Me vs HBOS **WON**

[daviet1976]

Hello everyone.

 

I am planning on raising an ordinary action against HBOS to recover just over £7000 in bank charges.

 

No doubt the bank will request the claim be sisted, pending the outcome of the OFT case. Obviously I plan to object to this course of action, and given the amount of successful requests presented to Scottish courts over the past year I hope to be successful with my request also.

 

Can anyone give me some guidance on what should happen now/what I should do now?

 

I have made an appointment to speak to a solicitor in Dundee as I do not feel comfortable raising this action without some legal assistance.

 

Bestest

 

DT

 

 

(ps this has been posted elsewhere, and I apologise for the extra work this may cause someone).

[Guest Old_andrew2018]

good luck, bump

[sea-sidelady]

You dont need the assistance of a solicitor, all the help, advice and letters you need are on this site.

 

There are also plenty of people who can help you with the scottish court system.

[**Tilly**]

Hi

 

The first thing you need to do is send of your S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) requesting your data (statements) if you have not already got them,enlcosing a 10.00 cheque which you can claim back,this takes upto 40 calender

days, keep a copy for yourself, and send the letter recorded delivery this way you

proof of postage and when it was delivered.

 

 

 

 

1. Data Protection Act, Subject Access Request letter - List of charges

 

 

 

Tilly

Edited June 29, 2008 by **Tilly**

[daviet1976]

Sorry Tilly

 

Perhaps I should have mentioned that I have been through all the previous steps and have now reached a point where the next action is court....

 

DT

[**Tilly**]

Hiya

 

No problem DT have a look in this link ~~# Scottish Procedure #~~

 

hope this helps, just shout if you need any help

 

 

 

Tilly

[daviet1976]

Have an appointment next Thursday to speak to a solicitor.

 

Will be mentioning the ordinary action and getting his/her thoughts.

 

Might raise 2 summary's instead.

 

Am calling the bank tomorrow to request they deal with me as a hardship case, given the £300 charges they've just taken off!

 

That puts the claim over £7500.

[maroondevo52]

Hi, daviet1976.

 

I had one Small claim and one Summary Cause claim paid out on the same account with HBOS, then some Scottish Courts started throwing out more than one claim on the same account, calling it an abuse of process.

 

So with my third, and largest claim, from that account I went to FOS. It took a while, after being told by FOS all claims were put on hold.

But as it was a Business Account, FOS contacted HBOS again and they paid up.

 

I take it yours is an Ordinary Account, if so, it may worth a shot at going through FOS.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[daviet1976]

I've asked them to look at this as a financial hardship case, given the amount of charges per month.

 

If they refuse, I willl ask the FOS to help.

 

As well as seeing the solicitor.

[maroondevo52]

Hi,

 

See what the solicitor says, but you really can do it yourself, I'm sure you could do with the money you would have to pay the solicitor.

 

I've claimed over £8,000 back from various accounts, all with the help from people on this site.

 

Let us know how you get on.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[daviet1976]

That's the double edged sword.

 

To raise an Ordinary Action, I WOULD need the help of a solicitor!

[maroondevo52]

Hi, DT.

 

Do what your happy with, it's your decision, we can only offer help and guidance

 

You'll get good advice from people here, whatever way you go.

 

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[daviet1976]

Sorry MD.

 

My post sounded a little sharp.

 

What I meant to say was that I WOULD need the help of a solicitor with an Ordinary Action (as opposed to a summary action) due to the legalities of the action itself (legal jaargon, etc).

 

But I appreciate the post....

[daviet1976]

Anyway.

 

Update.

 

HBOS confirm receipt of my hardship claim.

 

£700+ of charges since my last post.

 

Claim now stands at £8500.

 

Am going for the softly softly appproach and being nice and stuff.

 

Am also being very polite on the telephone and not sounding too desperate.

 

Called again this morning to request they look at my claim more urgently as "I have no money". They will look at it asap.

 

Keep you posted.

[daviet1976]

Called HBOS last Wednesday (24th).

 

They will be dealing with my claim due to "severe financial hardship".

 

Which is nice.

 

An acceptance form is being sent for me to sign AFTER they get a detailed statement of my charges from head office.

 

I politely pointed out -

 

1. That I photocopied their original list and sent it with my original claim, and

 

2. That it was now 16 months since I first started the process and requested my bank statements.

 

"We have to follow procedure".

 

Fine.

 

Don't want to push this too much as, afterall, they ARE considering my claim.

 

Will keep you posted.

[gymguy]

daviet1976,

 

Forget Financial Ombudmans Service (FOS) takes way too long, they currently have a backlog of complaints going back nearly a year. The courts system is the only remedy.

 

My claim against HBOS is for £9,500 and so far they have ignored and refused to budge on every aspect including SAR (They sent statements but that's it) and also a CPA they only responded when I issued proceedings and only then to issue a blanket stay pending the OFT (another long wait) the powers that be in HBOS must be laughing themselves silly at Bureaucracy which is unable to cope. Not so much red tape as a red straight jacket for Consumers rights everywhere.

 

I can't claim to be a hardship case as I'm in fulltime employment and earning a good salary, so that option for me is a non-starter. I have however accepted that my claim for charges and default removal is going to be stayed by the County Court.

 

I have therefore issued new proceedings under the DPA and CCA for failure to supply vital documentation and I'm claiming that their issue of a defualt notice against me was unlawful and therefore not worth the paper it is written on (should they ever prove they sent me one in the first instance)

 

Forget ICO and FOS - get litigious and take them through the courts - in the six months I have been writing and have felt the HBOS cold shoulder it is the ONLY threat that they understand or are prepared to respond to.

 

I have twenty three standard holding letters over a four month period advising me that they are dealing with my complaints - yet they never do. I have only ever recieved one specific piece of correspondence dealing with my complaints.

 

keep copies of everything, record postage and delivery and take everything at face value.

 

I'll keep you posted.

 

Good luck with your claim.

 

Gymguy

[daviet1976]

I also earn a good salary. Between me and my wife we take home over £50k.

 

It's just that our outgoings come to more than our income. Sh*t happens.

 

HBOS have confirmed that they are dealing with my claim as a harship case.

 

It's just a case of waiting for their letter of offer. Since I claimed, there's been around £1000 of additional charges.

 

It'll be interesting to see which date they take their ""5 years" from...

[gymguy]

How much proof are you having to give them to substantiate your hardship case? I suppose if you are still banking with them they can readily see your income and outgoings.

 

I did think about trying to get creative and tell them that my circumstances have changed and my partner has left and my income has reduced, would I have to substantiate? (It's not the case)

 

I don't bank with HBOS anymore so they don't have ready access to my finanaces. I also save substantial amounts each month and I guess they could see this.

 

Good luck with your claim mate - let you know how I get on in court.

[daviet1976]

Yeah keep me posted!

 

They sent their standard "we cannot see any real sign of hardship, but we do not have all the info we need. Please complete and send this form" which was an income/expenditure thing.

 

I guess what they don't have is details of ALL my creditors. There could, afterall, be creditors taking monies directly from my salary (which would be great as it's taken pre-tax).

 

I'll give them a call later in the week and post again.

[gymguy]

Becareful what you send them as attached to the questionaire of outgoings is a Data Ptotection release form which in signing you authorise them to share any data you give them with other organisations.

 

They will make sure that your 'debts' are broadcast internally across the finance system to other third party organisations.

 

 

Making yourself a hardship case now in their eyes might have implications further along the road.

 

Good luck

[daviet1976]

Sh**

 

You're right. Will speak to my contact and get that "revoked".

 

I had called to find out what was going on, and was told a letter was sent 26th Sept offering £5.8k.

 

I told "Johnathan" that I was expecting nearly £9k.

 

I called again today and he advised that someone had got their figures wrong and he was awating confirmation of a figure closer to £9k.

 

Told him I'd accept over £7k.

 

Should hear by end of week.

 

Will keep you posted.

[gymguy]

Good luck with it hope you get the cash mate.

 

I've had to resort to taking them to court under the data protection act and cca for issuing a default against me unlawfully.

 

They can't provide any copy documentation so I think I'm in with a good chance. Haven't received the date of the hearing as yet but they have been issued with my court papers - so in true HBOS style they are bound to defend and write to me within the next two weeks.

 

Strange how they always respond to legal action and never to general correspondence.

 

Also be careful with HBOS especially if you have any other debts with them such as overdraft or a credit card balance they always insist that those balances are settled out of the money you are going to get before they pay you anything that is left. Be warned.

 

I'm waiting for confirmation that my claim against them for £9k has been stayed by the court. I suspect the rate that interest is clocking up that by the time they eventually settle my claim sometime in 2009 it is likely to be nearly £11k.

 

I can't use the hardship clause so I suspect I will have to wait it out.

 

Keep me posted!

 

G

Edited October 7, 2008 by gymguy

[daviet1976]

So, I called HBOS on Wednesday last to find out what was going on.

 

HBOS had increased their offer to £7.4k (just HOW do they calculate their figures?!)

 

Anyway, the acceptance form came through yesterday morning and I FAXED it back to them (from my local HBOS branch) and also sent a hard copy through the post.

 

Will keep you posted.

[daviet1976]

Called HBOS.

 

They confirm the acceptance was received on Tues 21st (it's amazing just how long faxes take to reach their destination!)

 

Anyway, they also confirmed that all the new charges since early September will be returned all. That's around £500 in total.

 

Which means nearly £8k will be refunded into my account within the next week or so.

 

Will keep you all posted.

[maroondevo52]

Superb result, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you

 

Regards.

 

Scott.