Hi Sinon, If you read my thread you will see that I am trying to excercise my right of appropriation at the moment because my account is overdrawn and i had arrears on my loan and credit card with lloyds. They have recently credited my account which I clearly stated i did not want because I didn't want my overdraft eating up most of my money. I'm still waiting to hear from the solicitors with the banks decision. I just wanted to let you know that as soon as the money was credited Lloyds removed my arrears for both my card and loan instantly from my account. It seems the case that if you owe them money they will take any arrears from an account which is in credit. It actually states this in the terms and conditions on my card and loan agreement. Obviously if the loan and card was with a different lender they couldn't do this. My advice would be to try and reduce the arrears as much as possible so you will keep more money awarded. Hope this helps and good luck! Donna

I've basically phoned SC&M to advise them to contact Lloyds to say i'm not happy. When i phoned the solicitor said he had just read my letter and he was sending them an urgent letter as we spoke. He said that they just did what the bank instructed them to do and it was out of their hands. He did say though that as soon as they received a reply from the bank then he would contact me. I gave them 7 days from receipt of my letter so hopefully it will be soon. I get free legal advice through work, which I only found out today after being there 6 years!!! So i've made an appointment to see someone on Monday. I'll keep you posted as soon as I recieve a reply. Don't give up though, it's a long wait but definately worth it in the end. I do recommend that anyone wanting a cheque payment should clearly state that in their letters or at least make sure any overdraft is reduced when you get a court date just incase. If you close your account with no money owing beforehand then your are more likely to receive a cheque. I obviously should have done this but financially it was impossible. I just hope I can be the one to prove that if you continue to fight on your terms then you CAN determine the manner in which you are paid! Good luck, i'll be watching your thread too Donna x

I dont believe this..................... I just checked my account and they have put the money in. They have taken my loan and credit card arrears out and my balance is overdrawn. On the offer letter which was below the claim amount it clearly says Please let us know whether you are prepared to settle the matter on these terms. IF SO, the bank will arrange to credit the above amount to your select account If you are willing to settle then please sighn a copy of this letter as confirmation that you are bound by it's terms and return it to us. I have already sent tham an urgent fax on Mon saying I DID NOT agree to the terms and that I will still be attending court. The judge has actually adjourned the case because I disputed the amount, not settled it. I have just phoned SC&M and they basically told me it's up to the bank not me or the court. I'm gutted Surely they cant do this if i've disputed the amount in court and not signed anything SC&M are ringing me back tomorrow

Sorry! Didn't realise I couldn't put his name up!!

Thanks Janet, As the judge said he will gladly confirm this in writing if they so wish then hopefully they will agree. I know i'm sounding ungrateful by being adamant which way i'm paid, but I don't want to throw away 7 months of time and hard work to just have my money put back into my account which is over the over draft limit and lose what is mine. If it does go to Cardiff at the agreed amount then I will continue the fight there. I'm not giving up. Donna

Thanks Janet, As

This is a copy of the letter 09/01/07 Dear Sir/Madam, I write expressing my disappointment of your absence at our court hearing today. During a brief 20 minute hearing my evidence has been put before District Judge (edit). He mentioned a letter in which he had received from you offering settlement. He also mentioned that the amounts you believe I dispute as being charges. I therefore write to advise you that this is not the case. The amount I am disputing is the total amount in which you have offered to be £3301.80. I am claiming the return of money taken by your client over the last 6 years plus the interest they have levied on those charges which totals £3,532.74. I include a schedule of charges with this letter for your reference. As already advised to your client in a previous letter I further claim interest pursuant to s69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% per annum, being the sum of £437.81. The total claim stands at £3970.55 Extra charges were applied by your client before a claim was issued therefore the amount had increased. Again I include a copy of the Letter Before Action dated 07/08/06 which clearly states this increase. I see the amount your client is not intending to refund is £664.24 When the original Subject Access Request letter was sent on 28/06/06 this asked for a complete list of charges not as you mention ‘fees’ in which I paid on a monthly basis. Therefore this amount was added due to them being stated as ‘charges’ in their reply. After my discussions with District (edit)today he has kindly informed me that under ‘Appropriation’ if we come to any agreement you shall not on behalf of your client dictate the way in which this amount is paid as the monies in question are in fact mine. I request that The agreed amount to be paid via a cheque from your client sent to my home address If consideration is given and my requests met then I will consider accepting £3306.31 which is less the amount of which your client believes to be ‘Fees’ (edit) as said today will be more than happy to confirm that I am well within my rights to request which way I am paid as this after all, is my money. As the hearing has now be adjourned, unless we can come to a suitable agreement the next case will be heard in Cardiff which will therefore incur more costs for your client especially if a member of your team doesn’t attend. I will also claim for time, inconvenience and expenses incurred. I strongly advise you to accept my offer based on the information I have provided. The manner in which my money is returned to me is completely irrelevant to the account in question. You now have 7 days upon receipt of this letter to reply. I believe that this target is more than sufficient for a company such as yours with dedicated staff members. I look forward to your reply Yours faithfully Miss D Macdonald edited ..I have taken the judges name out

Hi All, Well the other side didn't turn up yesterday! As I'd already assumed. The Judge was fantastic with me, he could see I was very nervous. I was gutted when he didn't want to read the handout i'd prepared for him though! For some reason he had a letter from SC&M saying that I dispute the amount and that they have made an offer to me. This letter stated an amount which was £800 less than what I originally claimed for so I think they are trying to pull a fast one. I showed him my offer letter though (Of a different amount.) As I mentioned to you guys before i had really hoped for a cheque payment. The Judge said he cannot personally enforce this but due to the rule of 'Appropriation' if SC&M are willing to pay MY money then I can dictate which way it is paid. He also said if they had bothered to turn up he would have told them that himself. He has adjourned the case and told me to write them a letter asking for the full amount via cheque within 7days. He really didn't have to do this as i'm getting my money whichever way it's paid. He really listened to me though and agreed 100% that I should be entitled to any form of payment If they do not agree then he is transferring the case to a different Judge in Cardiff who deals with these cases alot more frequently. So, There it is! Another week to wait, or a month to return to court. I'm dissapointed but glad I've stuck to my guns Donna

I didn't specify in my claim which way I would want to be paid out that's why I wanted to check to see if it's possible. Lot's of people have different views but as Paula has said it's not just the settlement of the specified amount that concerns me, the terms of the settlement also have to be agreed. By the sounds of it, noone from SC&M will be attending the court but hopefully I will still have a chance to present my case. I have everything together with statements to read. I'll keep you posted and let you know the outcome Thanks to you all, i'm alot more confident now Donna

Hi Paula, Thanks once again for replying I have sent the fax. I advised them that I have not agreed to any of the terms and I will attending court as ordered tomorrow. I also mentioned the conversation I'd had earlier today. She informed me that they had phoned the court and written to them advising that the claim has been settled! I called the Swansea Civil Justice centre and checked to see if any new information had been received and they said no and reminded me i'm due in court tomorow! I can't believe the way in which she conducted the call, she basically wanted to argue with me and reminded me she deals with these things every day. They had no right to tell me not to turn up tomorrow and that it what out of my hands because they had offered to settle. I'm glad I posted up my queries otherwise I would have probably listened to her and not gone tomorrow. It just makes me wonder what else they will do to try and get out of going to court! Looks like it's just me and the judge tomorrow then ha! Thanks for everything Donna

Thanks Jo and Mick and Janet! I ahve received some sdvice yes, I just really wanted to know if it was worth me going tomorrow as they have offered to settle in full. There are terms with the letter as asked of me before. I can understand what mjanet means about paying off my overdraft but I am overdrawn due to these charges and if i'm paying fees to allow me to use the overdraft then I can pay that off in my own time. The lump sum i'm claiming for will help me pay off other debts that have incurred due to the charges. The thought of half of it going back to the bank is something I definately don't want to happen! I'm just sending a fax now to advise them I will be attending tomorrow with or without them! Thanks for everyones advice. I will let you know the outcome tomorrow! Donna

Oh and just to say I havne't agreed to any terms in writing as the letter only came today. I told the woman on the phone I will not agree unless a cheque is issued and she told me it's not up to me as they have already informed the court!!

Thanks Paula. Do you know what I should include on the fax? i don't really know what to say

Thanks for your reply. I think they maybe trying to scare me off. The solicitor has told me not to go tomorrow and the judge never agrees to a cheque payment! How the hell does she know that! She also said that the money is already in the process of being credited to the account. I'm quite worried now that the judge will just agree to the account being credited. If this happens i'm gonna lose half my money!! Does anyone know of any claimants on this site that have received a cheque? Thanks Donna x

Hi everyone, It's been a while! I just wanted to let you know that Lloyds have agreed through their solicitors to settle in full. £3301.80!!! I have received a letter this morning. It does state though that they will credit my account. I'm seriously overdrawn due to these ridiculous charges and I don't want to lose my money. The court date is still set for tomorrow (9th Jan) I have had an argument with the solicitor today who basically told me they will under no circumstances credit any other account or send a cheque. Shall I still turn up tomorrow? Shall I ask the judge to take into consideration other debts that I have fallen into because of these charges? Any help would be greatly appreciated as my joy has quite quickly turned into dread today because my money is going to go straight back to the bank!! Donna