Continued from previous post. 20 July 2006 We refer to your letter of 19 July 2006 and your offer as your way of resolving the matter. We are currently considering this but wish to clarify a number of points before deciding our course of action. To help us come to a decision, we would like to know the bank’s reasoning behind offering half the amount of the charges raised. As you are aware the Office of Fair Trading have stated that charges of more than £12.00 will be presumed to be unfair and unenforceable in terms of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (SI. 1999/2083). Clydesdale Bank charges for failed direct debits, standing orders and cheques at £35.00 are almost 3 times that amount, not double as your offer would suggest. It would be very interesting to find out what losses the bank had incurred as a result of our alleged breach of contract in failing to adhere to the terms and conditions of the account. These costs would presumably be the basis of your threatened claim against us for damages. 31 July 2006 Letter from Brian Durrand stating "The Office of Fair Trading made comment on "late payment fees" levied by credit card issuers. There has been no ruling or investigation on charges relating to current accounts." The offer should not be taken as ameasure of loss where customers breach the terms and conditions of their account. 3 August 2006 Letter to Neil Mc Kirdy I note your comments that the Office of Fair Trading made comment on "late payment fees" levied by credit card issuers and that there had been no ruling or investigation on charges relating to current accounts. I understand that the OFT are currently investigating this matter. We are disappointed that your letter failed to answer the specific points that we raised, namely why half was deemed to be a suitable offer and what losses the bank had incurred as a result of our alleged breach of contract. May we remind you that the time limit on my letter of 14 July has now expired. Like you we would like to settle this on an amicable basis without the need for court action, but feel that your offer does not adequately reflect the extent of the unlawful charges that have been raised on these accounts. As you are no doubt aware if we decided to take this matter to court then we would be entitled to add interest to the claim together with court costs. An early reply would be appreciated to enable us to decide our course of action and to agree a mutually suitable outcome for both parties. 7 August 2006 Letter from Neil McKirdy There is to be noincrewased offer and I refer you to my letter of 31 July in respect of which I have no further comment. 14 August 2006 We have reluctantly decided to accept your offer as payment towards the refund of the unlawful charges. As you are aware the OFT are currently investigating bank charges and if it is found that the bank’s charges are in fact excessive, we shall be seeking recovery of the remaining charges. We note with interest in your letter of 31 July 2006, that the OFT made comment on "late payment fees" levied by credit card issuers. We also have been made aware that from September 2006 the bank are reducing their charges to £12, thus agreeing with our argument that £35 was too much. Can the bank still argue that the £35 charge was to cover costs, never having supplied a breakdown of costs, despite being asked. We await the OFT ruling with interest and its ramifications. To add further insult when I paid the cheque in I asked how long it would take to clear and was advised by the teller that it would take 5 days to clear. I asked if he would care to reconsider baring in mind that it was a bank cheque signed personally by the branch manager. Once he stopped spluttering he said that it would clear immediately .

Hi everyone, A family member had a letter from CB to say that from 1 Sept 2006 they are reducing their charges for failed direct debits etc to £12. After much soul searching and letters back and forth with the Clydesdale I have paid the cheque in to the bank and have written to them to inform them. I have also said that as the OFT are investigating bank charges that if they are found to be excessive then I shall be seeking recovery of the remaining charges. I await the OFT report with interest. IT might help other claimants to see the letters (or parts there of ) that were sent. 9 June 2006 Data Protection Act request sent 3 July Letter sent requesting return of unlawful charges 13 July Standard sod off letter from CB 14 July Appeal letter sent Re: Your refusal to refund bank charges I write in response to your letter refusing my request for a refund of bank charges. I note your position is that I am not entitled to a refund because the terms and conditions of my account allow you to impose charges where I have insufficient funds in my account. I also note your suggestion that I can complain to the Financial Services Ombudsman if dissatisfied with this decision. However, please be advised that it would be inappropriate to complain to the Financial Services Ombudsman where the only forum, which can determine a dispute on the legality of charges, is my local court. I would ask you to note the following. Your bank insists it can impose charges in accordance with its terms and conditions of contract. However, those terms and conditions are subject to the common law and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999 (UTCCR). Indeed, the UTCCR takes precedence over any contractual term where the court finds a term to be ‘unfair’. The court can then treat that term of contract as having no legal effect. The question that arises is this: are your charges unfair in terms of the UTCCR? 0n 26 July 2005 the OFT stated that 'a charge is likely to be disproportionately high if it is more than a court would be likely to award if the lender sued the cardholder for breach of contract'. So what would the court award your bank for my minor breach of contract? As you will be aware, the court will only award (in a non-negotiated consumer contract) a sum to reimburse actual loss. Your charges do not reflect actual loss. Rather, they include a massive profit margin or penalty. Alternatively, they subsidise the bank's global debt recovery costs and lending losses. There is parliamentary evidence for this assertion. When the UK banks gave evidence to the House of Commons Treasury Committee on how bank charges were calculated they said: "[bank charges] are going to pay for all the people we have who pursue debt, collect debt, speak to customers and chase payments. The way these charges are arrived at is by taking these total costs and making some assumptions about the volume that is going to come through to arrive at the individual charges" (House of Commons, 2nd report, 25 January 2005, paragraph 50). Accordingly, your charges do not reflect the actual loss in my case. They are an illegal penalty charge designed to recover money unconnected with the conduct of my account. I enclose a list of the charges raised on both accounts. Please advise whether you have an appeals procedure, and if so, please treat this letter as a request for an appeal against your decision not to refund charges. If I do not hear from you within the next 7 days, I will raise an action of payment at my local court. In that eventuality, I would require you to lodge in court financial vouching for the actual loss sustained in my case, together with your full financial accounts revealing how much income is generated from your bank charges, as against the cost of administering dishonoured transactions. I look forward to your response. 19 July Letter denying liability but containing cheque "The cheque is tendered without admission of liabilitity and is in full and final settlement of your claim and your encashment of it will be taken as your acceptance of this. Please note that as this letter is written in an attempt to resolve this matter without the need for court action it is withot prejudice to the banks whole rights and pleas and may not be founded on in any action without the banks written consent." Continued on seperate post

Hi I have been sent a cheque for half my claim by clydesdale, with the note that it is in full and final settlement and that encashment of it will be taken as acceptance of this. The question is that if I accept this, is the claim finished or can I say we do not accept this as final settlement but would take it as part settlement and continue for the rest. Thanks Jimhl81

Hi Jmio they put the same on mine and we are still holding on to it until we get a reply as why only half the amount. What are the legalities about cashing the cheque and then going back for more or must it be the full and final settlement. jimhl81

I have had a cheque from the Clydesdale for half of my claim and am currently in correspondence with them about it. Does the Part 36 offer that you mention above also refer to Scotland and does it mean that they can withdraw the cheque after 21 days.

Hi Caro Thanks for your reply. I am still considering my options. Trust the Clydesdale to find a new twist on this!!!!! I can vaguely remember seeing something about this in another thread/post, but can anyone advise why in the first letter from the bank (the one with the cheque) they said "Please note that this letter is written in an attempt to resolve this matter without the need for court action it is without prejudice to the Bank's whole rights and pleas and may not be founded on in any action to follow without the Bank's written consent", but the letter received today mentions nothing about this Thanks

Have received a reply to my letter in previous post asking for clarification of a number of points raised in their letter. their reply contains the statement as follows "The Office of Fair Trading made comment on "late payment fees" levied by credit card issuers. There has been no ruling or investigation on charges relating to current accounts." Can anyone clarify if this is in fact correct or are they being selective with their understanding?

:? Hi' I have had dealings with Cabot in the past and am being bombarded with telephone calls. Tried looking for the CCA template in the library but can't find it. Can anyone tell me what it would be listed under. Many thanks

Re previous posts, I have sent letter to Neil McKirdy by recorded delivery asking for clarification of a number of points raised in his letter. Have confirmed that letter was received by the bank today. (Royal Mail tracking). Will advise you when reply received from bank.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm in total shock. I Sent first letter away to Clydesdale asking for charges back and received the usual standard letter. Sent LBA on Friday 14 July and sat back for a long wait. Today received a letter from Clydesdale from Neil McKirdy which had enclosed a cheque for £2030 representing half of the charges debited to the two accounts. (Which if I'm being pedantic should have been £2171). The letter also says that if I was successful the bank would countersue for failing to adhere to terms and conditions. "The cheque is tendered without admission of liabilitity and is in full and final settlement of your claim and your encashment of it will be taken as your acceptance of this. Please note that as this letter is written in an attempt to reslove this matter without the need for court action it is withot prejudice to the banks whole rights and pleas and may not be founded on in any action without the banks written consent." I am in a real quandary, do I hang on and take them to court for the full amount or do I cut and run???????????? Your help and advice would be appreciated

Hi, I had a credit card with Cap One but got into difficulties due to payment dates being out of sync with my wages. This meant incurring late payment charges and over limit charges (a letter was sent to Cap One but never acted on) which kept mounting and the card was defaulted. The account has been passed on to Intrum Justitia who took out a court order. On checking my statements the charges totalled over £800 over the life of the card when I was never more than a £50 pounds over the credit limit through my own fault. I have all the statements from the start of the account, do I have to send an SAR or can I send letter straight away asking for payment back? What happens about the claim from I J which was for around £360. Do I have to contact them or do Cap One send them this and the balance to me? Many thanks for your help

Hi Caro, Many thanks for your post. I'm based in Scotland so it will have to be £750 per time.

Hi Have just received letter from Clydesdale Customer Relations saying not willing to pay any charges, so am about to personally hand next letter in to branch this morning . Hope this gets somewhere. Keep you posted.

Hi there, Anyone had any dealings with Purple Loans or I Group now GE Money?

Hi, I've sent letter asking for all fees over the last 5 years by Recorded Delivery and confirmed that it was received in Glasgow Head Office on 6 July. Still no reply or acknowledgement. Same for the branch, letter handed in on 3 july and signed for but still no reply or acknowledgement. Reckon that there are in excess of 4K in fees over 5 years. If no reply by 17 July will happliy send LBA. Is it usual for the Clydesdale to totally ignore any or all correspondence? On a separate point has anyone had any dealing with I Group (GE Money). Thanks Jim Being new I posted this on the Welcome forum instead of Clydesdale!!!!!!!!!DOH Thanks to the wifeandi for pointing me in the right direction. Have changed the name on the thread to make it easier to identify

Hi, I've sent letter asking for all fees over the last 5 years by Recorded Delivery and confirmed that it was received in Glasgow Head Office on 6 July. Still no reply or acknowledgement. Same for the branch, letter handed in on 3 july and signed for but still no reply or acknowledgement. Reckon that there are in excess of 4K in fees over 5 years. If no reply by 17 July will happliy send LBA. Is it usual for the Clydesdale to totally ignore any or all correspondence? On a separate point has anyone had any dealing with I Group (GE Money). Thanks Jim

Hi, I'm jim. I'm new to the forum , please treat me gently. I've had problems with the Clydesdale for a number of years culminating in them closing an account without prior warning. On speaking to the manager I was advised that a number of letters had been sent out concerning the account but that could not send me copies as they were "set text "letters, (whatever they are) and that I must be having problems with my post. Funny how it's only bank letters that go missing? Am trying to claim back charges for both accounts for the 5 years and have submitted a claim to the bank via the branch (got the young lad behind the counter to sign a a note and put a stamp on it) and also to the Customer Services Manager (letter sent by recorded delivery) I've had dealings with the bank before with paperwork and letters going missing despite being handed in personally to the branch. Can you suggest what else I should do? How long does it take for them to get back to you? After looking at posts from other users it appears that I might be in for a long wait. Will keep you informed Jim