Hello,

Due to a direct debit that went wrong, my account with Alliance &
Leicester (A&L) went £2.67 overdrawn. That's two pounds and sixty
seven pence.

A&L made no effort to contact me and so I did not learn of the debt
until three weeks later. A&L have charged me £5 (five pounds) per day
for being overdrawn. So for being £2.67 overdrawn, I have been charged
£120 (one hundred and twenty pounds).

This charge seems obscene to me.

I have written to A&L customer services who have replied that they
consider the charge to be fair and legal.

A search on the internet found an address for A&L's legal department.
I wrote to them and they replied that they consider the charge to be
fair and legal.

I wrote to the Financial Services Ombudsman but they are postponing
all complaints about bank charges pending the high court ruling.

I followed the advice on other web sites and filed at my small claims
court.

A&L appointed some solicitors who have submitted a defence. Am I able
to post the full text of their defence here or should I post that
somewhere else?

The defence seems to be a generic defence as it does not mention my
circumstances. It also contains an error. It claims A&L charge £35
when you go overdrawn and an additional £35 if the debt remains after
fourteen days. In my case there were no £35 penalties; I was charged
£5 per day for every day of the debt. Is this error significant? What
should I do about it?

I received a letter from the court stating that the case has been
stayed pending the high court ruling. Again, I have the full text if I
am allowed to post it here? It too contains an error and says that the
case is pending a hearing in Feb 2008; does it mean Feb 2009?

What should I do next? It does seem unfair that all action has been
put on hold. Cases should be judged on the law in 2008 as the cases
arise, not put on hold until the banks can coerce more favourable
legislation in the future!

Thanks,
Stephen.

Stephen wrote:

What should I do next?

Martin Lewis has lots of advice about this, plus a forum thread.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...lay.html?f=102

--
Facts are sacred ... but comment is free

On Thu, 27 Nov 2008 11:26:17 +0000, Stephen
wrote:

snip


What should I do next?

Wait.

It does seem unfair that all action has been
put on hold. Cases should be judged on the law in 2008 as the cases
arise, not put on hold until the banks can coerce more favourable
legislation in the future!


That is not what is happening.

Cases *will* be judged on the law as it is in 2008 (and earlier), once
it is decided what that law is.

Until the case is finally decided, nobody knows *what* the "law as it
is in 2008" is. There is no pending legislation on this, merely a test
case waiting for a decision.
--
Alex Heney, Global Villager
Going out of my mind, back in 5 minutes.
To reply by email, my address is alexATheneyDOTplusDOTcom