Hi. Here's the letter adjusted from your template that my daughter is sending to first direct tomorrow. Will keep you informed of the progress.
Customer Relations Manager
FIRST DIRECT
40 Wakefield Road
Leeds
LS98 1FD
Monday, 13 February 2006
WITHOUT PREDJUDICE
Dear Sir,
ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxx
I have held the above mentioned current account with your bank for the past 16 months. During this time I have incurred charges of £xxxx for exceeding my overdraft limit due to cheques being cleared at unfortunate times, unauthorized overdraft fees, direct debits and standing orders being dishonoured (and in some cases honoured) due to insufficient funds.
It is my opinion, and that of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), that these charges are punitive in nature, not a genuine pre-estimate of cost and not intended to re-imburse your losses for a breach of contract occurring. Further to the 1999 Consumer Credit Regulations quoted by the OFT, there are numerous cases in law that prove that punitive charges in contracts are unenforceable at English law.
Murray v Leisureplay (2004)
Dunlop Tyre Company v New Garage and Motor Co. (1915)
Bridge v. Campbell Discount Co. Ltd. (1962)
There are many more cases of this type, far more than I have room to list here.
Further to these cases, I also believe these charges to be a direct breach of the 1977 Unfair Terms (contracts) Act which require that contract terms be reasonable. I do not believe these charges are reasonable as outlined in the aforementioned act.
With this in mind, I respectfully request that you return to me ALL charges of £xxxx made on this account in the last 16 months plus £xx being 8% APR as allowed by the County Courts Act (1984), within 14 days of receipt of this letter by way of personal cheque. If you choose not to do so, I will start proceedings for recovery in the County Courts, as I believe that legally I am entitled to this money back. By doing so, you will be eligible for my court costs. This money would be used in some way to clear my overdraft on this account.
Yours faithfully,