halifax harrassment most foul. help me

[AA99]

still no news from my doctor.

 

Apex have sent me a reply to my request for a SAR and my 2 requests under s78(1) of the CCA.

they have ignored my letter completely and returned the postal orders, sent to them, with a short letter

it says....

 

"Balance £3111.53

 

i am writing concerning your letter received on 27/01/09. the contents of which were noted and actioned.

we have since been unable to acquire the copy of agreement and statement of account you requested and thus are returning the payment to you."

 

what!!!!

 

i am sickened and upset by the way they are treating me. how can they still be saying i owe them money but they have no records? i thought they had a legal requirement to supply me with the SAR and s78 requests.

 

i am pondering my reply to them with hatred.

 

Amanda

 

You've got to report them to one of the authoratitive bodies, FOS, ICO, blah blah

[leeds1]

i am preparing to send them something like this..

 

Credit Card Formal Complaint Letter Before Action

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

With reference to my previous two letters, I wish to draw you attention to your company's lack of compliance with my legal requests.

 

On 3rd January 2009 and again on the 23rd January, I made formal requests for a true signed agreement for the alleged account under consumer credit Act 1974 s77

You have failed to comply with both requests, and as such the account entered default on 17th January 2009.

 

The document that you are obliged to send me is a true copy of the executed agreement that contained all of the prescribed terms, all other required terms and statutory notices and was signed by both your company and myself as defined in section 61(1) of CCA 74 and subsequent Statutory Instruments. If the executed agreement contained any reference to any other document, you are also obliged to send me a copy of that document.

 

As you may not be aware , failure to comply with this request within 12 working days renders the alleged debt UNENFORCEABLE in law. Furthermore, if this non-compliance continues for a further month then a summary, criminal offence is committed.

 

I am of the opinion that your continued pursuit is in violation of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 section 40, Protection from harassment Act 1997 section 3 as well as breaching a number of the OFT Collection Guidelines.

 

I reserve the right to report your actions to any such regulatory authorities as I see fit.

You have 14 days from receiving this letter to contact me with your intentions to resolve this matter which is now a formal complaint.

 

As stated in your letter to me, which arrived 2nd January, Apex Credit Management Ltd is now the data controller of my information. You still have time to reply to my SAR request made on the 23rd January.

 

 

Yours Faithfully

 

 

i am unsure whether to send this letter but have copied it from the CAG forum and adjusted it to apply to my situation.

 

Amanda

[AA99]

I've sent this one to a few of my creditors but was just ignored as well:( I think the only people that can make them pay attention are the regulatory / authoritative bodies, much as I have been reluctant to use them as well. The only consolation I have is with MBNA Acc.1 where the ICO have confirmed an investigation:confused:

[leeds1]

i contacted my Doctors surgery today regarding the report we are waiting for. they didnt know about it and had to check. they said it is still being dealt with and i will have it by the end of the week.

 

i havnt sent the letter to Apex yet. i might take out the 'letter before action' bit as this is a part of one overall action.

 

A

 

Amanda

[steven4064]

Since we now have the doctor's letter and can go ahead, I have revised the POC:

IN THE XXXXX COUNTY COURT

 

BETWEEN

leeds1

CLAIMANT

AND

HBOS Plc T/A Halifax

DEFENDANT

 

---------------------------

PARTICULARS OF CLAIM

---------------------------

 

1. The Claimant had an account number XXXXXXX ("the Account") with the Defendant from date or thereabouts until date or thereabouts.

 

2. Since Late 2006, the Defendant has subjected the Claimant to a sustained campaign of telephone harassment, despite repeated requests by telephone and by letter for them to stop and only communicate with the Claimant in writing. The harassment has consisted of up to 4 telephone calls a day for several days a week over a period of months demanding payment of the Account.

 

3. Quite often the calls to the Claimant were aggressive and/or rude and with the sheer number caused the Claimant severe distress. The Claimant has been diagnosed by her doctor with a stress-related disorder as a direct result of this harassment.

 

4. Late in 2007 and going on into 2008, the Defendant even went so far as to subject the Claimant's elderly parents to 10 months of calls, again up to 4 calls a day. This campaign only stopped after the Claimant issued a formal complaint to the Defendant, to which they replied on 20 October 2008.

 

5. The Claimant sent the Defendant several requests under s7 of the Data Protection Act 1998 for information concerning this campaign of harassment, which the Defendant has answered only in part. The Defendant has provided a list of over 170 calls to the Claimant between 22 December 2007 and 20 May 2008.

6. The information provided by the Defendant does not cover the large number of calls they made from August/September 2006 until the end of 2007, nor does it cover the large number of calls they made later in 2008. The information supplied does not include any records the Defendant made on the Claimant’s file concerning the various complaints made nor records of any action they took as a result. The Defendant provided no information whatsoever about calls made to the Claimant’s elderly parents.

 

7. Despite reminders, the Defendant has failed to comply fully with their obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 to provide all the information they hold of which the Claimant is the subject. The Claimant knows from her own records that the Defendant must hold much more data of which she is the subject and can only surmise that their failure to supply it is a deliberate attempt to cover up or minimise this campaign of harassment. The need to keep on reminding the Defendant of their statutory obligations and their continued refusal to comply with the Claimant’s statutory requests has significantly added to the stress suffered by the Claimant.

 

The Claimants therefore claim:

 

i) An order that the Defendant should fully comply with the Claimant’s request under s7 of the Data Protection Act 1998; and

 

ii) An order under s5 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 to prevent the Defendant contacting the Claimant by telephone about this or any other matter; and

iii) Compensation not exceeding £12,000 (twelve thousand pounds) under s3 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 for the distress caused by the Defendant’s harassment of the Claimants and under s13 of the Data Protection Act 1998 for the additional stress suffered by the Claimant because of the Defendant’s refusal to comply with her statutory requests.

The POC doesn't give away everything we have. The plan is to see what they come up with in their defence. We can use the AQ to request disclosure and a skeleton arguement with the court bundle bringing in elements of Ferguson v British Gas which is quite relevent, particulaly stuff about coroprate responsibility and "the gravity test" Edited March 2, 2009 by steven4064

[BankFodder]

Steven, I am emailing you

[steven4064]

BF and I have discussed the POC on the previous page. BF suggests a more spartan one to give less away

IN THE XXXXX COUNTY COURT

 

 

BETWEEN

 

 

leeds1

CLAIMANT

 

- AND -

 

 

HBOS plc T/A Halifax

DEFENDANT

 

 

---------------------------

 

PARTICULARS OF CLAIM

 

---------------------------

 

 

 

1. The claimant seeks remedies under the Data Protection Act 1998 and under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

 

Data Protection Act 1998

 

2.The Claimant had an account number XXXXXXX ("the Account") with the Defendant from date or thereabouts until date or thereabouts.

 

3.On the XXXDateXXX the claimant made a statutory request for disclosure of personal data under s.7 of the Data protection Act 1998.

 

4.The claimant has sent repeated reminders.

 

5.The defendant has failed to comply or to comply fully with the Subject Access Request.

 

6.By virtue of the defendant's breach of their statutory obligations, the claimant has suffered stress and inconvenience.

Particulars of stress and inconvenience

7.The claimant has been obliged to send repeated reminders to the defendants and which have generally been ignored.

 

8.The claimant has been obliged to delay her claim for harassment because of the unwillingness of the defendants to carry out their statutory obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998.

 

9.The prospect of having to force a large and well-resourced British banking institution to carry out duties which it should observe without any problems has added to the overwhelming sense of harassment and stress which has been caused to the claimant by the defendant.

 

Protection from Harassment Act 1997

 

10. Since Late 2006, the Defendant has subjected the Claimant to a sustained campaign of telephone harassment apparently in pursuit of an alleged debt.

 

11.The claimant has made repeated requests by telephone and by letter for them to stop and only communicate with the Claimant in writing.

 

12. Despite this the harassment has continued.

 

13. Further in breach of the Protection of Harassment Act and also in breach of the OFT Debt Collection Guidance, the defendants repeatedly telephoned the claimant’s elderly parents.

 

14. By virtue of the harassment the claimant has suffered damage and distress.

Particulars of distress

15. Statement of actual harm based on doctor's letter - not posted here to protect Amanda's confientiality

 

16. The involvement by the defendants of the claimant’s elderly parents caused great distress and humiliation for the claimant herself and further stress at seeing the distress which was also caused directly to her parents. (The defendant's harassment of the claimant’s parents is to form the basis of a separate action under The Protection from Harassment Act 1997)

 

Under the Data Protection Act 1998 the claimant seeks:

i) an order of the court that the defendant complies fully with the claimant's statutory request, and

 

ii) damages under s.13 DPA not exceeding £500

 

Under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 the claimant seeks:

 

iii) an order under s5 to prevent the Defendant contacting the Claimant by telephone about this or any other matter,

 

iv) damages under s3 not exceeding £12,000, and

 

v) punitive damages in the discretion of the court.

Any comments anyone? Edited March 4, 2009 by steven4064

[leeds1]

i must comment regarding the alleged debt in 2006. there was no debt. i was not overdrawn or anything at the time of those calls. the phonecall i made to the woman at head office confirmed it was their error.

also,they have never confirmed, in a dsar or otherwise, my complaint or the calls made to me then (on both my mobile and landline)

 

in the recent calls (2007-2008) i was forced to miss my loan payments (i had never missed any payments until then) because they had ransacked and closed my account already and would not let me pay in until i rang head office. then they refused me again in february. oh, how i hate banks. they suck.

 

also section...9.The prospect of having to force a large and well-resourced British banking institution to carry out duties which it should observe without any problems has added to the overwhelming sense of harassment and stress which has been caused to the claimant by the defendant.

 

i think i cant spell overwhelming but that is how it has been for me and i dont know if it would make a difference to be added.

 

i have never been involved with law and courts, the paperwork and procedure is a bit intimidating. i might be stressing unnecessarily but i dont want the judge thinking that i/we deserved any of this.

 

Amanda

[42man]

Looks good !!

[leeds1]

i am happy with this too.

 

 

Amanda

[steven4064]

All the other details that were in my original POC and the ones added by leeds1 a couple of posts back will all get aired eventually. It is just that BF feels that it is best not to give away too much at this stage.

[BankFodder]

Since Late 2006, the Defendant has subjected the Claimant to a sustained campaign of telephone harassment apparently in pursuit of an alleged debt.

Can we just get this straight then.

 

The alleged debt of 2006 was their error.

was the eventual closure of your account leading to the 2007 problems and calls a direct result of their 2006 error?

 

If this is then we should amend the POC as this will be enormously helpful and will serve to increase the judge's level of anger and the level of damages.

 

When did the harassment start? 2006 or 2007? I'm afraid that I am losing track slightly.

[BankFodder]

I think that "overwhelming" should be added if that is what you want and it certainly carries a greater impact

[BankFodder]

Do you have evidence of their error and also of their admission of the error? What was the error?

If you don't have evidence of it then all the more reason to insist on compliance with the SAR

[AA99]

subbing Leeds1:cool:

[BankFodder]

If we can argue that their error was an operating cause of your impecuniosity and subequent harassment then I think that we should amend to include a claim for breach of contract as well.

[leeds1]

there have been two times they have harassed me.

 

The alleged debt ( and first harassment bout) of 2006 was their error.

i rang to complain to them and she could see there was nothing wrong in my account and it was their mistake.

she said she had put a note on my records at my request to not call me and write if needed and apologised. (in, i think 2006. i will check and edit the post if im wrong.)

was the eventual closure of your account leading to the 2007 problems and calls a direct result of their 2006 error?

 

no, they are unconnected incidents.

 

 

Do you have evidence of their error and also of their admission of the error? What was the error?

 

which error in 2006 or 2007/2008? i have tried to write it up but there is a lot of errors and confusing. i have evidence of most, if not all of it.

 

and in the phone recordings 2008 (2nd bout of harassment) there are conversations i had with customer relations where they said it was their error. but it wasnt sorted out which is why i'm still fighting and sick.

 

i think they have breached contracts several times in different ways and i have letters, there were phonecalls logged etc. i am pretty sure.

 

i am looking up impecuniosity..

 

Amanda

[leeds1]

2006 was the first bout and was their fault. i have phone records of my complaint calls to Halifax head office and bank statements. (i have mentioned it on CAG before ) i was told notes were put on my file to not be called by them and only write if they needed to contact me in future.

 

i did not have that information in my SAR in 2008.

 

in 2007/2008 the phone harassment started and the second bout of harassment. the two bouts were not connected.

 

i am sure they have breached contracts more than once and sure i have proof but i am not an expert on law.

 

i am happy to hold back and check if they have and throw the book at them if i can.

 

i would like to see licences lost and i would like to see new laws made.

 

Amanda

[BankFodder]

If there is no connection then there is no point in changing things.

The earlier harassment can be referred to later to show that this is their modus.

 

You won't get licences lost or new laws made I'm afraid.

However you should be able to deliver a very serious message to them and to others who try the same thing

[leeds1]

Do you have evidence of their error and also of their admission of the error? What was the error?

 

my loan - 2 default notices

25th August 2006 my address details were updated (see customer details verification form)

on 14th January 2008 a default notice was sent to my parents address. not my updated address.

 

on 12th June 2008 a second default notice, on the same loan, was sent to my address.

 

how manty times can they issue default notices to one acount and is it legal to stop me from paying in before a deadline and cause me to miss a loan payment?

my bank account

in January 2008 my account was closed.

my account was reopened at 4.30pm 22nd January. i was then refused service.

i rang head office (see records of calls) but still refused service at branch and had to insist to be allowed to pay in to cover my loan.

my account was closed again. i was again refused service on 4th February 2008

my account was reopened.

my account closed.

my final statement is a duboius new account type thing with interest of 29%. i cant find it at mo. i put it to one side. there are too many sides!i will find it soon and confirm details.

 

can they do this?

and how many times can they close a persons account?

 

my overdraught

 

on 16th may 2008 they wrote to me to say my overdraught was ending on the 6th June 2008

 

on 23rd May 2008 they wrote again to say...

"we recently advised you that your overdraught would be withdrawn or reduced. This was an error, and please accept our apologies. You do not need to take any further action"

 

on 12th August 2008 they sent me a default notice.

my credit card

credit limit 4950.00

valid from July 2007 until September 2010

 

they dropped my card limit without notice to £2700

card was kept by hole in wall approx December

they forced me to have another card. i refused in branch because they had kept my previous card. they still applied.

they wrote saying i couldnt have a card.

and then issued me with another card. i didnt want any cards.

default notice sent 24th September 2008

 

things are confusing me so they must be confusing you. i will try and make things clearer with proof when i find certain letters

 

Amanda

[leeds1]

p.s.

 

i applied for my overdraught to be made bigger. charges were approx 6% interest but was refused the overdraught

and a pimply young till boy gave me a credit card for OVER £4000 instead at approx 20% interest and told me to go out and party. spend spend spend! i didnt use it at all for approx 2 years.

 

i cant work that one out. isnt that mis-selling?

 

and for some reason credit card letters are not dated and details are hard to follow.

 

i am working on the facts and will update them as the fog clears.

[steven4064]

I think this is all just evidence of their careless attitude to your needs. I think you should just ge ahead with the claim as it is an dadvance these letters and data as evidence if appropriate.

[AA99]

Ah heck Leeds1, bad news to read that:( It half makes you want to keep your bucks in cash under your mattress but, it half makes you want to keep on keeping on:) Am going round in circles myself.....

 

Which advice are you going ahead with

[BankFodder]

I think this is all just evidence of their careless attitude to your needs. I think you should just ge ahead with the claim as it is an dadvance these letters and data as evidence if appropriate.

I agree.

This factual account can be written up later and put in once the action is underway.

It might be useful if we took a formal statement from you at some point. It would mean meeting up and from the sounds of it it could take a couple of days

[leeds1]

i am struggling a bit with this and am more than happy to have someone see the paperwork.

 

Reading the Manchester family case, I think I need more advice now.....

 

i should apply for a (3rd SAR) record of calls and harassment from Lloyds as well as they are both together now and I had many calls from them and have my own records.

you will hear in the recordings what i said to Lloyds. i was promised over and over by Halifax that they were "looking into" my complaints and they would be sorted out. i waited for a solution and got ignored, fobbed off and worn down by Halifax.

my complaints weren't dealt with and so Lloyds have pushed ahead with the same technique and my card of £500 has leapt up a few hundred pounds and i have a mountain of letters and threats from them too. there will be many calls from them but i didn't answer most of them as i thought things would be back to normal soon. I have new recordings too, you have not heard them yet.

 

mysteriously, the calls stopped about the same time as the Halifax ones.

 

so can i take Lloyds and Halifax to court at once or would this be one case between me and HBOS?

 

they cant blame the others if the proof shows that they are both the same.

 

Amanda