Thanks, are there any points I can add? I want to pad it out a bit so they know I'm serious. Perhaps mention something along the lines of if they wish to pursue their CPR18 request then I'll issue my own CPR18 requesting full details of how their charges are drawn up, costs incured, etc,etc?

www.moneyclaim.gov.uk Was that response a reply to your prelim letter? You need to send them a letter before action next notifying them that you intend to take them to court. Check the Bank Templates library.

Bah. Cobbetts defence arrived this morning. The usual letter by the looks of it, mentioning I haven't particularised my claim (despite sending a list of charges to Stuart Higley twice) and the CPR 18 request. What's the best way to deal with this? Reply with a list of charges and a letter saying I do not need to reply to the CPR18 request? My reply so far: "In response to your defense and CPR18 request dated 11th August please find enclosed a list of unlawful charges applied to my account between 2001 and 2006. I have sent this list to Stuart Higley at Natwest twice (16th June and 26th June) whose final response was that he would be notifying Natwests lawyers and litigation department of my intentions to pursue this through the court. I assumed he would have provided you with this information already and if not, Natwest have full access to my past statements and could have provided a list of charges themselves no doubt, if they had so wished. I feel this, along with your decision to leave filing your defense to the very last day a poor excuse to drag things out longer than necessary. In reference to the CPR Part 18 Request, well, I’m sure you already know that this does not apply to the small claims track and it is not necessary to respond, this inquiry is nothing more than an intimidatory tactic of which I will bring to the notice of the court." Anything else I can add to this?

I don't understand why the court would let it go through? They've been given 28 days, therefore waiting until the day after the 28th day should be seen as trying to drag things out as well as laziness on their part. There's really no excuse not to get their defense in within 28 days. It also makes a mockery of things and makes it all rather pointless if they can just sit idly waiting till the 28 days has passed and then file their defense.

When you say you've received a letter saying they're defending the claim, is this exactly what you've received? The only thing I've received is acknowledgement from Natwest of my MCOL claim and that they have 28 days to file a defense. And that's it, nothing else at all (as of yet). They have till Monday.

Please delete the original thread as it's a bit of a mess and a little confusing. Just to update: Claiming £866 + interest and court costs I filed my MCOL on back in July, Natwest acknowledged it on the 17th... their 28 days ends on Monday. How 'last minute' do they actually leave it? I haven't heard anything from them since the 17th and I'm beginning to think they're cutting it a bit fine. Assuming there is no response by Monday, then I can go online and begin the judgement. What happens then?

I love how from 2002 - 2004 the Advantage Gold fee remained the same for a whole two years and then every year since 2004 the fee has continued to go up and up. In just 2 years it's doubled since the original price! When it goes over £12 I think I'll go back to a normal account.

The schedule of charges is the only part I'm concerned about with regards to MCOL, for those who used MCOL what's the proceedure with the schedule? Do cobbetts / the court request this at a later date, etc?

Just received my latest Natwest Credit Card statement and I have noticed a section underneath the balance: "Important Notice - Default Fees Change" "The default charges for going over your credit limit or failing to pay on time have been reduced to £12. This change took effect on 28 June 2006" (However, I think the rate of apr has one up) Now, the standard letter (dated 20th June) that I received from Stuart Higley (that everyone received) in regards to a refund of charges from my regular account stated: "We have considered the OFT's statement of 5th April 2006 and do not accept its findings in relation to the setting of credit card fees." Is this something that can be used for our cause? If on one hand we have Stuart Higley, stating in writing, that Natwest don't accept the OFT's findings, yet just 8 days later Natwest Credit Card statements are declaring a reduction of fees, is that not an admission they are in the wrong? If anyone actually got to the stage of going to court, could this be used as an example, regardless of whether they wanted a refund for credit card charges or regular account charges, as to how the banks have knowingly been making these unfair charges?

Why get worried about going to court? Worst case scenario, should it get that far, you go to court, you tell them that the fees for going overdrawn are disproportiante to the costs, eg, you go overdrawn £5, they charge you £28, how do they justify this when at most all they do is send an automated letter? What does it cost the Natwest because you've gone over £5? Does someone deal with this manually? If so, how when there are millions of incidents like this on a daily basis. You say the fee's are unfair and a breach of contract, etc, etc. The judge will either decide for or against you and you get your money back or you're out of pocket £120.

HELP HELP HELP HELP. Filling out my Moneyclaim form right now and could do with some advice. In the particulars of claim, this part: "You have a contract with the defendant bank dated XXXX ..." I must have been about 10-11 when I opened my account with them and can't possibly know the date it was opened nor when the contract started. what do I do? Omit the date and edit it to make sense?

Update: Received a reply from Stuart Higley today, just the usual reply most people here seem to have received. I am curious about what the letter says about them not 'accepting the OFT's findings in relation to the setting of credit card fees'. What exactly does this mean? Regardless of whether or not they 'accept the findings', do they not still have to adhere to them? Quite frankly, I don't accept their charges yet I'm still forced to put up with them. I guess my next step is letter before action and moneyclaim? Interestingly, my Switch card was declined today when I tried to make a purchase, despite there being almost £2k in my account.

They appear to be purposely damaged in my opinion. I'll post my pics later of my own envelope and how damaged it was, they're certainly not of the same grade as their standard envelopes.

Do you know if I've filled in the correct spreadsheet by the way? Pics of the envelope: http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/9712/natwest11zq.jpg http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/7351/natwest24eh.jpg

614 on the back of mine. The number of requests they've had maybe?

Mine was exactly the same funnily enough. Makes you wonder if they tear them on purpose? Did your brown envelope have a number on the back by any chance? See my thread here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=3343&page=3

**************UPDATE******************* 15th May 2006 DPA Request fulfilled, bank statements arrived. Packaged in the flimsiest brown envelope possible, which was ripped and had to be sealed by RM (I have pics if anyone would like me to post them?) I was expecting them to be all a mess but they were neatly in correct chronological order and secured with a rubber band (maybe RM had done that?) Just finished filling in my Excel sheet; £866 in charges (plus £223 8% interest; total = £1089) since 29th June 2001 and now. It's interesting to see how the charges slowly increased in price over the months. Just to be sure, is this: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=182&highlight=excel The Excel sheet we fill in when working out how much the bank owe us? Or is this just for working out the 8% interest?

I think I'll speak to someone at the bank next week, see if they're any more willing.

Just phoned up the Natwest Credit Card phoneline and told them I was unhappy about this charge, they said they were due a payment on the 3rd, which they hadn't received so they charged me a fee (on the 3rd no less). Told the woman I hadn't received a statement this month, told her Iw as awareof moneysavingexpert.com and consumeractiongroup.co.uk and that these charges were unlawful and I was fuly within my rights to demand a refund and if I didn't receive one was entitled to take the bank to court for every charge over the last 6 years. Her response was simply "I'm not prepared to refund it, sorry" and hung up.

Okay, this is very strange. It's the 4th May and I still haven't heard anything back from Natwest regarding my DPA request. However, I've noticed that yesterday (3rd May) they added a "£20 Late payment fee" to my Natwest Credit Card, the balance on this card was a paltry -£20 (now -£40), my last payment was 29th March. I don't believe I received a statement between then and now. Now this card I've had for a few years, ran up a lot and paid it off, there have however been times when it's had such a small balance (like the above) I've totally forgot about it and it's gone 2-3 months with non payment, however I've never been charged any 'Late Payment Fees' before, until now. Could it merely be a coincidence that I've suddenly received this fee within days of missing payment or are Natwest playing funny buggers now they know i plan to reclaim all my Bank account fees? i should also point out I've had no mail regarding this 'late payment' so no 'manual intervention' (or automated intervention even) was required, the minimum payment on a £20 balance would be something ridiculous like £3-£5 so a '£20 fee' is clearly unlawful.

Yeah, that much I knew, however a lot of people here seem to see a turnaround of within a week. I guess they're just being more awkward with my request (although I don't see why, my charges can only come into a few hundred at most)

25th April and still nothing from Natwest. What's the next step of action? Phone calls or letters demanding to know where my DPA request is?

I sent my DPA request on the 6th April, First Class recorded delivery. Just checked online as it's getting on a bit now and see it was signed for on the 11th April. It's now the 18th and I have yet to receive anything back, my £10 cheque also hasn't appeared from my account. Is this the normal length of time that can be expected from them? Five days between posting and delivery seems a long time for First Class.

I sent my DPA request on the 6th April, First Class recorded delivery. Just checked online as it's getting on a bit now and see it was signed for on the 11th April. It's now the 18th and I have yet to receive anything back, my £10 cheque also hasn't appeared from my account. Is this the normal length of time that can be expected from them? Five days between posting and delivery seems a long time for First Class.

I believe that Advantage Gold fee is going up to £13 soon!