That's cool - thanks for the info guys. I hadn't considered that the council tax is due yearly rather than in installments. Seems pretty irresponsible of the council to chase people who are clearly having difficulties in paying for more than they would be paying monthly, but I guess it's irresponsible of me to have fallen behind so it works both ways. Anyway, thanks for the clarification! Much appreciated.

Thanks, but I'm not so concerned about how to the deal with the bailiff - I'm not intimidated by them at all. The main thing I'm interested in is the liability order in September 2011 being granted for council tax not due for 5 months!

Hi all, I'll be as succinct as possible but would appreciate some opinions on this. Last year, I fell behind with council tax payments by a few months due to sporadic earnings whilst self employed. A court liability order was obtained in September 2011 and I made a substantial payment in December 2011 directly to the council, via their website. Now I have Newlyn chasing me for a debt that I believe is incorrect, but the problem seems to stem from the court liability order rather than from them. Perhaps some of you could have a look at the timeline below and let me know your thoughts. September 2011 - Court liability order is granted for £853, covering council tax due to 31st March 2012. Is it even legal to pursue someone for council tax that is not owed yet!? How can a liability order be granted when it is possible I might vacate the property before then? In this time I received pre-bailiff warning letters from Ealing Council but never received any correspondence at all from Newlyn or any other debt collector. December 2011 - On 24th December I made payment via Ealing Council's website for just over £675 - more than enough to effectively bring payments up to date to the end of December 2011. I didn't hear anything more from the council or from any debt collector until a Newlyn bailiff turned up at my property on 8th March demanding £1086.50 - no details at all of how they had arrived at this sum. This visit to my property is the first contact Newlyn ever made with me. The bailiff was, surprisingly, a fairly pleasant chap really and when I explained that I'd made payment in December he told me to contact Ealing Council and get them to confirm the payment to Newlyn. This took several days due to Ealing only having an automated service, but I was finally contacted by Ealing Council and they confirmed the payment that had been made online and promised to send this information to Newlyn. Yesterday, I received a letter from Newlyn, through the post this time, another 'Notice Prior To Removal Of Goods' threatening a visit on Saturday 24th March, asking for the sum of £237.50. Now, clearly, a lot of their charges have been dropped since the £1086.50 they were demanding, but again there are NO details of how they have arrived at this sum. On the same day, I received my schedule of payments for 2012/13 council tax payments from Ealing Council. On here, it specifies that my 2011/12 balance is £194.40. Should I just pay the £194.40 to Ealing Council and ask them to contact Newlyn to confirm this payment? I don't see why I should pay charges to Newlyn relating to council tax that is, currently, only ONE MONTH overdue. Thoughts?

Well done egough! Huge congratulations. Funny to see that our cheques were written on the same day. I can't believe they let us stew for so long! I know what you mean about wanting to snog the postman. My postie is about 90 years old but a bit of a community legend and was VERY interested to know why I was so excited about a solicitor's letter! Anyway, congrats again. Enjoy your money - I am currently working through every outstanding debt I have. My settlement from Natwest will leave me totally debt free for the first time in my adult life which is an incredible feeling. Craig

Hey everyone. Well - my time has finally come! I received a cheque in the post today (23 February) for the full amount of £7339.01! Donation will be on its way when the cheque has cleared. The cheque is actually dated 07/02 so there's obviously quite a backlog of cases that they're finishing at the moment. Completely standard letter, even going as far as to talk of future charges applied to my account, despite the fact that I haven't banked with NatWest for several years! The cheque actually states to be paid into my old account number, but I will try paying this into my current HSBC account and see if it works. I can't tell you how incredible this forum has been, there's no way I would have had the nerve to complete this process without the advice and support provided here. The amount that I have claimed back is large in comparison to most which was a constant source of worry to me but this case is proof beyond all doubt that the banks are operating unlawfully and anyone thinking about starting this process should not hesitate in doing so. To everyone currently claiming / thinking about starting a claim - don't be scared. Just follow the advice of this website and you will have your money in good time. Thanks again to everyone, and can a moderator please move this into the NatWest successes folder please? Craig

Good luck Susie - you're on the right tracks so keep to all the timescales detailed on this site and you'll have your money within a few months!

Hey everyone, just checking in again to keep you all updated. Well, MCOL didn't allow me to request judgement by default in the end - NatWest's defence had been received but not dealt with by the court so my case is proceeding as normal. My AQ is due in to Lambeth County Court tomorrow (16th Jan) but I am sending a letter to the Court Manager by registered delivery requesting an extension as I can't afford to pay the £100 fee until the end of the month. I spoke to them on the phone and htey assured me if they have the request in writing then my case won't be thrown out. The most interesting (and exciting) development came yesterday when I got home from a weekend away to a letter from Cobbetts offering me £3,600 as a goodwill gesture payment. Totally standard letter, accepting no liability etc etc. I have to say, it's incredibly tempting to accept it, as £3,600 is a lot of money, but having read through all the posts on here, I'm sticking to my guns and continuing with my case until I receive an offer for the full amount which, with interest and court fees, is just over £7,000. I must admit it's pretty nerve-wracking turning down and offer of £3,600, all of which is money I never expected to be returned to me, so wish me luck. Hopefully the end is now very near!

OK! BIZARRE UPDATE!!!!!! I just logged into MoneyClaim to check whether the court had received NatWest's defence and whether it was showing up on there. There was no record of defence having been received, and just because I was curious, I clicked on "Request judgement by Default" Before when I clicked on this button, it just said that I couldn't request judgemnt by default at that time. However, when I clicked on it today, I was allowed to complete the process and request judgement by default! Has this happened to anyone else? Having received the defence from Cobbetts, I'd be amazed if they hadn't got it to the court in time... but if the court had received it, why did the site allow me to request judgement? Very curious... Anyway, the request apparently gets dealt with by the court tomorrow morning at 10am before being validated so WISH ME LUCK! Craig

Hey guys, hope everyone's been having a great break over Christmas. I spoke to the court on the 19th and was informed that Natwest had until December 28th to file a defence. Not sure how they arrived at that date but who am I to argue. Anyway, I received the defence from Cobbetts and CPR-18 request for further information on 23rd December (Merry Christmas!) requesting a response by 5th January. I will send a schedule of charges (which Cobbetts, as usual, claim not to have seen) and a letter. Re. The CPR-18 request. My claim is for over £5000 so what do I say? Just that I feel I've given sufficient information to make clear my case and then accuse them of intimidation? Also - should I address this to the court, and just CC Cobbetts? Or address Cobbetts and CC the court? Don't know if it makes any difference... Getting into the scary bit now so just want to ensure I don't set a single foot wrong. All help and words of encouragement appreciated! Thanks, Craig

Getting quite nervous now... NatWest have until the 18th to file a defence which is only 4 days away. If only they would just forget so I can win by default! That would be rather marvellous! I've received nothing at all from Cobbetts or NatWest since I filed my claim - that's usual, right?

Thanks Deller1 Also - I was reading round on the site the other day. Am I also right in thinking I will have to pay £100 when I get the AQ? If so this might delay things for me as I've already had to pay £250 to file the claim in the first place and another £100 is going to be pretty steep at this time of year. Guess I'll just bite the bullet and pay it. I just have to accept I'm broke until NatWest finally pay up!

Hey everyone - update time. I filed my claim via MCol on 20th November. Natwest acknowledged my claim on 29th November stating that they intend to fully defend all of the claim. This gives them until 18th December to put in their defence so I guess I just have to wait now until I hear anything more. Am I right in thinking the next step will be getting an allocation questionaire through? Cheers, Craig

Thanks Paul. Ok guys - I have a question. I'm filling in my claim online and want to be sure I dodn't make a mistake with the following: Claimant claims: (a) return of the amounts debited of £xxxx; (b) Interest per S.69 County Courts Act 1984 of 8% - £xxxx continuing at 8% until judgment or settlement at a daily rate of £0.xx The first 2 amounts are fine - I know my total charges and I know the interest so far. Now - the third figure I need to calculate. Am I right in thinking this is the total of charges (in my case £5750) multiplied by 0.00022. If so, am I right in thinking the correct amount is £1.265 ? If someone can confirm that's correct it would be much appreciated. Really don't want to make any mistakes on the claim! Thanks.

OK, 28 days have now passed since I sent off the first request. I am going to file my claim on Moneyclaim tomorrow. Really quite scared now - it's becoming a reality that I'm actually setting the wheels in motion to take a bank to court. Not something I could ever imagine doing. My family are convinced it's not possible to reclaim the charges. Thank god I've got this forum for support! Craig

Received my second sod off letter from Stuart Higley yesterday after sending my LBA. Just waiting now for the 28 days to be up before filing my MCOL now. This is a pretty boring process huh!? Can't wait to get this properly moving. The 28 days are up on 14th November so I will file with MCOL then.