PrincessAphrodite, don't leave us in the dark, we are keen to hear of your progress

ok, I have called the Helpdesk (In India) and informed them that I am recording the call for training and monitoring purposes, the lady said that that was fine. After I explained I would like my charge for £30 back, so said she would have to pass me on to a specialist. The specialist was from the personal banking team in the UK. I again said that I was recording the call for Training and Monitoring purposes and he was like, "yeah sure, no problem". OK, so I explained that I would like the charge back and he said, I can't do that due to the terms and conditions of your contract. I asked if the charge was automatically applied to my account, and he said.....wait for it.... "yes". He said that it was a case for the financial Onbudsman. I informed him that this goes beyond that as it is illegal to charge me £30 under UK law and that the charge was punitive. I asked for a manager, but they don't get in until 09:00. So one will call me back at 09:00. That gives me time to look at what UK laws apply. This is like a mini dry run of the court procedings

Ah, yes, as above

So basically, I can make the recording without warning, but If I wish to share it with everyone here, I must obtain concent. I think, that as it could be construded as training material, that If I were to say "I am recording this conversation for training or legal purposes" then I am covered to post it here. Plus, as no Bank representative is allowed to view this forum under the forums Terms and Conditions, then I am covered

I am going to telephone the bank and try and get this charge back via telephone tomorrow. I will also record the call on my mobile (mp3) and if I can legally share it with you all, I shall.

Does anyone know how the law treats recording telephone conversations in this regard? Can I use it as evidance? Do I have to inform them that I am recording? Can I upload it here and still use it in court?

Hi all, I have just tested it and I can record telephone conversations on my mobile phone. I have a Sony Ericsson 800i. I was sure I could do it on one of my older phones too. Basically, once the conversation has started, press 'more' key, then scroll down to 'record' and press it.

You could then argue that you used the statements that were available to you. For example, I have used the online statements from LloydsTSB

lol, that is fabulous I am using that as my MSN title!

LOL, I have had loads of conversation like that over the years, they still make me chuckle. Wish I had written them down like yourself. With regards to the audio recordings of the conversations. I have tried in the past to obtain these (via telephoning), but came up with the run around. I think it would be best if you could record the date and time and where you phoned and the person, them write to the DPA and quote this asking for them. Although if they discard of them every 30 days, that takes you out of the 40 day period and they can just claim that it has been discarded

You should have taken the £100 however and just removed it from the debt they owe you. That shows how calculating and exact you are in your methods. As long as their was no clause stating that you will have no further retribution.

I would split it by date. Complete one claim so that about £3500-£4000 is covered (date closest to today). Go all the way using that until you get your money back. Then make another claim recovering the remainder of the debt. Hopefully, you will not have to go as far (i.e. to court) as the bank is already aware that you are willing to go all the way. You never know

It is just another way of say they are sending you your statements free of charge and included any notes by the bank. A few people have indicated that they have recieved the same, so in principle it is the same response, just by a different person/computer

I think they are both lost causes. The insurance was actually agreed to by yourself as a product and you agreed to it. IYou might be able to argue the fact that you were explained that you were not able to get the loan with out insurance. The interest on a loan is what they inform you it is. As said in elsewhere on this forum, Interest is not capped at a high level, so people can charge what they like.

It is interesting, the different demographic of where people come from who happen upon this site.

If I knew some legal jargon, I would use it but nemo dat quod non habet. LOL

I posted this in reply to someone else in the LlydsTSB section. The moderators have asked me that I replicate my post in the general area for all to see. I have been in a terrible position with regards to debt, and believe me, it goes far, far beyond £2000. I mean, my overdraft with LloydsTSB was over £10,000! Money was like monopoly money, I was just spending on things I wanted, as the debt was piling up. Reality check time. I have come to realise my errors and even though I have a lot of debt remaining, I do pay everyone something every month. I produced a list of everyone I owed money to and what I paid them every month. Then I listed what I thought was a good compromise of what to pay every month. I telephoned all of the people I owed money too and explained the situation to them, and said, that I could afford to pay them a certain amount every month. I even calculated a certain amount for my own spending money (on gadgets). This has worked very well in my case. A couple of the people I owed money too have said that they would rather take me to court. Coo, fair enough. When the court see my expenditure reports that I have produced, they too would agree with me and award the person I owe money to, to less a month, than I offered. The bottom line is, you can only do what you can do. No more, no less. I also read the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". It was actually this book that changed the way I think about money, however the only real thing I took away from it is this phrase, "PAY YOURSELF FIRST". This is the order I use every month: 1. Pay myself (in to a separate bank account) 2. 2-3 days after pay day, pay Mortgage, Secured loans, Council Tax 3. Pay Utility bills 4. Pay for Broadband 5. Pay for Sky TV 6. Pay everyone else (10 days after pay day) I have started to feel good about my finances now. If in doubt, go to the Citizens advice Bureau. They are a great help (I did not have to do this).

Sure thing

I have been in a terrible position with regards to debt, and believe me, it goes g=far, far beyond £2000. I mean, my overdraft with LloydsTSB was over £10,000! Money was like monopoly money, I I was just spending on things I wanted, as the debt was piling up. Reality check time. I havce come to realise my errors and even though I have a lot of debt remaining, I do pay everyone something every month. I produced a list of everyone I owed money to and what I paid them every month. Then I listed what I thought was a good compromise of what to pay every month. I telephoned all of the people I owed money too and explained the situation to them, and said, that I could afford to pay them a certain amount every month. I even calculated a certain amount for my own spending money (on gadgets). This has worked very well in my case. A couple of the people I owed money too have said that they would rather take me to court. Coo, fair enough. When the court see my expendature reposrt that I have produced, they too would agree with me and award the person I owe money to, to less a month, than I offered. The bottom line is, you can only do what you can do. No more, no less. I also read the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". It was actually this book that changed the way I think about money, however the only real thing I took away from it is this phrase, "PAY YOURSELF FIRST". This is the order I use every month: 1. Pay myself (in to a seperate bank account) 2. 2-3 days after pay day, pay Mortgage, Secured loans, Council Tax 3. Pay Utility bills 4. Pay for Broadband 5. Pay for Sky TV 6. Pay everyone else (10 days after pay day) I have started to feel good about my finances now. If in doubt, go to the Citizens advice Bureau. They are a great help (I did not have to do this).

I would phone them back up and just say, I would like to cancel the insurance. If they ask why, say because you don't need it any more. They can't cancel the loan now you have it, just because you cancel the optional insurance.

I had the same thing happen to me (almost) except they said that as I kept going over my £10,000 overdraft, I would have to pay it off by converting it into a loan, then my O/D was going to get cancelled (which it did). I must admit, I do prefer having it as a loan as it is a regular payment and I can't "abuse" it anymore. Since getting the loan, I have sorted my financial situation out. They did make me feel that I should take out the insurance etc, which I did, then just cancelled it once I had the money and the O/D was paid off. The insurance was just silly money and I didn't feel that I needed it.

Nice one Richard thanks. Your wording is a little off by the way, I hope you rushed the post on the not the letter. I personally would have worded it like this:

What about the letter you just sent to them?

Hi Richard, could you post a sopy of your letter hear too please (personal bits removed) so that we may all make use of it.

I Natalie, what was the other forum? It would be interesting to find out.