papadak, Before you request them to carry out any investigation, check the total amount of the overpayment involved in this case by yourself. Is the total amount higher than the money they are offering - 250? By law, you can claim the total overpayment plus 8% statutory interest back.

The next stage is to compile a list of the charges on the schedule of claim spreadsheet and send it with a covering letter to the company for refund. Make sure you send your letter RECORDED delivery and keep a copy.

For your template letters, use the following link: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/ Reclaiming Guide instructions: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/faqs-please-read-these/25457-guide-reclaiming-bank-charges.html

The first step is the SAR letter to get all the details about your account. If you have been charged, you can then progress to reclaim them back. Until you make a SAR request, you may not know if you have been charged or not.

Saleom, Have you tried to apply for unsecured personal loan in your locality - e.g. your local supermarket? You could use an unsecured personal loan to pay off your credit card debts and begin paying a fixed amount over the term of the loan. Lenders are currently stricter in loan applications but people are still applying successfully for loans. It will be easier if the loan applicant is employed.

lsb65, Harlands or Hardlands are not allowed to charge disproportionate fees for your son's breach of contract. The same rules about unlawful bank charges apply. Follow the same process. Start by sending them a SAR letter to get a list of all the charges that were applied since the past to the present. Same rule apply.

GMAC has been suffering the credit crunch for sometime. Last year, they withdrew a number of already approved mortgage offers causing applicants problems. If the current situation continues, the company could go into administration. I understand GMAC has made a large number of its mortgage workforce redundant effective 31st December 2008.

Woolworths is not a viable business. Before the credit crunch, Woolworths was already struggling among other big names in the High Street. I think Woolworths will go the same way as Dixons, except that Dixons managed to hold on to its online business. If you look at Woolworth's annual account over the last three consecutive years, you will see that things were not well since more than three years ago. I did a consultancy research on the viability of Woolworths three years ago and the result was not a nice one. I am not surprise now. Any money used to save Woolworths will be gone forever. It is a different scenario with the banks.

It depends who terminated the agreement and on what grounds. If money is still owed on the agreement, I would not expect it to be terminated. There is a difference between "terminated agreement" and "unenforceable agreement". An unenforceable agreement has legal flaws and when put right and with a court order, the agreement can become enforceable. A terminated agreement is an agreement that has been cancelled and there is no more payment due on the agreement. Generally, using Data Protection Act 1998 (SAR), you can still retrieve information about your agreement from the bank.

Thanks for the info. Just keep to your new payment arrangement and they cannot repo your home, even if they return to court.

wealthy, First, remember that you are not under any legal obligation to enter any agreement with the Sols at this stage. You will only be bound by the agreement if you agree and sign their piece of paper called agreement. Make sure you comply with the court requirement to submit a witness statement. I will suggest that you do not sign the agreement. If you wish to reply, simply state in your reply that you wish to abide by the court directions and that you do not wish to enter into any agreement at this stage. This case law citation (L'Estrange v Graucob Ltd [1934] 2 KB 394) demonstrates that one cannot evade being bound by the terms of a contract, even an exclusion clause on the basis that one did not read or understand the terms. However, there is a provision within the case law that misrepresentation or fraud can exempt the other party from relying on the case law provision.

tallulah59, I agree with midge61 and also try your local law centre as they normally provide free legal advice.

tallulah59, I sympathise with you in this. I will not be able to provide all the help you need but someone else would shortly. However, as a preliminary help, do not begin any appeal yet until you have received the right advice about the way forward.

The first step is to request your credit agreement in accordance with Consumer Credit Act 1974 section 77. Any loan has a credit agreement. Write to the bank rather than phone calls.

BelstarBomb The link you provided has been moved or deleted.

Bonus77, I sympatise with you in this matter. You must learn from the experience of using Royal Mail RECORDED delivery system for your business. It is faulty to say the least but like you said, you can only claim £35.00 for their failure to collect evidence on delivery. The customer says that he did not receive any item and since you have no evidence to the contrary, you may have to settle with the customer.

Since you have paid £10 previously, write to inform them that you are missing some important information from your previous request. State the information missing.

OFT664 is available here: http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

tg167, Read the following references: Administration of Justice Act 1970 S.40 The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidance (OFT664)

wealthy, To be on a safer side, as well as the witness statement, supply the documents you referenced in your witness statement to the other party and the court. Keep to the timing of the court when sending witness statement and documents referenced.

ryandee1310, Any loan will have credit agreement, staff loan or other loan. Write to their head office address (Barclays Bank Plc, 1 Churchill Place, London E14 5HP) quoting the agreement number or reference number. Try to avoid phone calls on matters of this nature and send all letters RECORDED delivery.

Since you have the PPI details from your previous request, there is no need requesting it again.

tg167, The Bailiffs have very limited powers. Consumers have far more powers if they know how to apply it.

suziedarkness, I got the following illustration from the FSA website (Money made clear). I hope it helps: APR stands for the Annual Percentage Rate of charge. You can use it to compare different credit and loan offers. The APR includes important factors such as: the interest rate you must pay; how you repay the loan; the length of the loan agreement (or term); frequency and timing of instalment payments; and amount of each payment; certain fees associated with the loan; and premiums for payment protection insurance that the lender chooses to make compulsory. All lenders have to tell you what their APR is before you sign an agreement. It will vary from lender to lender. Generally, the lower the APR the better the deal for you, so if you are thinking about borrowing, shop around. Example 1: If you borrow £1,000 for one year at 20% interest, and at the end of the year you repay a lump sum of £1,200: you will be paying an interest rate of 20%; and the APR will also be 20%. Example 2: If you borrow £1,000 for one year at 20% interest, and pay throughout the year in equal monthly instalments (12 x £100 = £1,200), you will still be paying an interest rate of 20%; but the APR, however, will be roughly 40%. Example 2 is more expensive because you are paying back the £1,000 gradually throughout the year. In Example 1 you have the benefit of being able to access the £1,200 for the whole year, which you could invest and earn interest on. By paying in instalments you're losing out; this increases the cost of the loan - hence the higher APR.

rachyrach, I will suggest you read their T&C as at the time you took out the contract. I assume you have a copy. If you have a copy, read it well to ensure there is no hidden clause. If you are satisfied that there is no clause allowing them to vary the contractual terms before the end of the contract, then write to them that you are unhappy about the variation in your contract without your approval. In your letter, tell them you do not agree to the variation and you seek immediate reversal of the variation. Changing the T&C in a contract without both parties in agreement is an unfair term as defined in The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (Regulation 5). Read the unfair contract terms guidance: OFT 311 Annexe