Thanks very much, I appreciate the help. I went through a phase about 10Yrs ago during divorce when I dealt with courts a lot and got into that 'frame of mind' but I'm rusty now. Again thanks 'slick' and 'tiglet'.

I had an overdraft on my Barclays account of £2200, whent over limit a few times and then the bank charges spiral began. I returned debit card as requested and made a few token payments to start reducing balance when possible. On my last tsatement balance was approx £3200. I worked out up until then I had paid over £1500 in charges. It was/is my intention to persue claim but have been so busy haven't started yet I suppose the thought of court fee and possible stay anyway because of 'test case' was in back of my mind. I have not received a bank statement from Barclays for about 5Mths and so didn't know exact current balance and therefore all of charges applied. I have asked their 'collections department' for statements but not received them. Came home from work today to find a claim from them issued at Northampton CC for £3560.70 plus £85 costs. My first thought was to file a Defence and Counterclaim stating that I intended to persue refund of 'illegal' (need a better term I know) bank charges and have not been able to do so as bank have not supplied requested statements. I was wondering if the court would put a hold on proceedings if I did this and stated that an S7 S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) had been sent in order to make MY claim? If I was to do this the counterclaim asks for amount of desputed claim but obviosely I don't know this, can I put TBA or some such as long as there is an explination elsewhere on the form? Would really appreciate help, I know it's probably my fault for leaving it so long but have had so much on my plate lately ( not least dealing with wifes' menopause, and cries for divorce one week, 2nd honeymoon the next!!!):-? :-? but I only have 5 days to reply, can't afford to pay £3500 immediately and because of my job have to be security vetted soon and they don't like to see CCJs!!

Hello everyone, thought it about time I caught up and took the plunge with my own thread. I have a 'dormant' account with Lloyds. When I say dormant I went over my overdraft limit (£2200) a few times and got into the 'penalty spiral'. When it hit £3400 and I couldn't get anywhere with the bank over their 'charges' I walked three years ago to Barclays (frying pan/fire anyone?). I paid the overdraft off (eventually) but they left a limit of £800 on the account which I used last year when the freezer and washing machine both packed in together! Since then hovered around that limit. After discovering this FANTASTIC site started to persue refund of charges totalling £2210! Sent an S7 on 23 Feb 2007 Reply just inside deadline but just a list of charges so sent a chaser for additional information 10 April 2007 stating I considered the request unfulfilled and then received full copies of statements. Preliminary letter sent 24 April 2007. Reply, we consider charges fair etc etc...When you request services (???) only fair to charge etc. Sent LBA may 2007 Reply much of the same; Sorry you are not happy....OFT has ruled on charges on credit cards (what's that got to do with anything?) etc etc. Now since then I've strayed from the path a little as in quick succession I had to go to South America for a few weeks with work and then went on residential training course so I didn't start the Small Claims track straight away...Then the OFT 'test case started and I'm thinking that I would be better to await the outcome rather than pay court fee only to be 'put on hold'. I've just come home from holiday (Sat 18 Aug 2007) to find a letter dated 29 July stating that they are 'sorry I've had to contact them again' blah blah Charges are fair blah blah... We are offering £750 plus a refund of any charges we have told you about but not yet deducted from your account as full and final settlement. This will be deposited into your account in ten days. Now as I no longer have any card on this account (can draw at counter with ID) I haven't been able to verify the last point yet but my thoughts are these; As letter is from differant office it is probably a response (late albeit) to my LBA Usually a 'full and final offer' is accompanied by an acceptance form or requires a signature of acceptance/agreement. I am considering accepting the money but informing them that as I haven't agreed to the terms (full and final etc) I will accept it only as a good will advance and reserve the right to pursue the balance subject to the outcome of the OFT 'test case'. Finally as someone else on here has had a similar letter could it be that Lloyds consider £750 to be cheaper than defending legal claims and are starting to offer this as a standard response (from the new department) as it will a-look good if the 'Test case' goes against them and either way it's cheaper than defending claim. b-if the test goes against them those that have accepted the offer might not be able to reclaim (even if outcome of test case gives leave to persue cases) c-

Thanks for that, I've donr the 'combimation' thing....Posting 'recorded' today!

curleychick Thanks for that, I didn't have enough info to complete the spreadsheet and didn't want to delay the preliminary letter waiting for it to be honest. I did put a rider in the preliminary letter stating...'Given your failure to comply with my Section 7 SAR I have no option but to proceed ..... and that I would persue a claim for interest seperately if necessary. Thought that would give me the option to claim that seperately if when I work it out it's worth persuing but would get the 'ball rolling' while I awaited statements. Also I suppose I could make a good will gesture and waive a claim for interest for prompt payment....Nah, maybe not! Regards

Hi Anna, Just read your thread, First of all well done in dealing so well with all the hassle...I personally hate debt collectors and bailiffs with a passion. Most (trying to remain balanced) are just parasites, they just ride on the back of their customers and rip off their victims. I'm fairly new here myself so not an expert in debt (although i've quite an experience). But I do have some professional experience which might be usefull. I forget the exact wording (will check if no one here knows) but it became an offence in the last few years to make a telephone call or sent a message telephonically (ie text) with the intent of causing distress. I think this might be worth persuing. Also don't panic if you run out of phone memory as the networks store all text messages for a certain period and they can be retrieved by the police if deemed serious enough.

I've started a thread on Lloys TSB list but incase no one reads that I'll repeat opening para..... First of all hello and good look to everyone on this site, Deepest gratitude to 'BankFodder' all the Moderators, advisors etc for making the effort to help so many of us 'vulture victims', Donation will be forthcoming as soon as C One hand over the cash! Well I've been reading everything I thought relevant, I've perused the templates and I've mentally spent the 'refunds' so I thought it was time to 'stick the boot in'. A few years ago I went through a 'cash flow' nightmare courtesy of the CSA and their ever fluctuating pay deductions. That set me off on the over my limit>charges>futher over limit>more charges> spiral. I still have Capital one card but can stand to lose it if they close account AFTER refund as balance is only £400. 27 Feb 2007 Sent SAR and £10 to Capital One 6 April 2007 Received summary of statements, this outlined balances/charges atc. Covering letter was pretty reticent and assumed a claim would definately follow....Makes me think they've been here before! 24 April 2007 Sent preliminary letter claiming back £740 plus £10.50 interest. 5 May 2007 Letter from Capital One offering to reduce charges to £12 amounting to a 'full and final' offer of £296 and a letter to sign if accepting, how thoughtful. Now I have a question... I have drafted a letter (basically letter3 from templates) stating that I will accept as 'part payment' but letter mentions LBA that I haven't sent yet. Should I just delete referance to LBA and loose the 'if you don't pay I'll...' factor OR send the LBA in the same envalope obviously altering where makes sense? Thoughts greatly appreciated.....

First of all hello and good look to everyone on this site, Deepest gratitude to 'BankFodder' all the Moderators, advisors etc for making the effort to help so many of us 'vulture victims', Donation will be forthcoming as soon as Lloyds hand over the cash! Well I've been reading everything I thought relevant, I've perused the templates and I've mentally spent the 'refunds' so I thought it was time to 'stick the boot in'. A few years ago I went through a 'cash flow' nightmare courtesy of the CSA and their ever fluctuating pay deductions. That set me off on the over my limit>charges>futher over limit>more charges>returned direct debits>more charges spiral. I tried to negotiate my way out of this with Lloyds (this was in 2004) and was given the usual 'hollier than though' bit and told to fill in a very invasive income and expendature sheet....I walked! Moved my 'current' account banking to Barclays (They're next don't worry) and paid off the Lloyds overdraft (£2000+) over following years (down to £800 now as an agreed OD). Anyway, quick update; 27 Feb 2007 Sent SAR and £10 cheque 3 April 2007 Received a list of charges applied to my account and a note telling me that Statements are archived and I should write to 'Statements Dept' if I want them but it would take a while! 10 April 2007 Sent letter to 'Statements Dept' stating I wanted duplicates and sent copy of this letter to Data Controller along with a letter stating that I considered they had not complied with the Section 7 SAR. Said I accepted that statements may well be archived but wasn't that what the 40 Days was for? As far as I was concerned clock still ticking! 24 April 2007 Sent 'preliminary letter' with 'Statement of charges'. Stated in letter that as they had failed to supply requested information I was claiming refund of charges and may well persue refund of interest later. To be honest not too concerned about interest given complexities of calculating it versus amount involved. Charges amount to £2210! 26 April 2007 Received copies of all statements (bit late though). 5 May 2007 Received a 'kiss off' letter from Lloyds (Andover Service Recovery Centre). Won't bore you all with full letter but paragraphs read like; Sorry you're unhappy..... Like any business we charge......When you're naughty.....WE think we're fair! We're open and honest.....Honest We help our customers...... The OFT has published guidelines on credit card default charges.....They go on about guidelines regarding defaults etc then say something I thought interesting...'They are not default charges because you haven't broken your agreement. They are our prices for the service we provide in these situations. I thought I had free banking....Exactly what service did they provide? Bouncing a Direct Debit? Applying unauthorised overdraft rate? Thanks very much! I do hope you can see we make our charging system as fair as possible - and why I can't agree to cancel your charges. Yeah right...That'll be one letter before action to go then! Any way Thanks for help so far, I'm off to write LBA.... Regards

Stan 5131 No they hadn't altered the cheque (unfortunately) but its still gaining a pecuniary advantage by deception as far as I'm concerned.. The bank clerk was also at fault though for not noticing it. I have been busy this week and given council chance to chase it up.. Will start applying pressure on Monday (19/2/07).

Tevion..you seem to be a person 'after my own heart'. This might be worth knowing. As a 'government employee' at a 'seriously organised' department I had to undergo a training course which was at great pains to point out that in common law any person can take 'whatever steps they feel absolutely necessary to protect themselves, their property and others' the crux of it is you have to be able to swear you had an 'honestly held belief' that what you did was necessary. Prove this (convincingly) and no court will/can convict. If you honestly believe it was necessary to grab a kitchen knife/club/machine pistol etc then so be it...as long as you really believe thats what it needed (under oath) then thats your right. Just don't give chase,persue,instigate the confrontation as you are no longer the 'victim' but the agressor. recent case of a 'large' sporting celebrity beating the cr*p out of an intruder in the middle of the night. Intruder claimed assault, was thrown out of court because home owner stated he was concerned that if he didn't 'sufficiently disable' intruder should anything happen to him his wife and kids may be at risk.

I had a recent encounter with bailiff re a parking ticket also (although it was by post/phone and no visit). I may be missing something here but when I checked the charges they had applied (£300) I found that Section 78 of the road traffic act 1991 clearly 'caps' bailiffs charges at £10 for letter or phone call making initial contact and £20 for a home visit. This applies ONLY to PCN (Penalty Charge Notices, parking ticket) enforcement. Am I mistaken..(anyone?)..if not then clearly this is a good place to start once they have responded to your S.A.R stating what they actually have charged. My understanding is that they commit an offence by charging more. Certainly 'EQUITA' accepted £10 from me and p***ed off!

Firstly hello everyone...This is my first post so apologies if I upset/break any conventions. Returned home from work 24/11/06 to find a letter from Equita. (I can guess why its always a friday) They wanted £377+ from me for a PCN allegedly issued by my local council (Sefton MBC) in 2004! I rang them quite bemused and denying all knowledge (truth) to be told if I didn't pay up it would be £540 by Monday (27/11/06) and 'most people just pay up by debit card and sort it out later' I bet they do! I said I would take it up with council and that ( I thought) they required a warrant of execution as a result of court ruling to act and as I had no recollection of being issued ticket and therefore no opertunity to defend myself then surely this waqs not correctly obtained. (hoping I was right!) I did some searching both here and elsewhere and as a result wrote to Equita stating basically; That I intended to make a statutory declaration to revert the PCN to £60. Didn't dispute that there may have been a ticket but I didn't receive it or 'notice to owner'. The maximum they could charge in connection with a PCN was £10 for the letter and that I 'presume you will not seek to artificially inflate your charges in contradiction of S78 Road Traffic act....etc'. Enclosed a cheque to them for £10 and as a goodwill, ex gratia, without predudice advance payment a cheque for £100 payable to Sefton Council for them to forward to their 'client' whilst the matter was sorted out. I did this to prove 'fine' was not the issue so much as Equita's parasitic feeding frenzy. Sent this by recorded delivery and E Mail. Sent a covering letter and copy of above by recorded delivery to Council. On 26/11/06 got E Mail reply from Equita acknowledging my E Mail and putting case on 'hold' for a short period! On 27/11/06 got a call from very nice lady at council (yes really!) advising me how to make 'out of date statutory declaration' by applying to Northampton. Made 'stat declaration' as advised and noted both cheques had cleared 1/12/06. Beginning of january received letter from Equita demanding £377+ or they would call in 24Hrs and seize car! I called them and pointed out that I had made 'stat dec' and council had acknowledged receipt of it so matter should be on hold. Also car is now my wifes so any attempt to remove would be considered trespass and theft as they have no 'beef' with her (hope I'm right) and I would react accordingly! (I used to be a bad tempered prop forward) . Next day (funnily enough) new 'Notice to owner' arrives requesting £60 along with another letter from Equita demanding £500 or they will take car in 24Hrs. Rang council pointing out they had £100 on 1/12/06 so they owe me £40! They had no record of this so they rang Equita (seems they have had problems with them before!). This is where it gets interesting....bear with me. Equita stated to council They had been paid £110!! Council tell me this so I explain cheque was made payable to 'Sefton Council' I ring Equita and punch 'Case number' into phone, this time their recorded message states 'this case is now closed'! I bet they wish it was. I have now had copy of cheque back from Bank and yes....Equita have fraudulantly paid it into their account! 'Trustworthy persons' can become certified Bailiffs my @rse. Anyway..had letter from council saying they are attempting to recover £100 from Equita and will extend my 28 days....Once they've done that (so as not to muddy waters) my bank have agreed to persue the fraudulant encashment by Equita and the acceptance by bank counter staff of cheque to wrong payee. If they don't return money can I send in the bailiffs?