Charges refunded. But they now want them back.

[LordLee]

indeed. and i guess i may leave myself open for Abbey to say "well if you want to cliam for this then we'll have to include the interest" which would push it over £5000 and into the higher courts.

 

It's your claim, so you can claim what you want. I suppose there might be questions as to why you don't claim more...even from posters on this site.

 

I would suggest going back over your statements, and adding the penalty interest into the equation as well. If this comes to over £6K then you might want to consider severing the claim after all. It is your money, why should the bank have it?

[Spiceskull]

Believe me, the banks WON'T try to bump up your claim...if anything they will contest the amount. However, if the claim is near the limit, and you have two concurrent claims, they may try to consolidate them into one, which could leave you open to costs if you lost. If you do split, run the first claim to conclusion before starting the second.

[LordLee]

With more and more press coverage of the reclaiming of Bank Charges and now, a very high profile ITV Tonight with Trevor McDonald about to air on the subject... isn't this going to decrease people chances of getting their money back in the long run?

 

More people will be aware, therefore more people will claim. The banks will get their arse in gear and have their best legal team on the case. The banks cannot rewrite the law i know, but they also have close contacts with th government. Is there a chance of some cut off point being introduced? As was the case with Endowment Policies?

[Odd Fellow]

I suppose there's always that chance, but it would not be a very good news story:

 

Banks force Government to allow them to be Unlawful.

 

Perhaps not.

 

What's possible is that some will begin to introduce banking charges again.

 

However, it's a highly competitive market and any bank that has the guts to remove Free Banking from existing customers is likely to face a mass exodous. The utimate situation would be for ALL banks to remove free banking and then the consumers would no choice but to pay legitimate charges for receiving a service.

[LordLee]

The upper limit is £5K - and no amount below this is any riskier than any other amount. If you are happy with £4,800 (including the penalty interest they have charged you) then go with this. Don't forget, the 8% APR is a claim ONLY when the issue has been raised in court, and therfore does NOT count towards your £5K upper limit...

 

Don't be nervous, be FULLY prepared. Make sure you read all the available material in the FAQs and library, as well as in the Abbey forum. If you need support or encouragement then post your woories on this thread - it will be picked up on...

 

Just before i send off my initial letter... can i just get something clear in my head. You say "the 8% APR is a claim ONLY when the issue has been raised in court, and therfore does NOT count towards your £5K upper limit". So are you saying i should adjust my claim so when 8% is added it's still under £5000? Or are you saying the 8% won't matter if it goes over £5000. Sorry for appearing to be stupid... i just want to get this right.

[LordLee]

After receiving my statements after my DPA request and sending my initial letter asking for a refund of £4800 over just under 6 years... the 2 weeks are are up tomorrow and Abbey have not replied. However... before i send my letter before action, should my 2 weeks include weekends? Or should it be 14 working days?

[rayo1973]

Hi

 

I would stick to two calender weeks, that way you are giving them a clear message that you are not going to mess around. That is what i done, and the deadline for my LBA runs out this Friday. You will probably get the fob off letter (see my post earlier), but stick to your guns!

 

Good Luck

 

Rayo1973

[LordLee]

OK... i have now received the 'fobbing off' letter. However it appears to be a little different from others on here (i could be wrong).

 

It gives me the usual rubbish about terms and conditions and there charges being very transparent. But... it also states if i felt the charges were wrong i should've complained earlier. Also it say if i still have a grievance i should go through the Ombudsman which is the correct channel. Also it states that if i do go to court they will porobably close my account.

 

I'm not worried... but presumably i should just carry on as planned with the letter before action?

[LordLee]

Okeydokey... Letter Before Action sent recorded delivery today. (Gulps... little nervous as i'm claiming a massive £4800 over the last 6 years.)

[LordLee]

oh i'm just nervous of atually going to court and losing. Being one of the first to go to court is a bit scary.

[Tina&Gaz]

Lee, I'm pooing my pants too, I'm at the same stage as you, and have NEVER EVER even been in a court room!

 

I'm affraid that Abbey will also decide that I'm the one they do try to defend, I'll be a gibbering wreck if they do, good luck to you though!

[LordLee]

Obviously the advice here is to open another account and transfer DDs etc incase Abbey close an account when you take 'em to court.

 

Not having a great Credit score (mainly due to Abbey) can anyone recommend a bank with a good basic account that'll taken on people with bad credit?

[barracad]

People seem to be getting a Natwest 'Step Account' without too much hassle - you can apply online, only takes a couple of minutes. Comes with a debit card and you can use it for direct debits etc.

 

Other banks do similar 'basic' accounts so you may want to shop around.

[lknox]

I have an appalling credit rating (again due to Abbey). At the weekend I opened a Step account with Natwest.

 

http://www.natwest.com/personal02.asp?id=PERSONAL/DAY_TO_DAY/CURRENT_ACCOUNTS/STEP_ACCOUNT

 

It looks OK, no cheque book, but pays DDs etc and you get a cashcard.

 

Better than nothing for the time being.

[LordLee]

I have an appalling credit rating (again due to Abbey). At the weekend I opened a Step account with Natwest.

 

http://www.natwest.com/personal02.asp?id=PERSONAL/DAY_TO_DAY/CURRENT_ACCOUNTS/STEP_ACCOUNT

 

It looks OK, no cheque book, but pays DDs etc and you get a cashcard.

 

Better than nothing for the time being.

 

is the card a visa? can u make transactions over the internet?

[barracad]

is the card a visa? can u make transactions over the internet?

 

It is a Solo Debit Card, so yes you can use it online and in shops to pay using Chip&Pin

[callumsgran]

IMHO co-op is best, gives you visa electron card & excellent online banking which is most important to me! step account you can only check account action on it.

[Jane Austen]

IMHO co-op is best, gives you visa electron card & excellent online banking which is most important to me! step account you can only check account action on it.

 

 

I don't know where you got that idea from - you can do everything online with a STEP account that you could with Abbey, Electron cards are cr**. I've had one for 3 years with Abbey and many people still don't take them, particularly online.

[callumsgran]

sorry but natwest have just told me themselves that the step account does not give you full online facilities! i was surprised as i told them that was one of the reasons i opened the account with them and that this was not pointed out to me at the time of opening the account!

[lknox]

My understanding is that you can't make bill payments online, which is a pain.

Also the Solo card is not as widely accepted as Electron.

 

Also interesting - I applied for this account over the telephone.

I had heard that they don't do credit checks. However the rep did do a check and despite my appalling credit record, they were prepared to offer me any account except the Advantage Gold!

I was stunned! :o

[callumsgran]

wow so would i have been! i thought i'd only get a step account so thats all i applied for! wonder if i should try applying for a better one?

[lknox]

I really don't know. As I say I applied over the phone. The rep kept asking me if I was sure I wanted I Step account (they obviously think it's a bit rubbish too..).

When I explained to him that my record record was poor which was why I only wanted a Step, he then confirmed that he had run a credit check and that the computer had said "yes" to other accounts too.

 

However, I declined the other accounts. As long as I can get to my money and pay my bills I'll be happy. I guess I could always trade up when I feel more confident about my ability to manage my money.

[Jane Austen]

I have now had both Electron and Solo. IMHO Solo is much more acceptable,particularly on the Internet. E.g. You can't use Electron on moneyclaim but you can use Solo.

[barracad]

Also the Solo card is not as widely accepted as Electron.

 

I disagree. I have only ever found one shop which takes debit cards but doesn't take Solo, whereas there are loads of places which don't accept Electron.

 

Also, when shopping online if it doesn't expressly say they accept Solo you can usually pop in your details and select the 'Switch' option and the majority of times it goes through.

 

Just my personal experience, but I find that Electron is not accepted as much as Solo is.

[Jane Austen]

 

Just my personal experience, but I find that Electron is not accepted as much as Solo is.

 

I entirely agree Barracad.