Ha! That's a brilliant idea! Unfortunately, my ability to speak welsh (at this present moment) is limited to the national anthem (of course!), "I can play football", "I like coffee" and "no cycling" (which I've recently learnt thanks to the signs around the parks where I live). :-D:p:-D

Thanks for your input both, the harrassment letter is useful - I've seen it elsewhere although I'm by no means being hassled at the moment so don't need this right now - no doubt I may need it over the forthcoming weeks. I will certainly include it in my letter now then and the point about all future contact to be made in writing is great, hadn't thought about that. Cheers both.

Hey guys, not been on here for a fair amount of time and this time round the purpose of my questions is quite a bit different I'm currently seeking advice from National Debtline with regards to our current financial circumstances Very brief summary of our situation is that I am currently in the process of setting up an IVA. I am currently awaiting a form from NDL to complete to set it up and have been advised to send letters to my creditors asking them to hold off for a while as I sort my situation out. On the off chance, I thought I'd pop on here to see if there was anything useful in terms of letter templates and sure enough CAG never fails me Anyways, I'm now in the process of putting together letters to each of my creditors based on the request to hold off on action template from here but I have a question that I've spent around 2 hours trying to find an answer on but just can't find anything conclusive. The missus is getting a little frantic right now over the fact that she has recently started receiving phonecalls from creditors at work...not threatening ones IMO but initial contact trying to get her to bring one of her CCs to within its limit. The point is it's hit home that...for both of us...this will only get worse and the prospect of creditors galore ringing work phone numbers is unthinkable. So, here is what I'm after, basically I want to request the removal of work and mobile numbers from their records as it is neither appropriate or convenient for either of us to discuss financial matters at work. We have no issues in speaking with our creditors but it is simply not possibly for us to discuss such sensitive matters during work hours. Can I simply do that? Should I include it in my letter requesting them to hold action on my account? Should I do it seperately? Are they required to comply? If they were asked to remove details and then didn't, where do I stand? Is this something that the ICO would be interested in? I do realise through a long and mainly successful history with CAG that banks being required to comply and actually complying are two different things but I'm just wondering where I stand? Cheers all and thanks in advance.

Hey all Just after some information as to where I stand with this. Bought a Fujitsu/Siemens (F/S) laptop around 16 months ago from Laptops Direct. The battery has been noticeably deteriorating since the day I got it and in all fairness I should have done something about it sooner but that's a different story.... The battery has recently taken a dramatic turn for the worse and now I cannot use the laptop unless it is plugged in. If I was to remove the power adapter, the laptop switches itself off after about 20 seconds. In normal circumstances, my laptop is set up to hibernate when the battery reaches a critical state (i.e. not much power left) in order to ensure no data loss - it now simply switches itself off instantly as there is not even enough power to initiate the hibernation!! I have contacted F/S directly with regards to this and they have replied: Did that - battery is £90 incl VAT & delivery, so I went back to F/S to say: To which F/S have replied: So before I reply I just wanted to know where I stand. The battery running out after 20 seconds is definitely NOT fit for purpose, but does a laptop battery qualify? Also, is there any central reference on this site with the rules? Not easy with looking through other peoples threads, no idea what SOGA is so not easy for me to understand where I stand and provide a decent argument! Thanks

OK thanks for response, familiar with the FOS process as used this for bank charges. Will keep you informed of any updates.

This has moved on a bit from my last update and for one reason or another I haven't paid this the attention it derserved and things have got a bit off track. Having popped in the other day to ask a question, it got me thinking I should be sorting this out properly so here is my update.... A prelim letter was sent to BC some time at the beginning of the year and in March I received a letter from BC that in summary says: It's just under 10 weeks since I received this letter. Just wondering what people would advise I do? Should I start again with a fresh Prelim? In my mind, I'm thinking that it would probably be better to start afresh although I may lose out on a couple of quid as the oldest payments will drop off where it's been a few months since I put my first complaint in. Just out of interest, has the process changed any since the beginning of the year? Don't have chance to review it all right now, if someone can say "Yes" or "No" this will at least give me an indication of whether I have to do some extra homework. I know the process reasonably well having made a handful of other claims....

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Good point and something I have relayed - as I said this (honestly) isn't me, but a forum member of the fish forum I use. This is obviously only valid if they said "I have this size tank, recommend me some fish". Thanks for you input all. GD, sorry I'm not an experienced fishkeeper by any stretch of the imagination and just a few tropical fish in a tank

Hey both Gosh a golden oldie lol Hope all is well, it seems the site is going from strength to strength. Going to be putting my CAG cap back on soon, once I put down my FISH cap

Hi all, not been on here for a while....hope all is well. Will be returning soon when I pick up my fight against Barclays on PPI. In the meantime, I have a query I wanted to run by you helpful lot to see what your opinion is. Basically, I have a query about buying fish - in particular goldfish. Bit different to the norm, but it does have some context (I think ). If an aquatic shop was to recommend that I could put 3 goldfish in a bowl and once I'd bought them I found out they were not suitable (because the tank is too small for them), would the aquatic shop be under obligation to accept the fish back? In my head, this is some form of mis-selling or misleading isn't it? I keep fish myself and this isn't my problem personally, but a fellow (fish) forum member has been sold 3 goldfish for a tank that is not suitable, they are all ill (after just a week) due to being in a confined space and the aquatic shop is refusing to take them back on the grounds that they don't accept returns. Given my ties with this site in the past, I thought I would run it past you guys to see what you think? Thanks in advance.

Great stuff, unforunately I've sent it without waiting for review. This will come in handy if I need to press further....

Followup to the S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) went out this week: I know I shouldn't have waited so long to get to the point of forcing disclosure but I've been doing so many claims at the moment I can't keep track Just helped the other half's sister to around £4k back from MBNA in charges and have helped my best mate to £500 from Lloyds (charges), now taking the fight to Natwest (charges), Beneficial / HFC (PPI) and MBNA (charges) for him too along with doing the charges on the above credit cards for the missus too.

Hey, know this probably best in the BC forum but wanted to get a bit of a larger exposure. Currently doing bank charge claims for the other half's credit cards. Halfway through - just had first offer letter from Barclaycard and they've done something I've not seen before. My OH settled her CC in April 2005 - zero balance and (we believe) closed the account. Now we've not had any correspondence on it since - statements or promotional mail the like - yet BC have said that they have refunded the money to her account. Sure enough the same day she gets a statement from BC for this CC with a credit balance for the amount of the offer. We don't have any recent credit files available to check whether the account was at any time classed as settled or not. I have no issues with the refund having been put on to a CC, I have no issues with getting the money of it but what I'm confused about is we believe that BC have essentially reopened a CC for her without her permission. Is that possible?

Been reading more this morning and might have hit a brick wall. All four accounts were pre-2005 so probably not going to be able to go down the FOS route. Going to dig a bit more about this.

Cool, cheers.

aa, appreciate your response. "The banks are not obliged to provide CCAs on closed/terminated or refinanced accounts only existing accounts".......do you mean under an SAR request or CCA request?? Sorry if I'm being stupid, it's a little ambiguous and just wanted to clarify what you mean. The link you sent suggests it would be a waste of my time putting in a CCA request as they are all settled. I think I will add something to my SAR letter that mentions the Money Laundering regulations, like that bit! I am currently still information gathering and getting final bits of information from Barclays before I unleash hell. I've had a chat with the missus and I think that I will start the claim as a single one initially, in order to use the argument around having all 4 running consecutively (sp?). I am going to draft tomorrow a letter to the ICO about Barclays messing us round, will amend the text in my letter to explain that I have already complained to ICO and wait to see how the respond. Will keep you posted

One more thing I am wondering....I am interested in the fact that all 4 accounts were open around the same time and as a result all had PPI at the same time. I'm wondering whether this is another stance I can take with regards to my claim - the fact that she was sold FOUR insurance policies that ran consecutively of each other whereas she could have taken out a policy to cover all four elsewhere at probably a fifth of the price....or even less! This then leads me on to the question of whether I should make one claim for all four policies or do them seperately? If the fact she was sold all four consecutively holds any weight, then I'm inclined to claim for all four of them together. Look forward to your responses

Still interested in your opinions on #20 & #21 when you get a chance, but in the meantime..... I've started reading through alanalana's experience with RBS and have decided to follow up my S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) with Barclays as I need to ensure that I have covered off everything with regards to the 3 accounts I have been chasing - I want to ensure I make it clear I want contracts for all her accounts and that if they don't have them they need to tell me that in writing. I have also decided to extend the SAR to include this barclayloan I've discovered. As the Data Protection Act says they must provide information on the subject, not on specific accounts, they have purposely ignored this account. I have put together this letter this morning which my OH will be sending out later:

Ok, have been doing some delving and have the following to report: I cannot find anything resembling a credit agreement for bank account or either credit card. I guess then, that in order to reaffirm my claim, I should make a CCA request? Interestingly, I have found a piece of information from a data feed from her bank account. It is called an "Initial Assessment of Lending" and relates to her overdraft. The entry of note on this page is called "Secured" by which the entry says NO. So in other words, she did not request her overdraft to be secured, yet she still paid overdraft protection. That should be the easiest of the lot. Shame it's only around £80 still...it all adds up!!! I have however found a credit agreement for a £15k loan she took out with Barclays which also had PPI. The details of the loan (note, all figures rounded): Amount of loan: £15,000 Total amount payable: £21,000 Monthly repayment: £250 Amount of insurance: £4,000 Total amount payable: £5,800 Monthly repayment: £70 Now I reckon this is going to be the 4th claim to make this thread 4 x PPI Claims against Barclays mods feel free to amend if you're passing by. What I need to clarify, the loan was taken out July 2003 and was settled March 2005, total of 19 payments made (my rough guess) and in March she was refunded £2,400 from her PPI. Now if they have refunded her that much, I am curious would the PPI have been front loaded? If this is the case and I am going to dispute this PPI, would that mean that I am looking at the difference (£5,800 - £2,400) which is £3,400. Am I right in my thinking / workings?

Despite it being a valid point, just wanted to clarify what's you're saying If I do send CCA request and they say they haven't got it, they haven't supplied it as part of my SAR or CCA requests so they then can't produce it in court, is that what you are saying?? Or are you assuming that if they don't supply it they just haven't got it? If it's the latter, I wouldn't be surprised with the history I've had with Barclaycard that it wouldn't magically appear at some point in the future. Something to prove my point...most people will be aware of the microfiche battle we all had 24 months ago, well Barclays just provided me with Bank Statements for her (settled two years ago) bank account going back to 1998!!!!! I have no faith in anything they say. Anyway, I digress....also wanted to say up front, the I intend to send the mrs down the FOS route initially. I know this will slow things down loads, but our current circumstance dictates this.

Thank AA, will have a good read through that. Adamski, from the brief check I had when I was going through for bank charges, I don't seem to recall a CA. One thing I'm curious of and I've never been able to find a direct answer for, can you request and will you receive a credit agreement for an account that is a) settled and b) outside of the 6 year time limit? I'm guessing my next step if I don't have the CA, is to send a CCA request to BC for all 3 accounts? From my reading though, I still might not get a copy of the CA? As I said, will get some time this weekend and go through the mass of paperwork I've received from Barclays. Adamski, just wanted to clarify what you are saying, might their be a strong possibility that her CA's don't have PPI mentioned on there? Is that what you mean by "the PPI should be on there"?? Cheers all

Thank AA, will have a good read through that. Adamski, from the brief check I had when I was going through for bank charges, I don't seem to recall a CA. One thing I'm curious of and I've never been able to find a direct answer for, can you request and will you receive a credit agreement for an account that is a) settled and b) outside of the 6 year time limit? I'm guessing my next step if I don't have the CA, is to send a CCA request to BC for all 3 accounts? From my reading though, I still might not get a copy of the CA? As I said, will get some time this weekend and go through the mass of paperwork I've received from Barclays. Cheers all

Hi alana, all sorted thanks. In response to posts above. Cheers Adamski, already done the whole SAR process as I've been doing her bank charges. I agree with Bog, they are a PAIN - experienced their delaying tactics when I did my Barclaycard last year, but they were even WORSE this time round. I literally had to spell it out for them what they had and hadn't sent me. As for the SAR, I'm not sure if all the data I've received fulfills my requirements (or at least what Adamski suggests) as I don't see any application form within the documents. I have a huge amount of information - massive reams of printouts from their information system, personal details for each account. Both were taken out prior to 2002 so I'm a bit stuck with the 6 year rule. Anyone know what I should be looking for? THere certainly isn't a copy of hte application form - at least I don't think so. To be honest, I only really concentrated on bank charges to start with, will have a good review this weekend. Tatenada, would be interested to keep in touch to see how you get on so we can hopefully help each other. Sounds like you are doing exactly the same as me (LPF & Barclaycard). Good luck Cheers for support so far guys, will keep you updated once I get the ball rolling.

Ha!!! Yes was all over the bank charges forums. I have had a bit of withdrawal symptoms not being able to stick one up them for a while so have started on the missus' accounts. 3 bank charge claims in process and now on to the PPI! Thanks for the link...but could you check it? Seems to be dead.

I am currently doing some investigations into PPI claims prior to making 3 of our own against Barclays. The OH has a long history with Barclays, having a long-standing bank account, 1 loan and 2 credit cards (1 x Barclaycard and 1 x Littlewoods Personal Finance - basically Barclaycard). On the bank account and 2 credit cards (yet to confirm loan), she had PPI and I would imagine that she probably agreed to all 3 (although whether they were signed for is not clear). The point I am hoping to catch them on, is that on discovering she had these policies, I told her to cancel them as if she really wanted protection, she could get one cheaper elsewhere to cover them all. She was amazed at the idea that she could cover her finance with another company and had no idea this was possible. It would suggest that when selling this insurance to her it was not made clear it wasn't compulsory and furthermore that alternative cover could be found elsewhere (or one of the two). I note that the majority of successes I have found have been situation ones (i.e. sold it whilst ill, or previous conditions or self employed etc) and I have found very few (at least against BC) catching them on misselling on failure to advise. I am reading through a lot of the PPI forum to get further information from different people's experiences, but was wondering if I could get some advice up front....do you think this would be a strong enough argument to put up against them? Will update with progress once I have started.