£285.00 Claimed and paid out - history below

[Millennium]

£285 claimed in bank charges and paid out.

 

History below. I hope this will help you all:

 

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My Address

My Address

My Address

My Address

My Address

 

3rd March 2006

 

 

 

 

 

Barclays Bank PLC

Address

Address

Address

Address

 

 

 

Request for repayment of charges

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: nn-nn-nn nnnnnnn

 

My request

I am writing to ask you to refund to me the charges which you have levied from my account over the last four years

I now understand that the regime of “fees” which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations.

 

Your responsibilites

I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law.

 

I am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary.

 

What I require

I calculate that you have taken £285. I have also added interest at a rate 0f 8% APR as allowed by the County Courts Act (1984) This amounts to a total of £339.96 as per the enclosed spreadsheet.

 

My targets to resolve this matter

I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me about this matter and I am writing this letter to you on the assumption that you will prefer to do this than merely respond with standard letters and leaflets.

 

I will give you 14 days to reply to me accepting unconditionally my request in principle and letting me know a date by which I will receive payment.

 

If you do not respond or you do not respond positively within this time period, I shall send you a letter before action giving you a further 14 days in which to reflect. I believe that these targets are more than sufficient for a large company such as yours with dedicated staff and departments.

 

After that will be no further communication from me and I shall issue a claim at the expiry of the second deadline.

 

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

 

 

 

Me

 

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No reply after 3 weeks (I wanted to leave 21 days as this how much time I have traditionally allowed).

 

Second letter sent:

 

My Address

My Address

My Address

My Address

My Address

 

25th March 2006

 

 

 

The Manager

Barclays Bank PLC

Address

Address

Address

Address

 

 

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: nn-nn-nn nnnnnnnn

 

I am disappointed that I have not received a reply from my letter of 5th March 2006 despite my request for a reply within 14 days. It is now three weeks since I wrote to you.

 

I now understand that the regime of 'fees' which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations.

 

I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law.

 

I am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary.

 

I calculate that you have taken to be at least £285.00 in charges. I have also added £81.96 in interest at 8% APR as allowed by the County Courts Act (1984) for the sum which you have taken. Total £339.96. A breakdown of these charges was included in my previous letter.

 

I require repayment in full of this money. If you do not comply fully within 14 days then I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount plus interest plus my costs and without further notice.

 

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

 

 

 

Me

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Reply received yesterday 28th March 2006:

 

Freepost RLTA-CSUE-TCHC

Head Office Customer Relations

London

E14 5HP

 

0800 282 390 (Freephone)

Fax 020 7116 7563

 

 

 

[My Address]

 

Our Reference: xxxxxxx

27 March 2006

 

Dear xxx

 

 

I refer to your letter of 3rd March.

 

I am sorry that you feel the Bank Charges you have incurred are unfair and represent a penalty. I note that you are claiming a refund of £285.00 for the past four years. In your correspondence you have made reference to Common & Statute law and recent Consumer Regulations, which you say supports your view. Needless to say, Barclays is aware of all the information you have drawn to our attention. I must inform you however, that we disagree with your legal analysis.

 

When an account is opened with us, our customer is provided with a copy o fteh Terms and Conditions relating to the use of their account including details of our charges. This information clearly explains our obligations to our customers, as well as their obligations to us. I few make any changes to the Terms and Conditions we provide details of these to our customers in line with the Banking Code. Details of our Terms and Conditions and charging tariff can be obtained from any of our branches, or via our internet site, http://www.barclays.co.uk.

 

Putting the above to one side, on this occasion and as a gesture of goodwill, I confirm I am willing to refund your charges totalling £285.00 I have arranged fro this sum to be credited direct to your Current Account, number nnnnnnnn.

 

If you wish to discuss this letter, or fell that there are further issues I need to consider, please contact me on my direct telephone number 020 7116 3061. If you are dissatisfied with my proposal for resolving your complaint you may ultimately be eligible to refer to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

 

The leaflet sent with our letter dated 8 March explains our complaints process and provides details regarding the Financial Ombudsman Service.

 

In accordance with our standard practice unless I hear from you to the contrary within eight weeks from the date of this letter, I shall assume that your complaint is resolved and close my file.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

David Chapman

Customer Relations Manager

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Some of my own comments.

 

I am not going to pursue for the interest charges as the money was not the issue in this case.

 

Since writing my first letter I have discovered that the forum does not recommend claiming the 8% in the first letter. This should be for when (if) it ever gets to court.

 

I sent all my letters 'signed for'.

 

I'm not sure if the bank recived my second letter before responding. Unlikely as all correspondance was sent to my local branch and the reply was from the head office in Canary Wharf.

 

I likes the line in the reply that says "I am willing to refund YOUR charges"

 

I have started a process before when complaining to Barclays intending to take it to the Banking Ombudsman, but have always given up in the past because it is so tedious. I'm pleased that Mr Chapman appears to agree. "If you are dissatisfied with my proposal for resolving your complaint you MAY ULTIMATELY be eligible to refer to the Financial Ombudsman Service"

 

Finally - thanks to Bankfodder and Dave for all they are doing.

 

I'm pleased the site has been expanded to other areas to help consumers generally.

 

As soon as I see some money I'll be sending the BAG an Amazon Voucher for £30.00 as a gesture (of goodwill)!

 

Good luck to the rest of you.

[Spiceskull]

Great story, great result, great encouragement for the rest of us. Well done!

[maestro451]

thats brilliant, thats the exact same amoutn im claiming so hopefully ill get the same result!

[richardc]

£285 claimed in bank charges and paid out.

 

Great story and well done. Can I ask you to complete the survey in General Forum? It's a great encouragement to others.

[Millennium]

This topic was closed on 03/07/19.

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