Surely you must have the right to challenge any request for adjournment. Ask the clerk why you weren't given this opportunity

Good Luck But I'd hardly think you need it First Trust aren't all that big when you stand up to them Bru

Phone them up, tell them they have 3 days or you will be contacting the commissioner's office in Wimslow. They wont be long sorting you out Bru

Nice one LTWFB.

Martin your box is full again Bru

In all fairness LTWFB, as an observer in the court, I think the judge was trying to find a way to give you a judgement in your favour. But as Citi had already changed their terms and conditions to reflect the OFT statement, she had no choice but to come to the decision she did. Bookworm is 100% correct. You never lost anything today, and you have had your charges reduced from the original £25 to £12.... NOT A BAD RESULT IN MY BOOK.... Bru

I agree with you jgclark, but its the only conceivable reason I can come up wuth for them sending the financial controller over here to fight the case. Bru

Flojo got her case settled this morning, though they tied her to a confidentiality agreement. I was in the court and couldn't find out what the settlement was. Bru

I think they defended in Northern Ireland because its a very small part of their business in the Uk. If they had lost the could have used the argument that the NI and English legal systems are different. Bru

Hi LTWFB Glad to be of some assistance today, just sorry the outcome wasn't different. For those reading I can verify that Citi did reveal figures (though I'm very sceptical of these). They are a very secretive bunch who tried to have me thrown out of the court before proceedings began, and even had the usher check my mobile phone in case I was taping. The Judge did state that even though she wasn't an accountant she would accept Citi's breakdown of costs at £12.88 per default. Personally I don't think these costs would stand up to scrutiny.. Bru

Just back from Court, Congratulations flojo, for getting First Trust to settle Very Well Done.. Bru

Good luckt tomorrow, I will be there to see the fun. cya in the morning Bru

hmm... I seem to have bypassed the complaints procedure time will tell Bru

Hi, been posting on another thread about this but as things are developing I thought I'd better open my own. just to keep you abreast of whats been going on : 30 August I sent LBA to Preferred Mortgages for £1838.07 in respect of a redemption fee. Yesterday 11 September I received a blah blagh letter from Mandy Badenhorst along with a copy of their complaints procedure, and an invitation to call her should I wish to discuss the matter further........... WOOHOO :o Today I called her and had quite an interesting conversation. For a few minutes I listened to her trying to explain that she was dealing with my complaint, and how it would take time , blah blah, etc etc. I finally persuaded her that I wasn't making a complaint, therefore the company complaint procedures did not come into force. I explained that my letter was not a letter of complaint. But was in fact a demand for payment. I went on the explain that it was very simple, like any demand, they either decide to pay, or they don't. She finally accepted this and was informed that she still had another few days to comply with my request before court proceedings would commence. Perhaps this will put and end to the pussyfooting around using company complaint procedures to stall for time.... the wait begins Bru

Received letter from preferred this morning. " Dear Mr & Mrs ********* I am very sorry to learn that you are unhappy with the service you have received from Preferred Mortgages Limited concerning the early repayment charge added to your mortgage and I thank you for bringing it to my attention. We aim to provide a high level of service to all our customers at all times and so it is disappointing to know your experiences so far have been unsatisfactory. In accordance with our commitment to you please find enclosed a copy of the leaflet complaints procedure guide which outline our formal complaint handling procedure and what you can expect from us, blah , blah, blah,,,,...... I aim to respond to your concerns as quickly as possible in order to resolve matters to a satisfactory conclusion. In this resapect we aim to provide a full response to you within 14 days from the date of this letter, however should a longer period become necessary to fully investigate your concerns we will keep ypou madvised of progress until we are able to respond fully. in the meantime please do not hesitate to contact me on 01444 448424 should you wish to discuss matters further. yours sincerely Mandy Badenhorst Customer Services Team Leader" I aim to keep them advised on how the legals are proceeding if they don't cough up in 14 days. I Intend to phone her tommorrow to see what she is prepared to discuss Bru

Not exactly a Statement as such, More a reply to the various agencies who have recently complained. "In April, the OFT stated that credit card default charges had been generally set at a significantly higher level than was considered fair and set a £12 threshold for OFT intervention unless there were exceptional business factors. Many card issuers have stated that they do not agree with the OFT's view of the law and that they believe that their default charges were fair but, in view of the reduction in charges across the market, the OFT is satisfied that no further intervention is warranted in this area at this time and that this change has brought about substantial benefits for consumers. The April statement also indicated that the OFT considers that the broad principles in relation to default charges are likely to be relevant to other standard agreements with consumers such as those for bank current accounts. The responses received from the banking industry have generally challenged this belief but the OFT remains of the view that the broad principles do read across to the retail banking area and has decided to undertake further work on the application of these principles to bank current accounts. In the course of this work the OFT will liaise closely with the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and hold discussions with the British Bankers' Association (BBA) to ensure that distinctive features of retail banking and the circumstances in which default charges are applied are identified and taken into account. The OFT has also been made aware of concerns about the personal current account market in Northern Ireland by the General Consumer Council (GCC) and will consider its report as part of this exercise. This fact-finding exercise is expected to take between three to six months, at which stage the OFT will consider whether a further detailed investigation of the fairness of individual bank default charges is needed." Personally I think it gives us MORE ammunition.. It certainly isn't what the Banks would like to have heard.

Already had ERC details to hand, so fired of LBA on 30th August requesting a refund. made a follow up call this morning (0800 458 4002) and was surprised to find that they were actually very pleasant. They promised to look into my claim and will get back to me before the end of the week.. I await in anticipation... Bru

Just been on phone to OFT.. They have NO PLANS to release any statements in the forseeable future regarding Current Accounts. The guy did advise me that the FSA are currently looking at these. The FSA refuse to confirm or deny any such action as they cannot reveal any information which is not already in the public domain. They suggest a freedom of information request might reveal more details. Freedom of Information Team FSA 25 North Colonnade Canary Wharf London E14 5hs hope this helps Bru

Looks like a stalling tactic to me. I probably presume the rest will do the same now... will be interesting to see.

Good luck tomorrow... What court are you In, I may be in the area.. could drop in give you some moral support Bru

Keep Cancelling Mate but I have 26th in my dairy just in case

WOOHOO.. Does that mean we have to cancel our day out ? Congratulations

Those telemessages are usually from collection agencies. Don't lose your temper with them, simply explain their better off out of it Bru

I know how you feel, but lets not give them any reasons to cloud the issues at hand. The court will know by their defence that they question the validity of your 8% interest claim. It would be best to leave this be and let them bring it up at hearing if they dare to do so. You can then bring up the contractual rate and ask the judge should he wish to side with them on this issue you will of course accept this contractual rate..... they wouldn't be long pulling their horns in Bru

I wouldn't get into too much confrontation at this stage, rather stick to the question at hand. i.e the partial payment. you don't want to draw attention away from it. the 8% can wait for a judge sort out if need be. you want to come across as an amiciable customer who is making all efforts to get this matter resolved. You have done very well so far, but try not to get into squabbles as thats what they want. Bru