Hi all,

I have just successfully reclaimed £1950.73 from Barclays and have alrerady started the process with Lloyds TSB, Capital One and Barclaycard.

To updtae you on my Lloyds battle to date: -

Sent Prelim letter 23/09/2006 as follows:

Head Office

Lloyds TSB Bank plc,

25 Gresham Street,

London,

EC2V7HN

Date 23/09/2006

Dear Sirs

Account Number ********

Sort Code **/**/**

Due to recent media coverage on bank charges I am now aware that you, Lloyds TSB Bank PLC have been charging me, charges, that are contrary to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Schedule 2 (e) of the said regulations gives a non-complete list of terms, which may be regarded as unfair, such as a term that requires me as a consumer who fails in his obligation, to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation.

I believe that your charges are disproportionately high and therefore they are contrary to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Regulations 1999. In addition I believe that your charges are a Penalty. Penalty charges are irrecoverable at common law. The precedent for this was Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co Ltd v New Garage and Motor co Ltd [1915] AC 79, along with Murray v Leisure play [2005] EWCA Civ 963. It was held that a contractual party can only recover damages for an actual loss or liquidated losses. It is clear that your charges do not reflect any actual and or real loss.

Furthermore if you fail to comply with this letter, I request without further notice a breakdown and proof of all costs involved, in regards to your actual or liquidated loses involved in any breach of contract to which these charges relate with yourselves, and that these charges reflect your true costs in relation to the said charges, and are proportionate to the charges levied on my account as defined in Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Schedule 2 (e). I also hereby request a detailed report of which clause in your terms and conditions each charge has been applied against.

Your charges appear to be nothing more than a profit-making scheme. Therefore I require you to refund me at a total of £823.00, representing the total, unlawful during the time I have held an account with you between 2004-2006. I hereby give you 14 days to refund the charges back onto my account or alternatively send me a cheque for this amount made payable to *******************. For the avoidance of doubt, if this is not done within 14 days, I will commence my claim in the courts without further warning. This action will inevitably involve you in more costs.

Yours sincerely

Me

I received a reply from Lloyds dated 11th October 2006, which was their usual templated reply.

Dear Tanzarelli

Thank you for getting in touch with us. I am sorry you are unhappy over your account charges.

Blah blah blah

Yeah what ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep at em Tanzarelli, they're not the easiest of banks to deal with but they do pay up eventually!

I sent another letter to them reiterating my points and then recieved another letter stating:

Thank you for your letter dated **/**/** I have noted your comments, but unfortunately I cannot add any further information to my previous letter or agree to your request. (nice to know they are actulally treating this as a request not a complaint) Since the banks final response has been issued, I must advise you that we will not be entering intoany further correspondence regarding the points you have raised. (I think you will as you will acknowlede my claim which I am filing, then of course you will enter a crap defense, oh and don't forget you will contact me to settle prior to court, or we will speak in court and have a nice chat about it there)

This is where I slipped away from my timetable what with work and a 6 month old daughter, and my Barclays claim.

However I cant remeber whether I sent the LBA but usually send bank stuff recorded delivery and keep all reciepts in the same place so as couldn't find one I sent the following yesterday:

Customer Service Recovery Centre - Andover

Lloyds TSB Bank plc

Charlton Place

Andover,

SP101RE

Your Ref: ***/**/***/********

4th December 2006

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

Account Number ********

Sort Code **-**-**

Dear Sirs,

Thank you for your previous letters dated 11/10/2006 & 24/10/2006. However, I am very disappointed that you have not agreed to my request for the repayment of £823.00, of what I know to be unlawful penalty charges.

As mentioned in my previous letters, I believe that your charges are disproportionately high and therefore they are contrary to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Regulations 1999. In addition I believe that your charges are a penalty. Penalty charges are irrecoverable at common law. The precedent for this was Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co Ltd v New Garage and Motor co Ltd [1915] AC 79, along with Murray v Leisure play [2005] EWCA Civ 963. It was held that a contractual party can only recover damages for an actual loss or liquidated losses. It is clear that your charges do not reflect any actual and or real loss.

You have stated in your letter dated 11th October 2006, that it was the bank's "final response" and you said in your letter dated 24th October 2006 that "since the bank's final response has been issued, I must advise you that we will not be entering into any further correspondence regarding the points you have raised".

As a result of this I am writing to inform you that you now have 7 days from the date of this letter to settle this matter in full or I will, without further warning, be filing a claim with the County Courts. This will result in the addition of court costs and interest pursuant to S69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at a rate of 8% per annum as well as daily interest.

I am enclosing a copy of the schedule of the charges which I am claiming.

Furthermore if you fail to comply with this letter, I request without further notice a breakdown and proof of all costs involved, in regards to your actual or liquidated losses involved in any breach of contract to which these charges relate with yourselves, and that these charges reflect your true costs in relation to the said charges, and are proportionate to the charges levied on my account as defined in Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, Schedule 2 (e). I also hereby request a detailed report of which clause in your terms and conditions each charge has been applied against.

I would also like to make you aware that it is my intention to pursue this matter fully, so to avoid additional costs to yourselves I would advise these penalty charges be refunded to my account.

Yours sincerely,

Tanzarelli

| now am waiting until next monday to start MCOL. POC already done ready to just ransfer into MCOL form, Schedule of Claim for Charges spreadsheet nis ready, which I will be sending to MCOL Nottingham and to Lloyds TSB.

Happy days are here again.

Will keep you posted

Tanz:)

Good luck Tanz!!

Barty:)

Cheers Stadium Arcadium (SA)

I will do mate. They cant be that different than Barclays and we all know they'll roll over and apy up in the end.

Whats the crack with Lloyds do they close accounts after this action?

I have a parachute account set up ready anyway plus Barclay still have not closed my account.

Have you had a result with Lloyds yet?

If so what stage was it at when they settled?

Tanz

Cheers Barty,

Not sure luck has much to do with it though. Its about playing the game with them. I like playing the game.

Tanz

Hi there I am at the same stage as you with your claim. Sent my LBA 17th November still had no reply from Lloyds Tsb. Phoned Lloyds Tsb today to inform me they can't track my letter. Will be filing MCOL asap.

Emily

Hi Emily,

Did you sent it recorded delivery?

If so you can track and trace it on the royal mail website. This will tell you if they have received it or if it has been delivered. Just send a copy if not but still stick to your timetable.

Its not your fault they are incompetant.

Tanz

Cheers Stadium Arcadium (SA)

 

I will do mate. They cant be that different than Barclays and we all know they'll roll over and apy up in the end.

 

Whats the crack with Lloyds do they close accounts after this action?

 

I have a parachute account set up ready anyway plus Barclay still have not closed my account.

 

Have you had a result with Lloyds yet?

 

If so what stage was it at when they settled?

 

Tanz

My battle with Lloyds started back in June, my case was stayed for a while but it has recently been lifted. I have an allocation hearing on the 21st of this month, there is a possibilty they might settle beforehand as others due at the same hearing have recently had offers. I will keep hoping I get the same! There have ben a few Lloyds settlements recently though, for members who started their claims after me, so can't really put a timeline for Lloyds. They do seem to leave it til the claimant gets a court date though. Their solicitors aren't very forthcoming either, but if you like 'playing the game' then you might just have fun with them!

No sign of Lloyds closing my account, though I have recently moved to my parachute account because they have applied over £300 in charges in the past 3 months. Not good for my finances, especially this time of year! I will no doubt be starting claim number 2 in the New Year:x

My battle with Lloyds started back in June, my case was stayed for a while but it has recently been lifted. I have an allocation hearing on the 21st of this month, there is a possibilty they might settle beforehand as others due at the same hearing have recently had offers. I will keep hoping I get the same! There have ben a few Lloyds settlements recently though, for members who started their claims after me, so can't really put a timeline for Lloyds. They do seem to leave it til the claimant gets a court date though. Their solicitors aren't very forthcoming either, but if you like 'playing the game' then you might just have fun with them!

 

No sign of Lloyds closing my account, though I have recently moved to my parachute account because they have applied over £300 in charges in the past 3 months. Not good for my finances, especially this time of year! I will no doubt be starting claim number 2 in the New Year:x

Shocking behaviour!!

I'm sure that you'll get a result soon.

Do a lot of Lloyds claims get stayed or just some?

Tanz

The stay was the judges decision in Cardiff Courts, nothing to do with the bank (for a change lol). There were quite alot of us at the time, from all different banks.

I see you have a claim against Cap 1 too, they are quite predictable and normally settle after court claim and before AQ stage, I had my settlement from them last month:D

I want my default notice removed by Capital one. Did you have one of these and if so did they remove it or how should i go about getting this removed???

No, I didn't have a default with them and don't really know alot about it. I think the general concensus is to go for default removal after you get your charges back. It would be worthwhile doing a search for default removal, I'm sure there's a template letter and lots of info on it in the forums:)

No, I didn't have a default with them and don't really know alot about it. I think the general concensus is to go for default removal after you get your charges back. It would be worthwhile doing a search for default removal, I'm sure there's a template letter and lots of info on it in the forums:)

Thanks,

Will do that.

Tanz

I have just filed a claim using MCOL today

Claim Total £998.93

Happy days

Tanz

Just wrote to Lloyds TSB giving them the good news and enclosing a up to date Schedule of Claim for Charges.

This is the simple letter I sent:

Head Office

Lloyds TSB Bank plc,

25 Gresham Street,

London,

EC2V7HN

12/12/2006

Your Ref: ***/***/********

Account Number ********

Sort Code **/**/**

Dear Lorna Harvey,

I am writing to inform you that I have filed a claim with the County Courts (Claim Number 6QZ*****). I am enclosing an up to date Schedule of Claim for Charges as of 11/12/2006 including Statutory Interest at a rate of 8%. This will continue at a daily rate of £0.16.

If you wish to discuss this matter please do so in writing, my address is at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely

Tanzarelli

Enc Schedule of Claim for Charges

Cc Northampton County Court

Just to update:

Today I have posted Schedule of Claim for Charges to Lloyds TSB rec delivery and also a copy of above letter and charges schedule with covering letter sent to MCOL Northampton County Court rec delivery.

In the back of the net.

Tanz

Still just waiting for the time to pass. Thought I would have had confirmation from Northampton County Court. Giving the date claim deemed served on Lloyds, prob get this Monday.

Well recieved another letter from Lloyds TSB it reads as follows:

Dear T

Thank you for getting in touch with us again. I am sorry you are still unhappy about your account charges. (to right I am)

We've already explained that we believe it is fair to charge you for extra services you've requested, as long as you know about the charges in advance. (well I dont) When you didn't have enough in your account to cover a payment you'd asked us to make, we had to agree to make it by setting up or increasing your overdraft, or tell you we couldn't agree it. (and send you a templated letter, big cost that eh) We feel it's only fair to charge for our services in considering and implementing this.

Its easy to keep a running check on how much is in your account. Blah blah blah.

Blah blah blah

Generally we don't agree to adjust any of these charges (unless you threaten us with court action), but I can tell you that on this occasion we are prepared to reduce the charges by repaying you £750. (Well feel free but i'm still going after the rest as just shelled out £80 on MCOL, plus you now owe me interest, If you'd had offered me this after my first request then to be honest I probably would have accepted this as my charges only totalled £823, but now to little to late, i'm going for the full amount plus cost and interest) You may have read that we and other banks are discussing overdraft charges with the Office of Fair Trading (I have read that the OFT are going to seriously slap you over the arse with a wet kipper on this so pull down your pants and take it like you know you deserve, and then stop trying to justify the unjustifiable). Meanwhile we do consider each customer's position individually (prob cause all their claims are for different amounts you silly fools), and we are making you this offer as a gesture of goodwill (no your not you doing it cause your scared of having to reveal your true costs in court) because we might face that cost in dealing with your complaint if you took it further (well actually this and more as my claim now stands at just under £1k).

I need to let you know that this does not mean we consider we have any legal obligation to do so (I beg to differ). This sum will be credited to your account, in the next few days (thanks, just in time for Christmas, however i'm still going to pursue this claim for the full amount).

As i've explained, these charges are avoidable and we would strongly urge you to keep within the limit you'v agreed with us or ask us now to see if we could increase it for you. (well I did when I opened the account but you said I could only have a sh*t one due to my credit score, do you really beleive this would have changed, cause I don't)

This letter is the bank's final response, which means that if you are still dissatisfied you may refer your complaint to the FOS blah blah blah. (no thanks cause I'll see you in court)

Yours sincerely

Karen Roberts

CSO

Happy days

Tanz

Hi Tanzarelli

I am at the same stage as you, I was most surprised to receive the same letter as your last post that states they are about to pay me £500 and are going to credit that to my account. It is not even couched as an offer in full and final settlement.

Anyways this letter crossed with the service of the claim form which they should receive any day now, but I would continue in any event.

The offer they have made to me represents the bank charges relating to the past 6 years, but I am claiming back 12 years and contractual interest, a total sum of £3.5K so I may as well continue.

Like you seem to, I enjoy playing the game, I have nothing to loose by carrying on.

I agree I also thought that it was strange that there was no mention of full and final settlement too. I will wait to see when it gets paid in and then will write to them thanking them for the partial payment and then say however I am continuing with my claim for the outstanding balance.

Tanz

Thanks for the last click

I am going to check my balance today to see if the £750 has been paid into my account, if it has then I might switch it to another account just in case before telling them I am still going to carry on with my claim for the full amount. However I have got a feeling that the money will not be in there as the would have had notification of my claim from Northampton County Court by now.

Will keep you posted.

Tanz

Well checked balance and £750 not in there, didn't think it would be.

Perhaps they received my cliam so decided to back out, oh well this wont show them in a very positive light if this gets to court, saying they will do one thing then backing out. Not that I'm bothered at this stage as still going to carry on with this all the way.