Alliance and leicester fined by FOS for retaliatory account closure

[bluedolphin]

Thanks for the information Bankfodder. I have just started my MCOL against A&L for charges of £1545.00. HMCS have today issued the them with the necessary documents for court, so will wait and see what the outcome is. I sincerely hope that it will be in my favour.

Will update the forum when I get a result..whatever the outcome, and if A&L decide to close my account, then I'll approach the FOS.

Ian

[mcuth]

Just drafted my letter of complaint to A&L - bet they already thought they were shut of me :D

 

Awww bless, I got my final letter from A&L today - they very handily state:

"Although I can confirm our position remains unchanged, it may help if I explain that the decision to withdraw banking facilities has been taken as you do not accept certain aspects of the terms and conditions for the operation of your account, in your case section 11, interest on Overdraft and Charges"

 

So nice of them to readily admit it was retaliaton - roll on the FOS

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[kingliam]

hey, been away for a while - but back now!

 

Just drafted my letter to A&L for this - let's see what cracks off?

[betseyglamourpuss]

I am on my third letter now in the claiming bank charges however I am very very concerned that they are going to close my account also.

I do have another current account which I do not use just now and a cash card account which I use infrequently. However have also got £500 overdraft on A&L which would leave me broke if I had to pay this back in one go!

I also have a credit card with MBNA (ex A&L) and I owe them just over £1000 - can they take action against me for this to be paid back? or is this now MBNA?! I am all over the place..

Do the A&L usually give you a bit of notice when they close account or is it done without any real notice period? I mean - do they have obligation to give you period to get direct debits - mortgages etc set up elsewhere?

I have just sent my first letter and formal complaint to the Financial Ombudsman - asking them to assist me..

No offer of any money from A&L yet - not sure how long the whole process generally takes. My very first letter was sent about 15th Jan 07 asking for statements for current account. Is there an average settlement time?

Is there any help i can get if I go to small claims court>?

You see, I told you I was all over the place.. dont really know what I am doing here - gosh I wish I had Martin Lewis's phone number...... Help anyone!!

[bathgatebuyer]

I've been reading this thread with interest as the Nationwide closed my account in December after having to refund a few thousand pounds to me in bank charges. I have been contacting them via recorded delivery letter asking them to confirm whether this is their full and final decision without success.

 

Of my last letters, I contacted them on 15th March 2007 via recorded delivery to confirm whether this was their full and final decision. This went unanswered.

 

I also wrote again on 24th April 2007 via recorded delivery letter advising that my previous letter had been unanswered in regards to whether this was a full and final decision. And now? Yup, still no answer to either!!!

[HONESTKNOB]

I waited 8 weeks for A&L to reply to me and heard nothing so I e-mailed them and got to told to go away within about 4 hours! I posted the financial Ombudsman forms yesterday, I just hope I'm still within the deadline as the account was closed last October.

[Will Scarlet]

Just for the record, if a complaint is over 8 weeks old you can still send it to the FOS even if you don't have a final decision letter.

[HONESTKNOB]

I did think that but it was just nice to have a snotty reply from them to send with my complaint.

[bathgatebuyer]

Just for the record, if a complaint is over 8 weeks old you can still send it to the FOS even if you don't have a final decision letter.

 

Will,

 

Thanks for that. That's my task for this afternoon now - they had their chance!

[ymb]

Hi could you help me with filling online i am trying to take alliance & leicester to court but the NCOL is telling me that they address is not in england and wales. What do i do?

[mcuth]

Hi could you help me with filling online i am trying to take alliance & leicester to court but the NCOL is telling me that they address is not in england and wales. What do i do?

 

Firstly you need to check the address you're supplying is correct - there is a sticky "Contact Details" thread in the Alliance & Leicester forum. Then you need to start your own thread for all your A&L questions and claim details, again in the Alliance & Leicester forum so that you don't hijack this one.

 

Cheers

Michael

[mcuth]

Awww bless, I got my final letter from A&L today - they very handily state:

"Although I can confirm our position remains unchanged, it may help if I explain that the decision to withdraw banking facilities has been taken as you do not accept certain aspects of the terms and conditions for the operation of your account, in your case section 11, interest on Overdraft and Charges"

 

So nice of them to readily admit it was retaliaton - roll on the FOS

 

Well today, I got a call from the guy dealing with my complaint at the FoS. They've investigated & agree that A&L closed the account unfairly & in retaliation (well, there's a surprise ). The FoS & A&L have agreed on £200 as a compensatory award - this will be confirmed in writing and settlement forms will accompany that letter - tremendous

 

Cheers

Michael

[redsue]

I complained to Nationwide about closing down our accounts last October and received an offer from them today offering £250 in compensation (£125 per account) although they are 'satisfied that the closure of your accounts was conducted in accordance with the terms and conditions of the accounts and the banking code' - yeh right of course they were

[Will Scarlet]

I spoke to the head of the Technical Advice team at the FOS recently who said, in her own words, that the FOS would take a "very dim view" of any account closure even with a second, third or fourth complaint against the same organisation. In my experience, any threat of account closure that is countered with a mention of the A&L ruling, will send the organisation in question scuttling back under their rock.

[Bilgeman]

See my final posting in my thread Bilgeman v NatWest ** WON **

[loz]

I had my complaint to the FOS returned because it wasn't submitted within 6 months of HSBC's decision... I need a "good reason" why it was "late" if i want to resubmit it :-S

(can't see any mention of a 6 month bar on the FOS website though)

 

Loz

[bathgatebuyer]

I've had my complaint about the Nationwide returned by the FOS as they say I need to get a 'full and final decision' from them before they can look into it. It doesn't appear to matter that my first complaint was to the Nationwide 16 weeks ago!!! Since then they have ignored 4 recorded delivery letters from me asking for a 'full and final' decision, so why the FOS thinks that i should give the Nationwide even more time is beyond me.

[ymb]

hi do you know what happened with the case of Tom Brennan and NatWest?

[Will Scarlet]

I've had my complaint about the Nationwide returned by the FOS as they say I need to get a 'full and final decision' from them before they can look into it. It doesn't appear to matter that my first complaint was to the Nationwide 16 weeks ago!!! Since then they have ignored 4 recorded delivery letters from me asking for a 'full and final' decision, so why the FOS thinks that i should give the Nationwide even more time is beyond me.

 

If you didn't point that out on the form (over 8 weeks) someone may have missed the fact that the complaint was 16 weeks old. I'd give them a buzz to clarify. Under FSA rules if a complaint isn't resolved within 8 weeks then you can refer it to the FOS without a Final Response letter.

Looks like human error to me, I'd give them, a buzz.

[Will Scarlet]

I had my complaint to the FOS returned because it wasn't submitted within 6 months of HSBC's decision... I need a "good reason" why it was "late" if i want to resubmit it :-S

(can't see any mention of a 6 month bar on the FOS website though)

 

Loz

 

That is standard procedure. HSBC should have advised you of that in final response or in their complaints handling literature. You were not informed by HSBC I'd point it out to the FOS and see what they say. (I would be surprised if it isn't in there somewhere though).

[loz]

That is standard procedure. HSBC should have advised you of that in final response or in their complaints handling literature. You were not informed by HSBC I'd point it out to the FOS and see what they say. (I would be surprised if it isn't in there somewhere though).

 

I had a quick read through the letters from HSBC and couldn't see any mention of it - will double check tonight... Would it be referred to in the leaflets they sometimes include with such letters? I think I binned them :-/

 

Loz

[bally35]

No it should have stated clearly on the final response letter that you were free to take the matter up with the FOS and the time limits for this,

If not included is a brecah of FSA regulations on complaint handlinf (ooh that would be another complaint)

[Will Scarlet]

By coincidence I have received a Final Response from HSBC today. It clearly states - blah, blah, blah, should you remain dissatisfied the bank is obliged to advise you of your right to refer your complaint to the FOS, blah, blah, blah, you have six months from the date of the attached letter, blah, blah, blah.

Check your paperwork thoroughly. This letter was accompanied by a FOS leaflet.

[fergal71]

hi I can not find a template letter for retailatory closure can anyone point me in right direction.... do you send copy to fso and to bank ????

[redsue]

I have been a loyal customer of XXXX for XXXX years and I find it grossly unfair that you have chosen to close our accounts. I would formally suggest that this was both inappropriate and highly disproportionate behaviour by yourselves.

I believe that you are in breach of section 14.1 of The Banking Code to which you subscribe where you are duty bound to treat customers “positively and sympathetically”. In closing my account I believe that you are also in fact punishing me for daring to file a claim against your organisation for the return of unlawfully applied bank charges levied against my account. Under consumer protection legislation and common law I am perfectly within my rights to pursue such a claim.

As I stated in my claim, XXXXX have been charging me charges that are contrary to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Schedule 2 (e) of the said regulations gives a non-complete list of terms, which may be regarded as unfair, such as a term that requires me as a consumer who fails in his obligation, to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation.

I still believe that your charges are disproportionately high and therefore they are contrary to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Regulations 1999. In addition I believe that your charges are a Penalty. Penalty charges are irrecoverable at common law. The precedent for this was Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co Ltd v New Garage and Motor co Ltd [1915] AC 79.along with Murray v. Leisure play [2005] EWCA Civ 963. It was held that a contractual party can only recover damages for an actual loss or liquidated losses. It is clear that your charges do not reflect any actual and or real loss.

You should be fully aware that recently the Financial Ombudsman Service awarded compensation as a result of the treatment received from Alliance & Leicester by a customer who like myself, filed a court claim for the return of unlawfully applied bank charges. It was decided that the account closure was indeed unfair as it was punitive and retaliatory.

 

Quote:- "He should not be prevented from bringing a legitimate complaint by the threat of having his account closed; nor do I consider it fair or reasonable of Alliance & Leicester to respond to his complaint about charges by closing the account. Alliance & Leicester appears to me to have used the closure of the account as a retaliatory or punitive measure".

I hereby formally request that you reconsider your unfair decision on the basis that it was made as a punitive and retaliatory consequence of my successfully claiming a refund of unlawful bank charges. Should you decide to decline my request you will leave me with no other alternative but to make an official complaint to the Financial Ombudsman.

 

this is what I sent and got back £250 for 2 accounts