Thanks - this has been v. helpful. I'll move on with the next letter and will keep everyone posted.

okay thanks. Are the standard letters sufficient or should I include more information or does putting more information than what is already in the standard letter present a risk that something is mentioned that could damage a claim in court?

This letter was sent in response to my Request for repayment of charges. Should I continue with 'letter before action'?

Can anyone help. What is the difference between default charges, agreed fees for going over your overdraft and charges for returning DD / SO etc because you have insufficient funds in your account or you are over your overdraft limit. I am confused as to what I have agreed to what I have not agreed to and the principle behind the cost of these charges or fees being in excess of the true cost of operation ??? In addition, the reclaiming is for both credit cards and standard bank accounts correct. The reason for my questions is that I have received a response from Lloyds TSB that states the following: "The office of fair trading has published new guidelines on credit card default charges. We're still talking it through with them, but the important point is that the guidelines are about 'default' charges that people pay when they break an agreement with us. This does not apply to your charges as these were for dealing with your request to go over your agreed overdraft limit. They are not default charges because you haven't broken your agreement. They are our prices for the service we provide in these situations" I don't recall me making a formal request to Lloyds TSB to go over my overdraft limit. Unless by the mere presentation of the DD this was deemed as a request from me??? I have looked through Q+A sections and steps for reclaiming these charges / fees but I don't see this formally addressed anywhere. Many thanks, Challenged

Good point thanks.

Thanks for getting back to me.

I will hand deliver my SAR to my branch tomorrow and get the ball rolling in disputing these unlawful bank charges. However, I'm a little despondent as I usually keep all my statements but in trying to minimise quantity of paper filng and my exposure to fraud, approx. 1 year ago, I shredded 4 years of statements for a closed account, thinking I would be able to access them on line! Oh well, the positive side is that the DPA allows us to access these old records ! I'll keep everyone posted w.r.t my progress. p.s. the material on this site is invaluable - it's been a great help reading these threads

Thanks Michael, I have started going through some of the material and I am just about to send my SAR letter but before I send it and then join the discussion forum for my bank I have two questions 1) is it wise to mention 'if I discover that you have levied disproportionate penalties against me, then I shall be reclaiming them' from the ofset? 2) is it worthwhile mentioning that a response that claims 'data cannot be obtained because microfiche system not contained in relevant filing system' is not an acceptable response? Many thanks.

Hi I'm Challenged, literally by all this. Keen to claim back the unfair charges but not too sure how to start. Have known about this forum for about 6 months and now have the time to get stuck into doing what is necessary to rectify the wrong of my banks. Also, this is the first time I have been on a discussion forum, so not too sure how it all works !!!! Looking forward to hearing the success stories and how I can also be successful with my claims. I guess it is now, that the hard work begins......any one know the easiest , simplest way to approach this??? Also, with the huge increase in publicity regarding this, are people beginning to find it harder to claim or have claims rejected???