Getting a refund from the Border Agency...... concerning

[John]

I think you should request a judgement, and that judgement will be for the amount you claimed, plus Court Costs. Against that total they have only made a part-payment.

[mac24cat]

I am in the same situation. I made a payment in error of 850 pounds. When I visited the UKBA they advised me to write to the Charging Support Team.. this was the 2nd May.. I have written to them 3 times all registered.. (3rd May, 17th May, 1st June). I have telephoned several times and have been advised to wait as it takes a long time, I asked how long a long time is, and was told "Just use your judgement" At the end of July I had still not received a refund, so I followed the complaints procedure and received a message to say i would receive aresponse in 20 working days with a CMS number. I did not recieve a response so at the beginning of September I emailed them again, and again in the Middle of September.. It is so frustrating, not just the fact that I have not received my refund but the fact that they do not even answer. Any advice on what to do now would be greatly appreciated.

[John]

Given your appalling treatment by UKBA, I think there is now only one path you should now follow. That is, write another Recorded Delivery letter to them, but this time stating that if the refund has not been received within two weeks, and name a specific date, you will then commence legal proceedings in the Small Claim Court.

Point out that if such legal action is needed they will also be liable for the legal costs involved.

You might put a heading on your letter, such as "Threat of Legal Action" to make sure they take interest in your letter.

And then if the payment is not received by your deadline, do indeed start a claim in the Small Claims Court. An easy procedure, which can be done online.

But sending that letter might just do the trick, and provoke them into action. However nothing is guaranteed and their incompetence might just continue.

[darkman]

ok, so to update on the situation....

It's finally resolved. Shortly after issuing the court claim, the UKBA paid up. Hooray.

However, the £70 court costs were not paid. A week or two after the payment, I received a UKBA letter stating the £70 would be paid due to maladministration.

Some months later, it has now been paid. Finally.

So they paid up in the end. But oh boy, what a long drawn out battle!

[John]

darkman, my interpretation of what you have posted is this.

So you were claiming £x from them, but after the Court proceedings were issued they owed £(x+70). So when they paid just £x they only made a part-payment. So what did you do next? Try to proceed to judgement in respect of the balance of £70?

If you did not do that it might explain why the matter took so long to resolve completely. After all, with judgement in your favour, if there is an amount still unpaid, you can threaten to "send the bailiffs in", which would cost them even more!

[darkman]

After the part payment, I checked with the court and realised I had to wait a further 14 days before requesting a judgement from the court. This was due to some odd error in the initial form filling which I don't recall now.

So I was gearing up for the next step with the court, when the UKBA wrote me a letter saying they would pay for the £70 court cost, but that it would take months.

So that was the major step. They had paid the main sum, and admitted in writing they owed me the £70 also. Months later I received the £70.

From this I can only guess they were just so AMAZINGLY slow in processing paperwork that they got round to paying the initial amount, and AFTER that realized there was a court claim now attached to it. When they realized that, they dealt with it (again VERY slowly).

On the other hand, they may have seen the court claim, and paid the initial sum only. This isn't too far fetched. Then someone realized there was an additional £70 which had to be paid and authorized etc.

Who knows

[John]

darkman, the guidance for others in your experience is .... if UKBA make only part-payment, proceed to get judgement, and then proceed to enforce it!

As an aside on this, and just proof that all big organisations can neglect to do things at times, if you click here you will see that even banks sometimes have bailiffs calling on them. A google search will show there have been a number of occasions when there have been "send in the bailiffs" Court Orders against Lloyds TSB. Embarrassing!

[darkman]

I think sometimes the *only* way to make a large organisation listen to you is to demonstrate how serious and determined you are.

Thanks for informing me about the online court option. It was very very easy.

[Elena_G]

I got refund without making complaint, just sent a letter to charging team asking for it. Overall wating time 4 months