Me V Clydesdale Bank

[tomriley]

Hi everyone,

 

Just starting a new thread to track action I am about to take against Clydesdale Bank. I've had an account with them ever since I was a kid (and a credit card for the past 3-4 years) and since I left home (nearly 9 years ago), I've regularly been charged huge fines for going a few £s over my limit or for cheques bouncing - The total amount over the years must be the best part of £1000! (Maybe more)

 

I've been browsing the site over the past few days and feel confident about taking them head on now. My only concern in that my current account has been into the overdraft for a few years now, which they may try to use against me, but sometimes it feels like they are doing the best to keep me the negative side of 0! I know I'm entitled to the money back so I'm ready to slog it out no matter how long it takes... want to finally get that account back into credit.

 

Will confirm later this week when I send the data protection request for statements and £10 fee. Can anyone advise if I can just include a cheque payable to "Clydesdale Bank PLC" ? Thanks!

[tomriley]

Have printed the Data Protection request letter for sending tomorrow. Just realised that the current account still had my old address on it.. will call them tomorrow and update with my current one so that it matches the one on the letter. I've taken off the last sentance that says "I would be happy to collect the data" as my nearest branch is hundreds of miles away!

 

Will keep this thread updated as things happen.

[caro]

Good luck Tom. They can't use your overdraft against you, as the charges are unlawful no matter what the state of your finances. Let's face it, it's to the banks advantage to keep you overdrawn so they can keep charging you.

[tomriley]

Thanks for that caro!

 

Have just dropped the Data Protection Request letter in the post box - so they will recieve by Friday 22nd. Their 40 days to provide the info will then expire on Wed 31st Jan 2007, if my maths is correct!

 

Will update next when I hear anything...

[tomriley]

OK, the statements arrived today with a letter saying:

 

"We confirm that we shall be able to provide you with copies of your bank statements from December 2000 to date under the right of access under the data protection act 1998.

 

With regard to your request for information relating to manual intervention on your account, there is no specific mention of manual intervention within the Data Protection Act and as such we are under no statutory obligation to record or provide this information."

 

-- I'm not sure why they're only going back to 2000, I've had the account much longer than that - ever since I was 11 or 12 years old! (1991 or 1992) the type of account may have changed around 2000, but I definitely had large charges taken from it between 1997-2000.

 

Does anyone know if I can contact them back demanding the info right from the opeing of the account?

 

-- And, I am pretty sure that "manual intervention" means the banks own notes etc that they may have on their systems regarding my account, which I know I AM entitled to under data protection. I'm not sure if I should persue this as it is only the statement info that I need... it just might come in handy later if they start being difficult. It also makes me think they don't want me to have it because there's something in there that they don't want me to see...

 

If anyone can offer any advice, that would be great. In the meantime, I better get my marker out!

[tomriley]

Just had a quick look through it and it seems the total I am due will be between £800-£1000, depending on a few things that I am unsure if I can claim or not:

 

1. On the older statements, there is a monthly

 

SC to period *end of month*

 

For a while this shows up as 0.00, but then becomes £15 monthly, and I'm not sure why, or if I can claim it.

 

2. One part of the statement says:

 

FEE-UNPD/CHQ REC/D - 20.00

FEE-UNPD/CHQ REC/D - 6.00

 

I know I can claim the 20 back, but not sure why there's a separate 6, and if I can claim that...?

 

3. For a run of about 2 years, my account has a monthly

 

SC TO PERIOD *end of month* - 22.50

INTEREST TO *end of month* - 22.00

 

This began when my overdraft got to £1500 and the interest amount seems to vary between 22 and 24 each month... I know I can claim the SC back, but what about this interest? Earlier this year I got a nice letter from clydesdale saying that the monthly 22.50 SC would no longer be charged and the intestest suddenly shot down to about £8 per month. Very confusing.

 

4. Every 6 months or so, I had a letter from clydesdale saying my overdraft was due to expire. When I contacted them to extend the term, they would do so if I paid an arrangement fee which varied between £35-£50 each time. Can these be included in my claim?

 

Big thanks to anyone who an help with these!

[tomriley]

Just posting to bump my thread up a bit... nobody replied re my queries :-| Maybe that's because the answers to my questions are in the FAQ somewhere.. ? I had a look through but couldn't find them.

 

I'm going to go ahead and send my preliminary approach letter soon, so I'd rather be as sure as I can that I am able top claim what I am claiming - I want to see this all the way through so need to be as sure as I can be. I've been sitting on the statements for a while now and need to do something!

 

[moss]

Hi Tomriley, i don't know what the SC charges are, but I'm sure someone will, but if no one posts with an answer you could ring customer services and ask them, i rang them today, told them that i am reclaiming bank charges and asked them some questions and they were quite nice, not that i got answers to all my questions but they should tell you what charges are for.You won't be able to get the overdraft extension fee back only penalty charges.

 

Regards Moss

[ymcmurtrie]

Hi Tom,

You can claim for the £22.50 service charges because I have - I claimed £100 from one account that was made up of only £22.50 service charges - look for my thread YMcMurtrie V Clydesdale bank ***won*** I last updated in I think maybe November - so it'll be quite far down the list.

 

I dont know about the other charges - however, in the FAQ's it says you can reclaim if the charges caused you to incur extra interest on your overdraft - so you'll have to have a good look at your statements and count this up.

 

I have two more days before I can file a court claim against CB master card, so I'm quite a bit in front of you, so if you need any help - I'll do my best, Just holler

 

Best of Luck,

Yvonne

[caro]

Claim for the 6.00 too Tom.

[tomriley]

Great, thanks for that Moss.. I wasn't sure about the overdraft extension fee... but I guess they'd be able to argue it was agreed. Might give them a call if I get time.

[tomriley]

Thanks, ymcmurtrie, I'm glad to hear that... the bulk of the amount I want to claim was made of these 22.50 charges. And it seems very suspect that they suddenly stopped charging it when the bank charges issue started to get lots of press coverage!

[tomriley]

Thanks caro! I'm going on holiday on Saturday 17th Feb (for 3 weeks) so will get the initial request for repayment letter sent before I go - the total I'm claiming will be around £800.

 

Thanks for everyone's help so far! I will keep this thread updated as soon as I have any info.

[tomriley]

Hi everyone,

 

Got back from holiday last week, didn't have time to send my initial request letter before I left, so will be sending it this week for sure.

 

I had no problems getting the statements by sending the data protection letter directly to my branch - does anyone know if I should send the initial request for payment to the branch or to another office?

 

Thanks!

[moss]

Send your prelim along with your schedule of charges to your branch, then when you get the fob off do the same with the LBA and schedule of charges, remember to leave off the interest at this stage.

[tomriley]

Send your prelim along with your schedule of charges to your branch, then when you get the fob off do the same with the LBA and schedule of charges, remember to leave off the interest at this stage.

 

Ok great, thanks for that. I'll write the letter tonight and send tomorrow morning.

[zootscoot]

Just to be sure you didn't miss out whilst you were away make sure you take a look at this:

 

YouTube - Whistleblower: Barclays Bank - Penalty Charges

[tomriley]

Just to be sure you didn't miss out whilst you were away make sure you take a look at this:

 

YouTube - Whistleblower: Barclays Bank - Penalty Charges

 

Wow that was an eye opener! I hope they lose a lot of business over the bad press - it's the only language they understand.

[tomriley]

OK I've just printed my prelim request for repayment letter - will post it tomorrow - That means that their deadline is Firday 13th (how fitting!) of April.

 

The total amount on the spreadsheet (mainly made up from the 22.50 Service Charges, but plenty of other things too) was £889.50. I've left off the interest at this stage as Moss suggested.

 

Thanks for everyone's help - I'll keep you posted of the result.

[tomriley]

Recieved a letter back today from G. Callaghan, Case Handler, Advice Quality Unit - Charges Section:

 

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

 

Dear Mr Riley,

 

Re: Charges Complaint

 

Thank you for your recent letter which has been passed to me for my attention.

 

As you will appreciate, I need to make investigations into the points you have raised. In the meantime, I thank you for your patience in this matter and I will contact you as soon as my investigations are complete.

 

I have enclosed for your information a copy of our internal Complaint Handling Procedures. These procedures confirm how to persue your complaint if you remain unsatisfied with this response and how to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service if we cannot resolve the matter.

 

Yours sincerely

 

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

 

BUT, there was nothing else in the envelope (no sign of the booklet they mention) - strange!

 

At the moment I'm not sure if I should write back to explain that I am not complaining about the charges, but that I am claiming them back under the law. Has anyone else had this type of fob off letter response to your preliminary request? I suppose it could be a typical example of 3 - B) in the step-by-step guide ? this letter came from a Brunswick Point address in Leeds, so my branch must have forwarded it on there as a complaint.

 

As it stands I'll probably wait for the 2 week deadline (Friday 13th April) from my original letter and then proceed to the LBA stage - can anyone shed any light?

[tomriley]

Ok, I recieved a reply back from the bank on Thursday (1 day before the 14-day deadline) - It seems to be a pretty standard fob-off letter. I can't read the signiature of the person who signed it and there's no printed name so I don't know exactly who it's from - just the department (Advice Quality Unit - Charges Section) - same as last letter, although the last signiature was readable.

 

They basically list the terms and conditions of my account, and state that they comply with the "relevant requirements of the banking code". Then at the end they say "the terms & conditions were fair having regard to the following matters:"

 

...and the first point mentions...

 

"the cost to the bank of maintaining administritive systems relating to unauthorised overdrafts, unpaid cheques and direct debits and abuse of cheque and debit cards" - aren't I already 1 step ahead in saying in my first letter that this ISN'T fair? I remember that the prelim letter I sent also asks for details of why they charge so much? Their reply must be a template letter! Feels like they didn't even read what I sent them.

 

Then they sign off by saying that they will consider the matter closed if they don't hear back from me within 8 weeks.

 

So I guess I'll go ahead and send the next demand for payment letter - Advice, anyone?

[caro]

Stick to your timetable and carry on.

[tomriley]

Stick to your timetable and carry on.

 

Will do! - will post the LBA this week.

[tomriley]

OK I've printed the Letter Before Action and put in the post box.

 

The 14 day deadline for me to have recieved a reply is Tuesday 8th May.

 

Thanks for everyone's help so far - Looking forward to finding out what will happen next!

[tomriley]

Have just recieved very open-ended letter today (1 day after deadline).

 

It says:

 

Re: Reopening your complaint

 

I refer to your recent letter and as requested I have re-opened the complaint and a further review is being undertaken.

 

My understanding of the further issues you have raised are as follows:

 

- initial complaint not fully investigated

- no refund of charges levied to the account

 

I hope to respond to your complaint shortly. I will write to you as soon as possible, once I have had the oppurtunity to review the above.

 

Please be assured that every effort is being made to bring your complaint to a satisfactory conclusion.

 

Yours sincerely

 

--stamped sig of G Callaghan (the person who first replied to my initial letter)

 

Advice Quality Unit - Charges Section.

 

This is obviously an example of 5. B) "fob off" in the step-by-step guide, so I guess I'll continue with the issue of a court claim - I'm assuming that I am not required to wait another 14 days..?