Thanks for this sea-sidelady......I'll get reading after this reply.

Hi folks, Just send the 'LETTER BEFORE ACTION' off Friday gone registered. Hopefully I didn't leave it too late but only time will tell. Will I need to see a Solicitor if I do end up having to make a court claim against the banks, or can I go solo?

Thanking you once again.

Hi Bigmac versus, I've had a re think and you're right in what you say. I was about to print off the 'LETTER BEFORE ACTION' letter from the template, but it states in it the following; 'You have failed to respond to my letter of the [XXXXXXX - date of preliminary letter] and its enclosed schedule'. The thing is they did respond but it was not the response I was hoping for, as in the standard reply. Is there another template for the 'LETTER BEFORE ACTION' letter or is that the only one?

Just wondering if anyone can shead any light on the below question?

Hi folks, Since I last updated this tread I was reading the moneysavingexpert site, and I've now decided to try 'asking for a speedy settlement' under the sample letter template section there. Basically, if you want a speedy settlement, one tactic is to offer the bank the option of settling for a lower amount if it pays out now. How much lower depends on you, so I'm now trying that and if no joy then it's a case of logging the case with the courts. One question pops to mind, which is am I wasteing my time sending that letter? Should I perhaps send the court action letter instead?

Hi de hi , Hope life has been good to you since last year. Ironically enough I just got a letter from the customer relations dept today (bank letter) saying they recieved my charges request letter. It said in the letter basically, once the legal proceedings between the banks and the OFT have finished, they will resolve my complaint. However, that it could take months. And if I'm not happy with the resoulition they give, that I can take the matter then to the courts or FOS. I'm now left with 2 questions which I'm hoping you can help with. 1) Is this a standard reply? 2) What do I do next - as in do I now send off the next letter saying that I shall be starting court proceedings against them?

Hi all, Long time no hear I know but I've been away doing a bit of travelling and managed to get more charges en route. The good news is that I have just sent off the letter asking for the money to be refunded etc. so it's a case now of watch this space folks. I'll update this tread as I progress with the claim - well till they decide to start paying out again. Fingers crossed sooner rather than later.

Thanks again.

Thanks again Bigmac for the feedback. I have one final question - hopefully - and it's about this next letter I'm about to send off. I just want to make sure I have the right letter template used. It is as follows and I'm not sure if the bit in red below needs to be included - would you include it? Request for repayment of charges Dear Sir/Madam, ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxx My request I am writing to ask you to refund to me the charges which you have levied from my account over the last XXXX years. I now understand that the regime of fees which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent consumer regulations. If you say that they are not, then will you please demonstrate this by letting me have a full breakdown of the costs to which you have been put by as a result of my breaches, in order to reassure me that your penalties really do reflect your costs. Additionally, it has now been confirmed that your particularly high level of penalties are considered to be unfair per se by the OFT who reported on the 5th April 2006 and are therefore presumed to be unlawful in the absence of specific proof to the contrary. Your responsibilities I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law. I am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary. I consider that your repeated representations that your charges are fair and reasonable are deceptive and that they have deceived me into agreeing to pay them. Your concealment of the true nature of your charges has prevented me from asserting my right until now. What I require I calculate that you have taken £XXXXX from my account(s) with you. I enclose a schedule of the charges which I am claiming with this letter. Additionally if you have entered a default notice against my credit record. This default occurred merely in respect of unlawful charges levied by you or was the result of impecuniosity caused directly by the taking by you of penalty charges which you had applied unlawfully to my account. In addition to full payment of the sum mentioned above, I require that you remove the default entry from the register. Please note that mere correction or amendment to the entry will not be acceptable. My targets to resolve this matter I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me about this matter and I am writing this letter to you on the assumption that you will prefer to do this than merely respond with standard letters and leaflets. I will give you 14 days to reply to me accepting, unconditionally, my request in principle and letting me know a date by which I will receive payment. If you do not respond, or you do not respond positively, within this time period, I shall send you a letter before action giving you a further 14 days in which to reflect. I believe that these targets are more than sufficient for a large company such as yours with dedicated staff and departments. After that, there will be no further communication from me and I shall issue a claim at the expiry of the second deadline. Yours faithfully, [name]

Thanks Dusary for the tip. 8)

Thanks for the feedback Bigmac and direction. I'll just go ahead with the next letter asking for the charges to be refunded and I'll update the tread with the progress. I did ask about the manual intervention, but got no joy there, so I'm taking it's no harm. Thanks again thou. p.s. Since I have had some charges refunded in the past as a good will gesture, I take it they would not appear on the recent list of charges I recieved? I would imagine they would not appear as they were refunded, but thought I'd ask just in case.

Hi folks, Just thought I'd update the tread as my claim progressed. On Sat just gone I recieved a letter from the bank (BOS) and it was in ref to the letter I sent asking for all charges etc. Here is an extract from that same letter I sent them below in bold. Please supply me with a complete list of transactions and charges relating to my banking history with your organisation. Alternatively, a complete set of statements for that period will be acceptable. Additionally, where there has been any event in my account history over this period which has required manual intervention by any member of your staff, or any other person, I require disclosure of any indication or notes which have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention, or other evidence of that manual intervention in relation to my banking business with you. If you are unable to supply this data because there has been no such manual intervention, then please be so kind as to confirm this in your response. In the letter I recieved there was what appears to be a 'SCHEDULE OF CHARGES' attached, as there are various dates with amounts oposite - including ones from a closed account with them. I was expecting the 'interest debited charges' to have been included with these charges. What I mean is on my bank statment this month it had £1.93 charged to my account as 'interest debitited' and at the bottom of my statment is states that next month there will be £3.37 to be debited as interest debitited. I take it this 'interest debitited' is for me using my over draft every month? On a more serious note, should all these 'interest debitited' amounts have been included with my list of charges, as I originally asked for 'a complete list of all charges' with my originally letter? If anyone knows the answer to the above I'd be very grateful. I don't mind going with just the charges that I have to go with - purley for a quick resoulution - but I'm just checking to see if this is the bank been sneeky and not giving a complete list. Also I asked (again in the 1st bold bit above) about the manual intervention to which I got this reply; 'As BOS is not required to record this info I am afraid I am unable to assist etc etc.' Is this manual intervention a bid deal does anyone know? One final question folks and it's in ref to the next letter template I have ready to send off as in 'request for repayment of charges' letter. Once I have recieved the rel feedback from you that is. It states on this letter the following (in Green) but I find it a bit confusing. It says 'taken' with x amonts and then 'plus' with x amounts. Is it the total of charges and then the plus bit is the 8% interest I add to the total? Again any help is much appricated as I just want to make sure I get it right. What I require I calculate that you have taken £XXXXX plus £XXX which you have charged me in overdraft interest for the sum which you have taken. Total £XXXXX . I enclose a schedule of the charges which I am claiming with this letter. p.s. Sorry for such a long tread folks and on a positive note the bank stated in the letter, that they would not be cashing my £10 cheque I send with the dpa letter. They said BOS has decided not to charge a fee for requests such as these. Perhaps it's because I would eventually be asking for that also to have been refunded.

Congrats and spend wisely.