MSE News: 'Bullying' bank ordered to pay up for harassing customer: Know your rights 2 July 2013 at 10:19AM in Budgeting & bank accounts 15 replies 2.8K views

Former_MSE_Helen

"Bank of Scotland has been ordered to compensate a customer for harassment after making 547 calls to recover a debt..."

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'Bullying' bank ordered to pay up for harassing customer: Know your rights



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Wywth

The bank must also pay a portion of Ms Roberts's costs

Do we know what portion that was, please?

i.e. how much did it end up costing Ms Roberts to get her £7500 damages?
Court of appeal? - doesn't sound like legal costs would be low.

Edit: another view on events given here:
http://www.allpaylegal.com/news/roberts-v-bank-scotland-plc-and-another-appeal-12062013

It appears in Ms Roberts attempts to obtain her £7,500 damages, she gave up the right to a 'drop hands' offer (she ignored such an offer made twice by the bank)
As a result, the £10k counterclaim by the bank was eventually upheld.

But she did manage to get her name in print which the 'drop hands' offer would probably have prevented as it included a confidentiality clause.

The judge concluded that the claimant was entitled to her costs up to the date of the expiry of the offer, from which point each party would bear their own costs.

If this were me, I think I'd feel as though I'd lost a shilling and found a sixpence. But I presume Ms Roberts is happy with the outcome she achieved.

innovate

Wywth wrote: »

If this were me, I think I'd feel as though I'd lost a shilling and found a sixpence.

Sounds very much like it, doesn't it.

countrymusicfan

I had a couple of bank charges. I changed to the post office where I couldn't get charges because I couldn't get DDs. The bank called me repeatedly. I explained bank charges are illegal, they disputed that and I told them I was newly widowed. They kept calling. I changed my number and they stopped.

innovate

countrymusicfan wrote: »

I had a couple of bank charges. I changed to the post office where I couldn't get charges because I couldn't get DDs. The bank called me repeatedly. I explained bank charges are illegal, they disputed that and I told them I was newly widowed. They kept calling. I changed my number and they stopped.

Bank charges are not illegal, regardless of your family circumstances. Banks do - and have to - publish the exact details of their charges.

JuicyJesus

"I'm widowed and therefore bank charges don't apply to me."

Well, that's an original argument...

Anyway, yeah, bank charges aren't illegal. "Explaining" this "fact" doesn't make them go away.

innovate

JuicyJesus wrote: »

"I'm widowed and therefore bank charges don't apply to me."

Runner up to "my dogs are related to the Queen's corgies, therefore I am exempt from TV licence"
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/06/18/my-dogs-related-to-the-queens-corgi-brits-top-tv-tax-excuses/

tifo

innovate wrote: »

Bank charges are not illegal, regardless of your family circumstances. Banks do - and have to - publish the exact details of their charges.

Yes, of course they do. All the exact details.

tifo

JuicyJesus wrote: »

"I'm widowed and therefore bank charges don't apply to me."

Well, that's an original argument...

I think what the poster meant is that they wanted some sympathy during a difficult time.

staggered

Bank of Scotland hounded me after my sister died.

She had a bank loan with them. When she died, I notified them and said that as soon as I had probate, I'd pay the loan off, but until then there was nothing I could do as all her bank accounts were frozen.

They bombarded me with increasingly threatening letters and phone calls. Threatening to take me to court, threatening to ruin my credit score etc. I wrote to BoS to complain and was told that they wouldn't contact me again until I was in a position to pay, but the phone calls carried on.

They're scum as far as I'm concerned.

Wywth

staggered wrote: »

Bank of Scotland hounded me after my sister died.

She had a bank loan with them. When she died, I notified them and said that as soon as I had probate, I'd pay the loan off, but until then there was nothing I could do as all her bank accounts were frozen.

They bombarded me with increasingly threatening letters and phone calls. Threatening to take me to court, threatening to ruin my credit score etc. I wrote to BoS to complain and was told that they wouldn't contact me again until I was in a position to pay, but the phone calls carried on.

They're scum as far as I'm concerned.

How long was this torment going on for? Sounds like a rather long time.

I think as excutor you only have 6 months to get things sorted out, otherwise you may become personally liable for any undue delay.