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I take it this means you can still persue claims, still go to court and still demand the banks show their true costs involved in their 'charges'? As we know they won't want to show their costs then they'll continue to pay out as before?

It's already a revenue generator, from the BBC article; "At stake is an estimated £2.6bn of annual income for the banks, which had appealed against earlier rulings. " £2.6billion a year from screwing customers!

I was just saying to my mate, I'm sure this decision has absolutely nothing to do with what's happened with the banks over the last 12 months. So, I guess now we'll see a rise in bank charges and complete and utter refusal to refund them. Brilliant. Bunch of tossers!

Yes, I explained everything to them. you'd think they'd have been understanding. I guess not. This company are a rather large trust based up in the northern part of the country owned by a billionaire who has more than enough cash but is notorious for not actually investing any money into his investments and allowing them to fall into ruin and disrepair all the whilst taking subsidies from local councils.

Was a sole trader when I signed up but changed to Ltd company about a month later. I was told we could get out of the lease after 6 months. I'm trying to find all documents related to all this but struggling to find them all which is frustrating. Took on the offices in April 07 and vacated Oct 07

Back in 2007 I had a business and we rented some offices from a rather large company owned by an old Billionaire. Unfortunately the business failed after about 6 months and we vacated the premises. During the period it was empty until they could find tenants said company billed me for the rent. I was unable to pay this and they eventually took me to court. I admitted the dwebt and explained the circumstances and for whatever reason it was ordered I pay back the debt at £20 a month via Martsons The debt was originally for £3000 + £220 costs. I've paid every month for the last 18 months or so. However, due to difficulties some payments have been late (but always paid) and other times I've had Marstons accuse me of being in arrears when clearly I haven't Yesterday I received a text saying they were going to seize my goods. This morning I received a letter saying they're sending removal contractors. As far as I know I'm not in arrears, in fact I recall making a payment in August and I made another today just to make sure. What's infuriating though is the letter I received this morning says I now owe £4000. That's over £800 more than the original debt AFTER I've been making regular payments. Where do I stand on this? As this is a personal debt do they have any right to break in and seize goods? I don't even understand how they got a judgement, it's an unsecured debt for office rent for a failed business. You'd have expected it to be written off. What's the best way of dealing with this and is there anything I can do to cancel the debt? It's ridiculous. The office rent was £12k a year, the business went tits and despite the office being vacant for 3 months I'm expected to pay for rent because they couldn't find anyone to take it on.

Jeez, calm down

Good point, something to look into. Thanks

Yes, yes I am. Her boyfriend btw. Real life, not Internetland.

I'm glad you value my opinion so much you have to ask a bunch of strangers on the internet to confirm what I've told you all along. Why don't you ask for their advice on the paypal issue too and the guy who insisted he didn't want insurance on his item?

An update. She received a letter on Saturday saying it was now £550 owed. She's phoned them up today and they've cleared it. After countless refusals they've gone ahead and wiped it all.

Some time ago my girlfriend opened an account with RBS, what doesn't appear to have been made clear was that there was a monthly fee (I guess like Advantage Gold with Natwest?). She's never used this account, she's not even put the card in an ATM. It was basically just meant to be a reserve account. A few months ago she started receivng letters saying she was overdrawn. She couldn't understand why as she'd never paid anything into the account, nor withdrawn anything from it. It was at this point she discovered this account had a monthly fee, which they'd taken, and as there was no money in the account they began applying overdraft charges. She's argued the toss with them on the phone before and they refuse to refund anything. As it stands she's overdrawn by £500. What is the best course of action here? I suggested she write them a letter explaining she's never used the account and that when she opened it there was no mention of a monthly fee. I also suggested she get them to explain what this monthly fee is for at which point she should then argue that as she's not even using the account how can they possibly justify charging her for a 'service' she isn't using. Any other suggestions?

My girlfriend has just been stung for a bank charge. It's annoying because it really is pathetic. Basically on the 30th Nov a direct Debit for £47 went out, however her money wasn't paid into her account until the 3rd Dec therefore the bank didn't honour the DD. They then charge her £38, £9 less than the original DD, which subsequently left her overdrawn by £38 anyway. This is the first time with this account she's been stung with a charge, so she phoned them up and explained her money went in late, etc, etc. They point blank refused to refund the charge saying as it's not a bank error there's nothing they could do. What happened to them refunding these one offs as a gesture of goodwill? Are they just blankly refusing to refund anything at all now? It really is daylight robbery.

I reclaimed my charges months ago, it was around £1000 all inclusive (costs, interest, etc). They paid up in August 2006, surely they wouldn't be looking to get back at me months and months later? I just can't understand this at all. I try to run my business as straight as possible but obviously we get complaints like any business. If the bank were unhappy for whatever reason with the way I conduct business then I would expect them to have called me in to discuss things a few times, perhaps warn me, tell me there were issues but there's been nothing like this at all. No phone calls, no meetings with the business Manager, no letters, nothing to suggest any problem. My business account and current account were in credit, the current account hasn't been overdrawn in around two years, the business account rarely goes overdrawn, we bank around £5k a week in new business and have about the same again in standing orders to process once the product is produced. We have no loans outstanding, no overdraft, a credit card with £3k limit that's never been used. We've been running 5 months or so and project a turnover of about half a million at our current size (we're only small), with at least half of that being profit! I could understand if the business manager had me in week after week screaming that they were inundated with complaints, or we were under investigation by Trading Standards or the police, but he hasn't and were definitely not. I just can't believe they can close the accounts with 'immediate effect' and then say they refuse to discuss their decision any further. This is my livelihood, I have bills to pay, a mortgage, staff wages to pay, numerous direct debits. They've waited until Friday to do this so i can't contact them, they've chosen a time when I have a large amount being paid out of my personal account in direct debits which has taken me into my (small, £100) overdraft, which they've now terminated so that's 'unarranged borrowing'. I can't pay my wages on Monday because the business account is empty and I'm sat on £5k of cheques from this weeks business I'm now unable to bank. Luckily i have some money elsewhere but I'm completely disgusted they can act in this manner. They've effectively bankrupted me and unemployed 8 other people! If there were issues with my business then fair enough if they'd told me, given me some notice and closed the account but to close my personal account as well, send people round to collect the cards and chequebooks, terminate all my direct debits immediately, etc? That's insane, especially with no explanation whatsoever.

This morning, without any prior warning, without any previous dialogue from the bank that would even hint that there was some kind of problem I have received letters from NatWest saying they are closing not only my business account but my personal account and my ISA. The letters merely state: "The Bank has carried out a review of your banking arrangements and has decided that it no longer wishes to provide banking facilities to you. The bank is unwilling to enter into any further discussion with you regarding this discussion". How can they do this? surely this would effectively be bankrupting me? They've given me no time to set up new accounts or transfer my direct debits. I won my bank charges back off them last August / September, surely they're not closing my accounts now because of that?

This morning, without any prior warning, without any previous dialogue from the bank that would even hint that there was some kind of problem I have received letters from Natwest saying they are closing not only my business account but my personal account. The letters merely state: "The Bank has carried out a review of your banking arrangements and has decided that it no longer wishes to provide banking facilities to you. The bank is unwilling to enter into any further discussion with you regarding this discussion". How can they do this? surely this would effectively be bankrupting me? They've given me no time to set up new accounts or transfer my direct debits.

Am I getting a little too cocky do you think?

Someone posted it in another thread, but, vaguely i think it was £6 up to the end of 2002, then £9 from 2002-2003, and since then I think it's been £10, £12 and now £13?

Advantage Gold is a service, you can opt in or out of it as you please. If YOU choose to opt in then you're fully aware that it comes at the cost of £12 a month (or £13 now or whatever it is, not the £6 it originally was 2-3years ago). The Advantage Gold fee goes out of your account on the same day every month (or at least it should) so you should be aware of the debit, if you don't have enough money in your account when the charge is taken and you go overdrawn, well that's your responsibility. You can't say "BUT what if the charge took you overdrawn in the first place" because ultimately YOU took yourself over your limit by not keeping enough money in your account. You'd be able to claim back the unarranged borrowing charge that would be applied for being overdrawn but why would you be able to claim back the Advan Gold fee?

Oh, they haven't paid up yet, I only returned the AQ yesterday. Cobbetts sent a CPR18 with their defense, but as we all know here it's nothing more than a scare tactic as they don't usually apply to the small claims track. If however the court ask for one then I guess you will have to comply, you could also issue your own asking for details on cost of charges, etc, etc. There are some good examples to by found fro other posters here.

It seems okay, except for this line " Of course, now that the Court have requested this information I will not hesitate to meet their requirements". Are you saying the court have requested this or was that just for the original posters benefit? Cobbetts won't actually bother with the letter to be honest, they'll just send you the usual typical response. Just get it out of the way and await the Allocation Questionaire, get that returned and wait for the next stage, that's probably the one that will count. Where you provide the court with more substantial documents, etc.

For anyone interested I've sent a reply to Cobbetts letter above, hope they don't find it too cheeky:

First part of your letter looks familiar

Update. AQ delivered to the court today, woman behind the desk was very helpful. Guess the clock is ticking now.