deleted.

OK. So I got a letter in from the bank's solicitors telling me that as the OFT case didn't go according to all our hopes, they're seeking my case be dismissed, and want a reply from me as to my intentions. In their words "your argument that the changes as unfair has now, in our client's view been decided in favour of the banks by the Supreme Court. Furthermore, your contention that the charges are penalties at common law has also been decided in favour of the banks by the High Court in England and Wales, who held that none of the charges were capable of being penalties. These decisions will be relied on before the courts in Scotland. We are, however, instructed to offer on behalf of Clydesdale Bank that if you consent to your case being dismissed then our client will not seek the expenses (costs) associated with this action." They give me 28 days to reply... So, what to do? Should I reply that I'd be willing to settle out of court and hope for a compromise? Should I keep going? If I tell them I intend to keep up the fight, will they still move for dismissal? If I keep up the fight and lose, will I have to pay their costs (I'm on JSA)? If the case is dismissed is there anything else I can do, any other avenue to take? If the case is dismissed can I raise another action in court against them using a different argument?

Ah, excellent info, thanks for your help, Mark!

But, and I apologise for seeming dense, surely they only have the authority to debit my account for the correct amount, and if they err then they should pay for the consequences of their mistake? Anyway, thanks for the answer, I'll get in touch with both Vispa and the bank to see if this can be resolved. Is there a specific piece of legislation to look into which deals with the bank's responsibility for refunding, just in case they tell me its not their responsibility?

Hi trinity, My partner's mother has had exactly the same problem with Talk Talk, with exactly the same excuses, first there were line problems (which there weren't as we'd had the BT engineer out to check everything over and it was fine), then it was the equipment shortage. It all started in November when they signed up, and they were still being fobbed off in early January and being told that they'd be connected within a fortnight.. funnily enough, that's what they'd been told a fortnight before that, and again before that. In February she called up Talk Talk and told them where they could stick their service and their contract and they signed up with BT instead... they were online within days. A great site to see what others think about internet service providers is ISPreview UK - Independent Internet Service Provider Information Source Don't put up with it, luv, tell Talk Talk where they can stick their poxy service!

Hi there, My isp Titan recently moved from one wholesaler to another, from Entanet to Vispa. We were assured that as long as we cancelled our direct debit with Entanet (to whom we paid the bill), and gave Vispa our details we'd be fine and there's be no double billing. So, in early February Titan moved us to Vispa, we terminated the dd with Entanet, and set up the dd with Vispa, expecting the same deal. However, on Friday we visited the bank to discover that instead of our usual £20 direct debit for the internet connection, Vispa had taken £53. There wasn't enough money in the account, the dd bounced, and Clydesdale lumped us with a £35 charge. We're now in debt... I emailed Titan, who told me to phone Vispa. Vispa assured me that everything they did was fully above board and that Titan had been disingenuous to their customers regarding the new billing system. With Entanet we paid for December's usage in January, with Vispa we're apparently paying for March's supply in February... this confuses me as we're on a monthly contract scheme where I can cancel with 30 days notice. The online invoice states that we were billed for - Family 30 (pro-rata) 14.20 - Family 30 19.36 - Family 30 19.36 - Total - £52.92 The £14.20 is February's bill, and apparently the other two are March and April... I might not even be with them in April!!! I sent of a frankly furious email to Titan who assured me that they'd get in contact with Vispa and get a refund. My main concern is the £35 dd fee/charge. I've asked the bank if they'll waive it (ha), and am waiting to hear back from the manager. But, doesn't the company who has incorrectly billed me have an obligation to not only refund me, but pay the £35 fee as well?

excellent reply, many thanks! My friend had tried to come to an agreement with RBS before the account was defaulted. She had offered to pay £5 a week to bring the account back within her overdraft limits, and to pay off the overdraft once that had done at a similar rate, or greater when the ability arose, but the bank weren't interested, they wanted the whole amount that she was 'overdrawn' by, which was £180, and they wanted the overdraft paid off asap. Being a student, she didn't readily have that kind of cash at hand. I think that the majority of the debt incurred which drove her over her limit was bank charges, but I'd have to check.

I'm posting on behalf of a friend who recently defaulted on her RBS student account due to being unable to make regular payments to clear the overdraft. The debt was passed on to Allied International Credit who are "acting on behalf of our client to recover the above outstanding balance". My friend sent out a letter based on template N - "Ask your creditor for a copy of your credit agreement under the Consumer Credit Act 1974" on the 18th, with the £1 postal order to Allied. Today she received a letter back from them saying that "As we are currently acting on behalf on RBS Bank in respect of recovering the outstanding debt on this account, we are unable to comply with your request. Such requests need to be addressed to the legal owners of the product, which in this case is RBS Bank" They also said that she'd have to provide them with the "sort code, account number and enclose a piece of photographic identity with an original signature", along with the £1 postal order. Is all this right, or are they trying to pull a fast one? ta, D.

OK. So I sent off the letters by recorded delivery on the 18th, got my reply from both Roxburghe and Graham White Solicitors today. The letter from GW was in an unsealed envelope, terribly shabby, that. The letter from GW is dated the 23rd Feb and is titled "Final Notice" and states that "Our clients have instructed us to write to you one final time before they decide on what further action to take", then there's blurb about costs, payment plans, court papers, and sending a field investigator to visit my property. The letter from Roxburghe is dated the 24th and they thank me for my recent communication, but advise me that "However as we are no longer acting in this matter, your correspondence has been forwarded on to our client with our request that they now attend to your communication and respond to you directly. As there is nothing further we can do to assist you we intend to now re-file out papers" It seems, in my humble opinion, that they don't know their arses from their elbows

thanks again, alf, you're help is greatly appreciated!

^ fffffffuuuuuu..... no, I sent it by standard post, balls, I knew there was something I should have done!

Ok. So today I received a "Notice of intended legal action" letter from Graham White Solicitors (dated the 9th Feb, arrived 16th). In it they advise me that should the matter come to court there would be costs involved which include a small claims summons (£35) at 8% interest annually, along with expenses. Also "In addition to this scale costs are set to £131.61, making the outstanding amount increase by a minimum of £170. Now, I sent Roxburghe the letter suggested above by alfwithhair a week or so ago, so where to go now? thanks, as ever!

Technically, I guess I do owe them money, but morally I'd say I'm within my rights; they failed to provide a service and failed to act to restore an adequate service after months of complaining, so I cancelled the direct debit. I didn't respond to Crapito Credit. Roxburghe phoned last week, I had taken notice of others on the site recommending that you not speak to debt collectors on the phone, so I just hung up on them saying "no thank you". I'll get on to Talk Talk, and ship the letter off to Roxburghe. Thanks Alf, you've been a great help!

alfwithhair, I have a 'notice of suspension' letter dated 16, May 2007, where they state that despite reminders, I've got an outstanding balance. A letter dated 22 May, 2007, confirming my 'recent request' to cancel my account with them. It states that 'As your payments are collected in arrears please don't cancel your direct debits'. A letter dated 19 June 2007 with my final account balance of £56.79 And a letter from Experto Credite dated 20 September 2007 also asking for £56.79 Unfortunately, I don't have any of the correspondence with Tiscali detailing the connection speed issues and general lack of service as it was either all done on their forum, on the phone, or by email :/

Hi, hope you guys can be of some help. I got a "72 hour notice" letter from Roxburghe today with regard to a debt of £80 I apparently owe Talk Talk formerly Tiscali. Prior to Roxburghe getting their mits on the debt, it stood at about £60. The debt relates to an internet contract I had with them about 3 years ago. Briefly: after 3 months of getting below 56kbps on a deal which suggested I'd be getting broadband of 2Mb, or whatever my line could handle (the line can handle 8Mb), I grew tired of trying to sort out the issue with customer services on the phone and their useless forums, and informed them that if the situation weren't sorted out then I'd be getting shot of them. It wasn't sorted out, they blamed the line and suggest I contact BT. I contacted BT and they said the line was fine. I got back in touch with Tiscali and demanded my service be terminated and a MAC be sent. I cancelled the direct debits and refused to pay them. When I transfered to my new ISP I was immediately on speeds of 8Meg and have had no problems for the past 3 years, awesome. But, now this letter arrives, and they're threatening court action. Do I have a leg to stand on? ta muchly, D.

Reading the BBC article posted here, I noticed Crossley suggested downloading and uploading were "the equivalent of someone stood outside HMV with a pile of the latest albums, handing them out to people who were intending to go in the shop and buy it,"... as far as I'm aware, that's not illegal is it? I mean, that's essentially something we do at Xmas, give people things they want so they don't have to buy them.

Unbelievable... after everything the bankers have done over the past couple of years to not only eff up the economy, but to eff over their customers, and we bail them out to the tune of billions, and now this, its just salt in an already very angry wound. I wish we could go Tyler Durden on their greedy scheming corporate arses. We should have all went communist last October and overthrown the system. Bastiches the lot of them. I'm opening a credit union account, I suggest you all go do the same.

Hi. My question is this. Do I need to go to court prior to having the Sheriff Officers act on my behalf? Also, as I am on JSA, will it cost me anything to take such action? thanks muchly.

I think, though I may be mistaken, that I got a similar letter from a previous dca years ago and no-one came, I'm hoping that this will be the case again. There's no way I'd let those cnuts in the house tho, heh.

heh, thanks! http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m348/darrenb1976/bcw01.jpg http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m348/darrenb1976/bcw02.jpg

Hi all, the first file (BCW01) is the letter BCW sent regarding legal notification. The second is one (BCW02) I received today about being visited by a debt investigation officer. Finally got my scanner working again! ps: oh, they're a bit wee, have i done it right?

edited for privacy reasons.

*grins* again, thank you all for your wonderful advice! Percival, it looks like a pseudo-letter, to be honest, but I have worries that mebe they'll actually take action. I think it must be the kind of letter Knox is referring to. I'll try to get my scanner up and running and post it. If I send the cca, is there a time limit for them to respond within? thanks muchly!

*phew!* that is a relief, I've been quietly pooping myself that any communication with them would set the clock back. So far, there's no ccj or decree, so I'll be sending off the cca this weekend. thanks muchly! d.

OK, here's a quick one. There is a debt in my credit file which is due to be statute barred on the 29th September 2008. I just got a 'Legal Notification' letter in from Buchanan Clark and Wells regarding this debt. If I CCA them, or send them letter M (Disputing liability), does this re-set the Statute Barring clock? ta muchly