Bank Charges OFT Test Case Discussion

fluffysammy

Hi

I am a coward so have gone with a company to claim my charges back as i was to scared to ask my bank for all the statements :embarasse well on friday i got a letter from the company (they are very local to me) it is a copy of letter to my bank (the woolwich/barclays) it says they owe me £1508. in charges and £2457.51 with interest at 16% p.a how likely would i be to get the interest back?
it then goes on to say - This is therefore a final demand for the return of these monies. I must advise you that it is our intention to issue County court proceedings at 12 noon on 15/11/07 if you fail to credit the above account with £2457.51

then in a letter to me the company say -Be aware the bank will not pay without court action and so in 7 days we will issue court proceedings against them, and in due course they will pay you. As you are aware, due to the Office of fair trading High court test case, all court actions are currenty being stayed pending the outcome of the hight court decision. Due to the difficulties in predicting when this ruling may be made i cant tell you exactly when your claim is likely to be settled. In truth it is unlikely to be before December 2007.
In your claim there is a court fee due of £80 upon issuing the claim. Also as your claim is over £1500 there is also a £35 allocation fee. If you wish us to issue proceedings for you in the County Court please send a cheque for £115.

So my question is is that a normal amount to pay? if i pay now concidering no cases are going through to finish will i have to pay again after the test case thingy? What if the test case goes in favour of the banks, i will lose my £115. so should i wait till i know? what should i do?
sammy xx

TBeckett100

so you are paying them 25% of your charges to send the same letters you could for free and you still have to pay the court fees.

ditch them now asnd submit the case yourself.

TBeckett100

dont be scared, whats the worse they can do?

fluffysammy

I just hate talking to the bank they are always so rude to me and im delicate and senseitive :embarasse

If i do drop this company, do i have to start again? what do i do? is there a thread on here that tells me step by step?

sammy xx

TBeckett100

sammy register on consumeractiongroup and find the thread dealing with your bank. there will be plenty to help and advise on. If you have a little one on the way, save as much money as you can from these sharks. You dont have to start again, if you have the statements and the charge total, you are ok.

i dont see your sharky company justifying the 16% interest rate when the court interest rate is just 8%pa. The judge may look more favourably on a case that is based on proper figures than from a shark who inflates interest so they get a bigger cut.

please ask for help and you will get it. you wont have to start again, its not a hard process!!

Edinburghlass_2

fluffysammy wrote: »

Hi

I am a coward so have gone with a company to claim my charges back as i was to scared to ask my bank for all the statements :embarasse well on friday i got a letter from the company (they are very local to me) it is a copy of letter to my bank (the woolwich/barclays) it says they owe me £1508. in charges and £2457.51 with interest at 16% p.a how likely would i be to get the interest back?
it then goes on to say - This is therefore a final demand for the return of these monies. I must advise you that it is our intention to issue County court proceedings at 12 noon on 15/11/07 if you fail to credit the above account with £2457.51

then in a letter to me the company say -Be aware the bank will not pay without court action and so in 7 days we will issue court proceedings against them, and in due course they will pay you. As you are aware, due to the Office of fair trading High court test case, all court actions are currenty being stayed pending the outcome of the hight court decision. Due to the difficulties in predicting when this ruling may be made i cant tell you exactly when your claim is likely to be settled. In truth it is unlikely to be before December 2007.
In your claim there is a court fee due of £80 upon issuing the claim. Also as your claim is over £1500 there is also a £35 allocation fee. If you wish us to issue proceedings for you in the County Court please send a cheque for £115.

So my question is is that a normal amount to pay? if i pay now concidering no cases are going through to finish will i have to pay again after the test case thingy? What if the test case goes in favour of the banks, i will lose my £115. so should i wait till i know? what should i do?
sammy xx

This company is not working for you but themselves by inflating your claim by 16%. Any interest "due" is awarded by the court should your claim get that far, your claim is for £1508. It is also nonsense for them to assume that "in due course they will pay you".

You don't need to talk to the bank at this stage all you need to do is send in the letters as detailed in Martin's article here...

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges

However, first of all you would need to tell this company AND the bank that they are no longer acting for you and make sure you get any information held on you by this company. You will also need to check the small print as it is very likely they will have a cancellation charge.

dazwil71

PLEASE,PLEASE,PLEASE,
I went to the bank today to query a charge that was added to my account and to ask if it could be wiped off as i had now deposited enough money to cover the direct debit that i missed.This smug woman first asked to look at my bank card(to see what type of account i have),she then told me that as i had a charge wiped off about 4 months ago in a "good will gesture" i would not be able to have this one taken off as they only do it once EVER!!!!
Now this means they will take £39 on the 21st Nov. and i will be overdrawn causing them to charge me again.When i stated this she just said,"not our problem!",which i do accept,to a point.
When i questioned the fact that the bank(Wallyfax,sorry Halifax)was taking money unlawfully as the test case is still ongoing,she instantly came back with,"no sir that has been sorted". So does this mean the test case has been sorted or is it just another fob off,i'm going for the fob off answer.
I have a claim going through at the moment for £4000,so do i now write to the courts again,to the bank again or just sit and wait.
In a letter i recieved after my initial claim to the bank,i was told my claim was put on file and would be dealt with as soon as the test case was done.
So all i need to know is was she right to say the bank charges dispute is sorted and was she wrong to not wipe off my last bank charge because i had 1 wiped off 4 months ago?

Thank you and lets keep claiming.

techspec

dazwil71 wrote: »

PLEASE,PLEASE,PLEASE,
I went to the bank today to query a charge that was added to my account and to ask if it could be wiped off as i had now deposited enough money to cover the direct debit that i missed.This smug woman first asked to look at my bank card(to see what type of account i have),she then told me that as i had a charge wiped off about 4 months ago in a "good will gesture" i would not be able to have this one taken off as they only do it once EVER!!!!
Now this means they will take £39 on the 21st Nov. and i will be overdrawn causing them to charge me again.When i stated this she just said,"not our problem!",which i do accept,to a point.
When i questioned the fact that the bank(Wallyfax,sorry Halifax)was taking money unlawfully as the test case is still ongoing,she instantly came back with,"no sir that has been sorted". So does this mean the test case has been sorted or is it just another fob off,i'm going for the fob off answer.
I have a claim going through at the moment for £4000,so do i now write to the courts again,to the bank again or just sit and wait.
In a letter i recieved after my initial claim to the bank,i was told my claim was put on file and would be dealt with as soon as the test case was done.
So all i need to know is was she right to say the bank charges dispute is sorted and was she wrong to not wipe off my last bank charge because i had 1 wiped off 4 months ago?

Thank you and lets keep claiming.

The case has not even started, and wont until mid january.

She probably meant that banks have been told they can carry on charging in the meantime.

Most banks will only refund once or twice.

kerryhitchen

I started my claim in March 07 and got nowhere followed all the steps correctly. Fowarded my claim onto FO registered my complaint. Then the waiver was set up for the test cases. Just reading online that the first trust bank did not sign the waiver. I have recieved letters from my bank to say that my case is on hold because of the test cases. Can I re start my claim because they did not sign the waiver. Please help!!!!!!!!!!

noosa

Hi there,

I have received a threatening letter from a debt collection agency on behalf of Abbey demanding that I repay (within 7 days) the amount overdue on my account. The amount they are demanding is solely the result of excessive fees which are the subject of an application to reclaim fees, an application currently supposedly on hold due to the test case. Is this action illegal? Any advice on how to reply?

I referred the last debt collection agency back to Abbey as I was sure they couldn't collect on a debt under dispute and the subject of a test case, this seemed to have worked but it appears they are trying again. Numerous letters sent by me to Abbey have either been ignored or replied to with a generic letter.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

x Noosa:mad: