Thanks Citizen, I just called the post office helpline and they have told me that it hasn't been delivered yet. This being the fourth working day! (it was sent 1st class recorded) I think I will be sticking to special delivery from now on despite the extra expense. I need a guaranteed delivery time not an airy fairy estimate (i could have just stuck a 2nd class stamp on it and it might have been there by now) Are LTSB still offering so called 'goodwill' settlements or are they now just ignoring everything waiting for the test case to be decided? I could also pursue them on a hardship basis since I was on JSA (graduated at completely the wrong time jobs-wise!!) when my overdraft was withdrawn and the charges were levied

Thanks citizen. I will be chasing LTSB up this morning to see if they have received my letter. The post office website seems to be telling me that my letter hasn't even left my local post office (!) Presumably this is just a fault in updating the system but it would be nice to see if it has been signed for. The last time I claimed I sent every letter by special delivery and it looks like I may need to revert to this again so that I am in full control of when it is delivered and I can see who signed for it.

Have you tried calling them to discuss? If you feel that the 'top-up' of the loan was not fully explained to you then perhaps you have a case.

Ok so after a break of about 18 months i'm back on the forums and ready to do battle with LTSB again (43% of which is now owned by the taxpayer through a state shareholding i should add) Nice to see that even after accepting plenty of charity from the government that they still want to shaft everyone for bank charges! The background to the case is as follows: LTSB withdrew my £1500 overdraft without so much as a warning leaving me quite significantly overdrawn without the means to immediately pay it back. Of course this then gave LTSB 'licence' to apply charges on a daily basis. They want to coerce me into signing a credit agreement to pay it back which i refuse to do given that since withdrawing the overdraft facility they have levied over £500 worth of charges. I sent LTSB a letter by recorded delivery on Monday 16th March outlining my case and pointing out to them that I will be paying nothing until an acceptable agreement can be reached and I would welcome them pursuing me through the courts so that I can counterclaim against them and discuss the matter of bank charges. This would either lead to the case being frozen in the system with so many others (in which case the delay in resolving the test case would be working in my favour) or hopefully it will get to court and we can discuss the dispute in the presence of a county court judge. Having spoken to a charming chap from "customer services" (I prefer to call them the "SS") who smugly told me that if I refused to pay further charges would be applied to which I countered that the account was now in dispute. I informed him that everything I had to say was in the letter and he told me that all I would get back was a standard response ("sent out to thousands" apparently) which is an odd thing to admit. On that note I wished him a good day and told him I would wait for the written response. So, here we go again..! How are other people finding their dealings with LTSB in the aftermath of the credit crunch?

So which Lloyds TSB Branch do you work at then?

The FOS is funded by the banks, and i'm sorry i really don't buy your argument, the emphasis is on the banks to become more transparent and reveal their true costs. I for one do not dispute that they are entitled to levy a charge however i do dispute the excessive nature of the existing charges. How is this any different to taking the court or the FOS route? Are you expecting the bank to pay all your money back and give you a pat on the back for not taking them to court?

Ok, just to update, i may have jumped the gun a little here as the remaining amount which consisted of court costs and additional interest was paid in separately today and looks as if it has come frmo a different department. I faxed SC&M and posted the letter to them so i don't know if they have paid this in response to my letter or if this is how they usually pay claims back. Suffice to say i'm very happy at clearing the overdraft and finally achieving a resolution! Good luck to everyone else, i'll be sticking around the forums to offer advice where i can!

Just an update on this, SC&M wrote to me saying that the full amount had been credited to my account and that they had written to the court to declare the matter settled. I have written to them today stating that they have failed to fulfil the terms of the settlement and further to this as the claimant i will decide when the claim is settled. I have given them 7 days to pay the remaining amount which consists of court fees and additional interest.

My local county court have such a backlog that i haven't received anything from them since the case was transferred from the bulk centre at Northampton.

Just a further update on this. The bank have now credited the amount i was claiming in bank charges and interest however the letter i received from SC&M said that i would receive the additional interest which had accrued since beginning the claim and also the court costs which don't seem to have been paid back. What is other peoples experience of the settlement process, can i expect to receive a further payment once i have informed the court that the claim can now be discontinued or have they just tried to get away without paying it? I'm going to give SC&M a call to try and find out but i'm not sure i'll be able to get through

As far as i knowwhen an account is in dispute you can choose not to pay anything but i don't think you can stop them from levying further charges, it might be worth going into your local branch and letting them know you intend to contest the charges and try to negotiate with them so they do not apply any other charges. I'm not 100% on this because i had a 'parachute' account set-up around 6 months before i started the claim so i had stopped using my LTSB account therefore i wasn't accruing any charges whilst the claim was going through.

The mods seem to have merged my long lost negative language thread into this one! It was quite a ramble! Well thanks for the comments ambercain, i have sent the settlement offer by post and fax so i'm just waiting for the money to clear in my account! Hopefully this will encourage a few more people!

Right ok well that is no problem, add up all of the additional charges you have accrued since issuing your initial complaint and create an updated breakdown of charges showing all of the original charges plus the new ones. When you get to the stage of issuing the claim on MCOL enter the full amount when you issue the claim then send a revised copy of the charges to both the court and also to Lloyds TSB. This is what i did and my claim has since been settled for the full amount.

How far are you into the claim process?

Yes Karen, they have agreed to pay everything back including the amount i have claimed plus the extra interest which has accrued since issuing the claim plus court costs. Sent my signed settlement letter by fax yesterday and i may post a copy today so i'm just holding my breath waiting for the money to clear!