The letter is fine except for the bit about taken action after 14 days without any further warning. You would be wise to send a Letter Before Action (templates are on this site) giving them another 14 days before commencing court action. This is standard procedure expected by the courts if the claim ever got that far. Don't forget to send by registered post as these letters have a habit of getting lost. Good Luck David

Scouser 9 I think you've misunderstood my previous post. I said 14 days is 14days including workdays and weekends. In other words you've agreed with me!!! David

joenfield There are two types of interest. 1) Contractural Interest-This is interest accrued as a result of the penalties charged causing you to go overdrawn. The complex spreadsheet available in the library will give an idea of the amount involved. However, it cannot be entirely accurate. You may therefore find that the Bank will argue against any claim for contractural interest. You have to stick to your argumnet and explain to them it is interest accrued as a result of their penalties. 2) Statutory Interest. This is interest allowed on the whole of the claim(penalties+contractural interest) which is allowed by law to be added at the time you file your claim. The current rate for this interest is 8%. Regards, David

KEEP YOUR NERVE, The fact that you've been made an offer of over two grand should tell you something. THEY KNOW THEY CAN'T WIN! All the banks are doing now is trying to knock off a few hundred here and there . If they get everyone to accept £300-£500 off their claim, imagine how much money they will save themselves. Although there appears to be lots of people claiming, compared to their customer base it's chicken feed. They are making BILLIONS! Please Please stay calm, reject their offer, and get you full repayment. If they had any sort of defence they would have used it by now. What they should do is reduce the level of charges to protect themselves from future claims but they are incredible stubborn. So my advice KEEP THE FAITH-GOOD LUCK (All though you don't need it) David

Sheracer, You need to send two copies of your schedule of charges with an accompanying letter to MCOL. Send 2 copies of your schedule of charges, clearly marked with your claim no. + a brief covering letter asking for them to be filed with your claim to: The Court Manager, Money Claim Online Northampton County Court 21-27 St. Katharine's Street Northampton NN1 2LH Dear Sir/Madam (Your Name) –v- (Bank) Claim No: ******** Date Issued: xx/xx/xx Please find enclosed a schedule of penalty charges taken from me by the defendant, along with interest claimed at the annual rate of 8% pursuant to section 69 of the County Court Act. The interest in addition to the amount in charges equates to the total amount of my claim, namely £(AMOUNT). I respectfully request that the enclosed schedule should be attached to the particulars of my claim. Yours Faithfully Wait until you receive the Notice of Acknowledgement from the court and then send a copy to the bank’s solicitors, since they are the ones who will now be dealing with your claim As for a time scale I was paid 10 days after acknowledgement. Hope this helps, David

Don't bother sending a rejection letter as they have missed your deadline. You're correct in thinking they should get the message when they get the court claim! all the best David

There are a couple of things to consider. The offer is over £300 short of your claim and it doesn't include the Statutory 8% which you would add at the claim stage. Although you're tempted, if you can hold out financially I would advise you to stick to your claim. Secondly, if you stick to your claim and start the court action you do not have to be bound by signing anything. You are taking action against them and there should be no conditions attached. Stay positive, stick to the timetable and you will get settlement of the FULL CLAIM. Regards David

Hi Again Pinkglitter, 14 days is the 21st. Don't forget to send it by registered post. David

Pinkglitter, 14 days is 14days including weekends. It is not 14 working days. David

Wait for the 2 weeks. The courts expect a reasonable amount of time which they deem to be 2 weeks so despite having a reply I would wait the two weeks so there can be no argument if it went to court. Don't forget to send by registered post. David

Why accept it when you can take them to court and get the full amount and without signing any disclaimer? David

Hi lmb, You are okay. You are allowed to add the statutory interest of 8% when you make your court claim. The other interest is contractural interest which is the interest penalties incurred as a result of the overdraft incurred because of their penalties. This is a little more difficult to work out but the spreadsheets found on this site help. The thing is if you have not already claimed it you need to decide the basis on which you proceed. They might also challange the contractural interest as they did with my claim. unfortunately as I wasn't clear at that point I agreed to wave the contractural interest which on my claim of £2925 came to about £350. This gives an idea of the amount your talking about. If you're happy to proceed without the contractural part of the claim then just go ahead and add the 8% (which accrues daily) to the claim. Good Luck David

Are they aware that you have started the claim process? If they are not then that would explain why they are offering the lesser amount. You need to contact them and explain that the claim had already been issued before their offer and therefore the interest and court fees need to be added to their offer for you to withdraw your claim. David

I included the interest in my court claim but Halifax said they would contest that part of the claim. They told me I could only claim one or the other. Now whilst I don't trust them I decided to accept what they said to avoid dragging out the claim till after Christmas but I would be a little annoyed if I found I could have claimed this figure after all! The spreadsheet seems to suggest that it can be claimed. Confused David !!

Good Luck Jill, It shouldn't be long now before you get paid. One thing that confused me was the interest in that I used the complex spreadsheet which worked out the amount of interest incurred as a result of being overdrawn. However, when you make your claim you no longer use this figure but the statutory 8% interest which in my case was a little higher. I don't think this was very explained on the site. regards, David

Hi Pinkglitter. If you sent your letter on the 8th then 14 days would be the 22nd not the 28th. Send your letter by registered post so there's no argument that you have sent it and include the schedule of charges again. If Christmas gets in the way of posting then delay till after, which is better that not giving the two weeks notice. The courts decree that you give a reasonable amount of time for a response and they deem 2 weeks to be reasonable. If you do not get a response after two weeks then start your court claim. Yesterday they paid me £3,500 so you have nothing to worry about. Just make sure you read all the FAQ's and follow all the guidelines on the site. Try to read as many posts as possible especially those who have already received their money back so you get a good idea of how it all works. Don't worry!! Good luck, David

A quick update: Just checked and the money is in the account so they are true to their word! Feels very nice to see the account to go from deep red to deep black!!!! David

Hi Chubbs, Yes this is normal procedure. You should receive a letter saying that it's too expensive to defend so they will pay your claim. They acknowledged my claim with the intention to defend on the 1st December and I received a letter as above on Friday. I rang them to confirm acceptance and they told me the money would be in my account within 5 days. I told them I would cease the court action once the money was in the account. I hope this helps. David

My action was served on the 1st December and received a letter agreeing to pay claim on the 7th. I rang and accepted on the 8th and it should be in the account within 5 working days. David Addendum: I have just checked the account and the payment has been made. Feels very nice!!!

Depends if you trust them! I asked for the statements and worked it out myself which is a very easy task with the spreadsheets available on this site. David

Go get em Paul. They are so obtuse when you contact them with a sensible argument that they deserve all they get. YOU WILL WIN> David

We Have Won***** Preliminary letter sent 26/10/06 Phone offer received 1/11/06 for £1295 Letter of rejection sent 2/11/06 LBA sent 9/11/06 MCOL filed 23/11/06 Halifax acknowledged claim 1/12/06 Letter received agreeing to pay up claim 8/12/06 £3488.01 Money in account within 5 days THANKS to this great site and all the posts which help enormously. Donation on way when money is received To all those waiting-KEEP THE FAITH David1004

Ring up their customer Relations dept. 08457 25 35 19 quoting your claim number and check the date of acknowledgement or ring the court to check. It seems standard practice to say they will defend. They acknowledged my claim on 1/12/06 and just received a letter today saying they are going to pay up. Yepee!!!! David

Hi All, Great news in that I received a letter today saying that Halifax will pay the court claim. However, They're saying they contest the overdraft interest that I'm claiming. I followed the Complex spreadsheet which allowed for interest as a result of being overdrawn. Then the 8% was added to the claim. Halifax are saying I'm not entitled to both and that they will only pay the 8%. As Im taking about £370.28 interest then If I'm entitled then I want to claim it. Any help please. Regards David Addendum: I beleive I was wrong in claiming both so I've agreed to the figure offered £3488.01

Sorry bandonbhoy, I didn't mean to exclude claimants from Scotland! I was just trying to point out there are difference rules in Scotland and a diifferent court system. Most of the advice given on the site is about the process in England & Wales but essentially the outcome should be the same. It's just a slightly different method of getting there once you issue the claim. I have worked as an expert witness in a Scottish Court Case and found there are one or two differences to the process south of the border. Regards, david