anyone else confused?

[rob7b]

first of all, i looked at the oft update thread at it had 1000 posts so there is no way i am reading through all that!!!

so i thought i'd ask directly.

Basically i wrote preliminary letters a couple of months ago asking for my bank charges to be refunded and got the same old letter in return (something about the test case going through court so they will address the complaint later).

Now i've noticed that the test case has been decided for the oft, does that mean i can submit my claim to court (i didnt want to put £30 into the system and wait months for a ruling) or will it still be some time before i can get my cash back?

Also i noticed the banks are going to appeal the decision? Why cant they just admit they are wrong...

	Bank Charges You should have started your claim for your bank charges by now. Don't wait. You should send your bank a Subject Acess Request asking for all personal data they hold on you - not just statements. You should calculate all of your bank charges and related interest as far back as 1995. You should send your bank a demand for a refund giving them 7 days. You should commence your legal action adding 8% statutory interest. If you wait for the outcome of the test case, you may not be able to claim like this. you may not be able to claim interest. You may only be offered the difference between the charge and the OFT "fair charge". The repayment scheme will try to limit you to refinds from 2001 only. A repayment scheme will not deal with any bank charges related defaults on the credit register whereas in a court action you can ask for these to be removed and to be compensated for the damage caused to you and your family by them. You should also write to the bank and to the CRA and put all charges related credit entries in disupte and warn them that you will want them removed from the Register when the test case is over. Warn them also that you are likely to be seeking compensation for these wrongful data entries. Full and final settlement Have you previously accepted a partial repayment of your bank charges in full settlement? You will still be able to claim the rest of your money back after the Test case is decided. Get all your information back to 1995 and put in your claim now.

[DCG]

you need to put your claim in the court now

and wait so you will be in line wen they are made 2 pay out

they have appeled but its still early days

[Conniff]

This is from the OFT site:

To facilitate the test case, in July 2007, the FSA granted a number of banks a waiver.5 This means that banks (and building societies) that were granted the waiver do not have to deal with complaints about UOD charges whilst the waiver is in force.

So who are those nunber of banks and why are the others claiming exemption as well.

Is your bank one of the exempt rob? I can't find a list of those named banks given an exemption.

[rob7b]

thanks guys for the info

Originally Posted by Conniff

Is your bank one of the exempt rob? I can't find a list of those named banks given an exemption.

no idea...but my issue is with NatWest and halifax?

[ammani]

Rob i would still go ahead and put your claims in the court, that way they are in the queue. It takes ages for them to procees them, as there are so many claims being put in, there is a 3 week back log at the Maidstone County Court, at the moment. Good luck.

	County Court guidebook by Judge Patricia Pearl Follow this link to read the review of this excellent Small Claims Guidebook. This comprehensive and very accessible guide will take you through the process of suing or defending a claim. This guide will help you take control of your litigation and make you more confident about doing it yourself. Applies to England and Wales

[breeze1996]

I know the date is july but do you think they will really be handing down a judgement on historic terms as the papers say?

And will that mean we can claim again.

[foreveraloe]

Yeah, I'm really confused about this!

My claim to Abbey went in sometime last year, although it didn't get to the Court stage as all claims were put on hold because of the test case.

Now I don't know what to do. A complaint was submitted to the Financial Ombudsman and there it remains!

What has really annoyed me is that I am now getting debt collection letters chasing me for the overdraft that I had!!

I don't use the account anymore. I was thinking of writing them a letter and saying that I would settle for so much if they wrote off the overdraft!

What do others think?

	The Financial Ombudsman Service For the most part, don't bother. The Ombudsman is an industry arranged service which is under-resourced, takes too long, lacks clear transparency. You have no idea what evidence the FOS has received from the bank or how your complain has really been handled. The FOS is the preferred complaints route for the banking industry. The county court is to be preferred by consumers for its speed, openness, the quality of its awards and also because it will award 8% interest on top of any damages won by you. The Ombudsman should normally be used to solving little technical difficulties or customer service problems which you have expereinced with your bank.

	Bank Charges You should have started your claim for your bank charges by now. Don't wait. You should send your bank a Subject Acess Request asking for all personal data they hold on you - not just statements. You should calculate all of your bank charges and related interest as far back as 1995. You should send your bank a demand for a refund giving them 7 days. You should commence your legal action adding 8% statutory interest. If you wait for the outcome of the test case, you may not be able to claim like this. you may not be able to claim interest. You may only be offered the difference between the charge and the OFT "fair charge". The repayment scheme will try to limit you to refinds from 2001 only. A repayment scheme will not deal with any bank charges related defaults on the credit register whereas in a court action you can ask for these to be removed and to be compensated for the damage caused to you and your family by them. You should also write to the bank and to the CRA and put all charges related credit entries in disupte and warn them that you will want them removed from the Register when the test case is over. Warn them also that you are likely to be seeking compensation for these wrongful data entries. Full and final settlement Have you previously accepted a partial repayment of your bank charges in full settlement? You will still be able to claim the rest of your money back after the Test case is decided. Get all your information back to 1995 and put in your claim now.

	Are you letting your bank keep your money Are you giving away thousands of pounds?? Many people aren't claiming all of the money they are entitled to when they make their bank charges claims. You have been forced to pay unfair bank charges. Have you forgotten that your bank has charged you inteest on those charges? If you are overdrawn and the bank owes you charges - then your overdraft is made up of charges - money which you bank owes you. Yet you are paying interest to the bank - on your own money!!! Follow this link to see the discussions on this. You might even double th size of your claim.

	Debt collection library Follow this link to our debt collection library. This library contains templates and advice for dealing with debt collectors who act oppressively or unfairly. This library is work in progress and will be built up over the next few weeks. 17.03.09