Hello again Bottomburb, I do appreciate all help given. I am really unsure of the contractual interest and am now considering just applying the standard 8%. Is the contractual interest likely to be that much more for unauthorised overdraft fees? Even if I managed to find out the CI, I'm not sure I could work out how to apply it to the advanced spreadsheet. If I do just decide to apply the 8%, do I need to include a specific paragraph (I seem to recall reding this somewhere but can't find it now) within my LBA? This is such a headache!

Hi Bottomburp, My apologies for not being clear. I had sent the Prelim. Letter, with follow ups resulting in further rejection. I realise that the previous threat of court action was somewhat mild and brief within a chase-up letter; "I hope we can resolve this matter without the uneccesary court involvement..." - This wass mainly due to the fact that I had not, or only just, found this site and understood it a bit better. I will now send my official LBA using the templates available from this site. Can anyone offer any help with the advanced spreadsheets, and how I would work out the interest charged on unauthorised overdraft fees?

Thanks for that info. I will have to do some more research into that. Here's what I've done so far; Input my charges into the 'easy' spreadsheet ready for the MCOL submission: £952.50, which adds about £225 of charges @8%, giving me about £1180 + court fees of £120 = £1300. All the charges are for unauthorised overdraft and are spread over the last 6 years. Does this still apply to the contractual interest you mentioned? I will look through my statements and see if I can work out the rate...!!?? I think I will send the pre-action letter allowing 14 days and then see where that gets me, and be a bit flexible to allow me the time to get the cash together.

Thanks for the info. I did manage to get all the information I need, and completed the MCOL forms, however I have now hit a huge stumbling block. I have to go to the garage and replace 2/3rds of my exhaust at a cost of £135, meaning that I now won't have the money to pay the court costs until after the festive season previously known as Christmas. Something of a Catch 22 situation methinks. Before you say "Just stick it on your credit card!" - I don't, and never have had one, and if I did I would probably be in more trouble than I am now, and probably need to claim more back. Anyway, with that now to deal with, can anyone suggest how I plan my next move, without letting onto the bank that I cannot actually afford to even threaten to take them to court yet? Should I issue them with a formal pre-action letter allowing them 28 days to respond, or would that seem to suspicious? Please HELP!

One more quick question - Is there a way to find out when I opened my bank account (prefferably without actually having to speak to them)?

Here we go... I am finally ready to file my MCOL against HSBC. It's been a long time coming but I have to find the cash to pay for it at this short time before Christmas!!! Can someone let me know what address I enter on the MCOL website for HSBC (defendants)?

Thanks for pointing that out to me. It seems that they have suceeded in stalling me. I will take some time to process my claim tomorrow. (I also need to read up on how I include interest?!) And so the battle continues...!!!

Thanks for the reply. First I must clear up a few points; I have used the conventional 'snail-mail' as advised using this website (See Below). I just read the other day that someone used the Online Banking site to chase up correnspondance with the bank. It seems this may have helped in my case too. I will be taking the claim further if I do not hear anymore in the next few days, when I will look into applying interest on top of the original claim request. ---Bank Charges Update--- 20/Sept - Letter sent to ask for Statements 28/Sept - Statements Received 09/Oct - Letter sent asking for refund (£925.00) 12/Oct - Letter received refusing refund - option to complain to Service Quality Team 27/Oct - Letter sent to SQT demanding refund, to respond in 7 days 21/Nov - No response, message sent via Int.Banking 22/Nov - Message received - "being dealt with, will contact with matter of urgency"!?? 27/Nov - Message received - still being looked into, will now apparently be proritised.

Right, I have just received a reply to my second 'e-message' sent to HSBC via Online Banking. Apparently they take a long time to review a refund case, each of which is considered individually. My claim is for just shy of £1000. Is there anyone else who has been in a similar position for this claim amount, if so, how long can I expect to be waiting now? They keep promising that I will be contacted as a matter of urgency, but my case obviously isn't all that urgent - so why tell me this?

Funny you should mention that address. It wasn't until I wrote to them that I stopped hearing anything. You may wish to ask other people if they've had any luck with them...

Oh, well that's something to look forward to then!

Yes, I'm sure they're swarmed with unfair charges claims at the moment, however I have received I couple of letters. When it came to the stage of giving them 7 days to respond, I heard nothing for almost a month. I sent a quick message via Internet Banking yesterday, got one back this morning promising I will be contacted as a matter of urgency - I will wait to experience their interpretation of the word URGENCY! If you have internet banking, give it a try. Is there any harm in using all this technology we are blessed with today in order to remind the enemy in the UK banks that we are still awiting refunds and will not give up...??! (...and breathe!)

Thanks for the reply. I have been promised that they are dealing with my complaint. I spoke to them about the Direct Debit situation again yesterday (as it forces me overdrawn regularly, thus attracting yet more bank charges!) and they told me that their 'system' does not allow them to change the DD date. I will try to sort out a Standing Order instead. How should I approach this do you think?

I'm actually being a bit premature here as I haven't yet received full settlement, or even an offer, but what happens once the Bank has refunded the charges, [account's still open, xmas pressies are all bought and you're happy with your new found wealth] will the bank revert back to charging you for any unauthorised overdraft etc. or does that stop/reduce?

Hello everyone (Yes this is my first thread!) I would like to share with you the experience and see if anyone else has decided to "Click, click" not "Cluck, clucked"! Basically I have been driving now for about 6 years, and been with various insurance companies, (TPF&T and Fully Comp.) - none of which were bad really. I have been an unlucky driver and been involved in a few accidents of both fault and non-fault status , so I have had enough experience with the way they work. I always shop around for a good deal. But after getting what I thought was a good quote from the new Swift Cover team I soon found out that you do get what you pay for, if that! read the letter I have just sent them and see what you think, and let me know what I should do next (if anything) I apologise for the length! ; Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to complain about the poor level of service I have experienced in the short time that I have been a customer of Swift Cover. To start, I was disappointed to learn that the date my Insurance cover commenced was to be the date the Direct Debit was set up. Of course I rang to change this to a date more suitable to me, in line with my salary pay day. I was even more annoyed when I was told that there was nothing that could be done to rectify this, subsequently, I have had problems with my bank account ever since, as I am paying for my insurance before I get paid, then I get charged for the privilege by my bank. This would almost be bearable if the Insurance service I pay for was to a satisfactory standard. Unfortunately, it is far from that. I was involved in a non-fault accident, close to my home (Claim Number: 6688). So I exchanged details, as would be expected, and then contacted the Swift Cover Team to provide details to commence with the usual claim process - or so I thought... I was asked for a large payment. When I asked what this was for I was told that this was my excess amount. I explained that the accident was not my fault and that I have never been asked to pay anything when I have been hit by a 3rd Party in the past, and especially not when I have been covered Fully Comprehensive. I was then told that I would have to pay the excess to enable the claim process, following which an attempt would be made to recover these costs. I was obviously confused by this and decided to end the conversation to decide my next approach. I had some time to talk the events over with family and friends, as I was beginning to think that I was wrong, but they reassured me that this is not at all normal for a non-fault incident. After recalling some previous accidents I have been unfortunate enough to be involved in, I realised that this was in fact the first time that I had been asked to pay for this type of accident. So I got back on the phone to Swift Cover, explained the situation once again, and was told once again that I would be required to pay the £300 excess. I was then met with long silence, then I was offered a fee-free solution. I was hopeful, but then the lady at the other end of the line said that the only way I could avoid paying the excess was to deal with the whole matter myself, this apparently would also prevent me from having a claim filed against me. What else could possibly happen, as if paying for an accident that was not my wasn't bad enough, I would also have a claim! I soon ended yet another conversation, now very angry, to work out what was going on. What was I paying for anyway, so that I could do the work myself, or so that I could pay even more for the work to be done?!? Now if I did decide to contact the 3rd party, or their insurers to sort the matter out myself I could have risked the whole claim. I was now beginning to think that I had no real option. Luckily enough for me, I received a phone call that same day from the 3rd party's insurance company, who were very kind, polite, apologetic and helpful, and asked if there was anything they could do to help with the claim. In the end the claim was taken care of promptly and efficiently between myself and the 3rd party's insurers. But why should it be like that when I pay Swift Cover to do this?!