Barclays compensation, please advise

callumhburgess

Morning Everyone,

I was hoping to get some much needed advice from anyone who may be going through or has gone through and claim with Barclays bank.

To give you an overview of the situation; about 9 months ago my business account was froze by Barclays due to a technical error which sore my funds go from £20,000 to - £4,000,000 overdrawn. During that period I had no access to any funds and no money could go in or out. As a result two contract which were signed and dated during the error were unable to be fulfilled resulting in a loss of profits close to £65,000 both customers being unhappy with my service (understandably as it took 4 months to resolve the issue with Barclays) have decided not to use my services in the future.

Everything was clearly documented and sent to the FOS who put in a claim to Barclays for the £62,000 put was rejected on the grounds Barclays have within their terms and conditions a clause which protects them from paying out for any loss of business as a result of any internal or 3rd party errors.

Clearly I am distraught as not only have I lost out of both of the contracts but I was also forced to close down the business during the four months it took to resolve the original issue. If anyone has any information it would be greatly appreciated.

InsideInsurance

I am surprised that a banking error would sink a company, whilst working capital could be an issue there was only £20k in the account that was frozen which in business terms is not a massive amount, especially if you have two contracts signed which will generate £65k profit. Why didnt you just open another account with someone else?

If you have closed down the business then there is probably nothing you can do as it was the business that had the contract with Barclays and the entity that was wronged.

Even if the option to go to court was available, given the amount being claimed it will go into the highest track of the court where significant legal fees can be added to the losers costs. You'd be wise to speak to a solicitor before proceeding otherwise you may end up with not only the lost business but also paying Barclay's barristers

Archi_Bald

If you do go to Court, make sure your numbers are coherent and get somebody to proofread your case for proper english.

callumhburgess wrote: »

about 9 months ago my business account was froze by Barclays due to a technical error which sore my funds go from £20,000 to - £4,000,000 overdrawn.

It used to be £3.5m when you first posted about this in May, 7 months ago. Where's to other half a million come from? https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4966120

callumhburgess wrote: »

.....a loss of profits close to £65,000..............

.......FOS who put in a claim to Barclays for the £62,000 put was rejected

62K or 65K?

callumhburgess

3.5 million or 4 million it doesn't really matter, the fact is, that Barclays made the error which resulted in months of lie's and cover ups.

Granted £20,000 may not be a massive amount in general business terms but for a small company with a 21 year old director it was a huge amount, despite that I don't think any company would survive for four months with no working capital.

The company was running for just over four months and gradually building traction and it just seems ridiculous the power that Barclays have.


The reason I never opened another business account was for the whole duration of the complaint Barclays ensured that it will quickly be resolved, continuously leading me to believe that it would soon be resolved.

Though I appreciate Archi's comments on my grammar and scrutiny of my story, It would be greatly appreciated if someone could actually give some advice on going up against Barclays terms and conditions:


If you have a loss you want
to claim back from us
If you have any loss or damage because of
something we have done or not done, then you will
generally be able to claim back the loss from us.
However, there are exceptions. You cannot claim
back if:
• you are claiming for loss of business, loss
of goodwill, loss of opportunity or loss of
profit – we will not be liable for these in any
circumstances

As I don't see how this can be legal.

Callum

InsideInsurance

callumhburgess wrote: »

3.5 million or 4 million it doesn't really matter, the fact is, that Barclays made the error which resulted in months of lie's and cover ups.

Granted £20,000 may not be a massive amount in general business terms but for a small company with a 21 year old director it was a huge amount, despite that I don't think any company would survive for four months with no working capital.

The company was running for just over four months and gradually building traction and it just seems ridiculous the power that Barclays have.


The reason I never opened another business account was for the whole duration of the complaint Barclays ensured that it will quickly be resolved, continuously leading me to believe that it would soon be resolved.

Though I appreciate Archi's comments on my grammar and scrutiny of my story, It would be greatly appreciated if someone could actually give some advice on going up against Barclays terms and conditions:


If you have a loss you want
to claim back from us
If you have any loss or damage because of
something we have done or not done, then you will
generally be able to claim back the loss from us.
However, there are exceptions. You cannot claim
back if:
• you are claiming for loss of business, loss
of goodwill, loss of opportunity or loss of
profit – we will not be liable for these in any
circumstances

As I don't see how this can be legal.

Callum

4 months without working capital would be a problem for most companies however with 2 contracts worth £65k profit and therefore obviously more than that in revenue then there are going to be several options open in terms of finance to bridge the gap.

As you mention you were a director then presumably this was a Ltd and a business bank account?

Legality/ enforceability is something to argue in court. You need to reinstate your company and then sue Barclays but as previously mentioned legal advise from the outset would be sensible because of the risk of paying Barclay's solicitor costs should you lose. As a B2B contract you have little statutory protection and are expected to argue these sorts of things BEFORE signing the contract not afterwards, though some protection is given to vSMEs hence still worth a solicitor conversation.

callumhburgess

Thank you for your response. I have contacted a solicitor and when I have the funds available I will begin the process of suing Barclays.

If anyone has been through this before any advice would be appreciated.

Callum

Thrugelmir

£65k of profit seems miniscule set against a £4 million overdraft.

At a 7% interest rate the overdraft would be costing £280k per annum alone.

Sounds as if there's far more to this story.

grumbler

Thrugelmir wrote: »

At a 7% interest rate the overdraft would be costing £280k per annum alone.

Costing to whom?

BMN

callumhburgess wrote: »

...due to a technical error...

Have Barclays confirmed that it was a technical error?

Don't just assume that it was. At some point last year I gave you a likely explanation relating to anti-money laundering on another forum.

callumhburgess

Barclays have yet to confirm the reason for the technical error and the FOS have not been able to procure any additional information, my credit rating remains in tact, I have not had any problem opening another bank account and yet to be arrested so I don't think it is related to money laundering.

The 4 million overdraft was the technical error, there was no transactions relating to the deficit and just simply showing as 4 million overdrawn.

I know it's hard to comprehend as it probably that 1 in 100,000 case that I was the unfortunate to inherit.

If someone has gone up in court against Barclays terms and conditions before please let me know