with the claims but might lighten your mood a little - gave me a giggle anyway - apparently it was in a recent edition of the Times newspaper - here goes.......

A 98 year old woman wrote this to her bank. The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the Times.





Dear Sir,

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my cheque with which I endeavoured to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, three 'nanoseconds' must have elapsed between his presenting the cheque and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honour it. I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my Pension, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only eight years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account £30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank. My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally attend to your telephone calls and letters, when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become.

From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person. My mortgage and loan payments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank by cheque, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate.

Be aware that it is an offence under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope. Please find attached an Application Contact Status which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative. Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Solicitor, and the mandatory details of his/ her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof. In due course, I will issue your employee with a PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modelled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service.

As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Let me level the playing field even further. When you call me, press buttons as follows:

1-- To make an appointment to see me.
2-- To query a missing payment.
3-- To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
4-- To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.
5-- To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to Nature.
6-- To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.
7-- To leave a message on my computer (a password to access my computer is required. A password will be communicated to you at a later date to the Authorized Contact.)
8-- To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through 8
9-- To make a general complaint or inquiry, the contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated Answering service. While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration Of the call.

Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement.

May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous, New Year.

Your Humble Client






Remember: This was written by a 98 year old woman

lindilou39

Just noticed something on LLoyds defence let me quote:

when you use an agreed monthly overdraft there is no monthly fee...right so how come they where charging an overdraft 'Usage' fee then in the years of 2001-2002??

Lin

amandarose1963

Hello all. I've posted here before, but have been in Lurk mode and am de-lurking today, as I finally have an offer from Natwest. I have never had a reply from them before and I started the ball rolling last December!! I sent them the final letter (template from this site) over a month ago and was about to take it through the small claims court! I am unsure if I should sign the acceptance form, because it is basically saying that if we sign and accept their offer of £501 (that's the lower figure - with interest it's actually £650) then we are saying we will accept all charges and conditions that they may decide to throw at us in the future! They say that the £501 will be credited to our account, but we have a £2000 overdraft and we are not sure if they will reduce our overdraft to £1499, or let us keep our £2000 limit. They make no mention of this in their correspondence. If anyone needs me to type out the full letter, just shout me, but I guess it's a bog standard one anyway! Any advice you can give will help us to make the right decision! We are not entirely sure what we are accepting if we sign the form. It could be a death warrant for all we know!!:rotfl:
Many thanks indeed! Amanda

lindilou39

jayneg wrote: »

I know its a stressful time for everyone claiming their own money back so thought I would copy this email in my sister sent me yesterday - wont help with the claims but might lighten your mood a little - gave me a giggle anyway - apparently it was in a recent edition of the Times newspaper - here goes.......

A 98 year old woman wrote this to her bank. The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the Times.





Dear Sir,

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my cheque with which I endeavoured to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, three 'nanoseconds' must have elapsed between his presenting the cheque and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honour it. I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my Pension, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only eight years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account £30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank. My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally attend to your telephone calls and letters, when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become.

From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person. My mortgage and loan payments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank by cheque, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate.

Be aware that it is an offence under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope. Please find attached an Application Contact Status which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative. Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Solicitor, and the mandatory details of his/ her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof. In due course, I will issue your employee with a PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modelled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service.

As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Let me level the playing field even further. When you call me, press buttons as follows:

1-- To make an appointment to see me.
2-- To query a missing payment.
3-- To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
4-- To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.
5-- To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to Nature.
6-- To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.
7-- To leave a message on my computer (a password to access my computer is required. A password will be communicated to you at a later date to the Authorized Contact.)
8-- To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through 8
9-- To make a general complaint or inquiry, the contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated Answering service. While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration Of the call.

Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement.

May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous, New Year.

Your Humble Client






Remember: This was written by a 98 year old woman

Brill made me laugh, god bless her she has more brains than us lot put together.

cyberman_3

lindilou39 wrote: »

Brill made me laugh, god bless her she has more brains than us lot put together.

Super letter .... it's not our brains we need to worry about, the staff in the banks seem to be brain dead

Anfield1974

please be gentle with me first post.
i am after some advice if anyone can help. have started the process of reclaiming my bank charges against the abbey i have followed the first two stages asked for my statements added up the charges comes to £3500 without interest recieved a letter back today the 16th stating that they are investigating my claims and it can take up to 4 weeks do i give them the four weeks or are they just trying to fob me off any advice would be gratefully recieved

Markf_3

Hi jemachin18

How long did this process take you, did Abbey give a defence??

princesskez26

Anfield1974 wrote: »

please be gentle with me first post.
i am after some advice if anyone can help. have started the process of reclaiming my bank charges against the abbey i have followed the first two stages asked for my statements added up the charges comes to £3500 without interest recieved a letter back today the 16th stating that they are investigating my claims and it can take up to 4 weeks do i give them the four weeks or are they just trying to fob me off any advice would be gratefully recieved

I would stick to your timescales as stated in your letters, wait around for the banks you'll be waiting for ever :rolleyes:

Kez