So do you think I should ignore the come back to us if you have new information to add and and contact us on this number blah blah just proceed with court?

Hi all, I have received a letter from the Abbey and this is what they have said to me. Out of all the money they make they send your letter out second post. Cheap skates or what! Does anyone know what my next move should be? Dear Mr and Mrs **** Thank you fo ryour call 7th April 2007 and your calls and correspondence since, about your bank charges. I am sorry you ar eunhappy with our previous response moreover, I sincerely appologise for our delay in responding to you. Having carried out a full investigation, we believe the charges are valid and therefore I cannot agree to refund them. The unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 say that we must explain our charges in plain language and that we have in good faith, which, according to the Office of Fair Trading, means dealing fairly and openly with customers. I therefore reveiwed the literature and information you received when you opened your account, including the terms and conditions. This explains that charges will be applied if you do not keep to the terms and conditions of the accoutn. Because of this, I believe we have been fair and open in telling you about them. The charges were correct, because you did not have enough money in your account to cover payments requested from it. When I looked at the history for your account I found that, unfortunately, this was not the first time this has happened. I can see we have refunded charges, in the past, as a gesture of goodwill. I am sorry, that because of this, I cannot agree to cancel these charges. I am confident that I have been fair and we have taken into account all the ppoints you made in your calls. But if you have any additional points that you would like to discuss, please call on 0845 600 6014. I have enclosed a leaflet about the FOS, in case you are not happy with my investigation or decision. If so, you should contact them within 6 months of the date of the letter, enclosing a copy of it, as they would need this for their investigation. I hope we can work together to help you avoid charges in the future. Little things can help, like checking your account balance as often as possible and looking at the dates of Direct Debits to make sure they are taken shortly after money is paid in. In addition we might be able to help by providing an overdraft facility to give you more flexibilty. This could help to keep your costs down, as there are no charges unless you exceeed your overdraft limit. So, if you wouldlike to talk to someone about the options available, Please call out Telephone Banking Center on 08459 724 724. Alternatively, If you think you might need longer-term help to manage your bank account, Please call 0845 603 9035 and we will be happy to help. Your Sincerly Senior Customer Resolutions Manager. The way the letter is worded sounds like he was saying he was doing me favour by offering me an overdraft and repaying for bank charges earlier. I got that money back because it was their fault they incurred not mine.

Dont give up hun. You a renot alone. I can relate to how you are feeling and it is scarey and not knowing what to do. Belive me there is loads of poeple on here who will help you through this. I was in the same position as your self and with the right help and encouragement I am now going to take the Abbey to court. At the end of the day it is your hard earned money why should they keep it. Take a deeo breath and go through everything step by step. Fist you have to decide if you are going to make your claim through MCOL or N1. When you have decided the information on what you need to do is easy to follow as it shows you step by step and if you are not sure, all you have to do is shout, litterally and someone will assist you. Ladidi

Hi all, I have received a letter from the Abbey and this is what they have said to me. Out of all the money they make they send your letter out second post. Cheap skates or what! Does anyone know what my next move should be? Dear Mr and Mrs **** Thank you fo ryour call 7th April 2007 and your calls and correspondence since, about your bank charges. I am sorry you ar eunhappy with our previous response moreover, I sincerely appologise for our delay in responding to you. Having carried out a full investigation, we believe the charges are valid and therefore I cannot agree to refund them. The unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 say that we must explain our charges in plain language and that we have in good faith, which, according to the Office of Fair Trading, means dealing fairly and openly with customers. I therefore reveiwed the literature and information you received when you opened your account, including the terms and conditions. This explains that charges will be applied if you do not keep to the terms and conditions of the accoutn. Because of this, I believe we have been fair and open in telling you about them. The charges were correct, because you did not have enough money in your account to cover payments requested from it. When I looked at the history for your account I found that, unfortunately, this was not the first time this has happened. I can see we have refunded charges, in the past, as a gesture of goodwill. I am sorry, that because of this, I cannot agree to cancel these charges. I am confident that I have been fair and we have taken into account all the ppoints you made in your calls. But if you have any additional points that you would like to discuss, please call on 0845 600 6014. I have enclosed a leaflet about the FOS, in case you are not happy with my investigation or decision. If so, you should contact them within 6 months of the date of the letter, enclosing a copy of it, as they would need this for their investigation. I hope we can work together to help you avoid charges in the future. Little things can help, like checking your account balance as often as possible and looking at the dates of Direct Debits to make sure they are taken shortly after money is paid in. In addition we might be able to help by providing an overdraft facility to give you more flexibilty. This could help to keep your costs down, as there are no charges unless you exceeed your overdraft limit. So, if you wouldlike to talk to someone about the options available, Please call out Telephone Banking Center on 08459 724 724. Alternatively, If you think you might need longer-term help to manage your bank account, Please call 0845 603 9035 and we will be happy to help. Your Sincerly Senior Customer Resolutions Manager. The way the letter is worded sounds like he was saying he was doing me favour by offering me an overdraft and repaying for bank charges earlier. I got that money back because it was their fault they incurred not mine.

i have also been reading on here about people claiming for the time and money at a rate £9.25 per hour. Do ayou calim in the beginning of you claim or does that come when you submit you bundle an dinclude money for time and priniting etc. How far do you start making that initial claim from? Is it from the very beginning or when you have filed your N1? Any help pn this question would be great

Hi everyone in relation to the read, read, read. I have been doing just that all over this website in fact lol I have downloaded and saved a lot of stuff in preparation of my court bundle. I know I am maybe months or weeks away and I am praying it is not required. But at the same time I dont want to be caught short at the last moment and having panic attacks worse than last nite. To be honest I got on here this morning before I went to work and i dont know what whether it was the fact my mind was relaxed and not angry, but I seem to find all info and bits and peices that I could not find or see yesterday. I have saved everything that is required for the court bundle in case. Oh yeah and a good bit of advice. I dont know if anyone else has asked but I did today. I found out that if you get working tax credit with the disablity element or council tax credit you may not have pay the fees. My husband rang the court today while I was at work and they are sending out the information papers. They advised that I may or may not depends on info enclosed onto the forms. Might be worth for others who have not much funds to spare to see if they are entitled to court fund help. Not sur eof the process on this but I would then recomend that the court make the banks repay fees given to legal aid dept for costs incurred to their abuse of process.. Anyway will let you all know if any informtion comes of this. Ladidi

Ok Clarion...I have found the information tyou mentioned the only thing it does not tell me is what these court bundles contain. What else do i have to provide and prepare for this for when the time comes, as I said before i have little time as it is and it would be nice to be a few steps ahead if more info is required or i am supposed to get info for the bundle. I`ve read come people have pages and pages. I ahve no where near at the most I have 20 pages and thats just the claim and spreadsheets and T & C`s. Anything else or where I can find a list of what is required would be a great help.

Clarion48. Forgive me for being a little ignorant. But where is the FAQ page? I have checked and re checked and nothing to be found. I have put 4months of work into this and loads of patience and screaming only to be no further forward than I was on day 1. I am praying for a miracle. I have done as the claims said and filled it in correctly and prinited off 3 copies of the claim and spread sheets and terms and conditions. As I said in my last message I dont know what else they could possibly want from me.

Good Luck to you too Cherryblossom. I can relate with not being sure if you have filled it in correctly. i feel the same. But I have ogne over the form at least hundred times i feel I have done it correctly. I`m scared still about this bundle you have prepare though I dont have anything except what I`m handing in tommorrow and that contains the claim and spreadsheets and Terms and Conditions. I dont know what else they could possibly want from me!

would if i could. But I work all day and only time is now! It would be a great if i ointed in right directions it would save me time which is what I dont have a lot of. I thought by playing ball and giving the Shabbey all time they required by FSA that I would have won my case but not to be so now I have to take them to court for my money. I just need reassurance and peac of mind that what I`m doing is right and that everything I am doing is correct.

Only local county court I could find is Sunderland County Court. Dunno if that will do. unless i`ll have to go over the water to gateshead or newcastle. I`ll give them a ring in the morning then they can tell me which one. once I hand over my claim and spread sheets. What happens next? What other information will the court want me to provide? Gosh so full of questions and I dont even know the ansas, I must be mad, but too crazy to let the Abbbey keep my hard earned money!

Does n e 1 know??????? As per my last msg above....

oh and I still dont know which one to send it to? I found sunderland County court. will that do? I have printed off a copy of the N1 3times and 3 x spread sheets of break down charges and 3 x earliest copies of terms and conditions.. Is there anything else I need? What do I hand it at County Court tomorrow?

Oh yea and another thing how do I found out which is my local county court? and it the N1 and the print out of the charges all I need? Is there anything else?

oh and i forgot. How do I know I filled in the N1 forms correctly?

cheers for help and support. I have filed the N1 forms and printed off 3 copies and 3 copies of my break down of charges. What now? I have bee reading about people adding the "Abuse of process " where do i add this and how? Sound slike a good course of action.

Do you know what the Abbeys registered address is? I have decided to go to court. At end of day they took enough from me. I`m not going to let them take any more.

RORY32 Thanks so much fo ryour advise but truth of the matteris i dont know where to begin anymore. I thought i knew it all and had it all sussed and the bank over a barrell. What if i pay this and they still dont play ball or pay out then not only am I £5k down but also £250 for taking them to court too. I fi file my N1 how do I go tabout getting all the paperwork etc. I have been reading on here how to do it all but getting paperwork and making sure everything is correct it frightening. I`m scared out of my wits not mention feeling ill at the thought of it all. How do I go about doing this N1? Where do I begin? Since I`ve started i may as well finish as they think I`m gonna run away!

Yup i already sent letter stating lBA ages agi giving the bank more than enough chances to settle. But would they heckers The guy I spoke to tonite is admanant I am not going to get my money back because it was fair and just and true costs of what it costs. So he says according the terms and conditions. I argued with him and asked for what it costs for the Abbey to deal with missed DD or bounced cheque etc and he kept saying it is what it costs as you have been charged. We was going round in circles. I feel like crying I have been through so much and was hoping to have tht moeny back to pay off my debts one of them is going to put a charge on my home if they dont get it by end of this month

I have just spoken to a Mr powell from Abbey and he adamant that I cannot have back my money in bank charges as he states that the ammount is justifiable in the terms and conditions and when I pressed him to send me a letter justifying the banks true costs of what it costs to pay a missed DD or bounced cheque he said I will not get this and went back to the terms and conditions. They owe me £5k in total. What can I do? What is my next step? I have had a gesture of good will payment and escalated the complaint and been denied. Where can I go from here?? Any ideas anyone?

Thanks for the info Charleyfarley I had no idea that the letter you gave me existed. I spent an hour trying to fine tune mine and make sure I covered everything so should the Abbey force me into to court thent he judge would see I hade been more than fair and gave them opportunity to settle. Do you feel I should just re word your letter - fill in the gaps of what is in mine and put into the template one and send the template letter you sent to me? Ladidi

I have posted a message and I am hoping to get a reply and so far nothing Does anyone have any ideas or offers of support or encouragement? Ladidi

Hi all Having found out that the chat room is no longer in use I would appreciate some help. I am about to send a letter/email to Abbey and this is what I have said : To whom it may concern I am writing this email on 28th May 2007 in support of my claim for my bank charges to be returned to me for the last 6 years. I have spoken on numerous occasions to members of Abbey staff on the customer services banking team who have escalated my claim along with the managers as my claim is past the 8 weeks set out by the FSA guidelines. I feel that we have been more than fair by giving the Abbey plenty of opportunity to investigate our claim due the bank charges incurred over the last 6 years. I have even given the abbey the opportunity to settle the claim by offering them a chance to pay me £4948.96 full and final settlement which consists of my total amount claimed £4442.47 total bank charges incurred. Total including interest £5328.96 less £2.50 per transaction totalling £380.00 for their costs incurred in dealing with our account which I believe is a fair and just amount considering the Abbey refuse to disclose their true costs of what it costs to deal their customers account when they go over drawn or have a missed Direct Debit and for them to issue a computer generated letter. I would also like to add that if the Abbey agree to this I will accept this without prejudice. I would also like to draw the Abbeys attention to a recent summing by a judge in London who said that the Banks are abusing process by inflicting unnecessary work and inconvenience their customers. “Judge Mackie was speaking at the London Mercantile Court, which has processed about 300 claims for refunds of allegedly unlawful charges this year. He said: 'Looked at in the real world, where there will be no trial, these steps, which place completely pointless work and some anxiety on litigants in person, constitute unreasonable behaviour. 'From now on, we will generally treat such conduct as unreasonable behaviour, thus enabling any claimant who has been put to unnecessary work and inconvenience to be compensated for this.' I would like to draw your attention to the 3rd paragraph. Should the Abbey not respond to our claim in a satisfactory manner by Friday 1st June 2007. We will have NO alternative but to instigate proceedings against the Abbey in order to get our money returned to us. I would also like to add that if this issue is forced on us we will also claim against the Abbey for courts costs to be added to the total of the claim as well as compensation for undue distress. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Ladidi

OMG thats bad. I had no idea. Many Thanks for letting me know

Hiya everyone. Is the CAG chatroom no longer woking? I have tried to get into it and found I cannot! Does anyone know how to get in or if there is problem with the chatroom? Thanks Ladidi