Unfortunately not pd, going to sharm el shaike (spelling?!?) so its just too far to travel, waste of several hours traveling etc. Shame because i've been fascinated by them ever since I was little. Then I read "fingerprints of the gods" by Graham Hancock and it blew my mind! Made me want to see them even more! Perhaps after I get back from somewhere else hot and sandy, but nowhere near as friendly later in the year i'll book a nile cruise and do the lot! have you been pd?

Why thank you m'lady! i'm not one for sun bathing though, leave that to my other half. 10 days Scuba diving for me! beats working for a living! r-t-v

Good point pete. however, I think she might begin to suspect something is amiss when I tell het to pack her bikini, some sun cream and bring her passport for an April jaunt to Cumbria! I do plan to tell her before we go, honest! have you spent all of your winnings yet mate? r-t-v

The AQ stage if it happens (some courts are dispensing with them to try and ease the backlog) will come once HSBC have entered a defence. Which the will probably do at the last possible minute. Once your MCOL claim has been acknowledged , they get another 14 days to enter a defence, this is on top of the 14 days they have initially. So in total from issue, they have 28 days to enter their defence. Once they have entered their defence, MCOL will transfer the case to your local court. Then you'll get a letter through the post to confirm this, and it will also include a copy of the defence DG/HSBC have entered. At this point, send a copy of your breakdown of charges via recorded post to DG Solicitors. (address is on the bottom of the defence paperwork, or on the contact details page on this forum.) Then you'll hear from the court it was transfered to (your local court) after a couple of weeks or so, and they'll do one of two things, either send you out an AQ to fill in and return or set a court date without the need for an AQ. As things stand, some people are getting AQ's and some aren't. It's quite a new tactic by the courts, so you won't know what to expect untill it happens one way or the other. Either way, it's a good idea to use the time you've got whilst your waiting for the defence to be entered to read up on the AQ stage. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/11644-allocation-questionnaires-guide-completion.html http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/53570-new-strategy-allocation-questionnaires.html Here's a couple of really helpful threads started by the legends that are jonni2bad and BankFodder. Just a bit of light reading! Hope all this helps, keep us updated! r-t-v

Do read up on the AQ skintcumbrian, I thought mine had been done away with and to my surprise the letter that arrived this morning that i though was going to be a court date, turned out to be an AQ after all!!

"aq info: Allocation Questionnaires - A guide to completion this is your step by step completion guide -and here is:New strategy for Allocation Questionaires and here is how to use it: for section g of the n149 (section h on the n150), use the wording in blue on post #3 of new strategy link, and then attach draft order for directions - use wording on post #2 of new strategy link(the bit in blue) making sure to add your name and court claim number to all pages. simple as that. just follow the steps with these two minor additions. the draft order is just asking the judge to order both parties to lay out their wares within 14 days of him ordering it - so it shortens the length of the time to a court date - and as dg/hsbc/all banks don't want to do it - they will pay up by offer or just not file their aq in which case you also win. on, the other front - of this two pronged thing - have you sent dg a breakdown of your charges - it is advisable to do that, as they always ask for one before they offer anything - so it saves a couple of days. and unless your claim is for under 1500 and wouldn't incur the filing fee of 100, i suggest leaving it until the aq is nearly due before filing it - as dg have been coming in with offers just before the due date in several cases. and now, i've got an idea for a letter - it's the same bog standard stuff - but start off with what we used to use when we used to call them before it was due - which is: I see we have been given an allocation questionaire to fill in. This seems like such a waste of time both for yourselves and for me - I am sure the courts would appreciate our settling this without their intervention and to that end, I would halt my claim as soon as I am offered and in receipt of £xxxx.xx. Obviously this will increase by £100 should I be forced to send in the Allocation Questionaire. blah, blah, get the picture - same stuff as other letters - but press home that you are saving them further costs (assuming your claim is for more than £1500). Sorry the mystic lat thing didn't work - really wanted you to get an offer - just remember - as always - you need to be pushing dg into an offer while waiting for court stuff to roll along. and as i've always said and it's in the stuff above - wait to file until the deadline is nearly upon you - i don't see the need to add 100 to the claim unless you have to." All of the above comes courtesy of the all knowing latteralus thanks once again lattie! You're an Angel! r-t-v

thanks for the advice lattie, i'll copy this across to my thread, saves me hijacking one of yours! r-t-v

Lattie et all. Thanks for the reply! I too was disappointed not to get an offer! The due date for my AQ is no later than 03/05/07. However, I've booked a last minute holiday to Egypt, (Don't tell my other half, she thinks we're going to the lake district at the moment!) which gets me back into the country on 03/05/07. This means that the AQ is going to have to be completed before I go, Unless I can phone the courts and ask for an extension. (Can I do this?) I'd prefer not to throw another £100 at the claim, and if i were to delay it then DG might come up with an offer in the mean time. I'll give the court a bell tomorrow and see what they have to say. So far by my count, DG (aka the Anti-Christ) should have at least 5 copies of my breakdown of charges, (1 x email, 2 x fax and 2 x recorded post) however, i'll draft a letter explaining to them that unless they pony up the dough soon, i'll be strapping another £100 onto the total. In my eyes, it makes good business sense to settle now instead of having to pay out £100 more in a months time. However, the letters DG and the word sense are rarely found on the same page, let alone in the same sentence! peace r-t-v

Well, I've received my AQ through the post today, which I'll be duly filling out and sending off to the courts. Ignore the last post as it doesn't matter now. The AQ is due to be returned nlt 03/05/07, so I'm safe for the duration of my trip away! I'll fire off another letter to DG informing them of the further charge (£100 for AQ) that I'll be adding to the claim as costs. So it'll mean a new breakdown of charges, I take it I don't need to adjust the MCOL thing as the AQ is costs? r-t-v

well lattie you were right! however, instead of the offer you predicted, i've been sent an allocation questionnaire. so I guess my district judge has decided not to dispense with the AQ. bugger. this is going to mean a whole lot more waiting time.

Indeed it is lattie, i'm at work at the moment so I'll have to keep you in suspense till i get home! I can barely contain my excitement! Hope operation poo clean up wasn't too painless!!

Evening all. I'm in the process of claiming back my charges from HSBC, and it occurred to me that i might be able to do the same for my barclaycard and my mastercard. What am I entitled to claim back here, I was not too good with money and missed multiple payments 3 years ago and beyond, I take it this is what I can claim back? The massive fees and interest they've put on? cheers all r-t-v

Kippersfriend, who you write to depends on what stage of the claim you are at. If it's before the claim stage, then write to Mr Langdale at the leeds offices, after that and you should be writing to either the courts, MCOL or DG. You file a claim against HSBC, not your local branch or the one that you opened the account with. Use their registered head office address, the 8 Canada Square one. All the addresses are on the contacts page set up by livelylad, it's towards the top of the page on the HSBC sub-forum. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/hsbc-bank/74985-hsbc-contact-information.html there's a linky thing. r-t-v

That's right Janeyg32, you should consider yourself lucky to even receive a letter from them, some people have to go without!!! lol Good luck with your claim, keep us updated! r-t-v

Hell no! Ignore the timetable they try to impose and stick to your own schedule. They'll try and drag it out as long as they can if you let them!

There's quite a few people waiting to hear from DG around now lateralmel, myself included. People who started their claims around the same time as me have been getting offers over the last few days. I suspect (and certainly hope) that DG are snowed under with work at the moment. I've not heard a peep from them, it's rare that you do until they make you an offer. As for sending them a letter, ui'd advise you to as it gives you another oppertunity to send them a breakdown of your charges. Thus giving preventing them from using it as an excuse to drag your case out more than they have already. As for dispensing with the AQ, I see this as a good thing, for starters, it's £100 to fill in, (granted you get it back, but it's still a sting!) And the deadline for filling them in doesn't seem to matter to DG, they seem to do what they want and most Judges extend the deadlines for them anyway. People have been getting offers recently that came in sooner than they expected, so hopefully it's changing for the better! Don't get me wrong, it still sucks that they've not paid out to everyone yet, but our time will come! Unfortunately, as with every stage of making a claim, there's a whole lot of waiting time involved. Hang on in there, you're not alone! r-t-v

holy runaway train batman, I thought something sounded suspicious.... lattie, can you confirm/deny any of the following; 1. are you the terminaror? 2. did you shoot jfk? 3. this thread has gone way off topic! 4. HSBC are infact the anti-christ, sent here to destroy the planet? (i think you're great really lattie!)

All the helpful advice you pass out to all and sundry I guess! Unless you're a double double agent from the future, sent back in time to bring the system down from within......... Consider your cover blown!

When DG finally decide to grace me with an offer, how long do i have to accept it and get it sent back? Only ask because I'm thinking of whisking my much better half away for a week in the Sun. She puts up with me, so I guess she deserves it!

I know lattie, I await Thursday with baited breath! If somehow you get it right, people will suspect you might be a mole from HSBC..............

I always try to think happy thoughts lattie! However, I lost my faith in the legal system and solicitors when one of my friends was run over and killed by a lawyer who was over the drink drive limit 15 years ago. Somehow he avoided a jail sentence. I'm not one to bear grudges but I make the odd exception for the lowest forms of life. Anyway, sorry about the tangent, nothing through the letterbox as yet. Nothing planned for a good few weeks, so they can take their time! I'm confident I'll get my money eventually! Thanks for holding my hand by the way! r-t-v

I'll take that bet lattie! However, I suspect I'll not hear anything for a good while yet.

I'd be one of the many waiting to hear. It's been two weeks tomorrow since I got my notice of transfer, no AQ as yet. I've bombarded DG with my breakdown of charges via fax, email and recorded post. Not heard a peep from them as yet. I suspect it's just going to be another long waiting game. luckily for those losers I've got nothing better to do for the next six weeks!

I've spent quite a bit of time there with work and i get bored of the place quite easily to tell the truth, I'd be disappointed if i'd saved to go there for the holiday of a lifetime. Unless you're a hardcore gambler, a week in Vegas is enough time to see and do everything. Still, rather be there than some of the sandier places I end up with work! As for going outside, I did spend 23 hours straight playing blackjack and crabs in one casino, missed an entire day, left $2,000 up and absolutely leathered to boot, time runs away with you there! Sent the hastner to the DG cowboys/girls yesterday, so we'll have to see what happens. r-t-v

Belated congrats mate! Who'd have seen that one coming! Obviously the magic 8 ball they seem to use at DG was on your side! You must be faced with one of life's greatest decisions, do I buy 4000 lottery scratch cards, of just go to Vegas and put it all on red........ Vegas baby! r-t-v