Sent my DPA letter to Abbey

[towiedyer]

I sent my DPA letter to the Abbey National on the 10th March. Still not heard anything.

 

I calculated from the statements I have that I have been charged £1200 in the past 2 years, god knows how much they have taken over the past 6! For the majority of the previous 4 years I was a student and constantly having financial difficulties.

 

Like most I am nervous as to what will happen to my account if I have to go as far as court action. I have an overdraft of £1900, that I would not be able to pay back if Abbey demand it. I also have a graduate loan with them.

 

I'll keep you all posted on my progress and I'm anxious to see if they take the hard-line apparoach they seem to have adopted with most of the recent claimants.

 

I sent the letter by recorded delivery and I've justs checked online and it was signed for on the 13th March. The clock is ticking!

[towiedyer]

Is it possible they might demand early repayment of the loan or is this classed as a seperate contract with them.

 

I make the monthly payments from my graduate account for the loan.

[towiedyer]

Still waiting for a reply to my DPA letter. Gues it's one of the "millions and millions" of letters they are getting.

 

Another 16 days to go till the 40 day period is up!

 

Getting exciting

[towiedyer]

Only 9 days to go till the 40 days are up. Still had nothing from Abbey.

 

If the Abbey send me a letter asking for the £10 to cover the statement cost, will my 40 day waiting period start again or will it just continue to run?

 

Also, should I send the £10 as a pre-emptive strike and if so who should I sent it to and how should I word the letter?

 

Getting nervously excited!

[alanfromderby]

Unfortunately, the DPA request does not start until they have received your request, and payment.

 

Consistantly, Abbey have used every possible delaying tactic and excuse to avoid compliance. The only way to get things moving is to reissue the DPA request, along with the payment, and send it by recorded delivery.

 

If they then need any clarification, or use any other attempts to side-step your claim, they can be reminded that the clock is ticking.

[towiedyer]

Re-reading the intial letter I sent I must have included a cheque for £10 as I mention it in the letter!

 

Now onto my current mess with Abbey:

 

About 2 months ago my cheque book ran out and I called them to order a new one. They told me I had cheques outstanding in other cheque books and therefore could not get a new one. This happens if you rip up cheques when write something incorrectly. Therefore, I asked them to cancel all the cheque books outstanding on my account and send me through a brand new cheque book.

 

This week I check my account and lo and behold, 5 cheques have gone through my account, 4 for £100 and 1 for £80. This cheque book was issued in June 2004 and is included in the books I had asked Abbey to cancel. I am in the middle of moving house and the loss of £480 has meant I have had to borrow money off 2 friends and 1 relative.

 

A fraud investigation is looking into who cashed the cheques and I know that it is partly my fault for losing/having a cheque book stolen, but how incompetent can Abbey be?

 

Anthony: "Abbey, can you cancel all the cheque books outstanding against my name"

 

Abbey: "We have done that for you"

 

2 months later - 5 cheques out of an old cheque book are fraudulently used by someone.

 

Anthony: "Abbey, why the hell wasn't that cheque book stopped?"

 

Fuming does not describe how I feel.

[towiedyer]

Also,

 

Today Abbey have just refunded 2 of 4 bank charges that were due to go out of my account on Sunday.

 

I called and asked for a refund on all of them, 3 for £30 and 1 for £20.

 

Because I have had no refunded charges for 6 months on my account I have had 1 £30 and the £20 charge cancelled.

 

If the bank don't process payments, cheques, etc on a Sunday, is it right that they can take charges out of an account on this day. If the banking clearance system is shut, how can they process payment out of my account?

 

Might be me making a mountain out of nothing but it just seems unfair.

[alanfromderby]

The banking system for transfering between banks, cheque clearance, etc. is shut - theoretically.

 

What is not shut, is the banks internal processes - so where a charge is set to go out on a Sunday, it will. Also, don't forget, they do a great deal of customer phoning at weekends, since that is the only time they can catch a great many people at home.

 

They can add, amend, alter accounts at any time they want. When we want to do anything with our account, they allow us to do it when they want us to.

[towiedyer]

Clock is still ticking on my DPA request. The 40 day deadline is Thursday of this week.

 

Will Abbey respond? Stay tuned to find out.

[towiedyer]

Had reply on the 14th April from a Pam Speed, Business Manager, Banking Servicing.

 

Basically they want me to pay £5 for each one page statement that has been archived and £10 for multiple page statements that have been archived. They say that the information is no longer held on their systems and therefore, an administration fee is required.

 

I'm sure I sent off a £10 cheque with my original letter. I certainly wrote on the letter that I was enclosing one. Could they have destroyed the cheque to pro-long the process?

 

What are my next steps?

[alanfromderby]

Do you know the cheque number? Has it been cashed?

 

The letter seems to be the usual Abbey microfiche response - see the sticky for an explanation of this. Having said that, if you did not send the cheque then the 40-days has not started.

 

Abbey are VERY obstructive, and you have to ensure that you follow the step-by-step to the letter, and be ready to counter the microfiche letter.

 

It can only be a matter of time before Abbey have to face an Information Commissioner complaint - probably from me in a couple of weeks time!

[lois]

hiya

 

i got exactly the same letter from Pam Speed last Friday - I sent them the letter that alanfromderby done and which is on top of the Abbey forum. in my letter i also reminded her that there was only 15 days left for compliance under my DPA letter. have a look at the letter that alanfromderby has put on top of this forum, its called Abbey - the microfiche argument

 

all the best!

[towiedyer]

I've looked at the letter, but I've got a few questions.

 

I'm sure I did not include a £10 cheque as I've gone thru my book and my statements and they are all accounted for.

 

Do I reply to her letter with

 

a) a £10 cheque

b) a letter telling her its a DPA request and that the info. is covered and I only need to pay £10. The letter from her claiming the info. is not held on their systems is rubbish.

 

My situation is different from Alan's letter and so I will need to adapt the wording.

 

Then will my DPA 40 day period start again from when I send her a recorded delivery letter?

[alanfromderby]

The problem is that the 40 days has not started at all, since they have not received payment. I would send a letter based around an amalgamation of both the original DPA request, and the microfiche letter - with a £10 cheque, and by recorded delivery.

 

They are being obstructive and unhelpful. The only way you will get them to move is to legally start the DPA request. If they then try and sidetrack you again, let us know what they say.

[lois]

i guess you could always ring them to check whats happening with your statements etc, if you wanted to. to be honest, i requested my statements over the phone and told them I was requesting it under the DPA and did they want the £10.00 - Abbey told me that they would send the information through free of charge. I then followed that conversation up with a letter (sent by guaranteed next day delivery) confirming what I requested and again stating that I was requesting the information under the DPA. They've sent me statements for the last 18 months and then I got the letter from Pam Speed regarding the outstanding statements.

 

so, I might find myself in the same situation as you shortly, in that I will need to follow up with yet another DPA letter and enclose a cheque for them to physically do anything about my outstanding statements.

 

keep on at them though, they are a complete nightmare and a lot of people are having the same problems with Abbey using delaying tactics etc,

 

good luck!

 

xx

[alanfromderby]

There are several problems with Abbey:

 

1) They are absolutely snowed under with ordinary requests for statements.

2) They are snowed under with DPA requests - which take president over the ordinary statement requests because of the legal implications.

3) Because of 1 & 2, they are desperate to obstruct/side step DPA requests in order to buy time - rather than just employ more staff/temps to deal with the backlog.

 

On the basis of these points it is absolutely vital that everyone ensures their DPA request is lodge correctly (template/fee/recorded), and if they try to sidetrack it, that you challenge that with the microfiche letter.

 

If anyone has started the process during the last 2/3 weeks without a correctly lodged DPA request, I am absolutely certain that you will not receive "archived" information for the foreseeable future.

 

I hope they prove me wrong, but I don't hold out much hope.

[towiedyer]

Instead of starting a new thread I thought I would continue my old one, (right thing to do mods as I have restarted my claim?). Last time I had to stop the process due to family illness but this tme I'm back and I'm gonna kick Abbey's moneyfat ass.

 

I sent off my dpa request about 25 days ago now. Had the usual microfiche argument thru from the abbey, so I replied with the template letter on the site.

 

Since then I have had a "we're sorry you are not happy, we have appointed someone to look into your case" letter. They still have 7 more days to send me my statements.

 

BRING IT ON!

[towiedyer]

The 40 days have passed and still no statements. I've received 2 letters from Abbey:

 

1) Arrived about 2 weeks after sending the DPA request letter saying they were looking into my claim

 

2) One today saying that they are still looking into the claim, it is taking longer than they thought and that they need an additional 40 days.

 

Gonna send my Letter Before Action, using a calculation based on the charges they have taken off me for the period that I have statements.

 

Abbey, I'm coming to get you!

[towiedyer]

Sent the 7 day warning Letter Before Action.

 

Let's see if that kicks them up the behind.

[Glenn UK]

dont get too excited, you need long legs and a big boot to have any affect on a behind with that little inertia inherent in it.

 

Having said that anyhting is worth trying

 

Glenn

[towiedyer]

OK, sent letter aksing for £3177 back in charges and interest.

 

Just about to send second letter threatening action when I get a letter from Abbey.

 

They think there charges are correct but are willing to offer me £860 as a goodwill gesture. I've been given the telephone number for a Angela Stewart.

 

What do I do know?

 

Reject their offer and tell them I'll press on for the full amount.

 

Or accept the offer but tell them I will still press on for the rest?

[towiedyer]

Urgent help needed:

 

Am about to enter my claim online.

 

I've already had £840 refunded and am seeking the outstanding £2300.

 

On the spreadsheet I have entered a line that removes this amount from the final total, but I need to know if I need to adjust the interest?

 

Quick answer would be great.

 

Thanks

[alanfromderby]

Urgent help needed:

 

Am about to enter my claim online.

 

I've already had £840 refunded and am seeking the outstanding £2300.

 

On the spreadsheet I have entered a line that removes this amount from the final total, but I need to know if I need to adjust the interest?

 

Quick answer would be great.

 

Thanks

 

 

It depends on the terms of the refund. Was it for specific charges, or was it just a partial refund.

 

How was the refund made, and what were the conditions of the refund?

 

If it was a "full and final settlement" refund, did you offer to return the payment?

[towiedyer]

It was a straight offer of £840 and didn't mention any specific charges. I sent a letter back accepting the offer but letting them know I would pursue a claim for the rest of the money.

 

The money then "magically" appeared in my bank account about 4 weeks later.

 

Have I done anything wrong?

[overflow]

There are several problems with Abbey:

 

1) They are absolutely snowed under with ordinary requests for statements.

2) They are snowed under with DPA requests - which take president over the ordinary statement requests because of the legal implications.

3) Because of 1 & 2, they are desperate to obstruct/side step DPA requests in order to buy time - rather than just employ more staff/temps to deal with the backlog.

 

On the basis of these points it is absolutely vital that everyone ensures their DPA request is lodge correctly (template/fee/recorded), and if they try to sidetrack it, that you challenge that with the microfiche letter.

 

If anyone has started the process during the last 2/3 weeks without a correctly lodged DPA request, I am absolutely certain that you will not receive "archived" information for the foreseeable future.

 

I hope they prove me wrong, but I don't hold out much hope.[/quote)

 

 

 

HI ive just been going through threads and came across your reply ,I now feel totally gutted. I went to the bank and requested my statements on the 30-12-06 .Paid my £10 fee and about 2-3 wks later I recieved statements dated from 30-12-06 to 24-07-04 . Then I had a letter to say the rest would be sent on free of charge ! I am still waiting .

I then thought to myself that perhaps I should have used the correct letter and so once again out came my cheque book and a cheque for £10 and the DPA letter winged its way to my bank the "SHABBEY" on the 05-03-07.

So they have had two lots of fees from me but hopefully the oucome will be worth it in the end.

I had a cheque go into my bank in Dec for £12,000 I was over my overdraft limit and because said cheque took time to clear they charged me £110 , BUT, they took the overdraft money out even though they said it hadnt cleared.

Thats when I saw red , I'm now determined to win, come hell or high water.

Watch this space

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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