Having had a discussion with a group of friend in the local the other night I was amazed to find that a lot of people are simply paying the minimum payment on their credit card bills because after paying their monthly bills off they have little to pay off their credit card bill. Does this sound like you? So what do you do to break the cycle? Well the good news is it's very easy and you DON'T need any more money to do it. Even if you don't have enough to pay off the whole credit card bill, use this plan and it will help to save you money and get your bills down. How? It's simple. instead of paying your credit bill last with what's left, pay it FIRST! That way you save paying interest on a large credit card bill and depending on your balance you may be able to pay it off in full each month. Do this and after the first month you will not have any interest payments to make. But what about the bills? Again it's dead easy. Once you have topped up your credit card you then use it to pay your bills. Most companies now accept credit card payments, even councils for council tax so you get to pay off your credit card bill AND use the balance to pay off your bills. As long as you don't owe zillions the 30-day or more interest free credit period means you don't pay any interest and you still get your bills paid. Hope this makes sense, it works for me!

1/ I don't think so - but I could be wrong... 2/ Not really, it's "advisable" to ask for the manual intervention records, but as they don't answer the question, it's not really worth asking. 3/ Anything you like. 4/ £120. It's £80 for under £1k; http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/fees/county.htm

did you send the letter recorded delivery?, if not you cant be 100% sure it was received, however it may have been received and still no response would be forthcoming, dont worry, stick to your timetable and follow the step by step guide in the faq's (link in my sig)

Unfortunately we are limited to the number of sticky threads we can make in each forum. As the letters regularly change and the banks change their tactics we should not be assuming that these letters are going to be what we will receive. Any letters you receive can be entered in your own individual threads and will relate to your own claim. It's always good to see other people's responses they receive, but in context with their own claim is even better. Nice to see everyone trying to help out. It's a great forum with a lovely community spirit. Keep it up folks.

Is this what you mean? http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/chargeinterest.php

i know it will probably be a long wait for my statements judging by the time its taken everybody else to get theirs, but at least i've got the world cup to take my mind off the wait. i've already had a little look on Moneyclaim to try to familiarise myself with it, i've also got all the other letters printed off so i can get my head around it all. i'll be keeping track on everybodys progress on this forum as well so i can be as prepared as possible when the time comes. Can't get enough reading done on this forum, recommend everybody to read as much as possible, especially the FAQ's

Minnie, let me know when you have started your own thread on this and I will let you have some information. Send me a private message if you like. I am away for a couple of days now but I will let you have a response.

Hi if you take a look at the last few posts in my thread it will show you how much they don't want this to get into court .

No you can only ask for what they have taken from you. Read the step by step guide and follow it. Good luck!

If the letter said something like "full and final offer", then go straight into claim. If not then you can try accepting their offer but make it clear that you will be pursueing the full amount.

Hi i think the best way is a phone call first be friendly but be strong in your convictions. if then they refuse then take it futher after all they took money from you unlawfully. good luck

It's not petty or frivolous, it's your money taken from you unlawfully. I thought banks were keen to court students because you will be the money earners of the future. For the Nationwide a/c if the amount is only £60 you could try ringing up. They will often repay one or two charges over the phone with a stern telling off and a comment about no more refunds for the next 12 months. You can ignore all the latter though. If the won't refund it all just tell them you will deal with it in writing if they prefer but assumed they would prefer the cheaper option of refunding them all now! It's your call as to how you do this but my feeling is to try a phone call first. Let us know what you do and how you get on.

Hi send the letter tomorrow as you said then if you do not get a reply or an unsatisfactory reply then start your claim for non compliance.The worst thing you can do is send the letter then not start a court action , as some people are doing , as this just makes it harder for everyone else you may recieve different advice as people have different experiences please use your own judgement as to whose advice you take

If the car was parked on your drive and you had paid over one third then they should have had a court order to remove your car. However if you handed over the keys to them then they will say they had your permission to take the car and ofcourse will deny threatening to break in. What time did they come to the door? They are not allowed to come to your door after 9pm. If however the two collectors placed you in a state of fear and alarm and in anyway threatened you or made you feel threatened to hand over the keys then you have a good case for not paying. You would have to be able to corroberate this, perhaps you had a witness in the house at the time? Afriend who overheard the conversation?

a mortgage is a seperate issue completely, they cannot forclose on your mortgage because of any action you take as it is a breach of contract, its always wise to open a parachute account anyway, make sure you get one with a dd facility and you can just make payments from there, easy

And thank you for your kind words. Glad to see that you seem to know what you are doing. Keep us posted.

did you send the DPAR letter from the libary ? if so did they send proof of manual intervention ? thats nothing unexpected , standard. What exactly does she say about this ? word for word . Is it possible for you to send us a copy to research@bankactiongroup.co.uk Abbey have publicly said they will close accounts of people claiming there charges back you can apply for an injuction to stop it . I think you should answer this yourself .. is keeping this account worth giving their shareholders in the region of £2,000 ?? Have you opened a parachute account ?

Mandy Horton, Assistant Manager Customer Care, Lloyds TSB, 125 Colmore Row, Birmingham B3 3SF. OR Chris Brown Copy Statement Unit Swallow House PO BOX 139 10, Swallow Street Birmingham B1 2AL 0121 633 5452

Hi and Welcome yes you can claim them back but before you do anything you must spend a few days to read around the forum and read the FAQ's .You need to become aware of what you are undertaking. You have posted the same question in 2 different places ,please keep to your original thread

The Golden Rules re. Bailiffs and Council Tax Arrears Never let them in - despite anything they threaten. Never sign anything they give you Never pay them a penny When they hit you with extra charges, dispute every single one. They will always claim that they have called when they haven't. They will also push something quickly through the door (without knocking) and then claim they 'failed to gain entry' - usually whilst you are sat in the front room. Pay the Council! - Even a very small amount is good. Once bailiffs have been instructed, the Council will always say that it is out of their hands and they cannot take payment. The loophole is that most councils now have an automated payment system via phone or internet, so pay your small amount anyway. If you're not able to do this, send a postal order to the Council offices. When the Bailiffs call again, inform them that you are paying the Council directly and the matter is out of their hands. Say that the Council have accepted your payment and that they can get stuffed. Eventually the Bailliffs will pass your file back to the Council and move on to an easier target, wasting a load of their time and money in the process. Bailiff firms such as Rossendales and Phoenix rely on intimidation and bully tactics to exploit the lack of legal knowledge of the average householder. The Bailiff at your door has no scruples and will use whatever threats, lies and intimidation he can to extort money from you, he really doesn't give a damn. Complain in writing to your Council about the antics of any Bailiff, they are ****.

Hi Crusher, Looks like we are on an identical timetable. However, I'm not sure if you were offered anything before taking it to moneyclaim. For some obscure reason, they offered me over 80% of my original claim, which just seems stupid that for the sake of another £200, they could have saved themselves court expenses AND interest. Oh well, it suits be, the interest alne is £400. Maybe we'll get our money back on the same day?!?! All the best, I'll be watching...

But you do know about it now, maybelline. As you can see, there are a lot of people here ready to assist you. My local authority also dumped Rossendale's, alan and rich are quite right, they are a bunch of thugs!! Read all the relevant threads, act on the advice already given and you will find the confidence and strength to defeat them. Onwards and upwards Elsinore

I concur with the above poster - Rosendales are a bunch of thugs, and have been ditched by Derby City Council after numerous complaints. Don't negotiate with them - as they won't negotiate. The ONLY way to deal with them is to refuse point blank, and ignore their threats, until they are forced to pass your file back to the council. Don't let them in, and don't sign anything. Write to the council with a breakdown of your income and expenditure, and offer a realistic monthly amount - the emphasis is on realistic....make sure you can afford it, even if it is only £20/£30 per month. If you income/expenditure backs up your offer then they will have to accept it - otherwise it will just go back to the court - who will impose a repayment at that level anyway.

maybelline Read these threads end to end, I and others have posted a lot of info that will help you, most of the answers are there, but Rich has also given good advice. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=8732 http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=7538 Chris

The answer is YES. Absolutely. this time obtain your statements via a DPA request - see the bank templates library for this letter (the green bit at the top of the main page). find those 85 chrages, add them up, and send the prelim letter (also in the library). you will then follow through with the Letter Before Action if necessary. That money is yours. You WILL get it back. You are entitled to it back. It will come in extremely handy methinks If you have a copy of their letter from yester year, and are aware of the charges and dates they were applied then just get on and send the prelim letter immediately.. the quicker you start the quicker you finish! you can then look to transferring all your banking to Nationwide or another more amenable provider - and hopefully you will have a nice credit balance to offer them subsequent to your Halifax claim...

Yup - short and to the point - good letter and good luck.

On the other hand... Theoretically the DPA request is completely seperate from the claim for charges back... Thus you could send in one request with one £10 and then split your claim further down the line if neccessary... The DPA request isn't so much a request for information on a specific account... It's a personal request for data held by the bank related to you...

Take your total claim amount (excluding Court fees etc), multiply it by 0.00022 - this is your daily rate of interest.

Absolutely. Your claim, your timescale. You've given them a deadline, so stick to it no matter what. Also, never, ever agree to discuss it on the phone (they might try this). Any call centre monkey you are ever likely to speak to has zero chance of having the authority to refund this sort of cash - so don't waste your time.

Hi - Stick to your timetable not theirs. This is a common tactic with them. Just push ahead after your 14 day deadline. Don't break step.

I'm only talking about RBS branches. Although RBS owns NAT West they are run as a completely seperate company so have different processes (soz don't know what NAT West's processes are). Lets be clear on this: Royal Bank of Scotland Branches you can pay money in to cover direct debits and standing orders before 3.30pm as long as you tell the teller that this is what the money is for you will avoid charges and the items will be paid. From the sounds of it this is not possible with NAT West. In response to an earlier post I do think the charges are extortionate but feel there needs to be some sort of balance and responsabilty - If we all went overdrawn all the time with no consequences then the economy would go t*ts up and that would ultimately backfire on everyone. Perhaps the simplest solution would be no money in the account = do not let the customer withdraw for anything and do no charge them for this (though there are problems that would need looked at such as how do we treat cheques, debtor interest etc) If the banks don't make their money this way I think they'll just respond by charging us a small amount for each service we use (ie cashlines, processing cheques & payins) Charging for atm withdrawals is already common in a lot of countries worldwide. As for manual intervention in charges I don't know the ins and outs of how it works I'm afraid - we don't decide this in branch. Common sense would obviously dicate that it does not cost the bank £38 to return a direct debit. All I can say is that some items are marked as auto-pay on system - this would therefore imply to me that its automatic. Thanks for all your words of support btw