Late with replying to letter to bank......

[keef]

I am in a tit for tat dispute with my bank for bank charges. My overdraft went over by about 30 p and in the last 4 months they have tallied up charges on me amounting to roughly £250. They have now closed the account and are claiming OD + charges = £700+.
I have missed a response to a letter by a day (they doubled teamed me with letters from different departments, they havnt met there promise of response from the complaints dept. about harrasment either).
I'm at the stage of putting in my claim at court. I'm claiming past charges and interest as well as personal costs and damages (i dont want there f****n money, i just want it zero'd, closed, and for them to piss off. My claim is higher than there's obviously.

The letter in question rebukes my earlier claims for my original contract and such. They said there were not contracts for overdrafts (ok, i know this) and pretended that they didnt realize that i was asking for the original contract made upon the opening of the account.

Thing is that i have missed a repsonse as i do have a life to live that doesnt revolve around these f******, pardon my french.

My question is if I have shot myself in the foot by missing 1 letter or should i just send it then head straight for the court on tuesday?
Would calling the customer care manager be a dangerous move? (its quicker than the post)

Oh yeah, just got notice from a "collection agency" today and reckon its the banks own agency. Are they still technically a third party? The letter is signed by same dude from collections dept. at bank.

Any advice appreciated. Thank you.

[number_6]

My question is if I have shot myself in the foot by missing 1 letter or should i just send it then head straight for the court on tuesday?



You can put your claim in to recover unlawful bank charges, however I think you will find that all cases are on hold until the outcome of the OFT case. I think the House of Lords granted permission for appeal and the decision is due in June.

[keef]

Brilliant! Not.
Do you know when in June?

Cheers

[number_6]

Try this:
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/announcement.php?f=22&a=154

[keef]

cheers, i have a couple weeks to sort my shit out then.
guess its just a matter of waiting to see what these *******'s do.

Reading those articles doesnt really fill one with hope though, i'll still guna tell them to gtf whichever way the ruling goes.
Bloody ridiculous, i lend u 30 p without you even knowing than slap nearly 1000% on it in a few months, what a c**t does that make me?!?!?!?!?!?

Why do they refuse to see themselves for what they are and what they're doing?!?!?!?

[bsmurph83]

the debt collection agency is still a third party regardless (at least as far as I'm aware). i guess u could send a letter rogatory or Notice of request for further and better particulars and ask them for the legally binding contract between you and the collection agency (and the bank for that matter): "If ya can't produce it within the next 7 days then I take it that none exists and your claim is fraudulent, yada-yada..."

You can include a few key things that are needed for a contract to be binding, for their education, for instance;

signatures of BOTH parties (and an application is not hte same thing as a contract)
equal consideration (what did the bank or collection agency offer you? (nothing))
consent
full disclosure of the terms of the agreement (they don't tell you they are never offering you anything of substance in the first place, etc, etc)

and so on...

are u familiar with these notices and the general process? I'm no expert, but have a little experience... not enough to be able to say confidently "here's what you should do now...", not least because I don't know enough about your situation! :o

[bsmurph83]

ALSO; i forgot to mention that there's another thread in this forum concerning bank penalty fees and the companies you can employ to reclaim them for you. it's cost the banks billions. google something like 'reclaim bank fees', somethin' along those lines...

[yozhik]

While we're discussing letters to banks, I thought it might be nice to add a little humour to such a "dry" subject. :)

The letter to the bank below is an actual letter that was sent to a bank by an 80 year old woman.
The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the New York Times.


Dear Sir:

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I endeavoured to pay my plumber last month.

By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the check and the
arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it. I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire salary, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only eight years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.

My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally attend to your telephone calls and letters, when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, prerecorded, faceless entity which your bank has become.

From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person. My mortgage and loan repayments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank, by check, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate. Be aware that it is an offense under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope.

Please find attached an Application Contact Status which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative. Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Notary Public, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof.

In due course, I will issue your employee with a PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modelled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service.

As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Let me level the playing field even further.
When you call me, press buttons as follows:

1. To make an appointment to see me.

2. To query a missing payment.

3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.

4. To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.

5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.

6. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.

7. To leave a message on my computer, a password to access my computer is required.
....Password will be communicated to you at a later date to the Authorized Contact.

8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through 7.

9. To make a general complaint or inquiry.

The contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service.
While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call.
Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement.

May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous New Year?

Your Humble Client,

Lydia B. Johnson

[dondaz]

Check out http://www.penaltycharges.co.uk They're the best in this country for advise on claiming back unlawful penality charges.

Anyone claiming a benefit will be happy to know that banks are not allowed to touch this as it is in breach of the Social Security Administrations Act 1992.

I've been with NatWest since 1991, had a one thousand pound laon, paid it back, with interest and a thousand pound over draft that I originally never asked for. I was told the interest would be just pennies a month and they have been scamming me ever since.

I went to the bank the other week and told them about the social security act and about how penality charges should be apportioned to the ammount owed, not a standard £38 penality fee. She siad she was going to try to get the last six months charges back for me.

I recieved this letter the other day:


Dear Mr Darren Pollard

Following your recent visit to Harborne Branch, I am sorry you were unhappy with the service you recently received, but grateful that you took the time to come in and explain why.

We have investigated your query with our charges team at regional offices and it has been confirmed that the bank are wll within their rights to charge any customer for misuse on their account, therefore unfortunately in your circumstances we cannot refund or waive any charges.

I appreciate your patience while I have been investigating your complaint, and I'm sorry we have caused you such inconvenience. I hope that we have now solved the issue for you.

In case you wish to take the matter further, or if there is still anything that you consider unresolved, do call me on *********** and I will be happy to help.

Yours sincerely

bla bla bla

Assistant Manager


That was step one.

Step two

Freedom of Information Request for all bank transaction statements for the past 6 years. They have 40 days in which to comply!

Keep fighting them folks!

[keef]

I've already done that. In fact I am on step 4 of the reclaim charges process.
The information I was seeking was- "Does being late with a letter response, where they assume your agreement by non-response, give them legal power"?

[thelearner]

I have missed a response to a letter by a day
Exactly what letter were you to, respond to? Perhaps i missed something in the OP that stated exactly what type of letter you were menat to send a reply to?
Was it an informal computer generated bog-standard one..ie "you have 7 days to respond to this letter, before we will start legal proceedings

(they doubled teamed me with letters from different departments, they havnt met there promise of response from the complaints dept. about harrasment either).
Were the letter(s) that you sent, sent Recorded Delivery? If so then you can open up a whole new can of worms for them?
They have a duty to reply at all times!

I'm at the stage of putting in my claim at court
Continue It may still end up in a backlog but at least you will have logged your case!

Would calling the customer care manager be a dangerous move? (its quicker than the post)
Under NO circumstances call them at any time ! Make a point if they call you to "state" that you want all communications to be in writing Only!