two points, I will check things obv, but:- 1) £4926 was not the penalty charges imposed at the start of the period in question. This figure is cumulative from september 2000. I wonder sometimes...... 2) I thought the 1.09 odd figure is the interesrt charged on the sum claimed from date of MCOL to date of judgement (s'pose equivalent to 8%?)?

I will check the figures however, but surely are we not talking two different figures here:- 8 % is on the monies illegally taken by A&L from the day they were taken, I would not have been owed £4926 in 2000. The £1 odd is the daily rate of interest from the day of MCOL to the date of judgement....

The interest is £4926.01 x 0.00022 = 1.0837 = 1.09? or can I not do that... Yup the words are from the template, although as I can't remember when we opened the account (long, long time ago) I simplified that sentence by removing the "opened on". The interest on the total owed is directly from the complex spread sheet...

Yup, I think they have a far greater fear of the Courts than we have

I feel young and unsure again . Advice on the words for MCOL please :- "Claimant has account XXXXXXXXX with Defendant conducted on their standard terms and conditions. Claimant is claiming the return of £4926.01 taken by Defendant in charges over 6 years. The Defendant's charges are a disproportionate penalty and therefore unenforceable as they are contrary to common law. They are also invalid under the Unfair Contracts Terms Act 1977 s.4 and under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.Para.8 and sch.2.1.e. In the event that the charges are not a penalty they are unreasonable within the meaning of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 s.15. Defendant has declined justification of charges despite repeated requests. Claimant claims interest under Sec.69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at a rate of 8% a year from 9 November 2000 to 28 September 2006 of £34.48 and also interest at same rate up to the date of judgment or earlier payment at a daily rate of £1.09 (Amount claimed x 0.00022)." Interest taken from the most excellent Spreadsheet:)

Doh, thanks Caro

I can understand why a lot of you are concerned about going to court, however I would like to make two points :- 1) Read the posts - A&L have never gone to the courts, they take it to the wire but never go there. Think about it - if they do, they have to substantiate the charges - they will never, ever be able to do that, £25 for a computer produced letter?!, I don't think so. 2) After they have lost, which they will, they would have set precedent and would have to re-imburse all the charges to the level that the Court has deemed reasonable. They definately will not want to do this. Think about it... They won't go there unless some judge (see the Mercantile Court Link/Thread) forces them to

Quick response to LBA!! Fob off letter "Our reference aaannnn/UNFAIR4" .At least they did'nt charge me £25 for the pleasure. Arrogance comes before a fall though:). MCOL or visit to Reading CC? Can someone give me a link to the words to use?

Just worked out the charges + interest on their penalties = £4989.93. Handy, just under the £5k . Prelim letter sent today.

Stolen my question

Ah, I knew there was something about loans secured on your home under 25k and the Consumer Credit Act but I can't remember it..

Wolf, I'm concentrating on A&L at the moment. Yup, IGroup are horrors, I fell in arrears with them but avoided (just) the repossesion process by arranging another mortgage with (don't laugh) Kensington, who seem to have either morphed into Devonshires (or more likely, sold the portfolio on), but that was before I found this site. Now I am trying to clean up my credit history so's I can get back to the "High St" lenders and get away from these bandits. I think IGroup might just go all the way because the ERC, or whatever it's called on a secured loan, was quite large.

Oh I have just read the last para. of the covering letter... "If you want to query any aspect of the details provided, please write to me at the address given above" Oh I will, I will....

They seemed to have turned round my SAR quite quickly but then again I would rather enjoy seeing A&L justifying £25 for a computer generated letter! Never been to Court could be fun!

Yup, Alliance & Leicester plc, its what I did.

What a parcel!! Wish I could charge 'em an hourly rate for going through this lot! OK guys, guess I have to do the spreadsheet stuff, some questions :- a) oldest charges first or t'other way round? b) Interest after lba i.e. when you do moneyclaim? c) If the total charges are greater than £5k break them into two claims? They also seem quite keen on me as they have actually sent me my statements going back to 6 March 2000, can I claim the penalty charges back beyond 6 years? or is it 6 years from date of SAR? Thanks

Congrats Zoot, Well chuffed for you. Before I started reading the forums on this site I was, I expect, like so many; just accepting that because I had signed an agreement I was tied into unfair terms and conditions. Now I know. Great stuff.

Just a hello zoot, I have subscribed to this thread as I will be taking on The Chelsea and I Group and will be using the letters herein.

Cheers Zoot, I had read your thread but could'nt find it again. More interesting reading, I will let the boards know what I-Group (grr) and Chelsea say when I ask them to quantify the ERC's

Can someone tell me the difference between a Secured Loan and a Mortgage (I know one is regulated by the FSA and the other by the Consumer Credit Act), what does this mean in relation to Early Redemption Charges (or give me a link to a thread)? Surely the lender has to justify the charge for either type of loan? If I can get these back I'll buy the site a new server!

Even if you were the first, there is no way A&L can justify the fees they charge, but I think snowballs in hells chance they will go.

Thanks Rooster. No, I am not going to give them the opportunity to deny me my identity by letting them know my purpose!

All the posts on here have encouraged me to dig out old loans, credit card agreements etc. There was a lot of them at one time and I am afraid that as I settled each one I threw out the old paperwork (doh!). Fortunately some of them still are "live" on the my Equislack report, however, they only have the last 4 or 5 numbers of the account number of each loan/credit card (fair enough). Can I send off a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) letter with only this information? Would I need to send any other information to prove my identity? Is there any other way I can get these old account numbers? The clock is ticking for A&L

See the sticky at the top of the forum

Got address from Companies House :- CAPITAL BANK PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY CAPITAL HOUSE QUEENS PARK ROAD HANDBRIDGE CHESTER CHESHIRE CH88 3AN Fortunately I remember them being in Chester!