hello all, well i am back here again stressing about my claim. I have just heard that the rules claiming under hardship have been more clearly defined and am wondering if i should try to follow my claim through. I just missed out before the waivers kicked in because i could not afford the court fees at the time, i had saved the money only two weeks after it came into effect I have recently broke my knee badly and have been off work for five months so far, i have had to have a further operation,last week, to re brake my knee and start all over again (due to medical negligence). I was told i could weight bear at 6 weeks instead of the required 12 weeks, therefore the break dropped. I have now been put on half pay and there is a risk i might loose my job if i cant provide a back to work date, luckily all looks well so far. Unfortunately i have managed to clear my overdraft and have an account balance of £800 and wonder if that money in my account will show i am not in hardship? should i remove it and let my account dip into overdraft, my partner was going to transfer bills to his account but this will not help my case. I think he should change his address (same bank as me) so it looks like i am living on my own and do a bit of swings and roundabouts with good old fashioned cash. any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Here is an extract from an article from mse When your income isn’t enough to cover reasonable living expenses and/or afford necessary financial commitments such as utilities, rent and council tax or those struggling to repay debts such as mortgage arrears or heavy credit card debts. Examples of how you may be in hardship include loss of employment, disability, serious illness, imprisonment, relationship breakdown, the death of a partner, starting a lower paid job, parental care leave or starting full time education. If you have a basic bank account this could help your case, as these are generally intended for those with financial problems.

Hi. I have just heard about the OFT and am DEVASTATED. I have not had the money to start my court claim until this friday coming, i have just started work and was going to proceed with claim with my first weeks wages. I received this letter worded as follows on the 4 april (more than eight weeks ago and it looks by what they have said that they consider my complaint closed) Here are the important bits. I was asking for £2445. I am able to offer you £1770 in full and final settlement of this complaint. If you wish to accept this offer then please complete the enclosed and forward it whereupon receipt i will be able to credit funds to your account. To talk further please call our complaints department. I will keep your file open for 8 weeks so you have time to consider my response. If i have not heard from you by then, i will consider your complaint closed. I responded with a respectful refusal combined with a lba on the 17 april and received a letter back from the bank inviting me to take them to court. So hopefully this means that my complaint will not be closed ? I have just read on another site that all current claims will be suspended until this oft stuff is resolved. I don't really understand what is going on and how it will affect my claim? They will owe me around £3000 with interest but i am now wondering if i should accept their offer or is it too late, or should i still go to court for the full amount and is there any rush now as my first few weeks wages could be spent well on other things. Should i carry on with my claim asap or accept offer ,if possible or wait for oft result and then claim any help would be greatly appreciated and i really need this money. THANK YOU

hello. I am requesting my charges back from barclays and am about to send my lba after waiting for a month after request due to lack of finances. However after asking for £340 i have noticed that the bank have paid into my account the sum of £170 desrcibed as a goodwill gesture without informing me or me signing anything. This money has been used to pay direct debits and i am now at my o/d limit again (unemployed). I am wondering how i stand right now as this money has been spent and i was aware it had been put into my account before it was spent, can i still proceed with my lba and court action due to this and have i jepordised my chances in any way. thank you in advance. Delphi ps does anyone know how to change the name of this thread to. delphi v barclays

hello. I am requesting my charges back from barclays and am about to send my lba after waiting for a month after request due to lack of finances. However after asking for £340 i have noticed that the bank have paid into my account the sum of £170 desrcibed as a goodwill gesture without informing me or me signing anything. This money has been used to pay direct debits and i am now at my o/d limit again (unemployed). I am wondering how i stand right now as this money has been spent and i was aware it had been put into my account before it was spent, can i still proceed with my lba and court action due to this and have i jepordised my chances in any way. thank you in advance. Delphi ps does anyone know how to change the name of this thread to. delphi v barclays

I have also recently heard on the news that the banks are now starting to fight back and that only 85% of claiments are succesfull. This is making me nervous as i am also claiming charges back for my partner totalling £2500, she has been offered £1770 and we are wondering if it would be prudent to accept this as the bank has wrote to us and invited us to take them to court

Well after having to wait more than the 14 days after my l.b.a was sent to start court proceedings (due to lack of money), i recieved a letter from the bank this morning reading as follows. I am sorry you are unhappy with our offer of £1770.00 and have requested that we refund all of the charges you have incurred over the last SEVEN years. After careful consideration, i regret that i am unable to agree to your request. Should you now wish to accept our offer, please sign and return the acceptance form enclosed with our letter of the 4 april 2007. However, if you do not wish to accept this offer and you now intend to start legal proceedings it would appear we are unable to reach an amicable resoloution. They make referance to seven years charges and i wonder if i have to send a revised request with only six years worth of charges (it was six when i started and only dips into the seven by a few months now) or can i just start court proceedings with my claim only including six ? I dont want to make any mistakes because i really cant afford to lose this and what they have offered would clear my o/d and stop charges every month. On the other hand if i win they would owe me around £3000.00

Hi Tracy, As far as i know, it is most likley that they will ignore this. I think it is a case of lba -14 days and then start court, unless they offer you the full amount you requested (charges only) within that 14 days Please note i am an absoulute beginner at this and can only offer an microbal opinion that must be verified by someone with a brain. I am at the same stage as you and am now considering claiming pre six year charges as i have just found out that you can. Delphi.

Again thank you GaryH Was in a bit of a tizz but that is really good common sense advice.will proceed as advised (bird in the hand and practice makes perfect) Peace of mind at last.

Hi hallibunny, barclays gave me stats back to the beginnig of 2001 from my first request.lets see about my second ??

Thank you you two are dynamite. Thank you perseus.will do some digging

Thank you bong. Do you know if it is possible that they may be able to wriggle out of things in any way in the near future as i really cant afford to loose the £2425 (unemployed at the mo) if not probable, thanks a lot for helping me kick some NEW WORLD ORDER ARSE. Also do i just send a new request for all statments using the template, as they have already sent me six years. sorry for being a pest but thats all i need to know for now. thank you muchly Delphi

Barclays, thanks bong and zootscoot need to do this tommorow if poss. I was mainly thinking that they would only give new statments close to the forty days and maybe this will be very close to court, also can i add them to my cliam once i have started court proceedings (this could be worth another £2000 or more.) Will be using mcol.

HELP NEEDED Barclays bank Hi, I am about to send a letter to the bank, its a combined lba and offer rejection I have just noticed that you can claim for more than 6 years now and dont know what to do because of the stage i am at. If i send my lba now then after 14 days i will be starting court proceedings and this wont be enough time to get the extra years charges breakdown from the bank,so i will not be able to include that in my court papers. I have been offered £1770 out of £2425 requested, was going to accept as a partial payment but this has stumped me as i want to wring thier necks as they do to us. I wonder if i should proceed with the claim for the £2425 as i was and start over for the rest (beyond 6 years) but this will give me a lot more work to do , ie two sets of court papers, or offest my claim and do it all at once which means waiting for probably 40 days for further statments to claim all i can. I am a bit dubious about this as sooner or later some kind of cap will be put on things can i add charges once i have started my court claim (mcol the fastest) for the previous years beyond the six i have started with and will i get the new charges in time to do this, as i feel they will wait for almost the full 40 days or should i send a new request for my statments using the new template and then send a new lba or start from the beggining with request for repayment with ammended charges added and then lba. Will i have to start over (hope not), as i understand it it only really matters about the amount when you file the claim but can i adjust this amount after filed ?? What should i do Thanks Delphi

HELP NEEDED Hi, I am about to send a letter to the bank, its a combined lba and offer rejection I have just noticed that you can claim for more than 6 years now and dont know what to do because of the stage i am at. If i send my lba now then after 14 days i will be starting court proceedings and this wont be enough time to get the extra years charges breakdown from the bank,so i will not be able to include that in my court papers. I have been offered £1770 out of £2425 requested, was going to accept as a partial payment but this has stumped me as i want to wring thier necks as they do to us. I wonder if i should proceed with the claim for the £2425 as i was and start over for the rest (beyond 6 years) but this will give me a lot more work to do , ie two sets of court papers, or offest my claim and do it all at once which means waiting for probably 40 days for further statments to claim all i can. I am a bit dubious about this as sooner or later some kind of cap will be put on things What should i do Thanks Delphi