Hi
I haven't disappeared.
Just been too busy to get on here to post anything just lately.
I see you are keen to see the defence but it is see standard from what I have seen on other postings. Nothing that can't be blown apart in court.
1. It is admitted that:
1.1 The Claimant has with the Defendant a Woolwich Openplan current account number XXXXXXXX blah blah
1.2 The balance of account blah blah
1.3. It is admitted that the Claimant had incurred
bank charges on account number XXXXXXXX for unauthorised borrowings in the form of unpaid
Direct Debit fees; Returned Cheque charge; Force Paid charge; Debit
Interest charge Unauthorised daily
overdraft fees; Unpaid Standing Order fees amounting to £XXXX during the period XXXX - XXXXX
2. The Woolwich is a trading division of Barclays Bank PLC and not a legal entity in its own right.
3. The Defendant is entitled to charge the Claimant for the unauthorised borrowings by virtue of its standard terms and conditions, which the Claimant accepted when the account was opened.
The terms and conditions which apply t this account would be as follows;
i. Administrative costs if any cheque, standing order or
direct debit cannot be paid because of lack of funds in the account (we may refuse to make any payment if you do not have enough money on ther account at the close of the working day before the payment is due to be made) - £30 per item (previously £27.50)
ii. Administrative costs if we are compelled to pay an item (such as a cheque guaranteed by an openplan Card of an authorised debit card transaction) which makes the account overdrawn - £30 per item (previously £27.50)
iii. Unauthorised
overdraft fee - £3 per day
iv. Your account will immediately be debited with: (a) any debit transaction authorised by you or any debit card transaction authorised by us, we may refuse to process such debit transactions or to authorise such debit card transaction if there are insufficient cleared funds in your account; (b) any charges, interest or other money which becomes payable by you to us in relation to your account; (c) If a cheque or other item paid to the account is returned unpaid, we will debit the account with the amount of that item together with any interest we have paid on it.
4. The defendants standard terms and conditions gives the Claimant a fair and transparent view of these terms and the charges applicable for unauthorised borrowings (including where the account is overdrawn without an overdraft limit or where the customer exceeds his overdraft limit)
5. The charges the Claimant paid to the defendant when he incurred an overdraft were payments which, under the terms and conditions of his account, he agreed to make.
6. Such administrative costs were consideration for the defendant advancing further credit to the claimant
7. The defendant was under no obligation to advance the aforementioned further credit to the claimant, and was entitled to impose the charges when the claimant incurred the overdraft.
8. In the premises at Paragraph 3 above, it is denied that the alw on penalty clauses is relevant or applicable. The claimant has incured charges, on of his bank account which was caused by;
i. The claimant having frequently going overdrawn without agreeing an appropriate overdraft facility with the defendant; and
ii. The claimant's failure to make regular paymen ts into his accounts to bring the balance of his account into credit.
9. It is denied that the defendant's charges are unenforceable penalty charges or that they are unenforceable for any other reason. It is further denied that these sunms were unlawfully debited from the claimants account.
10. In all the premises, it is averred that
Bank Charges are legally enforceable and the defendant was entitled to charge for the sum of £XXXXXX
11. The defendant denied that it is liable to the claimant for the sum claimed of £XXXX, or at all.
Pretty damned weak i'd say!
Bitiing back at Woolwich 
