defaulted over bank charges? help

ninjaready1

hi

id like some advice as to the best course of action. ive got a default from a high street bank/building society that is made up entirely of charges. ultimately id like this removed if possible but id like to know what the best way to generally get it sorted is.
the basics:
opened a BASIC account in 2008- used it fine until around 2009 when i had zero balance and a direct debit try to go out without realizing- the bank refused the direct debit and then charged me.... i stupidly refused to pay it out of ' principle' for about 10 months... the charges then built and built until they got to around £300. Then one day i checked my account online, decided to sort it and paid the full amount shown that was overdrawn.... i then started using my account again with no problems for around a month. Then all of a sudden i checked one day and it was around £500 overdrawn!! i rang them and they informed me it was backdated charges for the account was inactive... what??? i thought they had already added all the charges. i was furious and hung up on her as i just couldnt see where she was coming from with it. so anyway i refused to pay it but unfortunately i had a regular monthly payment going into the account of £100 so it WAS being paid. £100 went in a month but then obviously i was still being charged for being in unauthorised overdraft.
anyway once id managed to get the £100 regular payment cancelled ( it took me a few months) i just stopped looking at the account and used another bank.

so i now have a £300 default on my credit file- this is made up ENTIRELY of charges. I would like to know if :

a) the default is lawful if made up solely of charges? ( ive seen some threads on ico guidelines that it shouldnt have defaulted if made up of charges)

b) can i attempt to get the money back that i paid them charge wise.. i cant remember exactly how much each charge was or the grand total

This is what i have done so far..
1) july 2013- i sent in the cca request letter requesting agreement, default notices, statement of accounts via recorded delivery...... no response

2) i then called them in October 2013 to query this... all i got was an apology that no one responded and that it was with a debt collectors and the letter was probably forwarded to them. I then made an official complaint over the phone.. they took it and said i would receive a call within 2 working days... its now been 8 and Ive heard nothing.

3) i raised a dispute with equifax that the default was made up of charges etc... the bank came back with " correctly added, no amendments"

grrrr..... i don't know what to do with this..... i was going to SAR them to make sure i have all the facts on my account first but then im not sure what to do... id basically like to know what i CAN do.... for all i know they may have done everything right and i don't have a leg to stand on?

im sorry this is really long winded i just thought it better to post all the info.

any advice would be great thanks

John1993_2

ninjaready1 wrote: »

...when i had zero balance and a direct debit try to go out without realizing...

.... i stupidly refused to pay it out of ' principle' for about 10 months...

... i was furious and hung up on her as i just couldnt see where she was coming from with it....

...so anyway i refused to pay it...... i don't know what to do with this

First of all, I'd say that you should concentrate on the above bits of your post, which explain why you have ended up in default. It was your choice at the time, so try not to do the same in future.

My recommendation woudl be that if you genuinely think that the bank has doen something wrong that you put in a complaint in writing. However, "doing something wrong" would mean them breaching the law, regulatory guidance, or their own terms and conditions, it doesn't mean just doing sommething that you did not like.

Try not to be accusatory, or angry. You need to remember that you've been a pretty terrible customer here, and made it virtually inevitable that they'd end up placing a default on your file. Politely request that they reduce the charges, politely complain if you don't think tht they were right to charge them, and then wait and see what comes back.

ninjaready1

my main issue really is that the default was made up entirely of charges which as i said ive said ive seen a few threads mentioning a piece of ico guidelines which is something like ' if a default is made up of charges, to which it would have not defaulted without these charges then no default should be placed'- i wanted to know if this is correct.

John1993_2

ninjaready1 wrote: »

my main issue really is that the default was made up entirely of charges which as i said ive said ive seen a few threads mentioning a piece of ico guidelines which is something like ' if a default is made up of charges, to which it would have not defaulted without these charges then no default should be placed'- i wanted to know if this is correct.

So far as I know, no, that's not correct. Hopefully someone will be able to corroborate or correct this, though.

sourcrates

Hi, you cant request a CCA for a bank account as it is not regulated by the consumer credit act in the same way that a loan or creditcard is, if you feel the bank was unfair to you, judging by what you have said it was "6 of one and half a dozen of the other" put in a written complaint detailing what you have told us, don't be spiteful just include the facts, the bank will have a complaints procedure to follow, you may find they will be more than amicable, but if not you can take the complaint to the financial ombudsman service, which is free, just download a copy of its complaint form from its website :

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/

you must allow the bank to try to rectify the problem first though!!