what meanies! don't forget that if you pursue this via court then in the end they will want to close the account and you will need a parachute.

I got home yesterday to find a cheque for the full amount claimed on the MCOL - just short of £1400 So I can be moved to the successes now! I would never have had the confidence and knowhow to pursue this without the forum and I will definitely make a donation when I get round to cashing that cheque. (....Although there have been a further 2 charges since I put the MCOL through so I'll need to go after them too now and there's still the default to sort out ....)

OK, others have more expertise on this, BUT I didn't have time to do mine for another couple of weeks after my timetable and have just put it through. I reckon you've jumped through the hoops so you might as well see it through. If you are really nervous then perhaps you might send another LBA before doing so.

ah, the note in the post has given them until the 3rd January *looks at watch* *waits*

hello again! well I finally got the MCOL through and am awaiting response to correspondence on the default issue. for my next question, I would like to know if I need to factor in additional time for the banks to acknowledge or defend my MCOL due to the bank holidays coming up - i.e. it was issued on the 15th December, so in theory I could ask for judgement on the 29th December, but there are 2 bank holidays in between so I wondered if I had to give them more time?

excellent news, congratulations! I finally put my mcol through last week and can't wait to see what happens next

Emma, my cheque was cashed, but then they denied all knowledge of recieving the subject access request (royal mail could not confirm it was delivered - geniuses, what did I pay for recorded for?). I got my data in the end through relentless phoning and nagging so it might be worth calling them to check and chase it up! I have subsequently been sending all mail by fax (as well as recorded mail). They have yet to resolve the issue of where the cheque is....

remarkable! well done! how much was it?

no worries - it's good to be sure about these things! now bash them!

looks like standard response to me - push on and read through some other people's posts to compare notes and see what to expect next

I am not at this point yet but look at point 7 here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/faqs-please-read-these/31460-step-step-instructions.html seems that all is well "The bank will now either.... A) Ignore the claim completely - they can claim incompetence as the reason for not Acknowledging or defending and you win by 'default' after 14 days. You will need to apply for a judgment which you should do as soon as the time limit has expired. If they get a defence in before you apply for the judgment, then they gain the right to proceed into court if they want."

Thanks both of you. I have just dropped in - what a week! I have had a mad week at work, a job interview to swot up for tomorrow and a hectically busy weekend so I haven't had the time. I have started on the MCOL and saved it and I will put it through on Sunday hopefully and draft correspondence on the default to go on Monday. I have the money to pay for the MCOL now, but sadly as work messed up my christmas advance it's going to leave me pretty short! I just think that given the default developments I need to get it sent ASAP (but I don't want to rush it and get it wrong). This is also driving me to leave this bit off the court claim and pursue this separately, but also ASAP. I can see pretty clearly they're in the wrong and think I can make a good case but I don't need to complicate things, I'll just try to get in very soon!

Hi all, I wondered if there's a bit more default expertise in this bit of the forum, I might be able to get some more assistance with this here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/alliance-leicester/37500-nackers-l-2.html thanks!

*bumps* hello?

The story so far: I have sent an LBA and as expected A&L have not offered me a refund within the time limit, so my next step is the MCOL. However, I am waiting until the end of next week to do this (because I haven't got the money to do so this week!). This would be all well and good, were it not for the fact that A&L continue to add charges to my account and sent me a default notice yesterday as I have been over my overdraft limit of £100 for a couple of months now. The amount of money I am over the overdraft limit by is composed solely of their bank charges. I have pointed out in my last two letters that this is disputed and they should stop adding charges and not default me, apparently to no avail. Obviously I want to stop them taking further action on this default and eventually get it off my credit file, but for the moment making sure they don't call in debt collectors would be enough. Is the LBA notifying them that I intend to take court action enough to prove that this amount is disputed and that they can't call them in? I can see that bankfodder suggests in order to get the default removed, that you might add this as a condition to the court claim for the charges. Does anyone have any experience of doing this? Ideally I'd prefer not to complicate the court case, has anyone had any success of getting A&L to remove these defaults purely by sweet talking or writing? This is insanity of course, I would have paid almost all of the £100 off by now were it not for the fact that A&L continue to add another £50 or so in charges to it every month!

I got a basic account with cooperative no problems

wonderful!

no I didn't as I was giving them another chance with the LBA and as the letter indicated to me that they weren't about to pay up in the time. I will give the LBA the full 14 days!

*raises glass and crosses fingers*

looks like we are at exactly the same stage with A&L. I also sent my LBA on 7th November and have had not one, but two standard bog off replies. I am going to do some more reading up on the MCOL and the courts before their 14 days is up and get it in next week! Although I obviously took it off the spreadsheet before sending my letters to the bank, I had a look at and calculated the interest at the start of this process on the basis of the court's 8% to add on at the next stage. (I did not really understand how the overdraft interest calculations worked, and would not be happy to have to argue this in the unlikely event of this being defended in court!)

Open up an alternative account as soon as you can. I do not have a very good credit history but was able to get a basic account from the co-op - they just check you for fraud and identity rather than credit check you (although you will not get an overdraft or cheque book, of course!). When you get your statements you may be surprised at how much in charges you have built up over the six years. Mine was much more than I expected! But if it isn't going to be enough to repay the overdraft, don't panic - if you cannot afford to repay it all they will have to work with you to agree a reasonable repayment plan at an affordable monthly rate based on your income and outgoings. Other areas on this site and others such as CAB and debt help should be able to help with that?

I have stuck to the tried and tested LBA letter. Personally, as a bit of a newbie to this I am worried that should my case be the one that ends up having to be argued in the court that adding other points in will complicate things and confuse me (though I have put the account into dispute now). I think I will leave any remaining issues to sort out when the big one has been tackled. I wonder why you can't just draw your money out in the branch? When my card was stolen and another was broken I was just able to go in with my passport as ID and draw out money from the branch.

heehee, I know that feeling!

I used that one, but as they don't ackowledge them if I was doing it again I would call and check they have it within a few days and take the name of the person on the phone, they do seem to be trying to give some people the run around on this (or perhaps they are just over run with them!).

they are trying to weed out the people who won't push it all the way!