Help needed with bank error!!!

[slick132]

Thanks Tez and I appreciate your input.

 

There are at least 2 sides to any coin and Lizzy's probably bored of hearing just MY opinions.

[tezl]

you cant get bored of good advice and help

[lizzy40]

Thank you so much guys I really do appreciate everything you have both contributed and slick132 I'm not bored with your opinion!

 

Can I just refer to a couple of questions tez's mentioned.

 

I original wrote to the FOS in August compaining how long it was taking to resolve my complaint and due to this length of time it was causing me much hardship also because my complaint was a business it wasn't covered under the UTCCRs test case. I just got a straight forward automic reponse saying they couldn't help due to the test case. I wrote back saying I didn't think they looked at my complaint properly and told them that £500 new charges had been applied and it was causing much hardship if they could look into it for me. The last letter I got on the 4th October but I didn't receive it untill 23rd October (postal strike) they said regarding the UTCCR, my account will be put on hold because of the following reason.

 

As well as considering the satutory position of default bank charges under the UTCCR 1999, it is likely that the courts will also need to consider the common law position regarding penalty charges on all types of accounts. Therefore until there has been some guidance provided by the court, this service will not be able to take any such cases further at this stage.

 

So no joy with that one.

 

Regarding hardship they said:

 

It is correct that a case of genuine financial hardship will still be considered by this service; however, the financial difficulties in question must be current, and relate entirlely to the charges on the account. Essentailly this means we are only able to take forward cases where a complaint is currently incurring charges on their account, which are causing existing financial difficulites. it does not apply in cases where a complaintant may be suffering from difficulties unrelated to the account in question, but belives that a refund of charges my alleviate the problem and i am not persuaded in this instance that the charegs applied to the currant account are the cause of any financial difficulties.

 

My financial hardship is current are they not listening.

 

I haven't replied to this letter because I had already sent another letter just before this one arrived which I haven't had a responce yet. I sent this on the 16 October, Stating that they had mentioned anything about the time scale but by this time I had found out that my offer letter went to wrong address so this I told them and again about the added charges it would appear the above answer is relating to the old charges and not about the new charges this is what is causing a problem.

 

It must all sound so very confusing but what I think I will do is write again to the FOS listing everthing to date what has happened especially as tez said what happened to his inlaws with the wrong address issue, it is clear Barclays didn't do anything to rectifly this error which was to there benefit.

 

I have been thinking about what you have both said over the weekend I still cant decide what to do for the best, so I think I will do this letter to the FOS first then just forget about that side as I don't think they will help but you never know.

 

I personnal think I have a good case with the FOS but they are a law to themself.

[tezl]

hi,dont think you can win on hardship according to letter.

reading fos letter i think you have to fight them on the grounds of what i said before.

it was bs fault you never received offer.which you tell fos that you were going to except to stablelize your buisness.dosent matter if you were or not going to except,tell fos you were.

obviously,then say how you have more charges because of this.

 

like before.for bs to still make an offer,bs must know they are in the wrong.they are doing everthing not to pay at moment.

keep on at fos.bs are in wrong they should have done more to contact you.

tez.

[lizzy40]

Thanks Tezl I have sent another letter to FOS today hope I have covered everything but I'm sure they come out with another excuse for not investigating my complaint.

 

I still need to make my mind up on what I should do next I cant rely on the FOS.

 

I will sleep on it and decide tomorrrow.

 

Thanks for your time and advise.

 

Will keep you up dated.

[lizzy40]

Hi Guys

 

I have been thinking about my options and at this moment in time I believe the best thing for me to do in repect of my financial situation is to except there offer of £1050.00. Its not the option I would like to take because I believe they are holding onto my money.

 

I will not send back the customer acknowledgement form which came with offer stating in full settlement of my complaint with Barclays, as this doesnt leave me free to claim the newer charges. I will write in full settlement of my complaint and list the dates my old claim went up to.

 

However my main concern is, because I was told by the bank to send the offer back stating what happened with the wrong address issue and to add the newer charges and they will look at it all again. I'm worried they may only refund if it covers all charges to date as they know they are in the driving seat while we wait the OFT court case.

 

So while I do this should I do a LBA for the newer charges therefore putting my account into dispute again

 

Mean while you never know the FOS may decide to look into my case.

Wishful thinking.....

[slick132]

Hi Lizzy,

 

You can accept the reduced offer if thats your decision and I said how to do it in post #24, para 3.

 

You say, however, it's not your favoured option. Can you not hold out for the full amount or will this put your business at risk.

 

Bank, wrong address, etc in your para 3 - you tell them what you accept (chgs refund up to XXXX date) and if they pay the £1,050 then fine. If they try to change anything, don't settle with anything less than you are willing to accept.

 

FOS will not stay involved if you take reduced offer and it doesn't sound like they are interested much now anyway.

 

Send LBA either for FULL amount or for chgs taken since the xxxx date above. If you send it re full amount still this keeps your options open but gives you protection because bank debt is in dispute.

 

It really is time now to make your decision -accept their offer and reclaim recent charges in full, OR go for the full claim.

 

Forget FOS and branch's offer to look into it.

[lizzy40]

Hi slick

 

I want to hold out but this has been going on since Feb. If it wasn't for the OFT court case I wouldn't have settled for this offer but I cant take a chance and I really need this money now.

 

Why wont the FOS stay involed if I take the reduced offer, (thats not nice) as its the new charges which are causing the problem with my account now? Besides I'm trying to fight the issue that the offer went to wrong address therefore caused more account problems. Barclays didn't try and make anymore contact with me surley its in the FOS's juridiction to investigate if Barclays didn't follow there complaints handling procedure correctly?

 

However I don't feel very confident with the FOS but would like them for back up.

[slick132]

FOS may stay involved but I doubt it - they have limited resourses and,I guess, a huge number of cases to d/w.

 

But I think if you accept offer, FOS will see that you have resolved the issues they CURRENTLY have before them.

 

You could still send your LBA for full chgs without burning any bridges.

 

Slick

[lizzy40]

Slick you are naughty and it is very tempting to do full claim - I'll sleep on it!!!!

[slick132]

Lizzy,

 

It is as simple as this.

 

If you HAVE to accept their offer - accept it and d/w more recent chgs by reclaiming.

 

If you can manage without taking the offer, send LBA for full chgs to date.

[lizzy40]

Hi Guys, Guess what; just received a letter from the FOS just this minute opened it!

 

I sent a letter to the FOS on the 16 October 2007 in reponse to a letter I got from them stating they where unable to look into my claim. I didn't feel they had read my complaint properly so I challenaged there decision asking them to look at my complaint again as it wasn't just about the OFT courts case and that all claims are being put on hold. It was about how long it was taking to resolve as your aware of the wrong address issue and thus causing more charges and financial hardship.

 

This letter today is dated the 5 November which says sorry for the delay due to high volume complaints. I would like to inform you we will now be looking at your charges case complaint due to the financial difficulties you are experiecing and they will be in touch soon.

 

Because I hadn't heard anything I sent another letter to the FOS as tez said I should pursue the wrong address issue - I had nothing to lose so I did so they have that one to look at as well. Anyway this letter I sent on the Monday 5th is more up to date with what has been happening with my case.

 

I was just doing my letter to accept Barclays offer what should I do now?

[saintly_1]

Lizzy no-one can tell you exactly what to do that has to be your decision.

What you have to weigh up is the difference in the amounts and what effect that will have.

 

Bank Offer against what the FOS are investigating and what your claim would be with any new charges that have been added plus 8% interest that can be added once it gets to court stages.Remember the FOS will be working on the figure you approached the bank with initially.

 

Get your self a piece of paper and write the different figures down.

 

Bank = £xxx

FOS = £xxx

Court (including any new charges and 8% s69 interest) = £xxx

Dont forget that once its in the court system the interest increases daily.

Think about al the pro's and cons of each. Then make your decision

 

Once again no-one can tell you what you should do all we can do is give you the options and you have to do what is best for you after thinking over all the options you have been given ....... The reason I havent posted on here previously is that you have been getting all the help and advice from Slick and i would of been saying just the same as he has

 

 

saint

[tezl]

hi,

seems the only reason fos are taking it on is the wrong address issue,just bank charges they dont seem to bother.the fact fos is taking it on should concern bs.

because of address issue it has intertwined the 1st case with 2nd lot of charges.

in our case with fos re,insurance policy,with wrong address,we got the full sum assured + interest.

 

but it did take about 18 months start to finnish.

yours may be quicker.

as you say your problem is time,need dosh now.

 

i dont know what your like on phone haggling.

i think fos taking on your case,and whats gone on before puts you in a strong position to ring bs up and exsplain whats happening with fos and "for the full amount i originally claimed + new charges i will stop my quite serious complaint with you or for £2000?."making sure they know fos is taking your case on,and its linked to new charges as well, it may well shock them knowing fos has taken case on.its only a phone call.

like before,bs would not offer now if they didnt think they were in the wrong.

think this may be a chance to get most or all of your dosh quick,apart from taking small offer.

tez.

[lizzy40]

I did ring the FOS yesterday to get some idea how long it will take to investigate all they could tell me was due to my financial difficulties my case has been fast tracked what ever that means and someone is going to call me hopefully today to give me an idea how long it will take.

 

I think I will also contact the bank to let them know the FOS are looking at me case and to see if it changes things in respect of there offer.

 

Do you know whether banks should automatically deal with complaints if there are hardship issues and therefore the waiver shouldn't apply or is it up to the FOS to decide?

[tezl]

hi,

banks wont do anything re hardship,they wouldnt p on you if you were on fire.thats why you should not have sympothy for them.

they might deal because they are in the wrong re address buisness and other issues.try p m to saint on full story for her take on it.

hardship would only come from fos, as in letter from them.

which from this site is rare,that is why i think you are quite lucky and should try ringing bank,be firm with them,dont hold back.

tez

[saintly_1]

This was posted recently

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/barclays-bank/119541-has-any-members-received.html

 

saint

[lizzy40]

I would just like to clarifly a couple of points?

 

The FOS have agreed to take on my case however they called me last week to up date me as there is a large back log.

 

I have also received today a last reponse letter from Barclays that my account doesn't qualify under hardship as its a business acount and it only applies to personal accounts if this is correct why has the FOS taken it on?

 

Any ideas?

[slick132]

Hi Lizzy,

 

Are you sure FOS knows yours is a business a/c.

 

It would be rotten for you to wait for FOS to review on hardship grounds and for them to THEN refuse to fully investigate because you have business a/c.

 

Sorry but I don't know if what bank has said is correct - I'll try and find out for you.

[slick132]

Got this from FOS site. Read FAQ 8 on page 3 - http://www.fos.org.uk/faq/bankcharges-testcase-quickguide.pdf

 

If you have a look around on that site, you may find more info to help.

[lizzy40]

Sorry I haven't replied sooner.

 

Firstly yes the fos know its a business account.

 

I have a direct line with the person at the FOS who is dealing with my case so I rang her and told her about the letter quoting what Barclays had said about Business accounts and that they do not come under hardship case. She said that the FOS don't share the same view and they have already contacted Barclays the previous week regarding my case and are now waiting a reply. I said I only have till the end of the month to accept there offer what should I do and she said just hold on there are lots of talks and movement regarding how things are going and I should hear soon. I know the FOS don't rush there self but I can't afford to lose out on the offer so I will give them until the Christmas break hopfully I would have heard by then.

 

I also read the Fos sheet regarding business accounts you left the link for. On reading that it sounds like the banks have the best of both worlds. It's not clear and it reads like the FOS can't help much until after the test case, but I'm proof that they are helping as a hardship case. I just hope the outcome is to my advantage....

 

I dont think the FOS have much weight when it comes to the banking industry so we will just have to wait and see....

[slick132]

Hi Lizzy,

 

I hope the FOS help sort this so you are happy.

 

Just my opinion once more (in case I haven't made my feelings clear! lol) but you'll lose out if you take the bank's offer.

 

You should only accept it if you HAVE TO - if you can hang on, you'll get full settlement through FOS or Court. You may wait a while longer but you'll get all your money back.

[lizzy40]

I'm doing my best to hang it out but my financial circumstance's my dictate to what I may have to do...

[slick132]

Sure, I understand that.

 

Hope you hear from FOS quickly then.

[lizzy40]

Just updating my thread.

 

No news from the Fos or bank.

 

The FOS have contacted my bank regarding my complaint the last letter I had from them was on the 13 DEC so not sure how long it will take the bank to respond to the FOS. I did speak with the FOS just before Christmas because I was worried my 3 month dead line was coming up to accept there offer but the FOS said as it was in there hands the offer will still be available if it does go past the dead line date so that was good news.

 

Also the FOS said try and hold on as long as I can as there was lots of activity going on with the FOS and banks regarding how the banks are treating small business and apparently the FOS don't think that small business acounts should be on hold due to the reasons of the court case as it shouldn't effect small business which we all know it shouldn't but the banks are getting away with it.