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I had a mortgage with Abbey between 2004 and 2007. In that time I lost my job and subsequently our home. I borrowed £50,000 but by the time the house was sold I owed them almost £55,000 with missed payments, charges, interest and suchlike most of which were accumulated in the space of only 6 months. I have absolutely none of my statements or paperwork as it all seems to have been lost when we moved. Can I claim back the charges and if so, how far back can I go? Obviously some of them will be outside the 6 year limit. What do I have to request from them as all I have is my name, address and the address of the house the mortgage was on. Any help greatly appreciated.

I sent the originals to the Finance and Leasing Association as I was told they HAD to have the originals, as I said when I requested the originals back they had sent them to GE Money after only copying one side of the insurance document even though it states clearly on the front that the terms and conditions are on the reverse. My parents never had an original copy of the loan agreement as the guy took everything with him after is was signed. They took the loan through Midland and General and the paperwork we have all says First National. It was GE Money I tried to claim through, they said I had to contact the Finance and Leasing Association who after sending everything to GE Money said "Yeah, they're right. No laws back then to say they couldn't so, tough."

My parents took out a loan in 1996 and were told they HAD to take PPI with it. They were both sold individual single premium policies that were entirely useless to them. We went through the entire process and were told we had to contact the Finance and Leasing Association when all else failed. We were told "Tough luck, there were no laws then to stop them ripping you off and they did, nothing we can do." My father was self employed, my mother only worked part time. We sent them the original copies of the paperwork they asked for and when we asked for them back, we got a bad photocopy of one side of a document which had all the relevant information on the other side i.e insurance no good to self employed, over 60s (Dad was both, mam was 5 weeks or so away from 60) or part timers. Is there any point in trying again?

I spoke to a young chap on the NatWest telephone banking line today. The first question I asked him was "When I use my debit card is the transaction amount deducted from my AVAILABLE balance immediately?" "Yes." He replied, categorically. "So how when I paid £39.04 on April 5th did it not come off my available balance immediately when authorisation was requested as it has done in 55 out of 57 cases and you are now sticking me for £66 in charges?" "Ah well, it doesn't all the time." "Why not?" He then put me through to a woman who told me several times that "The company you're paying can take up to 6 months to take payment from your bank." Speaking to me as if I were a small and stupid child. That was not what I was asking, what I was asking is why, when in almost every instance the money has been deducted from my AVAILABLE balance immediately (even though it may not come off the ACTUAL balance for up to 6 days later) has it not occurred on two occasions, both of which have led to me being charged. They did however refund the first lot of charges. I always check my available balance on the internet before making transactions so that I do not end up with charges. When I pointed this out to one of my branch staff she said I haven't to trust the available balance on the internet. So, if we have to double check everything in case the bank have cocked up, what are they being paid for? I also asked her the same first question as I did the young man on the phone. She too said yes, it did come off the available balance immediately. As soon as I told her what the problem was She also moved the goal posts and even asked me why I didn't learn from the first time it happened.

In case anyone else needs to know the Rock's MO. I signed their form and returned it to say I would accept their charges until I could sort out another account, which I did. As soon as I began transferring stuff to the other account I got a letter from the Rock saying I had not returned their form agreeing to their charges within the required 30 days and so they were reducing my account to basic status, ie no £35 fee free buffer zone. So, as I now have a letter saying I did not agree to their charges I am reclaiming a further £84 in unauthorised OD charges and £14 in charges for an authorised OD that they refused to give me. Bollocks to 'em!

I didn't think anyone else would touch me with the proverbial ten foot one. I've applied for other accounts and been knocked back before. Thanks for the info dear heart.

My parents took out a loan in desperation in 1997. They saw an ad in Exchange and Mart for a company called Midland and General who were offering a loan of £15,000 with insurance over 7 years for £285 a month or thereabouts. They called the UNSECURED loan number in the ad and a visit was arranged. A young man came out, the first thing my mother said was if it was a loan where they took your house if you couldn't meet the payment at some point she didn't want it. He assured her it wasn't. The forms were signed in my mother's house in the presence of me, my mother and the agent from M&G, my mother then took them along for neighbours to 'witness' they weren't present when my dad signed them. After a couple of months paying £296 a month it went up to £325 because they 'made a mistake with the insurance'. In about October 1998 they hit big problems and went to a debt management company and found to their surprise they had a secured loan over 10 years and were told that because the debt management company had said they should cease payments until a new payment schedule could be negotiated that they must pay £400 per month or lose their home. They were 62 and petrified of losing what they had worked for all their lives, so they ate less, used less gas and electricity and paid £400 per month. In 2004 I managed to get a remortgage to pay the remainder off and lift a little of the stress. When I told Mark, the mortgage broker chap he was mortified. He said they had to have a copy of the original agreement. My mother asked and got 3/4 of a page of photocopying with no signatures in evidence. While they still owed the money they were too afraid to tackle the legalities of the matter. By the time they paid the loan off in 2004 they had paid more than £30,000 back on £15,000. After they paid it off they said they were so glad to see the back of First National Bank they couldn't be bothered, plus they said they can't afford a lawyer. If they lost the case they couldn't afford to pay fees and they are now both 70. I think somewhere along the line something illegal transpired. How else do you sign for an unsecured loan over 7 years and end up with a secured one over 10? I am currently writing to ask for a copy of the original agreement, my parents would not have taken a secured loan, I heard the broker say it wasn't a secured loan, yet they somehow wound up in the position of being 62 and having First National Bank threatening to sell their home out from under them. The witnesses did not witness my father's signature, they weren't even in the building! Does anyone know if there is anything we can do? And would a solicitor take it on a no win no fee basis?

Well, I had the neck for owt but soap and wrote to the Northern Rock informing them that almost £300 had disappeared into thin air. Just to be sure I also put in a claim at the court for the missing sum. They sent the cheque before they were even informed of the claim so I told the court and the matter is now closed. OR IS IT? I heard nothing from them after they settled the rest of the claim on August 29th. They did not threaten to close my account. I tried very hard to not go over my £35 buffer zone limit, but due to a cock up at work concerning my wages I wound up being unable not to. It seems I was charged the 'Authorised Overdraft' fee of £7 for those occasions, even though I have no authorised overdraft facility. I thought it best to apply for one, as I've been told I may not get paid until the end of November. I had to stand at the counter and tell the teller how much I wanted an overdraft of and why, in front of other customers. I received a letter on Friday 13th saying that they had consulted a credit reference agency and would not give me an overdraft due to the information held. On Saturday 14th I recieved a letter and a form to fill in saying if I don't return the form withing 30 days agreeing that they can rob me blind as they see fit, they will close my account. An abusive relationship left me in deep financial crap which 6 years hence I am still trying to extricate myself from. It seems that once they knew I needed an overdraft and would not get an account anywhere else because of my financial situation, they moved in for the kill. For years they allowed me to exceed my overdraft and charged me between £20 and £28 for doing so. Occasionally, just for fun and without warning, they would decide to bounce things that they had previously paid and charge me £30 for each of those. It was always repaid as every penny I have goes through that account. I am a single mother trying to make ends meet as best I can. My record at their bank shows that I have always repaid anything I have borrowed, authorised or not, for a number of years. I feel like just handing the keys for the house back to the damn bank and giving up. If I sign this, they can screw me for charges til they have back every penny they repaid me and more. If I don't, all I have is a basic account with the Abbey and an inability to pay the bills for basic necessities. Way to treat a customer of around 16 years Northern Rock.

Soz that I've not posted for yonks dudes, deaded computer, now nice and speedy courtesy of the nice folks at Capital One Bank (Europe)plc. Northern Rock sent me a cheque this morning for £1155.56. According to their letter this represents the total amount claimed plus 29 days interest at 0.29 p. However the total amount claimed was actually £1440.48, they seem to have 'lost' £300 quid.

Well, I got a letter this morning to say that they have acknowledged my claim and now we wait some more...........

Well I submitted my claim, no word as yet but as we seem to have ascertained the Northern Rock like to take the long way around things!

Everyone else seems to have been great, except for the arrogant tit of a consultant. They are currently doing the throwing every type of chemo at her known to man thing. She is into the alternative therapies anyway, so she's trying all that as well, even if it don't help it can't hurt. She's pretty much too knackered to do much at the moment. I have a nasty feeling it will turn out that the lump she found after her chemo in 2002 will mysteriously not appear in any of her records until the consultant finally got the plastic surgeon to a biopsy 19 months after she first found it. We just have to wait until she feels strong enough to deal with solicitors and the like as she won't let anyone else handle things because only she was there at the time and doesn't want any chance of someone else saying the wrong thing and buggering things up.

My sister went to a number of doctors in late 2001 with an anomaly in her breast, she was 38. She was told a number of things, it didn't feel like cancer, it didn't look like cancer and my personal favourite 'girls your age don't get it'. Finally someone took her seriously and sent her for a biopsy. On December 11th they said it was nothing to worry about, a week later they said it was cancer. She had a double mastectomy at her own insistence and the reconstruction at the same time. 5 months after her first lot of chemo ended she found a lump exactly where the first was. Her consultant said it was nothing, just the implants settling down. He told her this for 19 months til he eventually got sick of her going on about it and had her plastic surgeon do a biopsy, it wasn't nothing, it was cancer. She had another big operation, then it turned out that on her x-rays there were some 'hot spots' on her ribs. Again the consultant said it was nothing. Probably the result of an old riding injury. Again he was sadly mistaken, but we didn't find that out til months later when she was taken into hospital with a chest infection. It has since spread to her lungs, liver and other bones. When she spoke to someone with regard to making a claim they sent a guy from the hospitals legal team to see her. She was told the reason her consultant said the hot spots on the X-rays were nothing was that 'He knew this was going to happen.' I can't help but wonder if he knew that back in 2002 when he told her the second lump was nothing for over a year and a half. Maybe if he'd done something about that then, she wouldn't now weigh about 6 stone and feel like crap!

I suppose the LBA did say I would start court proceedings without further warning. I shall get to grips witht the court forms today and let you know how things pan out.