I just got a letter from Halifax-Bank of Scotland. I am due to go to the Sheriff's Court on 8 August 2007, but the bank has wimped out at the last hurdle! The letter again says that the charges were debited in accordance with terms and conditions that I agreed to (before I knew they were illegal!). They then wimper on to say that "on a purely commercial basis, it will cost BoS money to defend your claim ... unlikely that BoS will be able to recover these costs (even if the bank wins) because your claim ... small claims track..." "For this reason, but without admission of liability, Bank of Scotland is willing to reimburse ... by cheque within the next 5 working days." They've nicely included all my charges (on two accounts) i.e. £586, interest (pretty much as I'd calculated it) of £85.53 and court fees (£39). This gives a grand total payment of £710.53. Now I just have to wait for the cheque, wait for it to clear, and withdraw my claim. No mention of closing my account at the moment. Oh yes, and they remind me that interest paid is taxable! And state that future charges will be applied if "you continue to manage your account in this way." Sounds like they're admitting they're wrong, but blaiming me anyway! Maybe they're worried I'll tell other people that I got money out of them I'll post again if anything else happens. Good luck everyone who's still fighting.

I sent this last night, but got no responses, and since then it's scrolled into the next screen. So, apologies that this is entered twice, but I really need some answers! ----------------------------------------------- I'm claiming £586 (+ interest of £26) from the Bank of Scotland. I wrote originally about a month ago and got the usual 'charges correctly applied' letter. I then sent the LBA (with my schedule of charges) two weeks ago, giving them 2 weeks to reply. They haven't done so, so I will now proceed with a Small Claims Summons in my local Sherriff's Court (yes, I live in Scotland!). Here are my questions. 1. What address should I put for the Bank of Scotland in the summons? Their head office in Edinburgh? 2. I presume I can apply the 'Judicial Interest' (worked out using the Complex Interest spreadsheet found elsewhere on this site to be £102.29, total claim £714.30) now? On Martin Lewis's site, there's an interest calculator which came up with a different amount for interest than the spreadsheet (total claim of £659.67). Which should I use? Thanks

I'm claiming £586 (+ interest of £26) from the Bank of Scotland. I wrote originally about a month ago and got the usual 'charges correctly applied' letter. I then sent the LBA (with my schedule of charges) two weeks ago, giving them 2 weeks to reply. They haven't done so, so I will now proceed with a Small Claims Summons in my local Sherriff's Court (yes, I live in Scotland!). Here are my questions. 1. What address should I put for the Bank of Scotland in the summons? Their head office in Edinburgh? 2. I presume I can apply the 'Judicial Interest' (worked out using the Complex Interest spreadsheet found elsewhere on this site to be £102.29, total claim £714.30) now? On Martin Lewis's site, there's an interest calculator which came up with a different amount for interest than the spreadsheet (total claim of £659.67). Which should I use? Thanks

Thanks Rooster, It's not quite that much, only(?) £586. I shall go ahead and send the LBA. Since I live in Scotland, does this make a difference? Should I still notify the Ombudsman, even if I'm going ahead by myself? Also, when working out interest, I used the Complex Interest spreadsheet (Excel) found elsewhere on this site. It mentions Judicial Interest. Is this something I should include in my LBA, or is that only if it gets to court? Regards, Gwydion

Hi, Having submitted my prelim letter on 18th May (I handed it in to my BoS branch), I received a reply dated 24th May with the usual 'not unlawful' reply. I notice it's from Halifax, with no mention of Bank of Scotland! I shall reply with the 'Letter before action', and perhaps inform the Ombudsman as suggested by my brother. I also noticed that my letter was obviously a standard one. What a swizz! I shall comment on this in my reply. They said that I had "asked us to explain how we calculate the amount of charges..." which I certainly did not. However, they state that this is "commercially sensitive information ... cannot provide this information." Is this correct/lawful? Secondly, they wrote that I had "asked us to supply you with details of all charges ... incurred since you opened your account." Similarly, I didn't do this, since I had all my statements showing charges in front of me at the time! I presume I should write back to the address that the 'not unlawful' letter came from: Halifax PLC in Leeds. Or should I write to one of the Scottish addresses mentioned elsewhere? p.s. I moved this post to it's own thread to be more visible!

Thanks, I'll move my post to a new thread, then.

Hi, Having submitted my prelim letter on 18th May (I handed it in to my BoS branch), I received a reply dated 24th May with the usual 'not unlawful' reply. I notice it's from Halifax, with no mention of Bank of Scotland! I shall reply with the 'Letter before action', and perhaps inform the Ombudsman as suggested by my brother. I also noticed that my letter was obviously a standard one. What a swizz! I shall comment on this in my reply. They said that I had "asked us to explain how we calculate the amount of charges..." which I certainly did not. However, they state that this is "commercially sensitive information ... cannot provide this information." Is this correct/lawful? Secondly, they wrote that I had "asked us to supply you with details of all charges ... incurred since you opened your account." Similarly, I didn't do this, since I had all my statements showing charges in front of me at the time! I presume I should write back to the address that the 'not unlawful' letter came from: Halifax PLC in Leeds. Or should I write to one of the Scottish addresses mentioned elsewhere?