Another threat of legal action....please help

[mollybe]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm afraid I would like to ask for some more help on this one if I may?

 

I received a letter from the DCA dated 17th March 2010. They are now saying they have never received the cheque I sent them with the SAR letter and want me to prove it was sent.

 

I replied with the following letter:

 

Dear Sir

With reference to your letter of 17th March 2010. I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for the delay in responding. This was due to the fact that I have been incapacitated due to medical conditions.

 

A Subject Access Request was sent to Peugeot, together with the required fee in the form of a (name of bank) Cheque (no chq no.) on 18th May 2010.

 

A response to this request was received by myself dated 9th June containing most of the information I had requested.

 

The letter was signed by Paul Watkins (head of customer services) and stated that he hoped the enclosures satisfied the request and to contact him if there were are queries, which I did regarding the missing documentation which I am still persuing.

 

At no time was it mentioned that I had not sent the fee for the DSAR which I would have expected if none was received, before the large amount of paperwork was sent out to me.

 

I am now re-requesting the further documents as detailed in my previous letter and cannot see any reason why the receipt of my payment should be questioned at this late stage.

 

We are now considerably past the deadline for full response to a DSAR. With this in mind I would politely request that the missing paperwork be located and forwarded to me within the next 7 days.

 

I received a letter from them today saying their client says they have never received the £1o cheque and want me to send them a copy of the cheque (how do I do that when i no longer have it!) or a bank statment (like that is going to happen!!) to prove I sent it. They say because I have not paid then they are under no obligation to send me anything further. They are now willing to settle for £130ish.

 

I feel like I am banging my head against a brick wall.

 

How can they suddenly tell me they have not received my cheque for SAR when they have supplied everything except copies of the letters they have sent to me, or at least something to say which letters have been sent and why? If they have no record of this then how do they know what they are up to with anyone's account?

 

Are they really going to take me to court for Penalty Charges (their words not mine)

 

Please help or I swear I am commiting myself to the funny farm.

 

Any ideas folks, shot of hiring a hit man!! Can't afford one anyway!

[diddydicky]

simply check with the bank and put a stop on the old cheque and send them a new one along with a letter along the lines

 

dear sirs

 

i enclose a further cheque in the amount of £10 and which has been witnessed has having been posted to you today.

 

I do not intend to enter into further discussion on this matter save to say that i will leave it to a judge in any subsequent proceedings to draw his own conclusions from the evidence i can put forward as to your clients actions with regard to their continuing and highly suspicious reluctance to provide the information requested.

 

Even were your client to genuinely not have received my cheque, and given their partial disclosure of the SAR- i would imagine that such a large organisation could reasonably be expected to fulfil its obligations in the sure and certain knowledge that a queery over this allegedly missing £10 would not precipitate the downfall of your clients company

[mollybe]

Fabulous reply letter DD but the cheque was sent to them nearly 12 months ago so not much chance of getting it stopped now:D

[diddydicky]

it doesnt matter really

 

the fact of the matter is that if they had had concerns over not being paid they would not have part fulfilled the sar

 

Judges are no fools (contrary to popular beleif) and would see right through their sham arguments

 

send the letter and put them on the backfoot

[mollybe]

Thanks again DD for your reply. I guess it is worth another £10 because it seems they really do not wish to send me the letter they sent saying that my account was closed.

 

I have just been re-reading the docs they have sent me and there is a comms log of telephone calls.

 

The call was logged when I rang them and asked why they had closed my account because the full amount had been paid and then sent me another letter saying I owed more money.

 

Their reply, according to the comms log is..

 

"Explained to 3rd party, (that's me acting on behalf of OH) that last instalment had been missed, contract to be extended by us moving due date so end of contract letter was sent but relates to the finish date of the contract."

 

So they are saying that they moved the payment date because I asked them to but then didn't update their system which then automatically sent me a letter to say that the contract had ended and paid in full.

 

I don't know if you have read all the thread but I really want a copy of this letter and still have not received it. I think they know now that they have messed up. They cannot claim the letter wasn't sent because they have admitted sending it on comms log, but they know I cannot find mine and really don't want me to have one.

 

So, the questions I have are;

 

Can they send me a letter saying the contract is ended and then suddenly decide it isn't and start chasing me for more money.

 

They also say that 1 instalment is missing because of change of payment date. The monthly payment was £175 and now they are chasing me for £262. I have more than paid the total amount on the agreement so the amount they want me to pay is ALL Penalty Charges.

 

Can they really take me to court when they tell me the account is closed and then go on to claim Penalty Charges even though the amount paid is over what was agreed on the original agreement?

[dx100uk]

I have just calculated all the Late Payment Fees and the total is £225. Can I use this?

 

where is the spreadsheet?

 

stop pussy futting around and go to the FOS.

 

dx

[mollybe]

Hi dx, thanks for looking so quickly.

 

I am really sorry but i don';t know what you mean about 'go to the FOS'

 

Cheers

Molly

[dx100uk]

Financial Ombudsman Service

 

dx

[mollybe]

Thanks dx, I was just about to post again when yours arrived, we must have been typing at the same time.

 

I do know what you meant, just ignore me, I am having a blonde moment:)

 

If I go to the FOS, which I am going to do, do you think I have a case?

 

Also, if they make a decision in Peugeot's favour do both parties have to abide by that decision.

 

For the speadsheet to calculate charges I used the one on the MSE website for reclaiming bank charges. It was simple to use and also calculated interest at 8% which brings the total to around £350, more than the amount they claim is outstanding. That is how I know they are claiming all charges.

 

Also, they have sent me a copy of the CCA and according to the records they have also sent me (despite claiming they have never received a cheque for the SAR) I have clearly paid more than the amount signed for on the CCA

[dx100uk]

it matters not which way they decide, its not binding.

 

however, barring that it will costing the co. you are complaining against £500 in FOS 'fees' to investigate the complaint against them -

 

your evidence -

the agreement

your spreadsheet

their payment record -

 

will clearly show you have met the agreed sum & the FOS will rule in your favour regarding the unlawful 'fees'.

 

they will also most prob get a slap too for welshing on the SAR too.

 

TBH: this should have been done last year, but as the Co. concerned have not sent a 'final response' you can still go to the FOS.

 

you will have to copy everything you have and bundle it off to them.

but initially, download the online complaint form and wait to get the case number and go from there.

 

dx