Hi Guys Need some advice, just had a letter from the court stating my case will be struck out as there is no power under 6(2)b of the Unfair Contract Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 to assess the fairness of those charges. I need to know what grounds can I fight them, i.e. what amendments do I need to make to fight them and what grounds do I use? And is it worth fighting or shall I just throw in the towel now? Thanks in advance Richard.

Hi All Latest developments. On 15th June I received a red final demand from wescot to pay up, so I phoned and informed them that the case was still in court and that nothing could happen until that was sorted. They informed me that if I didn't pay they would send collection personnel to my door, I said I would have them arrested if they tried to step inside, etc. They said they would start court proceedings against me. So I told them that that would not proceed as my case was already there, they then said that they had been informed by their client (HSBC) that they had won and I has to pay up. The conversation went no further. This had me worried though, so I trotted down the the court and asked there, the last action of any type on the case was my letter in April informing the court that I still wished to pursue the case but in light of the test case I would like to amend the case. Before this the last action was the stay in 2007. Today I received a letter from wescot's solicitors telling me that if I didn't pay within 10 days I would be taken to court and to contact wescot to arrange payment, so I called wescot and told them that I had been to the court and the case was still active etc and that if they attempted to take me to court they would run smack into my case that was already there. I know I'm right in this, I was just wondering if there might be a case for harrasment in here somewhere? And is there any news on the amendments to court case that I need to amend my case and get this finished? Rich

Thought I'd include a first draft of my proposed letter, what do you think? ** Dear Susan Loker Thank you for your letter dated 19th April 2010, Having read the judgemnt of the court I’m sorry to inform you that the information you provided in your letter is not correct. I will quote the judgement here for your information Issues before the judge 8. As already indicated, the principal issue before the judge was whether the OFT is entitled to carry out an assessment of the fairness of the Relevant Charges. It is not in dispute that it is for the Banks to show that the case falls within regulation 6(2)(b) of the 1999 Regulations. At [33] of his judgment the judge identified the first question as being whether assessment of fairness is prohibited because it would “relate … to the adequacy of the price or remuneration, as against the goods or services supplied in exchange” within the meaning of regulation 6(2)(b) of the 1999 Regulations. In this connection he identified the third question as being whether, if and in so far as regulation 6(2) applies, the protection afforded to the Banks is that the particular term is not to be assessed for fairness (the ‘excluded term’ construction) or whether the Banks are protected against a particular type of assessment (the ‘excluded assessment’ construction). 9. However, he also considered (among other things) whether specific contractual terms are in “plain intelligible language” and whether any of the terms giving rise to charges is a penalty at common law: see the second question identified at [33] and [35]. As you can see no mention is made in regard to regulation 5(1) of the UTCCRs in this. Lord Phillips indicated in his summing up that this finding did not preclude the use of 5(1). I’m not sure whether your letter was a mistake or an intentional attempt to force me to drop my complaint, however I will be copying this letter as well as copies of your letter to the FOS and FSA as part of a complaint regarding your handling of my complaint. ** Thanks again Rich

Hi All Trying to work out my response to the letter from HSBC, the more I think about it, especially with the news today about the banks getting their hands slapped for the complaints procedure. The bank lied to me in their letter as I understand it, do you think it's worth writing to the FSA or the FOS in regard to this with a copy of the HSBC letter pointing out the lie and requesting their assistance in the case etc? On a side note how are the new court strategies coming along? Holding HSBC off at the moment but would love to take them to court. Rich PS ignore my grammatical errors, only had 4 hours sleep

Hi Guys Latest update Just received a letter from HSBC informing me (in short, though it was a 3 page letter) that they consider the matter closed. In response you have stated that although the charges could not be assessed under regulation 6(2)b of the UTCCRs they are not precluded from assessment under regulation 5(1) of the UTCCRs. The Office of Fair Trading, which brought the bank charges test case against various banks have challenged informal overdraft charges on two grounds, namely that@ (a) they constitute penalties at common law; and (b) they are unfair under regulation 5(1) of the UTCCRs on the basis that they are too high. As has now been definitively determined, neither of these two challenges is open to the OFT or consumers. The rest is more or less waffle. The question is where do I stand? Rich

Cheers CB Time has been bought, besides no real rush, I'm getting 8% and I can't get that anywhere else Rich

Hi All!! Just a quick question. I'll fill in some details first though. As it stands now my case is still stayed in court, I have informed the court, HSBC and DG that I still wish to persue the case but that I will be amending my claim in court to take account of the results of the test case. My question is how do I change my claim and what leagal issues should I use in the amended claim? and can I increase the ammount I'm claiming for, as since the case has been stayed in court for 2 1/2 years now there are some additional charges that I can claim for (that arrived before I parachuted to another bank). Thanks Rich

Hi all I'm in pretty much the same position as the good Mr Badger here, sent a letter to HSBC, DG and the court. My question is how do I go about changing my claim at the court and, as I received more charges after this claim got to court, can I include additional charges as I'm amending the claim? Cheers Rich

Hi All Well today I got my letter from MCS, the usual, pay blaa blaa within 7 days or else... The letter was dated 11th March and arrived today, 19th March and gave me 7 days from the date of the letter to respond... So I gave them a call and both barrels Although I first asked if they were recording the call, when She said yes, I said good, I won't have to repeat myself then She told me I would receive no more letters or calls untill after the test case was resolved Rich

Hi all again Today's latest news. My "debt" has now been passed to Metropolitan, they just called me to arrange repayment.... The phone call didn't go as the guy planned I informed him that the debt was in dispute and in court, and had been in court since August 2007, and as such they could not attempt to collect on it and it should be passed back to HSBC, I also requested all further communication to be in writing and any further phone calls I would consider as harassment About right?

Latest developments Hi all, again I resolved the phone calls issue by threatening to go to the FSO with a formal complaint, the no longer phone me about my debt I am now trying to stop the automatic letters telling me my account is overdrawn and to repay or contact them within 28 days with a solution. I have been ignoring these for about a year or so, but decided in January that I'd had enough, so phoned them and informed them that this continued demands for repayment of an account that was in dispute and in court was illegal and amounted to harrasment and that if it didn't stop I'd make a formal complaint to the FSO about harassment from HSBC (essentially the same as I threatend about the phone calls). I received a reply appologising about the letters, but they were not ment as harassment and were automatic and that if they didn't hear back from me within 8 weeks they would consider the matter closed. That was dated 07/01/09. Today i received a letter that was a Final Demand. If I did not repay the bedt within 7 days or offer a satisfactory instalment plan they would take action that would include debt collectors, solicitors and court action, as well as making refrences on my credit reference. This letter came from Helen Packwood. Just looking for a bit of advice, I'm not worried about the debt collectors or solicitors or court action, will look forward to a day in court actually, would be rather fun it's the credit reference and advice about making a formal complaint to the FSO really. Thanks in advance Rich

It's the credit reference that bothers me most, as a trip to court would be an absolute pleasure!! I know they can't make reference in principle, but they probably do, can i request from the bank the details of all references they have made to credit reference agencies? Cheers

They are threatening withdrawal of banking facilities, enforcement of any security and credit reference

Now i get a threatening letter from HSBC... time to make a second complaint in 2 days

And another one today... Now been into my branch with a copy of the letter (thanks johnnymitch) and made a formal complaint and gave them the letter, getting a receipt Hopefully this will stop it.... we shall see...