If you successfully registered for your Biometric Verification Number (BVN) with your bank (and/or had the BVN linked to your other bank accounts) and access to your account was still blocked on November 1st 2015 for non-registration, then without mincing words, the block is potentially down to the negligence of the bank and its staff.

The CBN directive on BVN is quite clear, all bank customers are to register their BVN in order to meet Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements, you have held up your part of the bargain, and your bank has not.

If your bank has incorrectly restricted access to your account, these are the steps you should follow:

Resolution

1. Locate your BVN number.

2. Call your bank to inform them of the block on your account, and attempt to have it resolved by giving them your BVN number and having them link or verify it.

3. If unable to resolve over the phone, go into the branch and attempt to resolve it, remember to remain courteous to the bank staff, there is nothing to be gained by employing aggressive behaviour towards the bank staff.

4. Hopefully the issue is resolved in branch/over the phone. If the bank asks you to call back/come bank to the branch, ask them for specific timelines and note this down.

5. Follow up until resolved.

Compensation

Resolution is only the first part, the reality is that if you as a customer played your part in ensuring you registered /linked your BVN within the stipulated time frame, then you should not have to suffer for the ineptitude of the bank in not updating their records properly. The steps to follow to get compensation are:

1. Calculate how your time is worth. There are online tools to help with this, or you can do a rough calculation (please keep it as a realistic one). You need to know how much your time is worth, as you will be requesting that the bank pay for your time spent in resolving the issue.

2. Calculate how much time you spent trying to resolve the issue with the Bank, this should include time spent on the phone and time spent in the branch if you went in to have it resolved (including how much time you spent calculating how much your time is worth!).

3. Calculate how much you spent on telephone calls (mobile phones will have the exact cost at the end of the call)

4. Calculate how much you spent on transport to the branch (public transport fare or petrol). For petrol use Google to estimate the distance between your location to the bank branch and back in Miles, and then use this online tool to calculate what the average fuel consumption tool for your car is.

5. Once you have all that information, add it all up and then you arrive at the figure of how much specifically the bank’s actions have cost you.

On our website we have 2 templates we have provided for free which you may use to write a letter to the customer service department of the bank requesting compensation for the bank’s negligence.You can access them in the original version of this post at http://lawpadi.com/bvn-how-to-get-compensation-if-your-account-was-incorrectly-restricted/

Please note this exercise should not be viewed by you as way for you to make money off the whole episode, but it is a way for you to get you adequately compensated for the inconvenience. Hopefully the bank will respond and will give you the compensation. If this does not happen within a timely manner, you have the option to contact the Central Bank Consumer Protection Directorate at [email]cpd@cbn.gov.ng[/email] or even engage the services of a lawyer and then request for your compensation and punitive damages.


Thank you for reading this post, if you have found it useful please share with your network.

We hope you have found this information helpful. Please note that this information is provided for general informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. No lawyer-client relationship is formed nor should any such relationship be implied. This answer is not intended to substitute for the advice of a qualified lawyer. If you require legal advice, please consult with a qualified lawyer.

seedgreen:
Nice article, even though I'm a lawyer

Thanks! Maybe you can drop a few comments from your perspective as a lawyer on things you would like your clients to do before contacting you...or maybe certain things that clients do which annoy you (and other lawyers), or makes things more difficult for lawyers.

1. Konga has a policy on computers, which basically states that if you buy a computer on their website, you are purchasing it strictly for personal use, and it ‘will not be sold, resold, bartered or in any way disposed for profit.’ If you are to read this literally, it means if you run a business of say, supplying computers to schools, and you were to buy in bulk from Konga in order to fulfil a purchase order by a school, you would be breaching the terms and conditions of its website.

2. When shopping on Konga, your wallet comprises of three types of balances:
Store credit – a credit granted by Konga.com typically in lieu of a cancelled order
Topped-up balance – a prepaid amount that you added to wallet to pay for future orders
Promotional balance – a credit granted by Konga purely for promotional or goodwill purposes.

3.Konga states in its Ts & Cs that Topped-up balance and Promotional balance added to the wallet will be non-refundable. While Store credit is entirely refundable. So you should know that once you fund your wallet, you have effectively lost your right to attempt to obtain that money back by way of refund even if you change your mind in future about buying something on the website.

4. Konga.com has a program called ‘Konga Buyer Protection’ which fully protects customers who purchase eligible items on Konga.com and pay in advance. Unfortunately this program is NOT EXTENDED TO CUSTOMERS WHO PAY ON DELIVERY.

5. Konga Buyer Protection protects you in the following instances:
when an item doesn’t arrive within the time period provided by the seller
the item delivered is not what was ordered (including wrong size, or colour)
the item is defective or doesn’t work properly
the item is delivered in an unsatisfactory condition (damaged, broken seal, etc.)
the item is a fake or counterfeit

6. Konga Buyer Protection does not protect you in the following instances:
Purchases of personal items such as Jewellery, underwear, Lingerie, Beauty, Health and Personal Care products
Purchases of CDs/DVDs/Computer software, Games, Music, and Movies where the item has been opened/unsealed
Consumable such as Food & Drink

7. On the Konga.com website, sellers are free to set their own individual return policy, so if the seller sets a number of days within which returns should be made, a buyer cannot use the Konga Buyer Protection if this period has elapsed.

Say for instance you buy a t-shirt and the seller has set a 3 day return policy, if on the 4th day you discover the t-shirt is not authentic, you will not be able to return it as the window set by the seller for returns has elapsed. (‘If the return policy has expired, it’s up to the seller to decide whether or not he or she will accept a late return.’)

8. Purchases of any goods involving manufacturer warranties are ineligible for Konga Buyer Protection. According to Konga, this is because the warranty overrides Konga Buyer Protection and the item must be dealt with in accordance with terms of the warranty.

Therefore if you were to buy a Samsung camera on Konga and it turned out to be defective, you would not be able to return it to Konga, but would have to contact Samsung directly to try to resolve the issue.

9. For a return to be valid, the buyer must ensure that:

the items are returned with all the original packaging and accessories
the damage was not due to misuse of the product
the item is in the original condition and/or has not been used or installed
the buyer has not tampered with or lost the serial/UPC (Universal Product Code) numbers
The terms and conditions of shopping on Konga.com are much more than the 9 mentioned here, however, we felt these are important ones you should know about. To learn more about Konga’s terms and conditions you can read here, and to learn more about the Konga Buyer Protection, find out here.

*LawPàdí believes that the application of some of the clauses discussed above is not absolute and some might be potentially unenforceable when contrasted with principles of commercial and consumer law, to keep abreast of our updates on issues like this, and many others. You may subscribe to our mobile service here.*

Please note that the above information is general and should not be taken as legal advice with respect to any individual’s personal circumstances. If you have any questions about your legal rights and options as it affects you, then you should speak to a qualified lawyer. Or you can speak to someone on our team to give some more information about this article and your rights at contact@lawpadi.com

*This article was originally posted on our website*

pacespot:


Please, how can I report this kind of offense, coz it happens to me. Someone else has taken over my brand name 'Pacespot' I have been using since November, 2014. You can see the blog in my signature, I have been trying to register my domain name for a while now only to find out that this cybersquatter has hijacked it through Godaddy. The person registered the domain name(pacespot DOT com) on May 2015, but only keep it not using it. I had problem using my bank account to purchase stuff online was the reason for the delay in registering the domain name on time.

The person might even be one of the readers on my blog, coz the blog is growing steadily with decent daily page visits. Please, how can I retrieve this domain from him/her?

The process is not very easy to be honest.

1. If you want to use the Cybercrime Act provision, the FG has not yet set up the system for making reports of cybersquatting, so as a result you might have to file a police report (which we both know might take forever to resolve)

2. The ICANN have a process for resolving domain disputes, however you need to prove that you indeed have the IP rights over your brand name ' pacespot', the mere fact that you have used it in a blog will not be conclusive proof. Do you have a registered trade mark? do you have sufficient level of awareness that the name 'pacespot' is well known to be associated with only you and your line of business?

These are the types of questions you will need to answer in order to successfully get back the domain name if you want to go down a legal route.

First things first, maybe you should contact the person who registered it, you can do a 'whois' search to find out the owner of the domain. You need to be sure that the person is actually cybersquatting. He/she could have validly registered it looking to set up a business in their own right, having absolutely nothing to do with your own line of business, in which case you can't really accuse the person of cybersquatting. It might be that the person offers to give it back to you...or maybe offers to sell it to you at a reasonable price.

Another option for you is that you could attempt to register the 'pacespot.ng or pacespot.com.ng' domain names. It is unlikely those will be taken as well.

As with any legal issue, it is always best to either settle amicably or look to avoid litigation. Lawyers are not cheap (because the skills they provide are in high demand and the value they bring is also quite important). If you can avoid going down the legal route, then please avoid it.

We hope you have found this information helpful. Please note that this information is provided for general informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. No lawyer-client relationship is formed nor should any such relationship be implied. This answer is not intended to substitute for the advice of a qualified lawyer. If you require legal advice, please consult with a qualified lawyer.

We at LawPàdí know it’s a big deal, and therefore we have come up with a few things you should look out for when hiring a lawyer, so you can pick someone best suited to represent your interests effectively.

DO YOU NEED A LAWYER?

Learn about your problem

The first and often most underrated thing is that you need to attempt to understand what your issue is, and know whether you do actually need the services of a lawyer, before attempting to hire one. Most times people face an issue and automatically believe that they need a lawyer to solve it.

While having the mindset of engaging a lawyer for issues is a good thing, you should try to find out a bit more about the issue first. Do some minor research to understand your rights, use the Internet, ask friends, and use services like ours! LawPàdí provides free initial legal information to individuals and businesses that are unsure about their legal rights and need some quick assistance and/or information.

Can you solve it on your own?

In many cases, you may be able to solve your problem without a lawyer’s help. If a company has wronged you, it might be that the best way to attempt to resolve it is to see if it has a customer service department. Often, a complaint can be settled to your satisfaction without having to find a lawyer.

For example, you book a domestic flight from Lagos to Abuja, your flight gets delayed for 5 hours, you eventually get to your destination and you are so upset that you decide you want to sue the airline. Now while you have a right to sue them, you should be aware that there are other ways you can attempt to raise a grievance and obtain compensation.

You can make a formal complaint to the airline, and if you do not get a satisfactory response, you can ask the Consumer Protection Council to assist you. We actually have an article on steps to follow to claim compensation when your flight is delayed.

As you can see, you still get what you want – a resolution of your complaint, but this way it hasn’t cost you the time, money and effort which would have occasioned you using a lawyer. So before you think about hiring a lawyer, you should ask yourself- do I need a lawyer?

BEGINNING YOUR LAWYER SEARCH

There are tens of thousands of lawyers in Nigeria; the issue for you then is how to find one that best suits your needs? Lawyers improve their clients’ quality of life by protecting them from situations that might later bring emotional and financial hardship. A good lawyer is there to help those in trouble now and those who want to avoid trouble in the future.

If your problem is one that needs special skills or specialized knowledge of a certain sector, you want to be sure that the lawyer you will be dealing with has experience in that area of law.

In beginning your lawyer search you can follow the steps below:

Build a shortlist
The first step in your search for a lawyer is building a shortlist. You can do this in Nigeria, primarily by 2 means (offline and online) by –

- Asking for recommendations from people who have had similar needs/issues in the past, ask from friends, family members, business partners etc. People you trust, and who have been through similar issues and can recommend a lawyer with the appropriate skills. For example if you are having marital issues and you are considering a divorce, the most logical recommendation is to ask someone who has recently been divorced or is in the middle of a divorce.

- Internet search and Professional Networks – you will be amazed at how effective this can be in locating lawyers in Nigeria who have a special interest/expertise in the issue you have. You can glean this information by finding articles and blog posts by these lawyers, or by checking lawyer directories.

- Also, there is a lot of data out there on the Internet, and it doesn’t hurt to use it in building your shortlist. You can find information about lawyers by using services like LinkedIn and to some extent – Twitter (stay away from Facebook when searching for a lawyer).

Contact your shortlist

The next step is to contact the lawyers who have made it on to your shortlist, and then ask them some questions in order to narrow down the list.

Before you contact them however, you should be clear on your expectations, build a profile in your mind of what you want your ideal lawyer to be, and then match the responses you get from the individuals on your shortlist to decide whether they make the cut.

Things that should be covered include:

Personality and Communication skills– there’s an unfortunate myth circling around that the more aggressive and argumentative the lawyer is, the better he/she is as a lawyer. With respect that is an utter fallacy (fancy way of saying ‘that is incorrect’). You are looking to hire a lawyer not a street urchin (fancy way of saying ‘agbero’), pay more attention to things like poise, professionalism, and respect. Remember you will be dealing with this person closely so it needs to be someone who is pleasant to work with and has great communication skills.

Experience, Expertise and References – if your issue is one which requires special knowledge, make sure that the lawyer is one who has the requisite expertise, ask for past cases they have worked on which are similar to yours, and satisfy yourself than they have the experience and expertise to handle your case. If possible you should ask your lawyer if they can provide any references or contact details of past clients they have worked with. If your lawyer is really good at their job they should not have a problem providing contact details for a couple of previous clients. (References aren’t necessary if the person got on your shortlist based on a recommendation).

Consider the Size of the Firm – if you are looking to engage a mid-size to large firm of lawyers, you need to be clear on who will be handling your case. Most times you might have initial meetings with a senior partner or lawyer in the firm, but once you sign up you realize that your work has been passed off entirely to a more junior lawyer, be clear on who will be doing the work; while there’s nothing wrong in junior lawyers handling cases, you don’t want to be charged the full rate of a senior lawyer when in actual fact the work is being done by a junior with little or no supervision from the more senior lawyer.

Fees – you need to be clear on how the lawyer will bill you – hourly rate, fixed rate, contingency etc., and if not a fixed rate you need to have the lawyer give you an approximation of what the case will cost you in legal fees. Now while we at LawPàdí advocate that clients should never choose lawyers solely on costs, we understand that for some keeping costs to a minimum is a strong driver, so if you fall into this category you should take care to balance out costs with competence/expertise.

HIRING A LAWYER

Make sure you understand what you’re paying for. Always ask your lawyer for a Fee Quote. The fee quote should be in writing and in clear, direct language that you are comfortable with.

It should have a breakdown of the fees and should include what other expenses you will be liable for, things like: filing costs (fees for filing a lawsuit), postage, telephone, courier, photocopying, out of town air or car transportation, and hotel and meal expenses etc.

Once you are comfortable with your choice for a lawyer and are happy with the fee quote, you should insist that your lawyer provides a contract – Terms of Engagement. It shouldn’t be a long contract, just one or two pages that sets out how the relationship will be managed.

It will contain things like how communication should be managed and how frequent, scope of engagement, agreed fees, confidentiality, when payments should be made, and procedure for terminating the agreement.

WORKING WITH A LAWYER

Once you have engaged the services of a lawyer, you need to communicate your expectations before you begin discussing strategies. Your lawyer needs to know what your “best case/expected outcome” for the case is, and your lawyer needs to explain all other possible outcomes that could happen.

Your lawyer should be able to give you an analysis of your case and what your rights and potential liabilities will be based on the prevailing facts.

He/she should be able to predict the likelihood of different outcomes based on the position of the law, and should most importantly outline multiple options and the merits and drawbacks of each option so you are making an informed decision.

If your case involves a dispute, you should know that lawyers don’t just jump to sue people. In fact, suing is probably one of the more expensive and time-consuming ways for you to resolve a dispute. Make sure your lawyer has an open mind about alternative means to dispute resolution, such as mediation or arbitration.

If during the course of the engagement with your lawyer you become dissatisfied with the service you are being given, then you have the right to fire your lawyer (based on the terms set out in the terms of engagement). If your unhappiness stems from what might constitute professional misconduct then you have the option open to you to report the lawyer to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, this is the body that deals with complaints against lawyers by clients which have to do with professional misconduct. Hopefully that doesn’t happen in your situation.

We hope you have found this article useful, and wish you all the best in your search for a lawyer.

Please note that the above information is general and should not be taken as legal advice with respect to any individual’s personal circumstances. If you have any questions about your legal rights and options as it affects you, then you should speak to a qualified lawyer. Or you can speak to someone on our team to give some more information about this article and your rights at contact@lawpadi.com


*This article was originally posted on our website*

Great post!

If we may add one important point.

Avoid cybersquatting - Cybersquatting is when a person buys a domain name and has no intention of ever using it commercially, but only buys it before the person who has more of a right to it is able to buy it. The sole purpose then is so that you can attempt to sell the domain to the person later (or prevent the person from entering other markets). By virtue of the new Cybercrime Act 2015, cybersquatting is illegal and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not more than 2 years or a fine of not more than N5,000,000.00 or to both fine and imprisonment.

So when you are choosing your domain name, you need to be mindful that you are not cybersquatting.