A&l

[cmm]

Wrote preliminary letter to A&L stating 14 day deadline. Received a response today (after a week), saying they're sorry I'm disappointed and they are looking into it. Today I received a telephone call from them, but managed to put them off because I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to discuss this over the 'phone. Any suggestions as to what I shd do when they call back tomorrow ie. spk to them about it or go ahead with court proceedings after 14 days?

[barracad]

If you want to discuss with them over the phone, then record the conversation. If you don't have suitable equipment to record the call then advise you will only deal with them in writing.

 

Which ever route you take, do not accept anything other than settlement in full, and if you haven't received this offer by the time the 14 days are up then send the LBA.

[cmm]

Thanks, don't have facilities to record conversation so will just put them off and send LBA next week. Is there any chance they might be ringing to offer me full amount?!

[barracad]

Is there any chance they might be ringing to offer me full amount?!

 

Never say never, but probably not!!

[cmm]

I'm very close to sending my LBA to A&L for £4500. However, I've just read point 4 on the above thread and am unclear about the point that's made regarding costs that I may have to pay to the bank if I lose. I din't think I could lose! Can anyone shed any light on this? I don't want to be out of pocket to the bank any more!

[BankFodder]

There have been occasions when people have received letters from solicitors who, apparently magnanimously, have offered not to apply for costs in the event the case is lost or settled or what have you.

 

It is not clear whether those solicitors nearly operate at a very low standard or whether they are trying it on. However there are no costs awardable on the small claims track unless one has litigated so unreasonably that the court decides that it wants to apply sanction. It is nearly inconceivable that this could occur with a lay litigant.. You don't need to worry about it.

 

Similarly some firms of solicitors are responding to claims forms with Part 18 requests for more details of the claim. Once again it is not clear whether they are simply being dishonestly intimidating or whether they really do not know that Part 18 does not apply to the small claims track.

I would suggest that any communications like this from a firm solicitors should receive a stern response and a copy of the letter and the response to the Law Society

I hope the solicitors are reading this -- Nota Bene

[BankFodder]

By the way, have you opened your Parachute account? Alliance & Leicester have announced that they will close the accounts of anybody who claims against them.

You need your account? You can apply for an injunction. We will help you.

 

 

By the way, Alliance & Leicester have announced on the radio today that they will settle any claim that is made

[cmm]

Many thanks, now feel confident to send off my LBA. Will open my parachute account next week, thanks for reminding me of this.

[BankFodder]

I suggest that you get the parachute before you do anything else.

Once you send your LBA it is a bit like having jumped out of the aeroplane already. You might find it a bit difficult to go back and get a parachute -- Geddit?

[cmm]

Ok will open account tomorrow, will keep you posted!

[cmm]

Sent prelim letter to A&I on 24th May to reclaim £4000 of charges, got a response after 4 days saying they were 'looking into it' & enclosed a 'complaints' leaflet. In the meantime I opened a parachute account, and was about to start the ball rolling with LBA when I received the following letter today(6 days after 14 day deadline!):

 

"Having noted your comments, I must advise you that we believe our charges are fair, they are clearly shown within our literature, they reflect the market and are in line with our competitors. We make no secret of our charges which are detailed on the reverse of your statement, on our website and are also contained in the T's& C's of your account.

 

While I appreciate your dissatisfaction regarding this issue I regret to tell you that I am unable to make any adjustments to your account.

 

I hope we will now be able to draw this matter to a close and if I do not hear from you within the next 8 weeks, will assume this is the case. However in accordance with regulatory requirements, i am enlcosing our leaflet which explains the steps you woul need to take if you should wish to pursue this matter further, including the ultimate availability of the FOS."

 

Is this normal and am I all clear to go ahead with LBA. Just getting a bit panicky because of the large amount I'm reclaiming!

 

MODERATED 3 threads merged : please keep to your original thread when updating , thanks.

[Janet-M]

Yes its a normal fob off letter that everyone is recieving .Also you must stick to the time limits YOU set and not let them set the pace .This is your claim and your in charge of it , or should be.

Send the LBA as soon as possible and in the mean time you can start preparing your claim in moneyclaim then as soon as your next deadline is up you can press submit.If they think you do not know what you are doing they will mess you around even more thinking you will drop out and not see it through.

[cmm]

Thanks.

Doing LBA tomorrow, only delayed because I wanted to get parachute account open beforehand. I'm in control now!

[Janet-M]

AWW I wasn't pulling you down so sorry if it came across that way , was just trying to explaim why you need to stay in complete charge

[cmm]

Didn't come across that way. Help I'm getting will hopefully prove invaluable when I get my money back!

[cmm]

Ok, I'm in the process of doing LBA, couple of questions have arisen:

 

In the 1st paragraph where it states that they haven't responded, in my case they have, therefore, can I change it to suit my case ie. say something like 'failed to respond to my letter satisfactorily'?

 

My total claim is £4701 in charges, I don't really want to add any interest to this as it will take my claim over the £5k small claims court amount. Can I just keep it at this figure?

 

Regarding the schedule of charges, I've never actually sent one to A&I, I just added all my charges up from the statements they sent me & gave them the total. Can I do this in the LBA too, if not what exactly is the schedule?

 

Finally, regarding the moneyclaim, can you just confirm that this the online court form that gets the ball rolling on the court side? (to be submitted to the court with my costs after 14 days?)

 

Sorry to sound so vague, but I don't want to make any mistakes!

[LondonPam]

The £5000 limit is before interest. If you are writing your LBA you don't have to state what your costs are, or what interest you will asking for. The interest is only added to your claim when you file it for court. You must provide a list of all the charges, along with the dates they occurred not just a total figure. There is a template for it in the "bank template" section at the top of the forum. This is called your schedule of charges. If you don't provide it then your bank can say you haven't given them all the required information (even though they have it on file) and will delay things even further.

The Moneyclaim bit happens after the LBA deadline has occurred and starts the court case rolling. Re-read the FAQ section again as it takes a while to get to grips with the process.

Good luck.

[cmm]

I've done my LBA but need to send the 'schedule' with it, as advised. However, I've tried to open the spreadsheet provided in the library but don't have excel, I'm also having promblems with the alternative to excel, also in the library.

 

As a bit of a computer-phobe, is there any way i can just include a typed list of all my charges along with the dates incurred? As I understand it, the purpose of the schedule is so that the A&L have a list of evertything to hand and can't prolong the process by saying they know nothing.

[barracad]

Do you have any other spreadsheet program installed, for example Works or OpenOffice?

 

You can just type the charges but it is much easier to use the spreadsheet.

[Michael Browne]

All I can suggest is using a friend's computer with Excel installed and print them off.

 

Otherwise PM Vampress, other people have had the same problem and I'm sure she can help.

[LondonPam]

You can download a free trial version of Microsoft Office, which has Excel in it. The trial lasts for 60 days! That's what I've done and hope I've finsihed my claims by then or I'll have to do my spreadsheets at work lol

[cmm]

OK I have MS works. Am I just providing A&I with a running list of charges? Do I need to give dates and type of charge ie. failed dd, unauth overdraft etc?

[barracad]

If you use the spreadsheet you can give a full breakdown e.g. type of charge, date, etc.

 

If you PM me your e-mail address I can send you an MS Works template.

[cmm]

Background to my claim: claiming £4000 in charges; have got copies of 6 years' statements; did prelim letter; have opened parachute acct; sent LBA, still didn't get a result; about to do money claim.

 

Sent LBA 14 days ago, and received a response from S Davison at A&L today. Seems to be fairly standard scare tactic letter that I see from the forum they've sent to others,"As yet OFT have not entered into any discussion...given the above I cannot accept that you have been unfairly charged....".

 

I'm about to do the online money claim, but just want to check a couple of things:

 

1. Does the money claim get registered with the court & sent to A&L automatically?

 

2. Do I have a time limit, & do I have to keep an eye on the money claim website to track my case, also, will they notify me online of the progress of my case?

 

3. I'm sure it will become clear when I register with the money claim website (but don't want to do this & then have to back track mid-claim form), but is the template in the BAG library just the one page?

 

Would really appreciate any tips or help anyone can offer me at this stage - I have done my homework, but this is pretty scary & I just want to ensure that I do it right 1st time!

[mechs]

Background to my claim: claiming £4000 in charges; have got copies of 6 years' statements; did prelim letter; have opened parachute acct; sent LBA, still didn't get a result; about to do money claim.

 

Sent LBA 14 days ago, and received a response from S Davison at A&L today. Seems to be fairly standard scare tactic letter that I see from the forum they've sent to others,"As yet OFT have not entered into any discussion...given the above I cannot accept that you have been unfairly charged....".

 

I'm about to do the online money claim, but just want to check a couple of things:

 

1. Does the money claim get registered with the court & sent to A&L automatically?

yes

 

2. Do I have a time limit, & do I have to keep an eye on the money claim website to track my case, also, will they notify me online of the progress of my case?

 

you gave them 14 days if the time is up and they havent replied then go on to moneyclaim. You can track your claim online but they write to you as well

 

3. I'm sure it will become clear when I register with the money claim website (but don't want to do this & then have to back track mid-claim form), but is the template in the BAG library just the one page?

 

its just the one page yes

 

Would really appreciate any tips or help anyone can offer me at this stage - I have done my homework, but this is pretty scary & I just want to ensure that I do it right 1st time!

mechs