Guess I should have read up on the waiver before I posted this. Didn't know that we lost . Where did this leave all the people who had a case against their banks? Does it sound likely that my local court just forgot to make a decision (or inform parties that they did)? Part of me now doesn't want to contact Barclays in case they start bragging about their great victory and demand money I don't have. Must be nice for these corporations to be "too big to fail" in the eyes of government...imagine the chaos if citizens were extended the same sentiment.

Hi All, Haven't been on here in a while as after the first year of my case against Barclays (for unfair charges) being put on hold by my local court, I just left it in their hands. My case was put forward in early 2008 and I've yet to hear anything further on it. Barclays seems to have forgotten about me and I them. It's just started to play on my mind again. To re-cap, I have an overdraft with them which is about a grand less than what I took them to court for regarding their charges which went back 6 years. They agreed to sit on it until the court made a decision. Over the last couple of years I haven't given it any thought but right now, I just want it over. I am considering writing a letter to the bank offering to call it even and settle outside the court. Obviously I don't want to appear weak so I am concerned that contacting them this way may do more harm than good. If anyone has any advice on how I should word my letter (things I should avoid saying perhaps) or if I should write one at all, I would appreciate it. Thanks, M.C.C.

Emandcole, thanks so much for your response. I've only just read it as I've had some internet problems at home and (good news) I started working again, so that's taken up much of my time. I'll get to scanning ASAP. The questionnaire went back to the county court so I assume a date would be set fairly soon (probably didn't have that time to waste). Thanks again.

Hello! I have received a letter back in response from Howard Cohen & Co. They seem to be taking a much nicer tone with me now and sent copies of the following: - The credit agreement that I signed with GE - Statements citing late payment charges - The deed of assignment between Santander and CL Finance (nothing about GE) - Terms and conditions of agreement (under the section on CHARGES they don't mention late payment charges but say reasonable charges will be debited to the account for expenses incurred by them for breech of conditions) - A default notice from Feb 2009 - and a notice of assignment from the solicitor (which I haven't seen before) dated 29th Jan 2010. In the cover letter they say they are willing to accept payment in installments and aren't demanding it in full. I've also received a questionnaire from the court to be submitted at the end of the month.

Thanks so much for this Emandcole. I will get right onto sending these letters right away and keep you updated on what results. You're right; the agreement I made was with GE and not Santander. I have searched around a lot but can find no notice of default from Santander, this doesn't mean I never received it though. It's a possibility I ignored it as I intended to query the debt and didn't think of it as important. I can say that one had not been sent to me since my informing Santander of intent to dispute debt but received a notice of arrears stating a minimum amount due. Thanks again, MCC .

Thanks so much for this, you're a star. Particulars of Claim: The Claimant's claim is for the sum of 265.50 being monies due from the Defendant to the Claimant under a regulated credit agreement between the Defendant and Santander Cards UK Ltd under ref ... and assigned to the Claimant on 27th January, 2010 notice of which has been given to the Defendant. The Defendant has failed to make payment in accorance withthe terms of the agreement and a default notice has been served upon Defendant pursuant to Section 87 (1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Pursuant to clause 7 of the agreement, the Claimant also claims contractual interest at a rate of 26.478% per annum from the date of these proceedings to the date of judgment, or sooner payment, accuring at a daily rate of 0.25. What should be my move in getting the paperwork that they are relying on. From what you say it should be unlikely that T&C with GE will include these late payment charges so should I be asking Santander for a copy? I don't even know what CPR means so I'm obviously not familiar . And, as stated above, the value is under £5K. Could you elaborate on why the court wouldn't be indifferent to these charges because they were for running credit? I don't understand why there's a huge consumer movement to get these arbitory charges back from creditors and that's not relevant to my case. If I were being the aggressor in this case (rather than being taken to court for these charges) would I be in a better position?

Emandcole, Have been rooting around and found a couple of letters from Santander. On 03/11/09 I received a letter telling me to pay in 4 days or I risk legal action. After that I sent off the check for a complete statement of my account and that (statement) was dated 03/12. The last communication I can find from Santander is a Notice of Arrears on 17/01/10. Hope this helps with any advice you can give me. Cheers, MCC. Oh, how much does the notice of discontinuance cost?

Thanks, I will try to pull together all the documents and post tomorrow. I have the money put it will put me deep into my overdraft and I don't want that. Why do the court dates matter? Am I able to settle once a court date is made? Would rather wait till they make a move before I surrender.

Apologies, it was signed by the solicitor but the claiment is CL Finance Ltd.

I opened the account in 2001 and was making monthy payments until about a year ago. It's not the best start, I agree - to be honest I was ignoring these people for some time. Had other things on my mind and this old account got forgotten. Am not the best with paperwork so I have some statements and default notices. Most came from a debt collection agency. When I started getting letters from them I requested the statement of account. I got this in early Jan and sent the letter in early Feb. Can't remember what I wrote word for word in the defence. The jist was that the debt comprises entirely on late payment fees and in interest incurred by these charges. That I am unemployed and can't afford to make any payments to them. The claiment listed on the form is a Howard Cohen & Co. Should I contact them directly; should I not be looking good here then should I offer to pay the £75?

Hi All, Recently I asked Santander for a complete statement of my account as they were still chasing me for payments on a Burton's card account which I was sure should have been pretty much paid off by now. They claimed that I still owed them some £250 on a card that I hadn't used in 5 years and never spent more than £200 back when I got it (I know, stupid to get it to start with). The statement came through incomplete but what I saw of it, just under £200 comprised of late payment charges. So I sent them a letter saying that I was sure that late payment charges on store cards are not lawful (wouldn't be supported by a court) and suggested that we just say a friendly goodbye. A few days later I get a notice from a County Court saying that Santander are claiming my balance plus another £75 in court and solicitor fees. Currently I am unemployed and can't afford to pay them any money (which I stating in my original letter). I sent the notice back submitting a defence saying that they are chasing me for late payment fees and that I am unemployed. Also put in a copy of the letter I sent for their info. Today I got a court letter saying that they've sent my defence to the claimant. Am I in good shape? I have more than enough worries right now than to have to deal with this. What can I expect from here? I didn't even get any notice from their solicitor that they plan to take me to court - they just filed, not a word from them. I thought that you had to give some notice? Anyways, any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Thanks for the support and rant criticism (slick) - I do tend to abandon grammar, spelling and structure while I'm in a rage . My focus is going to be on switching bank accounts; I figure I could put my wages into Barclays account, cancel off all direct debits but my mortgage and then right a big check into the new account. Distance myself from these people ASAP. Giving that a second thought; do you think it's likely they may pull my overdraft if they see me write a check to myself in another account - would they catch that? Anyone got a better idea. They tell me that me having my wages paid into the new account will activate it but there's little chance that the mortgage payment would be able to go out in time. Is it really a good idea to call the bank up and ask them to take new charges off? I'm sure I've read on other people's threads that you shouldn't deal with these things over the phone.

Hi everyone. Just wanted to reach out and see what people are thinking right now about the OFT case; the more I read about it in the mainstream press, the worse I seem to feel. As I said before - Xmas hit me pretty hard and Barclays did a fine job of kicking me while I'm down. My subsistence wages didn't allow for their fees and I've already run out of money this month, so I'm feeling bad about the whole thing. As the mighty Slick advised; I have just opened a new bank account with Halifax but they tell me that they can't activate the account until I give them £100 (which I don't have, hence the preamble), so that means my next wages will have to go into the Barclays account in order to pay direct debits and next month I'll have less money. Gets me to doubting I'll see that money again. Perhaps (actually no doubt) I'm a paranoid/suspicious guy and the idea of the state (judiciary) backing up us little people and hurting some of the largest financial institutions in this country, seems unlikely. Surely the function of the state is to advance predatory capitalism and maintain the status quo to the best of its ability - from support of the slave trade which built Barclays to these kind of fees which turn us into human cash machines, taking what they want, when they want with dubious cause. Some of the best solicitors (who've worked for political as well as private institutions) are working to make sure things stay the way they are...is it likely the state will stand up to that? Will it want to? How many powerful people will it hurt if it is deemed unlawful for banks to set such extreme terms against vulnerable people? How many MPs do you reckon have been wined and dined by these institutions? And all we have to back us up are a handful of noble, volunteer lawyers. Should they succeed no doubt these businesses will keep it locked in appeals court for maybe another 6 months, leaving our position in doubt. Just as a little poll; who's feeling in any way positive about the OFT case? If so, why? Sorry about the rants (I gotta be me!!) but I hate feeling so powerless, especially against this caliber of opponent (rich and cowardly). I would have more respect for a desperate crack-fiend who took £60-90 from me at knife-point every month.

Can't express properly just how helpful this site has been. Happy New Year to all the helpful admins & bloggers here...I look forward to donating to this site once/if my claim is successful. Many thanks.

Thanks so much Zoot; all the info and advice I get on here has a tendency to lift my spirits. Sorry about the rantiness but getting another one of those letter really don't me mad and my grammar suffers because of my rage . I will get a new account - been pushed too far by Barclays and although I planned to stay with them after the case, it's not even a consideration right now. I feel bad because I have nothing to bring to these forums but the state of my case and questions. Zoot's comments have brought another: From what I can tell, these charges aren't illegal but are not supported by law so that gives us the right to demand them back. Being a legal gray area it also gives the banks the right to ignore our initial letters for compensation, stall as long as possible and continue to levy these charges against us. Zoot stated in his/her kind response that I could "request" a stay on my overdraft (which is about £1000 less than what my case is for) which I consider to be a debt unsupported by law...if this is the case then would their demands for me to pay it back also lack legal backing? In other words; when they send me a nasty letter demanding I pay back the overdraft can I ignore it until they file suit and then stall them in small claims court for over a year, stating that the overdraft consists entirely of bank charges which have no legal backing? Barclays did not "request" any kind of stay on my claim - at no point have they been at my mercy . Hope that makes sense.