This topic was closed on 03/07/19. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

This topic was closed on 03/06/19. If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there. If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened. - Consumer Action Group

Quick note to those accepting an out of court settlement. When you return the form to DLA accepting payment MAKE SURE YOU ADD A COVERING SHEET SAYING THEY HAVE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME TO CREDIT YOUR BANK! I waited and waited, and eventually had to email DLA on a Tuesday to say if the money wasn't in my bank by 5pm on the Friday I would start another County Court proceeding for failure to pay. The cheque was put into my account by 5pm that day! So, make sure you put a deadline on how long they have to pay up, or you could be waiting a while!

Bowkett - I did mine all online. I was about to send my Allocation Questionnaire back and they settled. lostinparadise - good luck with your claim! I'm sure you'll be successful, as we all seem to be in the end! And I will enjoy my money - some nice new toys for me I think! Oh, and a donation to this site for helping me out, of course!

I must admit, I was a bit sceptical when I first heard about this, and then a bit scared when I had to start court proceedings, but it's well worth it in the end. 4 and a half months is a long time to stay focussed on this kind of thing, but the result will be favourable to you, so stick with it, and whatever you do, DON'T BACK DOWN!

Letter received from DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary: Following your recent email regarding the settlement of the above claim I can confirm our client is prepared to accept your counter offer of £2273.23. This payment of £2273.23 represents full and final settlement of your claim, but of course without any admission of legal liability by Abbey National plc. Please confirm the agreement in writing by signing and returning the additional copy of this letter and we shall arrange for a cheque for this amount to be issued and paid into your Abbey account. I should be grateful if you would inform the Court this matter is now settled. Yours sincerely Alison Burton Trainee Solicitor I WON THEN!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!

OK, email sent to Paul Denham at DLA today: Dear Sir Thank you for your letter dated 25th July 2006, which I received on 26th July 2006. In response to you offer to settle for 50% of the claim amount, I am regretfully declining this invitation. To accept would undermine the basis of my claim. I would, however, like to make a counter offer which I hope you will find acceptable. My claim is for the refund of 77 individual charges which I believe were taken unlawfully, along with 8% interest on each charge. In your letter you state that you it cannot be correct that Abbey cannot charge anything at all and I therefore shouldn't be entitled to claim 100% of the charges back. I would therefore like to offer to pay £1.50 for each charge which was incurred on my account - I believe this to be a more than generous figure, based on the fact Abbey's systems for issuing charges are fully automated and therefore minimal costs are incurred. My offer to you is this: Total cost of charges: - £1938.00 Interest Payable to 29/07/2006 - £294.73 Court Fee - £120.00 TOTAL: £2352.73 Deduction for Abbey's administrative costs - 77 x £1.50 = £115.50 New Claim Amount - £2237.23 If this counter offer is acceptable, please inform me 5pm on Thursday 3rd August 2006, confirming the method of payment. If I do not receive a response in my favour by this date and time, I will have no other option than to proceed with case and return my Allocation Questionnaire. This will result in further costs for Abbey in that they will have to present a case in the courts, as well as the additional costs of my expenses should the case be found in my favour, which I am extremely confident it will be. I look forward to your swift and favourable response. Kind Regards Me

I was thinking of emailing them to say I will accept the full amount but drop the interest charges "as a gesture of goodwill"......

OK, received a letter from Abbey's solicitors today basically offering me 50%, which totals £1233.40 "in full and final settlement of your claim, but of course without any admission of legal liability by Abbey National plc". My total claim is for £1938, plus £288.79 interest, plus £120 court fee. What does anyone suggest I do?! Should I accept, counter offer, or hold out for 100%?!?!

Received following email from Abbeys sols: Dear Ian, I acknowledge receipt of your email. Many thanks for sending the required information which has now been placed on our files. We shall be filing our client's Defence at court in due course. Kind regards. Alison Alison Burton Trainee Solicitor DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary UK LLP Can anyone tell me if this is the norm? Do Abbey always file a defence?

Received a letter from Abbey's sols asking for proof of my calculation of my claim. Emailed alison.burton@dlpiper.com with spreadsheet.

Received the standard letter from Abbey yesterday to say the are not upholding my complaint and if f I take it to the Small Claims Court they might close my account. MoneyClaim website says my claim was issued on 29/06/06, so they have until 19th July to respond.

My deadline passed today, so I have filed my claim for £1938 plus £288.79 interest. I guess now we get serious eh?!

Received a letter from Abbey saying they're now investigating my complaint and will get back to me within 4 weeks - funny that, as I've not made a complaint, just asked for my money back. Anyway, they've only got til tomorrow and then I'm submitting a claim through the MoneyClaim website. Oh, and the letter was addressed to MRS rather than MR. I'm assuming it was me, as I'm pretty sure my mum doesn't bank with Abbey.....

Cheers Rich44! Here we go - this letter goes tomorrow moring, recorded delivery... Dear Sir/Madam, LETTER BEFORE ACTION ACCOUNT NUMBER: blahblahblah Thank you for eventually complying with my DPA request and forwarding details of all transactions on my account. However, I am very disappointed that you have failed to respond to my letter of 23rd May 2006. I now understand that the regime of 'fees' which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations. I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law. Further to my previous letter which requested the refund of an estimate of charges, I am now in a position to give you exact details of the particulars of my claim. I was unable to do this previously due to your failure to respond satisfactorily to my DPA Request. I calculate that you have taken £1938.00 in charges since my account inception in 2000. I am enclosing a copy of the schedule of the charges which I am claiming. I require repayment in full of this money. If you do not comply fully within 14 days then I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount plus interest plus my costs, and without further notice. I believe this would increase the amount claimed to approximately £2700 including court costs, interest and reasonable travel expenses for my attendance in court. Therefore, it may be in your best interest to repay this money without delay. I look forward to your swift and favourable response. Yours faithfully, Let's see whether they go for it!

Received all my statements with the standard covering letter - "all your statements are microfiched and therefore aren't covered by the DPA, and will follow under seperate cover", but were actually in the envelope. I'll need to sit down now and work out exactly how much they have taken and send my Letter Before Action with an accurate figure. Having read the threads of other people who have received 100% of their charges back, it makes me feel a lot more confident about going through with this!

So far I've written to Abbey requesting statements (recorded delivery, £10 payment has beed made) and received around 14 months of statements. I've then waited the 40 days and issued a request for payment based on an estimate (again, recorded delivery), and have also reported Abbey to the Information Commissioner for failure to complay with the DPA. Apart from my statements, I've not received a single piece of correspondance from Abbey at all - no acknowledgement of my request for statements, no confirmation of receipt of my request for payment, NOTHING! Has anybody else found themselves being completely ignored by their bank!? I will of course continue to follow the process, which means my next step is a letter before action, but I was expecting some sort of response from them!

I have writeen to Abbey to request an estimated amount for illegal charges, and have also informed them that I have made a complaint to the IC about the failure to comply with the DPA - I only received the last 14 months stats, with no cover notes or explanation letters. I did say that if they come back to me quickly I'll update my complaint to the IC to say Abbey complied eventually. I'm quite happy to take them to court over the DPA failure if someone wants to give me some advice on the legalities of it all....

In Abbey's T&C's they say they can call in an overdraft with 30 days notice. By calling it in within 48hrs, isn't this a breach of T&C's?

Just checked Royal Mail website and my letter was delivered yesterday....

Read the FAQ's - it's all there! Decline their offer, hold out for the lot. They more than likely will pay up - just have to keep your nerve.

OK folks, letter to Abbey gone today! Abbey National PLC Abbey National House 2 Triton Square Regent’s Place London NW1 3AN Dear Sir/Madam, ACCOUNT NUMBER: 09-01-26 xxxxxxxx I am in receipt of the documents that you have supplied in response to my Data Protection Act information request dated 3rd April 2006. The disclosure of personal data is incomplete in that you have failed to provide a complete list of transactions and charges since my account inception in 2000. Accordingly, I have to tell you that you have not yet complied with your obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998. The time for compliance with my request has now expired and as such, I have made a report to the Information Commissioner (IC). I am happy to provide an update to the IC once you have fulfilled my request, and would therefore suggest you do so as a matter of urgency. Additionally, I now understand that the regime of 'fees' which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations. I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law. I am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary. I estimate that you have taken £3000 in charges since my account inception in 2000. I am unable to provide an exact figure as you have failed to provide the information requested, as noted above. However, I believe this figure is an accurate reflection of the level of charges deducted from my account over the past 6 years. If you are in a position to prove otherwise, I would be glad to receive this proof. I require repayment in full of this money. If you do not comply fully within 14 days then I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount plus interest my costs and without further notice. Furthermore, I shall submit a Consumer Credit Act 1974 complaint to the OFT upon the basis that you have failed to comply with the OFT's direction of 5 April 2006 and are therefore not a 'fit and proper person' to hold a consumer credit licence under the 1974 Act. If you do not understand what this means then seek advice from your legal department. Please note, this is not a complaint, and as such, I do not have to wait 4 weeks for your initial response, as per guidelines issued by the Financial Ombudsman Service. This is a request for a refund of illegal deducted charges. A failure to respond satisfactorily to this request within this timescale will result in legal action. Yours faithfully, Let's see how that goes down in Abbeyland!

OK, yesterday was the 40th day since payment was taken from my account under my DPA request and I have not received all of the information I requested. I have around 14 months of statements, not the 6yrs I asked for. Can somebody give me some advice on what to do now? I assume I have to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner, which I am happy to do, but how do I go about reclaiming charges when I don't know how much I should be claiming for? As ever, you advice is greatly appreciated!

Abbey have 10 days to comply with my request - today is 30 days since payment was taken from my account. I have had no acknowledgement to my request, I have simlpy received around 14 months of statements with no other explanatory letter. I was going to write them a reminder letter to let them know their time is running out, but to be honest, I can't be bothered. They know the score, and they know I know the score, so I'll save my stamps for something else! Let's see whether I get a Day 39 letter explaining their mighty impressive, top of the range, completely modern Microfiche filing system......

Thanks for the support everyone - it's great that we're all in this together! It makes this whole process a lot easier. I'll keep you all posted on the progress. I intend to send a letter at the half way point to let them know they only have 20 days to respond and then I'm just going to leave it til their time is up. I'm happy to send a letter to the Information Commissioner and submit an estimate of costs. I wonder how happy they'll be.....