Simon1952 V Woolwich PLC

[Simon1952]

(Originally posted in newbie forum)

 

Hi All,

 

I'm a new member of the forum and have been fighting Woolwich for £2500 and am now in the process of taking it to the small claims court.

 

Two years back I wrote to Woolwich asking them to cancel all my outstanding Direct Debits and Standing Orders. At the time my account was £17 IN CREDIT. The next month I got a series of letters stating that they had tried to pay the DD's and SO's and charging for four letters and four unpaid charges.

 

I wrote to them but the following month they did the same. To cut a long story short they ended up claiming I owed them £650 and ignoring all my letters.

 

Six months and several debt collectors later they gave up and I assumed that was the end of it until I tried to get credit and found they had registered an unpaid debt against me.

 

So I got mad and decided to claim back all my charges for the previous six years even though I had closed my account.

 

I got the information about the charges fairly easily and wrote claiming the money back using the sample letters on the BBC site. In reply I got a letter from BARCLAYS (who have taken over Woolwich), stating that I agreed to the terms and conditions along with their charging tariff and that they are therefore unwilling to refund the charges!

 

So now I am starting the process of making a claim in the small claims court. I'll let you all know how it goes.

 

Simon

[welshcakes]

Hi Simon

 

I'm not familiar with the sample letter on the BBC site - is it comparable to the Preliminary Letter on this Site and did you enclose the Schedule of Charges? If yes to both, I think you're safe to move onto the LBA stage.

 

Remember to send everything Registered mail.

 

From now on, I urge you to familiarise yourself with the superb Step by Step guide on here and to follow it to the letter.

 

I also found the Woolwich to be wanting when it came to acting on very simple instructions - after 8 years banking, they still couldn't provide me with a Paying In book so I could easily deposit my lovely loot with them!

[Simon1952]

Hi Welshcakes,

 

Yes the two formats are very similar, I enclosed the schedule of charges and everything has been sent Registered mail.

 

The only thing I didn't do was add the interest charges.

 

I've purchased the Step by Step guide from this site so am now ready to make my claim.

 

Simon

[welshcakes]

Excellent Si, just wait the 14 days (plus 2 for post) and then onto the Preliminary Letter, again without the 8% added.

 

Hardest thing at this stage is being patient

[Simon1952]

Excellent Si, just wait the 14 days (plus 2 for post) and then onto the Preliminary Letter, again without the 8% added.

 

Hardest thing at this stage is being patient

 

Hi Welshcakes,

 

Thanks for your support.

 

Why do you suggest doing the Preliminary letter without the 8% added?

 

Shouldn't I include the interest on their charges now?

 

Simon

[feater]

Hi Simon

 

I don't think it makes that much difference if you are sending them a spreadsheet of charges as long as in your letter you don't include it in the amount. I sent my spreadsheets (showing the growing interest) but didn't ask for the interest until I had started my MCOL.

[welshcakes]

Si

 

You do not add the 8% until you file a claim (either MCOL or at your local court). Just hide the 8% column when you print off the copy for your Prelim and later your LBA. Only print out a Schedule of Charges with the 8% column visible once you are filing a claim.

 

Have a read thru the step by step guide and it will explain all

[Simon1952]

Thanks Feater and Welshcakes for clearing that up.

 

Simon

[Simon1952]

Hi All. Can you give me some advice?

 

I have read all the FAQ's etc but am still confused on one point.

 

In the Preliminary letter it says:

 

What I require

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 .

I enclose a schedule of the charges which I am claiming with this letter.

 

Where do you get the overdraft interest figure from?

 

It isn't in the list of charges I received from the bank after my request and I don't have the original statements. Is there a way to calculate it or a suggested percent to add?

 

Thanks

 

Simon

[welshcakes]

Hi Simon

 

Ok, it may be that you just didn't incur any interest charges.

 

The first figure "have taken £XXXXX " are the things such as Unpaid Chq Charge and Unpaid DD Charge.

 

The second figure "plus £XXX" are things such as Interest Charged and Unauthorised Overdraft Fee.

 

If the charges didn't cause you to go overdrawn/ exceed an agreed buffer or overdraft limit, then they won't have attracted any O/D interest. But if they di, then the bank will have charged you interest and or fees whilst you were overdrawn.

 

Problem I found with the Woolwich list of transactions, is that it didn't include the interest - I was only aware of it because I had some original statements and there's a line at end of monthly statement stating something like

"£xx.xx debit interest for Feb 07 will be charged on 31 Mar 07"

 

[Simon1952]

Hi Welshcakes,

 

Thanks again for your help.

 

I know that the account was overdrawn and incurred interest charges but unfortunately I don't have the information to back that up so I'll just go with the claim for the charges.

 

Preliminary letter in envelope and ready to send, recorded delivery, tomorrow morning!

 

Simon.

 

Claims so far:

£1,850 paid by First Direct on claim for £2000

£800 paid by Barclays on claim for £950