Nearlythere - look here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/53570-new-strategy-allocation-questionaires.html

Mimward - whilst I'm not a lawyer I can't see SC&M going to court to dispute £35. In my opinion they're pushing the boundries of integrity as it is by continuing to pretend to defend cases that they have no intention of ever letting into a court room. Can you imagine the legal bills Lloyds are facing on top of the refunds they have to pay. SC&M must think it's going to be Christmas every day of the year. the3roses - very pleased to read your comments. I had just started a new thread asking if anyone had tried the updated aq strategy because I have an aq to file tomorrow and was keen to give it a go. Congratulations and thank you, you've given me the nudge I needed to give it a go.

I have read and re-read the new AQ strategy containing the draft order and am considering using it in my case against Lloyds (AQ is due tomorrow). Has anyone out there used this new strategy against SC&M? If so, how did you get on. Whilst I am led to believe that the 8 point "service fee not penalty" defence that I have is fairly standard and has never seen the inside of a courtroom I would be keen to hear how anyone has got on out there with the new AQ strategy. I am keen to keep the pressure up as I know that the banks, and in turn their legal teams, are swamped with work at present so I am very keen to exploit that weakness. Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Gary - thanks for your comments. My schedule is certainly accurate and up to date. Should it, for any reason, become an issue that the CI rate used is not accurate through the full 6 year period of the claim it would be very simple to re-submit using the precise rates that prevailed at the time of each charge. I had simply chosen the current CI rate to try and make things less complicated. I do remember someone posting last year after a CMC. I believe all claims due to be heard at the CMC had been settled in advance, save one and, in that particular case charges had already been refunded and it was only the interest that was being defended. If I remember it had been averaged as opposed to being exact. I'll PM the person who made mention of Haydn's case in the first place and see if I can dig up some more info. Thanks again.

GaryH - there has been mention in the first few pages of this thread that one of the "cons" of using this new AQ strategy was if you were applying contractual interest. I am at AQ stage with Lloyds (SC&M) and, would be keen to speed the process up if at all possible. I am applying contractual interest (have not applied for CCA as well but should probably have requested this in the alternative, not sure if I'm too late for that...) and, in my schedule, have applied 26.4% to each charge for the number of days it has appeared on the account being their current unauthorised borrowing rate. The logic behind this was to try and make calculation and in turn explanation more simple. A reference was made to Haydn's case in an earlier post on this thread and I would be interested to read more, especially if contractual interest was not awarded / thrown out etc. I'd like to read more but am struggling to find a link, any chance of a leg-up? Thanks.

Tara - what you have received is a standard reply from Barclays acknowleding your SAR. Whilst it may look a little frightening you have nothing to worry about because all of the information you really need is contained in what they have agreed to send you. Barclays have 40 days under the DPA, from receipt of your SAR, to provide this information. They will send you a computer printout with your account transactions etc. over the last 6 years. Once you have received this the information needs to be entered into the spreadsheet available from this site which generates a schedule of charges and interest. From the top of my head I can't remember where the spreadsheet is located but I'm sure someone else will jump in here and point you in the right direction..... Once you have collated all of the information you are in a position to start the process of asking for it back. If you have any problems, post, and someone will jump in and help. There's a huge network of VERY helpful people at your fingertips so use it because you will need it. Make sure you've read all of the guide notes, it's really important to be accurate at all times. Good luck, you'll be fine.

HSBCrusher - as the recent recaction to the 7/11 bombings stated. WE ARE NOT AFRAID!

You might be hard pushed to find someone prepared to take bets on that one.

I would personally write to the customer relations dept. They will be handling the complaint. If you do end up having to commence legal proceedings then court papers must show Halifax's registered office (Trinity Road). All details for Halifax (including cust relations at bottom of page) can be found here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/faqs-please-read-these/31052-contact-details-banks.html?garpg=9

Couldn't have said it better myself!

noomill060 - whilst I respect your comments in reality do you think chasing after 12-14 days into a 40 day period is going to get you anywhere?

Trucker & Bahoney - bear in mind the volume of complaints the banks currently have in hand. They have 40 days from receipt of your SAR's to send you these statements and are recieving thousands of new complaints every day. I would personally give them a bit more time and start chasing when the 40 days is closer to running out.

No, it is truly amazing. A colleague was talking to Lloyds today and the guy she was speaking to there said that trying to find anything was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I saw this with endowment insurers who took forever to gear up to complaint volumes and it was only when the FSA jumped in and re-enforced the rules that they started to act more quickly. Bank charge complaints is on a whole new level and, fortunately, it is a legal process, not a civil one. It is blatently obvious that the banks are in turmoil, they respond to some letters, not to others, the acknowledge service in some cases, not in others. The general public have really got them on the ropes, time to turn the pressure up methinks!

The Manager Halifax plc Customer Relations PO Box 548 Leeds LS1 1WU Make sure you read all of the guidance notes before you start. You must be accurate at all times, any queries or questions you have just post on the site, there's always someone out there happy to help. Good Luck, the Halifax should be a walkover as long as you stick to the guidelines.

Having just got off the phone to the Halifax I thought I would post. I was advised by one of the more senior claims handlers that a new policy (apparently they're changing almost daily) has been put into play today where, at first letter stage they will pay some or all of the charge total straight into the clients account. This will be done on a client by client basis and a decision will be made in each case as to how much (as a %age of all charges) will be paid. In my opinion this is a huge sign of weakness. They are absolutely inundated with complaints and are more than struggling to keep up. Keep the pressure up guys!!!

Humbleman - I like your style. With the banks flooded with complaints at the moment it would be a truly considerate gesture to offer to help resolve this little faux-pas by forwarding the wayward paperwork to the rightful owner.

Henneth - whilst you are right in thinking that Barclays have made one almighty cock-up I fail to see how their breach would help you if your claim went legal. Your claim for charges and their breach of the DPA are two seperate issues. I can understand where you're coming from by wanting to highlight their howler but at the same time, something at the back of my mind tells me that to try and put pressure on them to settle in full by using their mistake as an incentive to do so could be viewed as some kind of blackmail (or whatever the correct legal terminology is). If you were to mention it on the phone, calls would be recorded and if you put it in writing,their would be physical hard copies. I'd like to think one of the legal-eagles on the site might be able to jump in here but I would certainly recommend you get a second opinion on that before you jump in feet first. Good luck, Barclays will no doubt take you for as long a ride as they can, but stick to the rules and guidelines contained on the site and you will come up trumps.

Thanks for the replies. That's really encouraging. I'll do some more research and start gearing up...

I too have heard that the banks are much more likely to close an account the seconds time round. I believe a second claim can constitute a "breakdown in the relationship between the bank and its client" and they are much more likely to close the account. However, there is no shortage of competition in the high street banking market and I'm sure there are plenty of other vultures out there who would happily take you under their wing! Don't worry if you still owe them money if they close your account. I am led to believe by others from the site that they can't ask for repayment of outstanding monies in full, only at a "reasonable rate" so, if they are continuing to stitch you up, have another go. When you take a step back from this whole situation it makes me feel physically sick. The banks this year have reported record profits of +/- £40 billion. A large chunk of that money comes from people who are struggling to make ends meet, struggling to pay the rent / mortgage , struggling to feed their kids , it's truly wrong. You can bet your life that the chairman of HSBC didn't pay a single charge last year as he was creaming off his whopping £8.5 million. With the help and support of all the good people out there who dedicate precious time to helping others on this site I believe, as a combined force, we can make a difference. The financial services sector is all to happy to exploit weakness and lack of knowledge and regularly take advantage of good, honest folk. It's time to redress the balance!!!

I've had a defence in recently from SC&M and thought it worthwhile to post. The defence sent to me hinges mainly on whether or not the action of the bank is a penalty or a service. I have noticed from other threads that SC&M had been using the "lack of particularity" angle but had not found anyone discussing the defence I have in front of me. Maybe they've upped ther game a little.....? Would it be worth posting for others to see and discuss? Has anyone else out there seen similar?

Iron Dragon - you don't HAVE to charge CI but some people are choosing to chance their arm. It does make things more complicated and, in my experience, is more likely to attract a defence (even if they pay charges + interest and then defend the CI). If you did end up in a court room you would have to be able to argue some fairly hefty maths in a way the judge could understand so I would say CI is for the more hardcore charge claimer. Martin3030 said this to me on the subject the other day, I'm sure he won't mind me quoting him. "There have been recent cases where Judges have expressed this to be a punitive measure so it is by no means any guarantee that contractual will be awarded." There are plenty of threads on this on the site if you want to do a bit of research on CI but the "easy option" would definately be to stick to charges + interest and then if it goes to court add the 8% CCA interest. The spreadsheets on the site account for all of this.

Glenn - why didn't you get it? Can I assume you settled out of court for a lesser figure? Did they say that they would pay charges + interest and then defend the contractual interest? I'd be interested to know. I'm going on the principal of reciprocity - if the bank can charge me an extortionate interest rate for borrowing money from them in an unauthorised fashion, why can I not do the same back? I'm sure we haven't heard the last of this yet!!!

In addition - in an offer I received from Halifax recently there was a "6 Months Totals Calculator V1.0" attached to the letter. I'm not sure if Halifax send these with all offers but I'd like to know as they may have sent it by mistake. This document would appear to be a print-out from some kind of internal charge calculator and what was interesting was that there was a seperate box that listed 25% of charges (value in £), 50% and 75%. I guess they have some king of internal damage limitation procedure to try and offer people less money, as in your case Mr Incredible. Fortunately for all of us this procedure doesn't really work!!!

I couldn't agree more. The guys at the Halifax all seem to be pretty reasonable - I'd definately give that a go. In addition, if you do have to go legal then don't worry, Halifax will fold very quickly and you'll get more money because you can charge the CCA 8% as well. Suggest to your fiancee that she'll be able to buy more shoes and I'm sure she'll support your decision to take them all the way.

Glenn - from where I'm sitting there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the banks' reaction to charging interest. I've noticed with some banks they will just cough up, others will argue. The claim value has alot to do with it as well ie. the bigger the claim the harder they try and fight. I've had contractual interest paid in full, paid in part and not paid at all. An interesting thought is that there seems to be no real dispute over the fact that interest is chargeable, the question just seems to be how much.