Great stuff Suzy. If you have problems getting complete statements (which a lot of us have -they claim they only have to keep records for 5 years) may I refer you to Glenn's thread "GE Capital bank -statements " about making complaints to the Information Commissioner. Good Luck and I hope you get your info ok Sarah

ok hun all is not lost!! I have been where you are. trust me! Try HSBC. They gave me and HB Basic Bank A/c with Debit card and cheque book, so did the Woolwich. I am not recommendending either above any others and far from it, but thats is what I was offered with very sub prime (poor credit history) was offered!! Just follow the threads and enjoy yourself as well as trying to get your money back!!! It can be frustrating at times, but remember there are others in the same boat as you and having a sense of humour will help you along!!! Look for the bank you are claiming against and post your thread in there - thats is the best advice I can give you!!! Read other peoples threads and try to find someone who is at the same stage as you!!! You may find it a great comfort when things hard and frustrating!! If you ever get stuck dont be afraid to ask!! We have all been there (me included - and I still get stuck)!! Good luck!!

Hi there, first of all welcome. Next, you are I am now assuming in receipt of all of the bank charges for the last six years that are relevent to your claim? You do not then in this instance need to send the Data Protection Act letter the only other thing that is in the letter that you would not have requested is whether or not there has been any manual intervention on your account. To be honest it's quite rare to find an account where there has been manual intervention! The choice is yours but if I was you I would now crack on with your claim as you have the statements... Go here: Consumer Action Group > Libraries - bank charges materials and other issues > Bank Templates Library 2. Letter - Preliminary approach for repayment. This will give you the template for the next letter - download it and then tweek to suit etc. Along with this you will need to attach a schedule of charges which is a spread sheet that you will also need to download and complete. Do not include the 8% interest at this stage this will only need to be added at the court claim stage there are a few different versions here one will suit: Consumer Action Group > Libraries - bank charges materials and other issues > Bank Templates Library 6. Interest calculation spreadsheets I think that's all this stage. But another piece of advice is read, read and read it will certainly give you the confidence to carry on especially when you see so many successes. Good luck and go for it !! Anything further or you do not understand then post again!

Ok doesnt matter if there is some extra time between letters, As regards the interest there are two types here, one is 8% which is added at court stage, 8% pa from when they charged you to the date you file a small claim then a daily rate of 0.0022% which is 8% pa daily. Now if you have been charged interest on going overdrawn SOLELY due to bank charges this should be added now and not just at court stage, you need to inform them of this in your schedule that is sent with your lba Hope this helps

Hi JW, welcome to the family. Most important, spend a couple of days reading the FAQs and the step-by-step guide in the library section...... There's absolutely loads of info there. That will answer most of your questions. You will need to open your own thread in the Debt and Bailiffs forum to deal with CRAs and Cabots, etc. Click on this link for Debt and Bailiffs forum. Also start your own thread in whichever bank forum is appropriate to you. Use these threads for questions and progress reports that are relative to the forums. The answers won't be far away. Good luck with your claims.

Send off the LBA. Interest is only added at the MCOL stage. Spotty

maria, winnie and plonker, following your progress. take heart that everyone goes through the same process - some at a little varying rates but nonetheless the same route. don't be in a hurry to file the a.q. maria - 11/11 is miles away. plus it does give you something to talk to dg about to move things along. we did that - you can look at our path in the successful hsbc claims section lateralus-v-hsbc we won. when the aq loomed - we phoned dg and said basically as above - we are sure you don't want the additional charges...but if we don't hear from you, we will have to file the a.q. honestly, this is the point where you wait - but then maybe you try to push a bit as well. wouldn't hurt to have a fax number available (a friend or whatever) so they could fax an offer letter if it's getting close. keep the faith, you are nearly there. as for the wording of the defence - i've also been following a guy called neil faulkner on the motley fool website - he comments on the wording of the defence and it's quite funny - right down to the obvious e-mail cut an paste job of the defence - noted by the punctuation markings. check it out if you get a chance. here's the link: My Ongoing Bank Charges Saga - 28/09/2006 - The Motley Fool UK plonker, doesn't matter what size the claim is - it's yours so get it back! good luck all three of you - there are a lot of people keeping an eye on what's going on, even when we have successfully got our charges back - just because it feels good to see others achieving their goal. good thoughts!

You go girl!!!! Don't be nervous!!! I am just waiting for Barclays to file a defence as I have started proceedings on MCOL, and I have just sent LBA to Halifax on behalf of my old girl. You will be fine. Just remember, keep reading the forums, all of them, read all the banks stuff and most important of all, keep reading the FAQ's and I promise you mrs, you won't go far wrong!! Everyone here is great and the support network that is in place is fandabadozy!!! Keep reading!!! If i have helped, please click my scales...

You can argue for standard disclosure: SECTION G STANDARD DISCLOSURE I am respectfully requesting that my claim be allocated to the small claims track. This issue is not a complicated one; it is an issue of fact and not of law. The issue is only whether the money levied by the Defendant in respect of its customer’s contractual breaches exceed their actual costs incurred. I am happy to pay their actual costs and I am surprised the Defendant did not counterclaim for these, because I would have paid them without argument. However, the continuing problem is, (in common with the 100s of other cases currently being brought by other bank customers), that the banks refuse to reveal the details of their penalty-charging regime. As the banks have a fiduciary duty towards their customers, they have a duty to deal straightforwardly and in utmost good faith. Accordingly, I would respectfully ask that the court in this case, not withstanding allocation to the small claims track, order standard disclosure. I understand that it is in the courts discretion to do so. This would bring a rapid end, not only to this litigation, but would also likely bring an end to much of the litigation in progress against other high-street banks.

Dont worry! its a standard fob off letter, keep an eye on your charges, if you get any more they can be added to your claim right up until u file a small claim. Keep to your deadlines and your plans!!!

I agree. Ignore their fob off letters and proceed with YOUR timescale until they pay up in full

You can change GP! But first of all, has your GP written a letter of referral to the surgeon at the hospital? You can ask for a copy of this letter. Then find out what the hospital policy is in terms of time taken from referral for 1st appointment. (Phone the consultatnts secretary and ask). If this is unnaceptable you can ask your GP to referr you to another surgeon with a lesser wiating time. (Your GP should hold these details, they're available on the web usually). Then when your boyfriend has the first appt, make sure he fully explains the impact this has on him and his work! It's still a sad fact that the ppl who shout the loudest get the quickest treatment on the NHS. My uneducated view of the NHS is that hernia operations (and other relatively minor ops) are done rather quickly as it helps the NHS trust meet it's targets of "no. of ppl referred and seen and treated within an x month period" quota. i.e. it keeps overall waiting lists down as there can be so many more hernia operations done in a day than other major surgery such as heart bypass etc. (in reality it makes some specific waiting lists longer, usually for more serious stuff). Good luck! Make a fuss, and change GP if necessary!

Panic not... double check your statements and make sure nothing is coming out, but wait till the 14 days is up and send your LBA. Did they ask you to sign anything and send it back?

You can send the your letters and claim referring to the charges exactly as the bank has referred to them. If they have provided just amounts and dates then that is all you should include.

the same thing happened to me it doesent say ERF the amount is just different. but when i phoned up the figures they stated on the phone and the ones in my hand were dirrerent. I went with the ones in my hand cause if they stand in court and tell me im wrong they are admitting in court they have breached the DPA by supplying incorrect/missleading information.

No there should not be a problem although it will have gone through their internal mail. Did you send them recorded delivery ? Welcome to the site anyway.Which bank are you claiming from ? Start a thread of your own there. Its probable that you will get a letter soon from Head office.....at this stage you will know they are dealing with your claim and they should allocate you a case file number.

Did you follow the guidelines in this site? After your first letter, it would have given them 14 days. By the 29th of September, you should have sent the LBA here giving them another 14 days. Then, on the 13th of October, filed at court unless you had received a full settlement offer. The spreadsheet I used was the England - Simple - Excel which calculates the interest for you. You do not include THIS interest until you file at court. Is this what you were looking for?

Regarding contractual interest, and bearing in mind this is a VAST claim of epic proportions, I would like you to take a look at this thread. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/mercantile-court-cases-stays/36034-case-management-conference-13th.html especially this post not to put you off, just so you know what arguments might come up....

Hi Jadest, You may find this usful. I wrote it for Sweetpants a while ago, and beleive it or not they wrote back a week later withdrawing the notice to close, plus, they even apologised. I can still hardly beleive it myself actually, it just does'nt sound like the Lloyds we know and love does it!? Anyway, I'm not saying it'll definately have the same effect, but its worth a try.

Stay strong Dolfos. I think we probably all felt a bit nervous the first time we dropped our preliminary letters off for posting. I know I did - I just kept repeating in my head Have I done my research properly -yes Have I followed the correct procedure -Yes Are the charges unlawful -Yes Are the banks going to want to stand up in court and disclose how they arrive at their charges - NO! Is this money mine - Yes I know your claim is on a much larger scale but, the principles remain the same. I can assure you of one thing - the bank will not be laughing when they get your letter!! Good Luck Sarah

Hi, welcome to the family. Your very first task.... and the most important one that you ever do on this site is spend a couple of days reading the FAQs and the step-by-step guide in the library section. That will answer most of your questions. The letters are very effective but maust be used correctly or else the results may not be what you expect. Good luck with your claim. Perhaps when you are successful with your claim, you might like to say thank you for the letters by giving a small donation towards the running of this site.

not sure why they would do this, but my understanding is that he can get it paid to anywhere (ie to accounts or by cheque), so YOU decide where it goes. As I said, it sounds a bit like they are trying to pull a "flanker", so hold firm until you get your statements - it wouldnt surprise me if their offer at this stage is any more than 30-40% of what you are due (it could be consideerably less!!!) Good luck! j

No, don't go and see them. You've got your statements (and for free too... good work!). This is all you were asking them for, so there's nothing more you need to speak to them about. All you need do now is add up your charges and send your prelim request for repayment! Hope this helps, if it has, click my scales above! Thanks Mike

I can see you have all the time in the world for this lovely woman;) , BUT It is probably worthwhile asking her to sign a quick note giving your OH authority to act on that account only. If you can get the bank to act on a SAR, then you will have a good idea of how much you'll get. That way, you can promise her £xxxx to help feed her "need for all things material". Worth a go in my humble opinion. j

You can only claim s69 8% interest on the charges that you file a claim for ie the original amount less partial payment.

Hi Totally Lost Are you finding your way around the site OK? If you click on the "list of banks" at the base of this post it will take you through to the bank section where you can find HSBC, with many members claims and experiences, you could make a v's thread in there and have many replies and can post any questions you have. this may aid you in the future as your 2 new threads are still in the the Welcome section. If you get lost in the site click the consumeractiongroup at the top left of this blue section and you will go back to the start with the main menu Good luck with your case. BL:)

Welcome Callyday GOOD LUCK:)

Loop-hole, schloop-hole. The penalty charges are unlawful. There is NO loophole that will make them lawful. Spend a couple of days reading the FAQs and you will begin to understand. Good luck with your claim.

I suggest that you spend a couple of days reading the FAQs and the step-by-step guide in the library section. It is most important that you understand what you are doing if you want to be successful with your claim. Start your own thread in the Barclays Forum and post any questions and progress reports there. Good luck

Send the D.P.A. SARs letter to the branch. Mark the letter "Data Protection Dept." They should pass it on to the correct department via internal mail. Alternatively, try Customer Support Customer Services Centre Edinburgh 11-12 Lochside Place, Edinburgh Park Edinburgh EH12 9HA. Don't forget to enclose the £10 fee.

Hi shiela The best place to keep us update is in a personnel thread under " list of banks" linked at the base of this post. Start yourself a v's thread in your bank section, and you will get alot of support from other members who use a variety of banks. good luck

blfuk1 I understand everything you are saying and I know that you yourself are a bailiff it is very unfortunate that more were not like you, but unfortunatly this is not the case. I gave the advice on personal experience and what I have learned over the last few months. I do not believe that Julie would be given any help at all from the firm involved, and I stand by my advice do not let them in your home at all and write to the bailiff firm and the council using the letter on here from zooman. Unfortunatly far too many people are not aware of there rights. And I say again DO NOT ALLOW THEM INTO YOUR HOME DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING.

excellent, in the meantime keep reading the longer threads, get yourself up to speed with money claim online or the old fashioned county court route so that you are not wasting any time when it comes to filing your small claim ,these guys do like to drag it out so the sooner its in the better!

Hi I'd advise doing it when you get back. You could just say you gave them more time to "reflect" their position. As far as I know, there are no time limits Before you start legal action. On the other hand and if you time it correctly, you could send the LBA just before you go. You could fill in the Money Claim forms and pay by card after the 14 day deadline. The bank has 28 days to respond to this and enter a defence. That way you would avoid all the waiting. Lloyds TSB usually file their defence at the last minute (usually the 28th day). BUT, if they file their defence early, and you get sent an AQ (Allocation Questionnaire) whilst your away, you only get a two week deadline to return it by. If it isn't returned by then, the case may be struck out. Regards

Firstly, you need another 2 years statements (you can claim for 5 years). Then issue requests for repayment for the whole lot and only if they dont settle, then cut down to £750 (or £1500 under summary cause). At worst, you may have to file 3 or 4 claims, but they might settle in full before that. You never know?! j

I understand that DCA (Dept for Constitutional Affairs) is likely to publish the fees which Drakes [swift & Phillps] are entitled to charge under their contract some time later this week or early next.Once that is in the public domain, you and others like you, will be able to properly challenge charges which you believe are illegal/irregular.£340 for a letter/admin and one visit appears a bit high. I would imagine, though I have no knowledge, that the fee at the first visit stage would be closer to £135.The bailiffs may of course claim this was not the first visit but a subsequent second or third in which case, before the fee scale is published, you need to find out exactly what the fees charged consist of. Write to them asking for a detailed breakdown of the costs charged including the date each fee was charged and the reason for it. Also ask for the name of the certificated bailiff who attended and where their certificate is held. While there is no legal requirement to be certificated for this work (magistrates' fines) it is a specific requirement of the contract under which they operate.

Hi Stub. Please start your own thread in the DEBT and BAILIFFS forum and copy and paste this post there. You will get help and advice that is more specific to your needs. Click on this link for DEBT AND BAILIFFS forum. Good luck with your claim.

Hiya you have to stick to your time-table (thats for sure) you seem to be trying to jump ahead, if you do that, you could LOSE. As for the Mods, Yes they are very busy, as a lot of members are near the end of their claims, i.e Court or MCOL. so they are really important to help out, at this moment in time, As you will see when its your turn, so please be patient.

Pretty much the standard defence. You should have had the AQ (Allocation Questionnaire) at the same time. You just fill the AQ in and send it to the court that's mentioned in it. If your claim is over £1500, it'll cost you £100, but you'll get it back come judgment day. Look at the bottom of the AQ and you will see a form number, either N149 or N150. Depending on which form it is, go here for a guide to complete it and in Section G, I put the following text: "I am respectfully requesting my claim be heard via the small claims track. This issue is not a complicated one; it is an issue of fact and not of law. The issue is only whether the money levied by the defendant in respect of its customer’s contractual breaches exceed or even reflect their actual costs incurred. I am happy to pay their actual costs and I am surprised the defendant did not counterclaim for these, as I would have paid them without argument. However, the continuing problem is (in common with the hundreds of other cases currently being brought by other bank customers) that the banks are refusing to reveal the details of their penalty-charging regime, and that the charges they apply to accounts for exceeding overdraft limits and so on are entirely disproportionate to the actual costs the banks incur. As the banks have a fiduciary duty towards their customers, they have a duty to deal straightforwardly and in utmost good faith. Accordingly, I would respectfully ask that the court in this case, not withstanding allocations to the small claims track, order standard disclosure. I understand that it is in the courts discretion to do so. I believe this would bring a rapid end to this litigation. I have attached the schedule of the charges I am claiming for to this allocation questionnaire to show a breakdown of the amounts for the courts perusal. I believe the case will take no longer than 1 hour". You'll have to write it in quite small handwriting as it only just fits in the space provided. If this has helped you, please click on the scales on the top right of this posting. Good Luck.

Hi ya Maddierose, we should start a Cabot club. I've heard nothing, not a whimper. Their timeframes have flown like my avatar right out of the timewarp window and the debts are just hanging on the moon. Whence once Cabot derived - to the smouldering pile of ****e they return. No seriously now, I think there are a lot of clocks ticking - I'm not so happy to start the reporting going for fear of stirring them up - I mean, they must have a serious department in there somewhere down there in West Malling wouldn't you think? and I dont want to be laughing on the other side of my face when the agreement comes winging its way through the letterbox. I'm sure they must be pulling their hair out down there and trying to strike up some interest from the banks who sold on these debts to obtain this supporting information. It must have been a bit of a shock to have all we people who have been persecuted by them to have the tide turned in on them so still don't hold your breath but combining the information from other threads that many of these older agreements are not available even from the banks, it's hardly suprising that the likes of the DCA's in general are finding it difficult to get them to us. They have had an easy ride thus far. I am quietly confident nothing further will happen to the majority of these accounts where we have challenged them. Remember, this is a company only interested in getting money in. Relatively, they haven't forked out much for these debts c10% so their losses will be minimal. They will concentrate their efforts on the safe bets of accounts which they already have arrangements with and who have set payment plans in place. They'll use the % theory that some of the accounts, like ours, they will lose, but the majority who sadly haven't yet latched on to this forum will continue to fall prey to their evil ways. I'd sit tight, complain by all means to TS and you'll probably get the debt written off eventually. May the CAG force be with you. Good luck and good to hear from you again. I'll keep you posted on what happens to mine. I may clear my others up first and deal with Cabot last of all. It'll be a pleasant way to finsih off all my actions!

I agree with Jonni (and it is MY thread) - always send the £10. They can always refuse to cash it if they so choose, but the ball is in their court then...

Hi Susan and welcome First step is to read up on FAQ's and other peoples threads to get an idea of the process. There is a link below to the user guide, but I must stress do your reading first, after that take a deap breath, a stiff drink and go for it. Remember this is the first step towards being reunited with YOUR MONEY

People, need some assurances on the reply I am about to make to Barclaycard, feel free to use this letter if it is of use. Can anyone that has gone through the microfile babble bulls**t let me know if I am covering my bases with this letter below????? Any help is much appreciated as always............ Dear Carl, ACCOUNT NUMBER: **** **** **** **** I am writing to you to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 05/09/2006 outlining that you could only provide me copy statements covering transactions from May 2004 on my account, because any earlier information has been archived onto microfiche. I also acknowledge receipt of the information you forwarded. My request was for a complete list of transactions and charges relating to my account – in short, a list of charges with dates and amounts – alternatively, a complete set of account statements for that period would be acceptable. This should be retrievable from your accounting systems, and easy for you to produce. I will accept a computer print out of these transactions. I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that if the statements are readily accessible enough for you to offer them to me at a cost of £3 per statement then they are READILY ACCESSIBLE enough for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998. If the information requested in my letter of 30/08/2006 is not supplied by 09/10/2006 being the statutory 40 days from the date of the request letter, I shall lodge a complaint against you with the Information Commissioner and the FSA for breach of the provisions of the Data Protection Act. I am aware that you have been willing and able to provide other customers with a print outs of transaction information covering this period and that any delay tactic will not be tolerated. Also upon further investigation the Data Protection Act does not cover microfiche stored entries is not true, it has been taken out of context. This exemption only applies to medical, educational, and public records. Clearly bank charges are none of these. Yours faithfully, M.Bakewell

Great advice, thanks

Sent the letter back with the gagging restriction crossed out. Checked the bank today - money paid in. Overdraft now cleared and £95 in CREDIT. So they paid up just short of £700 (more than claimed for) Small donation on its way.

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