Sorry if I got that a bit mixed up and I accept what you said and thanks for putting me right! It is indeed unfortunate that the OFT mentioned a figure at all but now it has, most companies have mysteriously limited their charges to this figure. They've missed the point altogether that the fees must reflect their actual costs. My main reason for posting was to try to help Blackpool34 reclaim some charges and to prove that some people have had luck doing this. If Blackpool34 uses the CAB or a similar agency, s/he might stand a chance of getting some of his/her charges back (free of charge) and also help build a case against LBL for the CAB to tackle as a whole. Also the more people who complain to CAB/Watchdog/OFT, the more chance we have of stopping companies like this ripping off the consumer. I am sorry to all the people who have posted on this thread if I have mislead you in any way re the £12 charge - I think I'll stick to the day job of helping people via the CAB and not try to help people in my spare time in case I mislead someone else

Hi I volunteer at the CAB and we've had a few successes reclaiming fees from logbook loans pointing out the OFT ruling that fees should reflect their actual costs. In all cases, they have reduced the fees to the current £12 fee set by OFT "as a gesture of goodwill". LBL maintain that it costs them £12 for each letter and phone call if not more! It doesn't seem a lot, but as the charges are added weekly, they soon mount up. As these are not very nice people to deal with I would suggest that you go to your local CAB and ask them to write to LBL for a breakdown of fees and quote the relevant OFT blurb. While you are there, ask them to log this as a Social Policy issue. CAB routinely log problems that may affect lots of people and then take action on behalf of all of them. I've already logged a few incidences about this company. Finally, I don't know if you have heard but Watchdog were also asking for info on this company the person you need to contact is Rajan on 0208 7524565. Also, I believe the OFT are logging problems but I haven't got the info for this - you will have to do a search on this forum. Hope this helps

Hi, You pm'd me me about this but for the benefit of others on this forum, LBL refunded the difference between the charge of £20 and the Office of Fair Trading's guideline "fair" price of £12. I did point out that to be a fair price, it must relfect their actual costs which I think 50p per letter would be adequate but they weren't listening.

If you signed a bill of sale and handed over your log book you won't be able to sell the car

Hi I'd be interested to find out how you get on. I've had experience of LBL's and their attitude stinks. They refunded some of their charges in line with the Office of Fair Trading's guideline of £12 a charge but won't accept that a fair price to charge for letters and phone calls should be around 50p a time. They've sent letters and charged for them even when the payment hasn't been late. The charges on the account are equal to the amount outstanding and the amount paid paid back is nearly double the amount borrowed. Then of course there is the interest rate of 273%! They are as bad as the old fashioned money lenders maybe even worse Good luck with the small claims court and let us know how you get on.