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You're probably rigght - I didn't send a schedule of charges to Lloyds or the court. I did use the standard template for the prelim and follow letters though. In the second recent correspondance from M/J they state 'You allege that the imposition of charges is unfair under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 bu this legislation is not relevant to this situation. However, the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999 do apply in curcumstances such as these, that is, where the terms of a contract have not been individually negotiated......" Could this have a bearing? I will as you suggest contact the court and M/J tomorrow. thanks for the advice.

I filled in my allocation questionnaire a few weeks ago and on 22 June I received a General Form of Judgment or Order from the local County Court, stating: It is ordered that 1. The claimant to provide further details of his claim as the the basis upon which he claims the defendants charges are a "disproportionate penalty", by 7/7 in default of which the claim can be struck out. I'm really surprised by this response. Is this an attempt by the court to lower its workload? Has they not been reading the press? I've also received two letters from M/J both of which appear to be standard affairs. The first starts 'We have been passed copy.....will be defending etc. The second is their offer to settle within their terms. Since their offer does not repay any court fees I'm tempted to write back and state; 1. I'd like the court fees repayed also 2. I will not agree to confdentiality 3. I want additional charges, made since the original claim refunded also. Any advice before I do so?

23/05/06 Recieved a copy of Martineau Johnson's standard defence filed at the court. Standard scare tactic. So pretty soon I should be getting my allocation questionaire I guess. Not much longer before I get my money back.

I have today received an Acknowledgment of Service fromNorthampton county Court It tells me that the defendent has 28 days to file a defence. The claim has been signed by a partner in Martineau Johnson and has a tick in the 'I intend to defnd all of this claim' box I'm assuming this is the standard delaying tactic.

Surely the fact that they have not responded positively within the 14 days is sufficient for me to continue the process as stated in my earlier correspondence. After all, this is precisely what was stated in the letter and is therefore the course I'm following; i.e. ----------------------------------------------------------------- snip ----------------------------------------------------------------- As previously stated, I will give you a further 14 days to consider my claim. If you do not respond, or do not respond positively to my request to refund £1017 by 26th April then I will proceed to take action through the courts. ----------------------------------------------------------------- snip ----------------------------------------------------------------- As they have responded _negatively_ within the 14 days I assume this allows me to proceed to court immediately. I've since had no further correspondence and the 26th has now passed Or am I missing something?

Got another letter from lloyds acknowledging my final warning but stating that they could do nothing else. So today I lodged my claim with the court through moneyclaim £1017 plus £120 costs Lets see if Lloyds acknowledge the court case.

I got the standard reply from David Just at Lloyds on 7/4/06, ----------------------------------------- Dear Mr Harrison [snip] I understand that; You feel that the charges you have incurred are unlawful you are unhappy with the amount of charges..... You have request that all charges incurred should be refunded....... [snip] Accordingly I am unable to agree with your request..... ----------------------------------------- So I'm sending this today ------------------------------------------ Wednesday, 12 April 2006 David Just LloydsTSB Customer Care, Lloyds TSB, 125 Colmore Row, Birmingham B3 3SF. Request for repayment of charges Dear Sir, ACCOUNT NUMBER: XXXXXXXX Thank you for your letter dated 6th April 2006. I was disappointed that you did not agree with me in concluding that the charges you have placed upon my account are unlawful, particularly as the Office of Fair Trading has recently concluded the same. As previously stated, I will give you a further 14 days to consider my claim. If you do not respond, or do not respond positively to my request to refund £1017 by 26th April then I will proceed to take action through the courts. Sincerely -------------------------------------------------------------

Went into my local branch (Peterborough) and asked the (very helpful) chap at the desk to do an intenal memo to the DPA team on my behalf requesting last six years charges and any manual adjustments. With a twinkle in his eye he asked if this was anything to do with recent media stories and tried the usual "there may be a charge for this". Thankfully I was forearmed having read the FAQ's and was able to quickly get past that nonsense telling him £10 was the maximum under DPA, and that includes statements. He typed the memo there and then and I signed it having handed over a cheque for £10. Saved me doing the recorded post thing (though I realise I was taking a risk). that was two weeks ago and I'm happy to say that my charges list arrived today. Having just tott'd it all up it looks like I'm owed £1017. I'll be sending my letter today to warn them of impending court action. Will keep you posted PS - Great site - consumers need more champions like you guys. He