LBA emailed today....if there's no joy a moneyclaim will be filed on the 25th! (Which is conveniently when I get paid *grin*) I'm not expecting them to roll over, but of course that would be nice ;-)

I would dearly love to do that Unfortunately, I made the mistake of ringing them, and was told that they had made a mistake and that I still owe the outstanding debt *doh* Nasty tactics or what? I could still send them a cheque for £0.00 of course but would be worried about doing so as it would mean that I would be admitting the debt in writing, removing any statute barring. They wouldn't have to accept it either (unless I can find some way of forcing them to!), and so then they could persue me for the whole debt. Eeeek!

I think that could be the best plan- thankyou. As long as I don't life any barring by responding in writing. I wish I had a bit longer to work how to firce them to accept £0.00 though!

Hi all, I found the other Mackenzie Hall thread but really need advice, so I thought I'd start one of my own... This morning I received a letter from the debt collection agency McKenzie Hall, saying that they were persuing about £1,900 on behalf of their client. The letter then went on to say they were offering a reduced settlement offer of £0.00! This was on condition that they receive payment by the 14th! This was when I made a huge mistake: I wanted to know a) what the debt was relating to and who their client was, and b) how they got my details, as I only moved a few months ago. So I used their text service and they called me back. The man who phoned informed me the debt was for a barclays account I had years ago (which I thought I had paid off, and if I had not it may even be statute barred by now). He laughed when I said I accepted the reduced settlement offer, and he told me there must have been a mistake on the letter. He then got quite nasty, I felt intimidated so I hung up. It is quite obvious that this is the tactic that Mackenzie Hall use to get to you call so that they can start persuing you for an old debt. I am unsure what to do now though: Is the letter they sent me in any way legally binding? Would they have to stop chasing me if I sent them a letter with a cheque for £0.00, accepting their settlement offer? Or would this just mean that I'd admit liability for the debt, and they would want full payment anyway? At the moment my best course of action may be to contact them asking for details of the debt, and make them prove the amount, account and that they are legally allowed to collect it, and that it has not been statute barred. From what I've read, they may not even be able to prove the debt! Any advice, especially on the legal aspects, would be very much appreciated. *tears hair out*

Hmm, I received a letter this morning from MacKenzie Hall for a debt of about £1,900 which I didn't even know I had! I only moved house a few months ago so it is a mystery how they got my address. The letter offers a reduced settlement of £0.00, which I only have up until the 14th to pay...which is very strange. Do you think they are just trying to get me to agknowledge an old debt, so then even if I pay them £0.00 they can chase me? It dosn't say "full and final settlement" for whatever debt it relates to. I am slightly worried about identity fraud..... Help please!

Eeek, good luck! I'll be watching with interest, as I'm just about to send off my LBA to Lloyds.....

Erm, you may want to accept the refund but state that it will not be in full and final settlement, and say that you will be claiming the rest of the charges back, rather than refusing it outright. Half is better than nothing to be gong on with! x

Erm, if you wrote to the two companie then they would be obliged to cancel them/transfer them to whichever account you request. I'm pretty sure you've been told rubbish and Lloyds could cancel them pretty easily. I was made redundent a couple of years ago, and was not paid the wages I thought I had coming. When I rushed into lloyds they managed to cancel all my direct debits so that they wouldn't bounce (you have to tell them a few days before it is due to go through, mind.)

Theres no "hopefully" about it, WE WILL get our money back!

Our time lines are pretty similar- I receive the automated reply for the prelim letter yesterday and am just waiting a few more days before sending my LBA At least Lloyds do seem quite quick to respond, hopefully we'll have our money soon! Keep us posted.....

Lloyds really are on the ball at the moment, have just received the automated David Just response stating that they will not refund charges, I knew the T & C's when I signed up, etc. Now, should I give them until the end of the 14 days before sending my LBA? I know the forum is divided on this....and I would like to get it sorted before I go on holiday at the beginning of June ;-)

Wow, I'm making you write my letters in future hon!

Well done Vampiress! Most people would have given up for £45, but I think the lesson is- its not the amount that counts its the fact that they stole it in the first place! x

Good luck! From what I've read of Lloyds, it shouldn't end up in court but they will probably string it out until the last minute to make you nervous....stick with it and keep us posted

Got a very speedy response back from Lloyds...standard email back this morning saying that my letter had been passed on, and they will respond asap. At least it shows that the ball is most definitely rolling! I'm expecting the usual "its your fault you incurred these charges, get stuffed" reply in a few days!

Right- Just a quick update.... Lloyds have actually been pretty good so far, after I gave them a bit of a kick up the backside I received my DPA request last Fri (28th April), and as I suspected the total amount came to nearly £1500. It also had very interesting customer notes, stating that most of the transactions are automated! So, prelim letter e-mailed today (have still not received a read receipt though), and I may just drop a copy into the bank tomorrow as well. Can't wait to get properly stuck into them!

Hello I'm having a go at Lloyds at the moment, but have just opened my parachute with Natwest (don't shoot, please!). I think we shall all most definitly be going drinking when me and Mr Fallen get our money back! x

Brilliant! I'm just about to tackle Lloyds so this just makes me more determined! Just goes to show what you can achieve if you stick to your guns....

Loula. I think you might have meant Commando ;-) Commando- Yup, we can claim back on any accounts, loans or credit cards these unlawful charges have been applied to! In fact the OFTs ruling related to credit cards, so that gives us an even stronger case when claiming these back, the way I see it

Ooh, and you, let us know what happens! I think I may put the claim in all together-tempting as it is to go for the credit card first. Knowing Lloyds they would be spiteful and take me to court twice (as they can see that I couldn't afford to!) Now I just have to play the waiting game.....

Thanks Bovverd. Right, DPA posted, registered mail, today Now, I was just wondering- does anybody know wether I should wait for the rest of my data berore I send my Lloyds credit card claim (which will probably amount to a few hundred, I am going to tot it up using internet banking) and send the whole claim together, or should I send the smaller claim now and the one for my current account later? If I sent a claim for my credit card account, would it affect a later claim against my current account? Also, has anyone had any experience with dealing with their credit card department?

Firstly: What a brilliant forum. Its great to see so many people who won't accept banks stealing our money. The recent media attention shows that everyone apart from the banks are on our side! Good luck to all of you. Last night I looked at my statements online, and shocked myself. Charges from July 2002 (as far back as I could go) already add up to over £1000. Most of these were racked up when I was a student, and had no money whatsoever. Yet Lloyds would still sometimes take £60-£80 worth of charges out of my account in a month. I remember I used to spend ages on the phone with them, trying to at least change the dates they were going to charge me, no no avail. Seeing all those charges made me fume, so a DPA request for the full six years worth of data will be sent off tomorrow I reckon total charges will be at least £1500. I also have a credit card with them which I can get statements online for....now thats a task for the weekend I think. Parachute account all set up, just in case! I notice people seem to be doing quite well with Lloyds at the moment, so we'll just see how it goes....they'd better not mess me around, I'm in the mood for a good fight at the moment ;-) Let battle commence!

To be honest I can see why you got confused about the interest-as the bank letter templates do show interest on them, and I was wondering the same even though it says in other places that you don't claim interest to begin with. Maybe this should be noted/ammended in the letter templates? Anyway, good luck with getting your charges back!