and if you need local carers support for your mum, these might help: Carers' Rights (PS, I'm only guessing with the Herts links, but if your mum is outside Herts, then there should be the same sort of organisations where-ever she is)

Hi Lula, You say the GP hasn't done any tests ... it's probably a good idea to at least get your uncle's thyroid levels checked and his hearing tested again. Problems in both these areas are really common in people with Down Syndrome and can give symptoms similar to dementia. Both can be relatively easy to remedy and make a big difference to quality of life. Saying that, if he is developing dementia it's worth rattling the cage of your local Learning Disability Health Team now, rather than wait for further signs of deterioration. That health team should at least have a physio, occupational therapist, speech therapist, psychologist, specialist nurse, that type of thing. They can all contribute to both making a diagnosis of dementia, and recommending support strategies for when skills start to deteriorate. ( Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Trust : Specialist Learning Disability and Forensic Services ) In my experience, I wouldn't leave it all to the GP,a lot need support just to understand the basics of dealing with people with complex learning disability. Good luck

Not sure if this is any use to you either ChloeJane, but here's a marriage counsellor who specialises in couples where one partner has a diagnosis (or suspected diagnosis I think) of Aspergers. She's does a "weekend workshop for women who are either in, or have been in, a relationship with an AS partner; who would like to feel both understood and supported". Maxine Aston and Asperger Syndrome Good Luck! :grin:

Thanks oneofakind, I'd looked at those but they seemed just for rejecting part offers rather than a blatent 'we are giving you nothing' offer. But have realised it won't be hard just to make a quick change to the first line and fight back. It's only 60 quid ... but that's a fair few pints on a Friday night

Hiya all, I'm having mixed success with Barclays at the moment. Within a week of each other, I lodged claims for both my and the fella's Barclays charges. His came back with a full offer which we of course accepted (about 400 quid). Mine came back with a 'I am unwilling to refund your charges as requested' letter (and my claim was only 60 ... but's it's not the size that matters right?). Just need a quick push in the right direction. My claim had gone past the LBA stage. They had their two weeks and a more (that's when I got the rejection letter). Is there a template letter for rejecting their rejection? I've seen some threads suggesting a second 7 day LBA letter, other advice to just go straight ahead with the MCOL claim. Any suggestions? Cheers Jx

Congratulations! My full offer came 3 or so days after the deadline on my LBA too, so I was pretty pleased I had ended up waffling about for a few days before filing the MCOL. Have fun spending your money! Jx

Hey missgiggles, I was ready to post my MCOL claim. I was due to file it from the 26th March, but in reality I wouldn't have got around to it until this weekend or Monday. Have had a letter today offering refund of charges in full. YAY. Their claim letter is dated the 26th March, but was posted 2nd class so maybe it took the extra few days to get here. Have a great weekend. I know I will now. Jx PS - hope you are still going for the extra £70. I've got 4 claims that each are less than £70, just a random one or two charges per account, but I'm still going through the process to get them all back in full.

I had two claims running at nearly the same time. The 'closed account' LBA was sent on 12/3/07 and I've just had back a 'we've sent your complaint onto the specialist team letter'. But sent another LBA on 15/3/07 for an open account for nearly £500 in reclaimed charges. Got a letter today saying the £500 is being reimbursed! yay! Right on the brink of me starting the MCOL claim. How's yours going Parky and 1morenight? Jx

Woo hoo, got my money back! Well some of it at least. This post relates to a piddly little £60 claim that I'm still waiting to hear back about (closed account might be taking longer). But I also had another Barclays claim running 4 days later worth nearly £500. Sent the LBA for the latter on the 15th March, and today got a letter offering a full refund of all. Lucky they got in cos I was going to launch the court process on Monday or Tuesday. Happy Days! Jx

YAY, just when I thought I was going to have to find the money for a court claim, today I received a lovely letter from Mr Higley offering me a full refund of all I've asked. He wants to debit it directly to the account (but it's closed), so I'm going to ask him to either send a cheque or debit it to another Natwest account I have. (I really don't have anything against the lovely Natwest people) And amazingly the next letter I opened was a letter from Barclays offering me all my fees back from them too (nearly £500). So all in all a great day and my shout at the pub. Thank you to all who've kept me going, I'll be making my donation as soon as the funds clear. Jx

oh brilliant! just what i was looking for. Thanks Mr Browne Jx

Well the deadline for my LBA has passed, so now it's on to starting a court claim. Will do a little more reading of what to do next so I don't mess anything up.

Yeah, best of luck! I still haven't heard anything of my claim ... deadline for response to LBA has just passed, so I guess it's on to the courts for me. Just think what else you can buy with that £70! (oops ... i started daydreaming about bags, shoes, bottles of champagne.....) Hope you hear something soon. Jx

Heya - I've got two small claims going through the Barclays system at the moment too, (staggered by a few days), and they are following the same pattern. Seems that you get a response to your prelim letter on day 14, stating that they will try and get to your claim within 4 weeks. I followed both of those up with LBAs which are still in their 14 day zone. (just changed the first line from the LBA on here to acknowledge that they had responded, but unsatisfactorily) Will see where they go next, but I wouldn't expect rapid responses. Jx

Yes silly me - the account has been closed in my case. (I coud give them an alternate account number into which they can deposit my refund, but haven't to date). Also, checked and Missgiggles got her offer through on Saturday, so good for her! (though I think she might be rejecting it to get the full amount) Jx

Oops - missed the settlement, congratulations! Have you sent your rejection letter yet? Cheers Jx

Hi Arien, I sent my Prelim letter two weeks ago and also have had no reply, so my LBA went in the post today. Missgiggles is also in the same boat with the same timeframes. Looks like we might be waiting together. I wouldn't worry too much. Hope to see cheques flooding in sometime in the next 14 days. Cheers Jx

Thanks for your ideas Advoc8 - I have the envelope addressed, copies printed and spare schedule attached and ready to post. I had originally typed "I am very disappointed that you have failed to respond constructively to my letter of 26.02.2007, within a time I find acceptable. Whilst I understand that your department may take some time to fully investigate complaints, I feel that in this case, resolution is simple and achievable within the original timeframes quoted." And then thought .... bugger it ... lets keep it short and sweet and just stuck with "I am very disappointed that you have failed to respond constructively to my letter of 26.02.2007, within a time I find acceptable." End of! The less I write, the fewer opportunities they have to get pedantic and respond again, slowing things down once again. Jx

Righto Missgiggles ... round 2. I've got the LBA dated for tomorrow and all set to go. How bout u? Jx PS Congratulations ynysllyn ...... hope our cheques are in the post this week

No response so far - so LBA (plus duplicate schedule of charges) goes in the post, recorded delivery Monday morning. Bring it on ....

A threesome! How fantastic ..... See you at the finish line. (soon I hope) Jx

Hey Parky, I got a response to my prelim ... but it said 'yeah we might get back to you within a month' .... so their initial 14 days are up and I'm also sending my LBA tomorrow by recorded delivery. I'll race ya! Cheers Jx (differences between our claims - mine's substantially less than yours, and I closed my account a while back already... I'll be keen to see how they respond)

Hi there, Barclays 14 days from my prelim letter have come and gone, so I want to post my LBA tomorrow. Barclays did send me a 'it may take us up to a month to deal with your complaint' letter on Friday' The template LBA letter opens with 'I am very disappointed that you have failed to respond to my letter' .... any suggestions as to what to change that to to reflect "I don't care that you say it will take a month to look at my complaint ... I'm going ahead with action regardless" kind of thing. Ta Jx

Nope not a thing for me either ... gonna have the LBA letter ready to go for Monday morning, asuming nothing comes in on Saturday's delivery. I sent a really small claim to Barclays on the same day as this Natwest one, got a letter today saying 'thanks for your complaint, it will take us 4 weeks to look into it'. So their next letter goes in the post on Monday too. I'm not hanging around waiting for their deadlines to come and go ... they can keep up with mine Cheerio missgiggles, I expect we'll both be at the post office on Monday. Jx

Here's the information on what constitutes 'medically exempt', not sure that it will help you specifically sorry. Medical Exemption Certificates (Medex) People with specified medical conditions can get free NHS prescriptions if: they suffer from any of the medical conditions listed below and they hold a valid Medical Exemption Certificate The Authority's Medical Exemption Issue Office is responsible for issuing Medical Exemption Certificates on behalf of the Department of Health for England to patients who suffer from one of the specified medical conditions. The specified medical conditions are: a permanent fistula (for example caecostomy, colostomy, laryngostomy or ileostomy) requiring continuous surgical dressing or requiring an appliance forms of hypoadrenalism (for example Addison's disease) for which specific substitution therapy is essential diabetes insipidus or other forms of hypopituitarism diabetes mellitus except where treatment is by diet alone hypoparathyroidism myasthenia gravis myxoedema epilepsy requiring continuous anticonvulsive therapy a continuing physical disability which means the person cannot go out without the help of another person. Temporary disabilities do not count even if they last for several months. The Medex Application Process If you suffer from one of the specified medical conditions, to obtain a Medical Exemption Certificate, you must complete application form FP92A, available from doctor's surgeries. You are required to complete parts 1 and 2 and your doctor (or an authorised member of the practice staff) is asked to sign to confirm the information given by you is correct. Practitioners then send the completed application forms.