Ok, I am so eager to get back to them that I've written this. I'll be posting it at close of play today........what do you think?

I've just received a letter back from them (they also sent me two "we're still looking into it" letters) basically saying what the loan was for, what the PPI on that loan is, that I could have cancelled within 30 days if I'd wanted to, that I signed for it saying that I understood......e.g. the usual..... The last paragraph is where I'm stuck..... She then says, "before I can look into the possibility of a refund, you will need to cancel the policy via your local NatWest branch. This will generate a rebate and when this has been done, please let me know and I will review your complaint again in its entirety." Now, I know that this is just a stalling tactic and obviously, if I'm in the right then I'm in the right and it makes no difference whether or not I cancel my policy. I'm trying to write a letter back basically saying that the deadline for their positive response is still 2nd November, and they need to hurry up because it took them 5 weeks to review the case in the first place and if they want to do it again in its entirety, then its going to take forever! Any advice?

I took out a loan with Natwest in 2004 after being called by a persuasive sales person. Before I knew it, I had a loan, but had no idea that I'd also been signed up for PPI. I've just phoned up Natwest and have found out that I've got the insurance. Its a single payment policy and will be for well over £1000. Firstly, can anyone tell me which Natwest address I should send it to? I've already claimed successfully for bank charges, but I suspect that the address is different. Thanks, SB

I wanted join Talk Talk for free broadband. Got my MAC code from Eclipse where I had my broadband before. Joined Talk Talk for phone and for the free broadband. Gave them my MAC code and they came back to me weeks later saying that it wouldn't work and that in order to get broadband with them, I'd need to cancel my account with Eclipse and then order it through them again. This would have left me without broadband at all for over a month so I told them that I'd leave it and cancel my talk talk account. They charged me £75 to do this even though I was within the 3 month cancellation period and threatened to pass my details on to a debt collection agency if I didn't pay. It gets worse..... I then decided to go with Sky. I again, got a MAC code from Eclipse. Signed up with Sky, gave them the MAC code and was told weeks later the same thing. The Eclipse MAC code doesn't work with their systems! I thought that there was a ruling that ISPs were supposed to allow easy changing between suppliers! I'm now determined to leave Eclipse and so I phoned them up to cancel my account altogether and clear my line. They've told me that they can do that, but it will take a month and also that BT have started charging people £36 to cancel broadband accounts. Do you know what the only way to avoid this is....using the MAC code!!! I'm furious about this.

Hi guys, Is anyone else due in Central London County Court on 17th July? Would be good to get plan of attack etc sorted asap. Also, has anyone recently had any dealings with anyone at Abbey who may be able to sort this out before the court date? For my previous claim (this current one is just for a few charges levied during my last claim) I managed to get a resolution by dealing with Inga Kirkman. She doesn't seem to be responding now though so I'm wondering if there's anyone else out there who I should be getting in contact with. Thanks for your help. S

I'm absolutely no expert on this, but from what I've seen from other posts on this site, the banks can pretty much get away with whatever they want in these cases. They'll probably just ignore you, and there are no real damages that you can claim from them in court. Your best bet is probably the financial ombudsman, but they seem to be a bit useless and it will take a long time. Sorry I can't be more upbeat about it! Unfortunately, all they're doing as far as contract law goes is not fulfilling their side of the contract by not providing a service, and all that you could really claim financially would be the amount that you paid for that service which in this case is probably nothing. Therefore, its the ombudsman who can help you more than the courts.

I'm sure that if any bank had actually successfully defended a claim in court then they'd all be doing it and none of them would be paying up. If they did win a case then it was probably an exceptional situation. If its in the small claims track then you're not liable for any of their costs, but you should read the FAQ and lots of other threads and they'll tell you the risks (however small - if you do things properly) that there are. Anyway, start your own thread on the Natwest board and that will give people a central location to answer your queries therefore keeping the information together and making it more useful for others. Good luck! S

Hi Jenny, Who is your case against? I don't want to jinx it until I have the money in my account, but I managed to get it in writing from Abbey yesterday that they're going to settle, so I've let the court know that I won't be attending! Never thought this day would ever come!! S

I believe its just the lower amount, but if you're doing it on Moneyclaim then there's a little 'help' button somewhere near the amount text box that explains it to you.

I've been given a date (23/1), but no time. It says that it will only take 30 minutes, but I've been given no indication of what its about or what I have to provide beforehand. Any ideas? Will call court on Monday though I suppose.

This is different to when one of the parties to a claim puts "without prejudice" on a letter and can certainly be included in your bundle if you would like.

Hi guys! I've now been transferred to the Mercantile Court in London and there's a 30 minute hearing organised for the 23rd Jan. Anybody else involved in this? My main thread is at: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/cahoot/18203-up_the_cahoot-cahoot-2.html?highlight=sbb1979#post475472 Any advice would be greatly appreciated. So far, I haven't heard anything about deadlines for bundles etc. S

My case has so I'd really like to know the difference. Set for 23rd Jan!

Reply to them (covering it to the court manager) with the standard "I'm not going to reply to CPR 18 but for your information, here's another copy of schedule, bank account number etc" also pointing out that their deadline was before the letter was sent. Don't worry anyway, this is all an irrelevance. As soon as you get a court date they'll pay up.

Ok, update - have been assigned to the Mercantile Court. 30 minute hearing in London on 23rd Jan 2007. Am glad to hear something as its been almost two months, but advice would be greatly appreciated!!

I have a case in London against Abbey on the 23rd! Mercantile Court. Set for 30 minutes. Any advice?!

Yes, that's the one! Can't really see them offering any consideration in order to be afforded the privilege of confidentiality though. Especially as everyone knows that they're paying up, so one or two quiet ones won't make any difference. Hate all this waiting! There are probably no more stages to go through now, we just have to wait to get our money, but it is so frustrating! Si

Me too! I'm a week or so in front of you by the sounds of things. Haven't heard anything from them since I declined their offer though! Before the new year would be nice! Good luck! Si

Absolutely........its the oldest trick in the book and they like to play it! Also the pleading ignorance trick. Although, I'm not sure that it is a trick in the case of Cobbetts!

Excellent, thank you AfD. I'm going to send the following to Lynsey Burgoyne with my revised particulars and a copy of the above letter. Seems to be a deadlock at the moment, so lets hope that these letters can get things moving on again! S

Following AlanfromDerby's advice to another claimant, I am going to revise this letter to the court and include a copy of a new Particulars of Claim due to their being insufficient space on the MCOL website to properly explain why I'm claiming (not that Cobbetts really need this explaining!). I've drafted a letter to the Court Manager. Will also send a copy to Cobbetts alongside the new particulars. Here is the letter. Particulars will be those on the template library for the N1 Form.

I'm in exactly the same position as you Sixspeed. Receieved exactly the same AQ from Cobbetts a week and a half ago. Then received a 50% offer the next day. If they don't know what we're on about, why would they offer anything at all! Anyway, can definitely see what you mean (Alanfromderby) about the limited space on MCOL. I will send the revised POC today aswell.

I'd like to write to the court to make sure that they know that I did respond to NatWest's CPR 18 request and have therefore been as helpful as I should have been. I'm therefore thinking about sending the following to the Court Manager (as I haven't as yet heard from a judge). Any comments? Does anyone think that this would be a good idea, or should I just wait to hear from the judge? I sent a copy of the schedule to Northampton Court (after filing the claim on MCOL), but haven't as yet sent one to the actual court that the case has been assigned to. It should have been sent down from Northampton though shouldn't it? S

You probably won't get a copy of their AQ until after the deadline on 4th. I got an offer about a week after that. Declined it last Monday. Have heard nothing else since but could be any day! Cheddar - do you know how long the courts usually take before giving a date? My Cahoot claim AQ deadline was a month ago - they filed theirs about the same time. Have heard nothing since.....

She seems to be dealing with most of Cobbetts dirty work in these cases. Its one of their standard tactics to play dumb and either say that they don't know what we're on about, or that they haven't received the schedule of charges. Would it have more impact if we drafted a letter on here and then sent very similar letters to the OSS? I'll certainly send one! Or if you could PM it to me Mr Harrow, I'll edit it to suit my experience of Cobbetts and send it to them.