but they will lose eventually.............when people start singing about the injustices of the retail banking system then the end is in sight. You couldn't get better PR than this for the anti charges cause.

Ha Ha , Glad to hear it......

Ha Ha, I was waiting for someone to comment on that. Yes I'm sure - cause although the guy in the song won - many others are still fighting Lloyds and are currently losing due to the waiver and test case. I stand by my thread title.

Help get the Bank Charges Reclaiming Protest Song to No 1 Join the fight to show the banks who’s boss! Over a million people have reclaimed an estimated £1bn of bank charges; today the “I fought the Lloyds” protest song by Oystar goes on pre-release. This e-mail is to ask everyone who’s reclaimed, wants to reclaim, or supports the cause to spend 50p via text to buy the song. Help get it top of the agenda by being top of the charts in the week of the big test case. Get this to no. 1; to order a 50p download, text bankers to 82822 Please forward this to everyone you know who’ll be interested Neither the band, record label nor MoneySavingExpert.com profit from the song Done!

Have been thinking about your situation a bit more: there is little doubt (in my mind) that they have missold you the PPI. At the very least they should have refunded the unused portion of the PPI on your original loan amount. And then asked you again if you wanted it on the second loan etc.........it will be interesting to see if they have records of this - P.S ask them for phone records as well (including recordings)

Woh....thats an interesting one.... They will have the info. You need to make a 'data protection subject access request' (use that phrase) - put it in writing - send recorded - and ask them for a full copy of all the data that they hold about you. Since they can only charge you a maximum of £10 you may as well ask them for everything they have got. Be as specific as possible. Make it as easy as possible for them to comply. Include loan account numbers, dates, addresses, your full name and anything else you can think of. Once you get the info you will be able to see how to progress from there. Unfortunately if you just phone them up and ask for it they will ALWAYS fod you off. Edit: Make sure you include a cheque or postal order for £10 - this is the max they can charge.

Thanks CRFX - Its fantastic.......but its a shame that all the current claimants can't share the joy............yet anyway.

Has anyone got anymore news about this? This is great!!!!!! Entertainment | Celebrities | TV’s Martin Lewis supports song to hit banks

Hey rant away. You're totally right. We've all go to use bank accounts - there is just no alternative. And all the banks have practically the same terms and conditions and charges. It is a disgrace and it hurts people on benefits and pensions the most. And you are right about claims being daunting as well - CAG is great but there is a 'silent majority' out there who are just taking it on the chin and are unable to do anything about it. But the more we rant and complain about it the closer we get to victory. Britain is a nation of letter writers. And we're all pretty good at it too. Write to your MP, write to the FSA, the OFT, FOS and your bank. If we all just keep at it then eventually we'll win. I guarantee it.

err....well then how can the OFT continue the justify that the test case was in the best interests of claimants?

From the Beeb article: "John Howard, the chairman of the Panel said: "[The waiver] has had the unfortunate effect of delaying consumers' access to justice, whilst allowing the banks to continue taking money from accounts for what may turn out to be illegal charges. "The longer this goes on, the more unfair it will be, especially on those in financial hardship." He seems alright (John Howard). At least he realises that the waiver is causing some suffering. and "it would be hard to justify keeping the waiver in place if the High Court case went beyond next February." Indeed!

Yeah - that is at least something.

hmmm - its all getting very suspicious all of a sudden.

Well the FSA finally got around the reviewing the widely derided 'waiver'. Nothing to see here - please move along says the FSA. Lets look at it in a bit more detail: An effective stay of proceedings in the courts of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is in place; - Well Yes but as far as I understand this has nothing to do with the waiver. The FSA simply wrote to the Master of Rolls who then wrote to county court judges suggesting that they ignored bank cases - regardless of the legal conditions contained within. And much to the delight of the FSA they did. The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is likewise staying cases about unauthorised overdraft charges; Fair enough - The FSA asked the FOS to roll over and play dead - and they did. Firms granted the waiver are complying with its conditions, including the need for clear communications with customers and appropriate handling of financial difficulty cases; and Err - no. Lloyds changed their charges. Many people will now be worse off as a result. And I can think of no one who has had a case of financial hardship dealt with since the waiver. And by dealt with I mean a return of money to their account. There is only one way to help someone in financial hardship - give them their stolen money back and stop future charges. Anything else is window dressing. If I'm wrong will someone please post and prove me wrong (I hope you will). The continuation of the waiver remains appropriate to assist the test case. If by appropiate you mean that it allows the banks to be completely let off the hook while letting the misery of charges continue then YES great job FSA. Thanks for treating customers fairly! "The FSA will be closely monitoring how any change made by a firm will affect customers in practice and whether this amounts to a breach of the waiver." Ahhhhh - this was the purpose of the review. And customers are getting nailed by charges and suffering terribly as a result. Banks are basically doing what they like. What is the point of a review if you just say that you will continue reviewing.. especially when conforonted by so many breaches...........bonkers.

Its a trust issue. And this was HMRC. If you can't trust the taxman not to lose something......no wait......what am I saying...............carry on as as you were HMRC - lose everything if you want.

"Furthermore, by accepting penalty charges in principle, how long before all other goods & service providers write a bunch of new "service fees" into their T&C's?£ You are right with that statement. The fees are definately unfair and illegal. The situation is one of the banks own making and they've shot themselves in the foot. They could probably have got away with having a fee of £12 if they had dropped them a few months ago.........now I'm not so sure they have the oppertunity to carry on charging at all..........the fight is just too far progressed now. They had the same fight in Ireland a couple of years ago and they settled on a 'fair' fee of £3 (or was that 3 euros?). Martin Lewis is suggesting a fee of £5 which dosen't sound too bad (as long as it dosen't creep up - which unfortunately it will). The saddest part about the whole thing is the FSA waiver - I think we can all agree that claimants have a right to at least some money back. The FSA waiver currently prevents banks from making 'full and final settlement' and all the while it allows banks to carry on charging people the full £35 - whatever happens from here on in I think the attitude of the FSA in handing the waiver to the banks is the most shocking thing to come out of this whole mess. The bottom line is it had handed the banks a licence to steal - it flys in the face of the FSA 'treating customers fairly' inititive, and with Christmas coming up: Granny's, single mums, pensioners and families who are streched are giving their money up to the banks in the form of charges rather than paying for heating, food and a little seasons cheer. It sucks.

And now they want a National ID card but they can't even keep the information they've collected safe! ......(weeps).........whats happening?........It didn't all used to be like this.....

Looks like its pretty serious: More here: Data on 15m benefits claims 'lost by Customs' - Telegraph

If any of you are familiar with the "Chuck Norris" line of humour then these are for you. If not this site will give you the gist: Chuck Norris Facts Enjoy 1. When Chuck Norris goes overdrawn he sends a letter to his bank demanding £35. 2. Chuck Norris' credit cards have no limit. Last weekend, he maxed them out. 3. When Chuck Norris calls bank 0845 numbers, he doesn't get charged. He holds up the phone and money falls out. 4. When Chuck Norris gets a bank charge the FSA ask him for a waiver before they investigate. 5. When Chuck Norris gets a loan the PPI provider pays him every month. 6. Chuck Norris doesn't target inflation. He roundhouse-kicks it until it begs for mercy. 7. Chuck Norris has already banked his dividend payment from Northern Rock Plc. 8. Chuck Norris Asset Management made 50 percent on its subprime mortgage-backed bond fund last month. 9. Chuck Norris doesn't borrow from the Bank of England. Chuck Norris LENDS to the bank of England. 10. Chuck Norris doesn't buy gold to hedge against inflation. Gold buys Chuck Norris to hedge against inflation. 11. Chuck Norris charges the Bank of England a penalty rate for borrowing. And guarantees its deposits. 12. Chuck Norris is the pilot Ben Bernanke calls when he wants to shower the economy with dollar bills. Sometimes, Chuck refuses to fly. 13. Chuck Norris can still get a 125 percent mortgage on a £2 million city centre apartment without providing proof of earnings. 14. Chuck Norris has a trade surplus with China.

Make no mistake the Banks have now lost this fight: - Any fool can see that penalty charges at £35 are unfair. - An election is coming.....voters don't vote for governments that allow banks to steal from them. - Once a government body starts a fight (OFT & FSA) they ALWAYS win....only the timing and manner of victory is open to question. But it's sour grapes all round at the clearing banks. Massive profits are as addictive as crack. Most UK banks currently have expensive contracts with some of the most devious and well connected financial PR firms in the country and they are now being paid to spend all their time trying to get journalists to write dire sounding pieces of waffle that say things like: "If bank charges are scrapped loads of new charges will come in" "Its the end of free banking as we know it"! "UK consumers will lose free banking if OFT wins case" you know the sort of thing......most papers have carried such a story.....thats what a bottle of wine and a lunch will get you if you feed a hack. .....you get the gist of it..................This kind of PR blitz is boarding on the verge of lunacy. The banks already have customer trust and loyalty and an all time low and are now spending their ill gotton gains on telling people that they should actually support illegal, unfair and immoral charges so that we can all continue with the illusion that bank accounts are free..........boggles the mind. Current accounts are being subsidised by the poorest and most vunerable people in society. This must change. As Northern Rock collapses into a deep black hole you would think that banks would actually want our loyalty and deposits.............if they are not careful they might be facing liquidity problems that dwaf the Rock. So......A call to the big 4 banks and their PR lackeys (we all know you read CAG) - how about a truce...........stop charging, refund customers for past errors and move forward in a positive manner (Lloyds is not the example to follow). Writing bitter press releases will get you nowhere.......but the gains to be made by the first bank to move in a new direction will be substantial. Unless its a real fight you want. Is it?

I was speaking to a client the other day who had been battered by her bank charges and she was ready to switch accounts.......so she asks me "Is there a bank account with no charges?" What a good question I thought......so I had a look - well there is one: HSBC offers a basic bank account that anyone can open, allows direct debits and will not charge you a penny for bouncing a direct debit or standing order. The account does not let you go overdrawn. Now that is amazing I thought.........HSBC seemingly have the ability to not allow customers on this account to go overdrawn and run up an unauthorised overdraft limit.......which begs the question Why cant this apply to any other account they offer? Who knows.....oh yeah - massive profits needed for shareholders silly me .......anyways.........I was about to recommend this account to the lady when I looked at the small print "we reserve the right to close the account if you bounce more than three direct debits" - WHAT? Even people I know who are careful with money can easily bounce 3 or more DD's over a year or so......In fact that is the UK average............ If you are interested here is a list of "basic" bank accounts. All that is really basic about them is their ability to offer even less of a service than traditional current accounts while all charging suspiciously similar fees..... http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/pdfs/bank_accounts.pdf So there are actually NO accounts available to UK customers on the high street that charge nothing at all. Make no mistake we are looking at a cartel. Banks make billions in profits. The Office of Fair Trading has failed in its duty to ensure that there is competition in the UK banking market. What currenty passes for banking in the UK is nothing short of organised crime. If the OFT can't see this and work to fix it instead of reluctantly starting a "review" and a "test care" then it should be scrapped. What is the point of paying taxes for a government body that can't even do what it was designed to do?

FSA - Financial Services Authority LBA - Letter Before Action (the letter to send to the bank to threaten court action before you actually go ahead with it. MCOL- Money Claim Online is the online small claims website where you can start an county court claim and submit all the necessary info online.

A bit more on that site that Loloyds created after the bank charge storm: Need to know about banking from the site: "If you think you are just about to slip into the red, call your bank account as they should be able to offer you advice on the best way to deal with the situation." and what happens when you call Lloyds................... "I'm sorry Mr Customer but our charges are legal and fair and are a fee for a valuable service we provide you with........I'm afraid there is nothing we can do..........what's that......you have no money left?.......Have you considered going without food for a while?......Thats the best advice I can give you I'm afraid..............my computer tells me that Lloyds would rather keep the money........Goodbye and have a nice day."

I bet it didn't hurt Lloyds too much.....but it has completely undermined the FSA waiver. Anything that makes it increasingly difficult for the FSA to justify its stance on the waiver is all good with me.......go Lloyds......you couldn't make it up.....the FSA gives Lloyds 'get out of jail free card' and Lloyds ignore it and do their own thing........and running all that advertising about how they were LOWERING their charges (heres the site they created: Need to know about banking .......... ..they will get one more chance from the FSA but they will now be on thin ice.......the FSA moves slow but when it gets angry it will let fly...........if Lloyds had any plans to reject hardship claims they may want to think again.

If Tom wins then it really will signal the beginning of the end for bank charges.