prelude2a -V- First Direct

[prelude2a]

Hi All,

Just received this letter from First Direct this morning - have had similar letters before, but am pretty tired with their attitude so I thought I'd share my response with you. Might bring a smile to someones face

This seems to be an automatic 2nd letter after having not put any money into the account for 2 months.

 

-From First Direct-

Dear xxxx

account xxxx

 

I am concerned that, despite my previous letters, we have still not heard from you regarding your intentions for the above account and no credit has been received.

 

In the absense of a response, I must advise you that failure to contact us may result in the cancellation of your overdraft limit, and possibly the withdrawal of all your banking facilities. This would include all first direct cards, as well as well as the cancellation of any standing orders and direct debits.

 

If you are experiencing financial difficulties, or need advice on managing your finances, please contact the Credit Services Team who will be happy to review you overall position and assist you to find a solution.

 

In the meantime, it is important that we agree a way forward as soon as possible and I therefore ask you to respond promptly.

 

Sincerely

 

James Suckling.

 

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

 

Last time I received a letter like this I called them and their "Credit Services Team" were so amazingly helpful! NOT.

They demanded that I pay them £15 per month (which I can't afford - or they wouldn't be able to guarantee they wouldn't close the account.

 

here is what I'm sending them

 

 

 

Dear Inconsiderate Bank

 

Thank you for your letter of 29th October. As I'm sure even you cannot have failed to have noticed - there is a recession currently going on and there are many people in the country in financial difficulty. Being familiar with the Banking Code to which you subscribe to I am also sure that you must be aware of your commitment to treating all cases of financial hardship sympathetically and positively. I always thought of first direct as being one of the less draconian banks out there, but now I'm not so sure.

I am fully aware that I am into my overdraft facility with you, an overdraft that you were only too happy to provide when times were good. Last time I contacted your Credit Services Team they were not exactly helpful. They demanded that I make monthly repayments at a level I have been unable to afford. Hardly what I would call 'assisting me to find a solution'. Along with the countless other people currently struggling in this country I am also in financial difficulty; my only source of income is from Jobseekers Allowance and I am struggling to make ends meet.

I refer to your letter and note your threats to cancel my overdraft, banking facilities with you and first direct cards. I hardly think this is behaving in a sympathetic and positive manner - do you?

Cancelling the account and overdraft is not going to magically make the money appear to pay you back - neither will the default notices and constant debt collection threats which will no doubt follow.

I appreciate that your letter may well be an automatically generated computer letter triggered by the lack of credits to the account (over a two month period) and I would respectfully suggest that Mr Suckling take a good look at what he puts his signature to as this letter has proved to me that your bank is no better than the rest of them. Eager to lend and make money when times are good, but at the slightest sign of trouble threatening to dump your beloved customers and cover your backs.

I have set up a standing order of £1 per month to be paid into the account. This will continue until such time as the overdraft is cleared, or I can afford to pay more into the account.

I don't expect you to write to me demanding more with threats as I have no more to give.

Sincerely

Me.

 

 

ah, now I feel better.... Any thoughts? Reckon I should commit it to paper and give it to the postie?

Edited November 4, 2009 by prelude2a
spelling mistake

[PGH7447]

do it - are there any charges you can claim back under the hardship rules?

[prelude2a]

Response from first direct 25th Nov 2009

 

(reproduced here in noteform)

 

Dear xxx

Thank you for letter of 17th Nov

 

Sorry for the upset caused by management of your account.

 

Overdrafts are designed for short term borrowing only, regular credit expected, blah blah blah, first wrote to you on 29th July, acknowledge receipt of funds on 6th Aug, but then none further.

Further letters sent on 14th Sept, 12th Oct and 29th Oct.

 

Regrettably on 7th Nov (as we were unable to contact you by phone (funny, I didn't get any missed calls...) have now suspended your banking facilities.

 

Unable to accept offer of £1 per month, would need minimum of £10 per month but only if affordable to you (Ha ha ha ha ha ha - if I could have afforded it I would have already paid it to you you muppets)

Please return the financial statement recently issued to you. In the absense of a suitable response withing the next 10 days a final demand will be issued as a matter of course.

 

 

 

 

What a bunch of *&$(%ing to$$£rs! "suitable response" - i suppose that means if I don't bow down and offer them what they are demanding then they will be just the same as all the other bankers out there and just start with the whole defaulting system.

 

Here is my proposed response - I'll be emailing it to them as I can't afford postage.

 

Dear Sirs,

Thank you for you letter of 25th November.

It is clear to me that you obviously didn't pay full attention to the content of my last letter to you. I stated in that letter that I could only afford a token payment of £1 per month until such time as my circumstances should improve. That is not a number I picked flippantly out of the air, it is a goodwill payment to indicate my willingness to clear this debt. By threatening me with Final Demands and demanding more than I can give you are not exactly entering into the same spirit are you? I do not have some stash of cash sitting here that I am hordeing and deciding not to give you. I HAVE NO MONEY. I have even emailed this message to you as I cannot justify the cost of an envelope and a stamp just to respond to you. In fact I am presently in an even worse position since a mistake with the benefits office means I didn't recieve my last payment of JSA and I am unlikely to receive my next payment for at least a fortnight. How I am going to pay for food and bills I do not know.

I acknowledge your request for me to send you intimate details of my finances on your financial statement, but 1. I can't find any record of having recieved it, and 2. just because I haven't paid some money into my overdraft does not give you the right to know the ins and outs of my finances.

Why you believe that some financial statement would give you any more information about my current position than I have already told you is beyond me.

 

Just to recap though - in case you didn't quite get it the first time round.

- I am in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance.

- I have no other income.

- My expenditure on just surviving is only just covered by JSA.

- Hence I have nothing more to give.

 

£10 per month? Don't be bloody stupid.

By the way, as I am sure you are aware, this debt is not termed as a priority debt, as it is more important to me to stay alive than to line your pockets.

You will get £1 per month from me until such time as my financial position improves.

Sending me a Final Demand, or Defaulting me is not going to make the money magically appear any faster - it will just make my life more difficult in the future. It will also ensure you will NEVER receive my custom ever again. I will pay you what I can, when I can. If you can't understand that then I am at a loss as to how to explain it to you more clearly.

Sincerely

Me.

 

Any comments/suggestions?

Edited December 2, 2009 by prelude2a
Spelling and layout

[palomino]

um, 'hoarding'

[prelude2a]

Lol, thank you Palomino, I knew I'd spelt it wrong, but couldn't remember/be bothered to find out the right spelling. I was in a full flow rant at the time!

 

Any comments on the letter itself? Anyone have any suggestions for improvements or cautions against anything I've written?

[palomino]

I've written a few letters like that. Doesn't achieve very much but it makes you feel better.

 

It is odd that a proportion of the population (solicitors, accountants, judges etc.) seem unable to grasp the fact that if you don't have any money you can't pay anything.

[prelude2a]

do it - are there any charges you can claim back under the hardship rules?

 

 

- Does this still apply in light of the result of the test case?

 

 

 

They've just sent me a final demand in which they say (I quote)

 

We now DEMAND immediate payment of the sum £239.31

 

oooh, the DEMAND it do they? oh, well I'd better pay them then hadn't I?! Oh, hang on, I dont have the money to pay them....

 

They're also demanding I send them a financial staement - do they have any legal right? I thought only a court could do that?

 

Does CCA ing them or SAR ing them still apply? I don't think there are any charges, but it could work as a delaying tactic. Or shall I just keep paying them the £1 I've already promised and let them take me to court?

[prelude2a]

bump

[themagician]

- Does this still apply in light of the result of the test case?

 

 

 

They've just sent me a final demand in which they say (I quote)

 

We now DEMAND immediate payment of the sum £239.31

 

oooh, the DEMAND it do they? oh, well I'd better pay them then hadn't I?! Oh, hang on, I dont have the money to pay them....

 

They're also demanding I send them a financial staement - do they have any legal right? I thought only a court could do that?

 

Does CCA ing them or SAR ing them still apply? I don't think there are any charges, but it could work as a delaying tactic. Or shall I just keep paying them the £1 I've already promised and let them take me to court?

only a judge can demand a financial statement so tell em to sod off.

you can only sar original crediter which i would do and cca the dca,got to be worth a bit of time.

[Bazooka Boo]

Send them your letter, reminding them that it was us, the Taxpayer, that bailed them out when they had fritted all our money away, and people in glass houses really shouldn't be throwing stones.

Fill in the I&E with zeroes, and mark the top of it 'Without Predjudice'

Then pay them the £240 in Monopoly Money.

 

Start your formal complaint with them now, as you will then be able to approach the FOS earlier on.

 

Boo;)

[prelude2a]

 

Start your formal complaint with them now, as you will then be able to approach the FOS earlier on.

 

Boo;)

 

 

Sorry if this seems like a silly question, but how do I start a formal complaint with them?

 

What am I complaining about other than what I've already said about them terminating my overdraft and account just because I couldn't pay them back fast enough?

 

I'm guessing there isn't much point in going down the charges route now the OFT case has gone through? (There aren't any charges on the account anyway)

 

Maybe I should just ignore them a while

[Bazooka Boo]

You can start a formal complaint with them using their own complaints procedure which every bank will have.

 

As for what you are complaining about? See your first post, I assumed that you weren't happy with their customer service?