TeaTree vs Shabbey

[teatree]

I have banked with Abbey for a number of years. I recently got an overdraft on my Abbey account (around July last year),and before I knew it, I started receiving charges on my account from around October and these charges have been consistent since then. It has caused me plenty of heartache and pain (financial and otherwise) and resulted in me going through some pretty tough times. They have been consistently withdrawing around £150 (dd bouncing, etc)from my account every month and its making it impossible to get on top of my finances

A few days ago I had enough of it, and I found this website and it is a God send! I am so glad that I can reclaim the bank charges that Abbey have levied me with. I've got a couple of questions though:

 

I am able to get access to all of my bank statements and therefore calculate myself ( Ishould hope so anyway!) the amount of charges that I've received thus far. Do I still need to ask Abbey to send these details to me?

 

If not, where should I start and is there some sort of a template that I can use?

 

At a guess I think my charges will amount to over £650. Any ideas and comments would be much appreciated!

 

Can I take action when I ask the bank to cancel a dirct debit and they choose not to, therefore inflicting more penalties on my account?

 

Also, do they make entries into my Credit rating for these failed transactions and charges?

 

Thanks in advance for your help:)

[bp]

I have banked with Abbey for a number of years. I recently got an overdraft on my Abbey account (around July last year),and before I knew it, I started receiving charges on my account from around October and these charges have been consistent since then. It has caused me plenty of heartache and pain (financial and otherwise) and resulted in me going through some pretty tough times. They have been consistently withdrawing around £150 (dd bouncing, etc)from my account every month and its making it impossible to get on top of my finances

A few days ago I had enough of it, and I found this website and it is a God send! I am so glad that I can reclaim the bank charges that Abbey have levied me with. I've got a couple of questions though:

 

I am able to get access to all of my bank statements and therefore calculate myself ( Ishould hope so anyway!) the amount of charges that I've received thus far. Do I still need to ask Abbey to send these details to me?

No you don't need to since you have the info already

If not, where should I start and is there some sort of a template that I can use?

There are various templates you can use for each stage of your claim. You'll find all the info at the top of this forum or in the FAQs

At a guess I think my charges will amount to over £650. Any ideas and comments would be much appreciated!

 

Can I take action when I ask the bank to cancel a dirct debit and they choose not to, therefore inflicting more penalties on my account?

No idea on this one but you might find it useful to pause this question on the general discussion forum.

Also, do they make entries into my Credit rating for these failed transactions and charges?

They may have entered default notices on your file and you can demand that these be removed as well as your charges being returned. Again, there is a template for this.

Thanks in advance for your help:)

 

MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, DO SOME MORE READING AS YOU WILL FIND THE ANSWERS EITHER IN THE FAQs OR ON POSTED THREADS.

Sorry if that last comment comes across as my being rude but its really important you do as much reading as possible. I remember seeing this message and thinking i just wanted to get on with it but I've realised

[teatree]

Ok thanks. I'm goin to send out the preliminary approach letter. I hope it goes well. thanks for your help everyone

[teatree]

Wow! I haven't been on here in a while and a lot has happened!

 

After spending some time reading through the posts today (plus the fact that some bank statements have gone missing), I have decided to send the Subject Access Request. I have also opened my parachute account and have received a letter from Abbey asking me to pay up my charges or else my credit rating will be affected.

 

Does the SAR have to be paid for by cheque?

Do I have to pay off the overdraft (to stop action being taken against me) or is there another way?

 

I tried searching the forums but couldn't find answers to these questions (maybe I'm just no good at searches!)

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

[bish]

I am sure a postal order is as good as any cheque, you could also try going into your branch and paying cash with the SAR request. I would sugest it better to come to some arrangement with the bank to pay of your overdraft at a rate you can afford. Once you start court proceedings to claim back your charges you can then ask them to freeze the account until such time as your dispute with them is concluded.Hope that helps and good luck.

 

Regards bish.

[gizmo111]

What exactly did the letter say? Did it mention charges specifically or did it call in your whole overdraft?

[teatree]

The letter just dealt with the overdraft. It reads

 

Dear Mr ________,

 

I’m writing to let you know that your Abbey account is overdrawn/over its authorised limit by XXX.XX.You need to pay enough money into your account in 7 days to clear this amount.

To make things easier for you, you can call us to make a payment by credit or debit card.If you can’t do this, call us now and we’ll do all we can to help you.

You should be aware that we pass information on to credit reference agencies about how you run your account.

 

Yours Sincerely,

 

Allen Betts

 

Head of Unsecured Debt Management

 

 

Dear Mr ____,

 

I wrote to you recently about your Abbey account as it went over the agreed overdraft limit. We haven’t heard from you and the situation hasn’t been resolved.

It’s important that you pay this money back without delay, as you’ll be charged interest at the unauthorised overdraft rate.

To make things easier for you, you can call us to make a payment by credit or debit card.If you can’t pay this now, you still need to call us straight away so that we can talk to you about some of the ways we can help you.

I can send you a Dealing with Debt leaflet from the British Bankers Association, which has information in it that may help you. Please let me know if you would like me to send you one, Your local Citizens Advice Bureau or Money Advise Centre may also be able to help.

 

Yours Sincerely

 

Allen Betts

Head of Unsecured Debt Management

 

I am a bit confused now, do I still send off my S.A.R - (Subject Access Request), or do I have to pay this off first???? Please help.............someone

[teatree]

I posted my S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) yesterday by 1st Class Post and according to what I read in the FAQ section,

 

The Data Protection Act request takes effect when a fully paid request reaches the appropriate person in the organisation. If the request is correctly addressed then you can deem 1st class mail to have been delivered in 2 working days

.

 

I guess this means my 40 days starts from tomorrow then, so the battle has just begun!!!

[teatree]

Hi people!

 

I received a letter from Abbey today, and it reads like this:

 

Dear Mr _______,

 

Thank you for your letter dated 27 December 2006, which we received on 28 December 2006, requesting information on your bank account. I also acknowledge receipt of your £10 fee.

 

I confirm that arrangements have been made for the information you have requested to be sent to you. The transactional information remaining on our systems, normally covering the last fourteen months, will be sent out in the form of individual duplicate statements. You should receive these within five to seven working days of the date of this letter.

 

Any previous transactions have been archived onto microfiche and it is not possible to provide you with a computer print out of this information. However, we have made arrangements to send you a list of archived transcations between 2000 and 2005, under separate coevr.

 

You have also asked for details of any 'manual interventions' that may have been made on your account and I am sorry that we are unable to help with this request.

 

I can explain that we consider 'manual interevention' to mean an action that is not automatic or computer-driven. Not all manual interventions are recorded, for example if a member of staff looks at a paper document relating to your account, a record is not always required. Similarly some interventions may relate to work carried out by a department rather than individuals where no central record of activity is kept because this is not the kind of information we need, or more importantly, that a customer would usually request.

 

If you have any questions please call us on the above number,

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Pam Speed

Business Manager

Banking Servicing

 

I am pleased and surprised:o that I have received a response so quickly, and the statements should be coming soon (though I don't understand the part about separate cover) however the part about manual interventions seems like a whole load of rubbish! Surely that can't be right? Has anyone else received this letter?

[tamadus]

Hi people!

 

I received a letter from Abbey today, and it reads like this:

 

 

 

I am pleased and surprised:o that I have received a response so quickly, and the statements should be coming soon (though I don't understand the part about separate cover) however the part about manual interventions seems like a whole load of rubbish! Surely that can't be right? Has anyone else received this letter?

 

Nothing to worry about, they are just saying there are not records of manual intervention which is actually better for you, as it means all the charges are for automated transactions.

 

Dont worry also about their microfiche argument. They know they are wrong and have already said the documents stored on microfiche will come in a seperate package. Mainly because they will be sent by the microfiche department and not the DPA office.

 

I also wouldnt unduly worry about the overdraft threats at the moment, just tell them your about to dispute the account and any adverse data recorded against you will become part of any claim.

[bish]

Hi, agree with tamadus and had the same letter back in June. Utter b*****it, as they are arguing that their costs reflect the charges due to labour intensive manual interventions, yet keep no record of such interventions. Hope I don't burst the bubble, I requested such info in June 2006, I received my statements on 8th Jan 2007. So much for statements coming soon, don't hold your breath teatree. As the old saying goes ' Don't believe everthing you read'. This is war over money, the enemy will use every trick in the book and many that are not. Be prepared for a long fight, that way you are not disapointed by little dirty tricks. Set your goal and go for it. Best wishes.

 

Regards bish.

[teatree]

Thanks a lot for all your responses. I think they might have sent me all the stuff that they plan to send me because I got the microfiche sheets (which go from around 2005 to 2002/3). I received 10 other statements (which I haven't opened) which I guess are for 2005/2006. I think I'll wait for the 40 days to expire and see if anything else arrives. For now, I'll start calculating from what I've got.

 

I hope I can get it back soon! Thanks again all

[teatree]

Hi all,

 

I just realised tonight that the 40 days for the SAR expired on monday! (maybe that's why I had the sudden urge to make time out and go through all the stuff they'd sent me)!

 

Anyway, it appears that all is in order and I have every statement from when I first got an overdraft on my account until now, so I need to get my calculator ready! I'll let you know how much it is...the only tricky thing I can forsee is that they have refunded me around £250 already due to phone calls and visits, but I'll get a round figure soon enough!

 

Should be an interesting couple of days ahead...

[teatree]

Ok folks, it's the moment you've all been waiting for (well I certainly have!)

 

The amount I've been charged comes up to around £900, and that is all within 1 year of acquiring an overdraft facility:eek: I was pretty shocked with the amount, because I didn't think it would be that much for only a year, and at the same time, when I was going through all my stresses and problems, it seemed like a whole lot more than that to be honest!

 

The amount they have refunded thus far is £260, so I will need to go back and read the faqs to find out what the next step to take is.....

[bish]

Hi Teatree

 

1. Letter requesting repayment of charges and or evidence supporting charges, 7/14 day deadline. (letter in template library)

 

2. Letter before action, schedule of charges attatched, 7/14 day deadline.(letter in template library)

 

3. File claim with schedule of charges at county court, on N1 or through MCOL.( N1 hard copy available in library)

 

Good luck with your claim. The moral of this story along with all the stories on this site is that, overdrafts, DD's, and debit cards are designed to catch us out and earn the banks huge profits. Get rid of them along with the banks.

 

Regards bish.

[teatree]

Hi all,

 

In the preliminary approach letter, it says

 

I calculate that you have taken £XXXXX plus £XXX which you have charged me in overdraft interest for the sum which you have taken. Total £XXXXX .

and in the simple spreadsheet, there are 2 columns which say "days since offence" and "interest 8% apr".

What I want to know is this, am I supposed to put the overdraft interest that I have been charged in the 8% apr column? Or am I meant to leave it out of the schedule of charges completely? Also, what does the days since offence mean?

Any replies would be much appreciated!

 

 

 

[teatree]

Just for info, I requested my Credit report today to find out if I have been defaulted by Abbey. I hope not, because that sounds like a whole new palaver, so I'll patiently wait for that whilst preparing the rest of my documentation.

 

Regards

[teatree]

I rang Abbey today because my debit card had been swallowed by a cash machine last week, and it turns out that they had place some sort of restriction on my account without letting me know! I was not pleased about that at all!

The lady from the nice call centre over in South-east asia somewhere didn't seem to be able to understand the simple question that I had asked her, "why has a restriction been put on my account, and why wasn't I told about it?"

All she said was that if I call again in the morning, they'll be able to send me a card asap! In the end, they gave me the phone number for the debt management department, so I shall have to give them a call to find out what's going on here.

[teatree]

Hello peoples,

 

I spoke to my bank today and they told me that my overdraft has been withdrawn (just as I was paying off the remaining outstanding balance) and that I now need to pay them £200. However, I'm still preparing my schedule of charges, and I'm not prepared to pay anything extra to be honest. Can anyone advise me on what to do regarding that?

 

 

Thanks

[teatree]

After lots of problems (and some help from a wonderful member on the site), the schedule of charges is now finished, and the preliminary approach for repayment has been sent off via 1st class recorded delivery. I guess the 14 days would be starting tomorrow, so now the battle is well and truly on! If no reply, then its on to the letter before action then!

 

I hope that this is a successful journey, and I'm definately going to donate a portion of the recovered (hopefully) funds to help sustain this website.

 

Thanks again Dave 8-)

[tamadus]

Good Luck Teatree keep us informed please:)

[teatree]

Ok the fourteen days ended on the 4th of April (or today if the 14 days are working days? ). I got a letter from the Banking Specialist team treating my letter as a complaint. It said:

 

Dear Teatree,

Thank you for contacting us and I am sorry that you have been so unhappy that you have felt you must complain.

One of my team will be responsible for investigating your complaint and I have enclosed our complaints leaflet, which explains our procedure for doing this. High quality customer service is of great importance to us at Abbey and we will do everything we can to resolve your complaint in a timely and satisfactory manner.

I know it is important to you that we resolve your complaint quickly, but we want to complete a thorough investigation and sometimes this can take time. If we have not contacted you before then, we will write to you in four weeks to let you know what is happening.

If you have employed someone to handle your complaint on your behalf, please note: employing a third party complaint-handling firm, or a solicitor, or financial adviser does not affect how we review your complaint. Please be aware that:

*Abbey does not charge you to investigate your complaint

*Abbey will not be liable for any costs incurred if you do decide to employ a third party to handle your complaint during this review

*Abbey, in general, will only make payment directly to the account holder(s) if your complaint is upheld and redress is due

Although I do not know what the outcome will be, I do hope that we will be able to find a solution that you are happy with.

Yours sincerely

Andrew Nanson

Business Manager

Enc. Complaints leaflet

[mochamoo]

..

[teatree]

I am now sending the Letter before action to abbey. The total that they have charged me so far is £1049.57. However they refunded £260 when I called them, so I'm guessing that I should subtract that from the total amount before sending this letter? Or would that affect the interest calculations?

Any help would be appreciated

[mochamoo]

..