A question about : Complaint: Help required with Bank of Scotland Account
I will try and summarise as best I can:
I previously banked with the Bank of Scotland and had two current accounts with them
I got into money troubles and my overdrafts on these accounts fell into default
In April 2010 I was in a position to reach a 'partial settlement' agreement on both accounts with the Bank of Scotland's debt recovery team
I made the partial settlement payment for each account and as far as I was aware that was the end of the story (other than awaiting my credit file to be cleared of the debts after 5 or 6 years, I can't remember which)
However, last March (2011), I received a demand letter from a Third Party Debt agency asking me to settle the outstanding amount left on one of these accounts
After numerous telephone calls and letters, the Bank of Scotland admitted their mistake in passing my settled debt to a third party company, recalled the debt and provided compensation to the tune of Ј100
More recently (early August of this year), I received another letter from a different third party debt agency demanding payment of the oustanding balance on the other account
I contacted the third party debt agency to explain the situation and asked they withheld any further correspondence awaiting confirmation from the Bank of Scotland as to the mistake they had made in passing on a settled debt to them to chase
At this point, I called the Bank of Scotland to discuss my account, only to be told that as I no longer banked with them to could not verify my identity and therefore could not discuss any personal details. I accepted this was the case and ventured into my local branch. However, as my accounts were closed, the local branch advised they didn't hold any details and couldn't help.
I called the Complaints team and explained my problem and they advised to go to a Branch, complete a claim form and then they would have this on file and could deal with my complaint.
So, to provide an update, please read the following:
I went into my local branch, completed a complaint form and was informed I would receive contact within 48 hours
This was on the 6th October (Saturday) so I was expecting contact by close of business on 9th October (Tuesday)
However, I received nothing until 18:45 on the 10th October (Wednesday), which is when the Bank Manager of my local branch called and left a message as I wasn't available
I called back the next morning (11th October, Wendesday) and was informed my complaint had been sent to the Complaints team
At this point I expected something in writing by the end of the week/beginning of next
I received no contact whatsoever so called the local Branch Manager and he advised he was unsure why I had had no contact but would chase up the complaints team and they would be in touch in the next day or so (this was the 17th October)
As I had received not further contact, I contacted the Complaints Team today and finally managed to speak to my Complaint Handler
She advised the Complaint was not logged until 16th October (10 days after the complaint was made; note she stated 48 hours previously)
Now, she advised she had reviewed my complaint and was prepared to offer the following:
Ј50 for the distress cause
Ј25 for telephone calls etc
I explained that I found this offering insulting, considering the catalogue of errors on both accounts.
My queries are:
What compensation could I demand for breach of Data Protection?
What compensation could I demand for distress suffered by not only me but my partner (she has been waiting patiently for my debt issues to be cleared so we can get a mortgage, which could well be affected as the bank should have updated my credit report back to April 2010 but still shows as outstanding)
I work in the commercial insurance sector and had to disclose details regarding my current credit history; as far as I was concerned there was no outstanding debt but this was not the case as it had not been settled on my credit file
I appreciate any valid responses and apologise for the length of the post.
Thanks,
FUWBOS.
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