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Hi My girlfriend and I have just moved out of a property. It took the managing agents about 2 months to return our deposit. We kept on phoning and they kept on saying they were waiting for an invoice for work that needed doing. We now have our deposit back minus £94. These are for replacing a toilet handle and a shower handle. We left the toilet handle and shower handle in exactly the same state as when we moved in. We had an inventory, and it didn't mention them. The toilet handle was always rubbish and kept on falling off. The shower handle (to turn on and off the water) was always loose and had a chip in it. We told the agents about the shower handle about 3 weeks after moving in. We didn't think to tell them about the toilet handle as it didn't seem important. When we had the exit inventory (by a different firm than the entry inventory) he said the toilet handle looked like it had been replaced by us. It hadn't - it was still the crappy one they had put there. My point is that I don't think we have any proof that the toilet handle and shower handle were in that state when we moved in. Both were certainly usable so we didn't think too much about reporting them or anything. Do we have any grounds to contest these costs. Many thanks

A few months ago my girlfriend's sister died. In going through her stuff we found that Lloyds had charged her £60 in OD charges. We are about to claim those charges back. My Lloyds have already paid the balance of my girlfriend sister's account (it was in the black) to my girlfriend, so they seem to have no problem accepting that she is the rightful beneficiary. I think we should send the standard "Initial Request for Payment" letter but put a paragraph at the top explaining that my girlfriend is claiming on behalf of her sister. Can someone suggest how to word this paragraph, and also any suggestions as to how we should ammend the rest of the letter. Also, does anyone know of any problems claiming these charges back after someone has died. Many thanks

Hi I got a reply from my estate agent agreeing with me that it was unfair for me to pay the whole costs. She said that the landlord had agreed to reimburse me half the painting costs. That's great news. I suppose I could argue further, but as I did make real marks on the walls of 2 of the 4 rooms, I think paying for half is fair. I think it was pretty cheeky to charge me in the first place, I guess they hoped I wouldn't query it. Thanks for all your help.

I was there for 18 months. I have sent an email saying that the guy doing the inventory only pointed out marks in 2 of the rooms, so I shouldn't have to pay for the whole flat to be repainted. I also mentioned that some of the marks were due to the splashing around the sink and cooker which was a problem only because of the inadaquate tiles.

Hi I have just received my deposit back from my ex landlord (via. the estate agent). I have been charged £460 for the repainting of the whole flat. The flat consists of 4 rooms (hallway, combined kitchen/living room, bedroom, and bathroom). As far as I can remember the following things were pointed out during my exit inventory: 1) Marks on the wall in the hallway - these were caused by me 2) Marks on the wall above the sink and cooker - again, these were caused by me, but are a direct result of there being very little splash protection. There are tiles, but only to a height of one tile - so I often splashed the walls when cooking and washing up, and the walls were then difficult to clean. 3) Slight marks (i.e. from walking past) in the kitchen/living room - very minor, hardly noticeable. There was no mention of marks on the bedroom and bathroom walls at that time. Therefore - it seems very unfair that I should pay for the whole flat. I am thinking of emailing the estate agent and pointing out these things and offering to pay for half of the repainting costs - or at the very most, the cost of the repainting of those 2 rooms with marks. I would simply like so advice before doing so. Thanks

Just to recap my claim is for £291.50 in charges plus £63.54 interest. They have offered my the £291.50 without me having to sue them using moneyclaim. I am rejecting that offer as I want the £63.54 interest too. Here is the letter I am about the send them, can someone confirm this is a good letter? REJECTION OF INITIAL OFFER (Ref xxxx) Dear Sir/Madam, ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxx Thank you for your letter dated 5th July 2006 offering me the sum of £291.50. However, my claim against you was for the sum of £355.04. This represents £291.50 in unlawful bank charges and £63.54 in interest charged on those bank charges. The attached sheet shows the amount of interest I have been charged every month, and an estimate of the amount of interest that was due to the charges. I believe this is a reasonably accurate figure. I require repayment in full of this money. If you do not comply fully within 14 days then I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount plus interest plus my costs and without further notice. Yours faithfully xxxx

Yes, the interest is my estimate of the extra interest I have paid over the last 6 years due to their charges. I calculated it using the spreadsheet in the library section.

Hi My charges over the last 6 years are £291.50, and I calculated about £50 of interest. I sent my LBA a couple of weeks ago and I have just received a surprising response. They have offered to pay me the £291.50 representing "full and final settlement of this matter." This is without sueing them via. moneyclaim. That made no mention of the £50 interest. Should I: a) Accept this offer, b) write back requesting the £50 interest as well, or c) go ahead a sue them adding on the 8% interest as well (about £60), so for about £400. I don't want to be greedy, but the £50 interest is a real cost. Thanks

Hi I have just had a response from my initial response for repayment. It's pretty standard but it does have a bit I haven't seen anyone mention before. It basically says that they will need me to quantify my claim, i.e. provide a list of charges with dates. This seems strange as they said earlier in the letter that they do not agree with my claim, so why do they need a list? I am thinking that when I send my LBA later today I might attach my list of charges, plus the calculation I made to calculate what proportion of the interest I've been charged is due to their charges. I have all these in a spreadsheet I got from the library section so it's no hassle. Would you advise this? When I finally claim via moneyclaim will I have to provide details of the charges then, or do I just put the totals and be prepared to provide the details later if asked? Many thanks.

Hi I've just sent my preliminary approach for repayment for a total of £355.45 (£291.50 charges and £63,95 interest). I am awaiting their standard response. As an aside I wonder if HSBC will ever start paying these requests before the legal action starts. Surely they realise that the claim will cost them upto an extra £120 in costs, plus the 8%. In my case if I have to claim it will cost them an extra £130. It would be cheaper for them to simply give us the money. Then again, I guess they hope that some of us won't actually claim.

Thanks Since posting the thread I've actually found this spreadsheet www.bankactiongroup.co.uk/TEMPLATE.xls which will calculate the interest. You need to enter every interest payment you've made since your first charge, and in my case the total probably won't come to much, but I'll have a go tonight and see what it comes to. Thanks for your help.

Hi I've just added up the charges from my bank statements. They come to about £300. I am about to send my "Preliminary approcah for repayment" letter, but I just want to ask a couple of questions about calculating interest. It is my understanding that I do NOT add the 8% interest now, but just the extra interest that they have actually charged me due to their charges. However, this interest is hard to calculate. Over the last 6 years I've been in the black sometimes, in the red sometimes, in the black for the 2 weeks after payday, then in the red (below the agreed overdraft limit) for the next 2 weeks until payday. Therefore, to calculate how much interest I've paid on a £27.50 charge on the 10th August 2001, for example, is not easy. Also, I guess the interest rates have changed over that period. Do I have to calculate the interest on a daily basis or can I make a resonable guess at the figure, and if so, what is a "resonable guess". Thanks

Hi My reply came from Ian Shepherd, Centre manager (whatever that means). The letter is addressed from: HSBC Bank plc Coventry DSC Harry Weston Road Binley West Midlands CV3 2TQ I have already filled in the form (but I haven't sent it yet), as I assumed I would be sending it back. It basically just has a section where you write the reason for your request. I repeated that I want a list of charges or a set of bank statements. I also said I wanted details of manual intervention. I don't really mind sending the form so long as I get what I asked for. Should I send my reply addressed to Ian Shepherd at the above address? Cheers