I can only assume that its a general follow on, because the case for costs (which i actually forgot to cancel) went through without either party at court, so i was sent to a standard ruling on my behalf - and wasnt awarded a thing! This letter came from now-where. I appreciate i won everything i went for, but its just that i dont really want to sign anything, and give in to their ways.... especially as they word it 'without admitting liability' etc... I want them to admit it!!! I wonder how many other people are being contacted by this very same letter? Maybe i should just sign it and send it in... after all, ive got back everything i asked for.

Hi all.... havent been here for a while as i won my case a while ago now, but i have just received a letter from the Halifax worded the following: Dear Mr ****** Your case in relation to bank charges is curently pending before the court. We wrote to you recently to make a goodwill offer as full and final settlement in relation to your complaint about bank charges. As we said in our letter we believe the charges are fair, transparent and lawful. However, since we last wrote to you, the bank (along with a number of other banks) has now become involved in legal proceedings with the office of fair trading (OFT) in relation to bank charges which we believe will resolve the legal issues regarding the fairness and legality of your bank charges. You should be aware that the bank will apply to the court for an order to stay your action until resolution of the banks proceedings with the OFT. As a result your case is likely to be put on hold until the outcome of these proceedings in known. However, the goodwill payment the bank made to you still stands and you can accept or reject this offer. PLease return the attached form, in the pre-paid envelope, within 2 months from the date of this letter. You should be aware that if you accept this offer, this will be a "full and final" settlement of your complaint. This means that it is unlikely you would be awarded a further sum even if the test case indicated that you could be entitled to a potentially larger amount. Though this does not preclude you asking for repayment of any future charges if the court finds they are unlawful. If you decide to reject this offer and await the outcome of the legal proceedings with the OFT you will need to return the money which we have already paid to you. We will reconsider your complaint once the test case is resolved. We can assure you (in that instance) we have registered and stored you complaint. If we do not hear from you by Nov 19th 2007, we will assume that you have decided to reject this offer and await the outcome of the legal proceedings with the OFT. Given the court case we have asked thr FOS not to proceed with any other case they are hearing until the test case is resolved. FOS has indicated that as a general proposition it will indeed not to proceed with cases which rely on the legal issues being considered in the test case. We have asked the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to suspend the normal timetable for dealing with bank charges complaints, and the FSA has agreed to this request subject to conditions that protect your rights. We will keep you updated appropriately in respect of the proceedings with the OFT. You can also check the latest position on our website at Halifax Online Banking - UK Banks, Finance, Personal, Telephone & Internet Banking WE can assure you that we have registered and stored your complaint. Please retain your bank records, as this will make it easier for you to support your complaint on resolution of the test case. Once the legal proceedings between the OFT and the banks finish, we will resolve your complaint as quickly as possible applying the )test case) principles, which may a generate larger or smaller figure when compared with the current offer. As a general matter, we will ensure that your claim will not be adversely affected by the stay of your court proceedings. Thanks you for you patience.... Halifax. Now.... what do i do now...? If i ignore the letter (which is what i deep down want to do!) they will take back the £600+ that they paid to me a few months back leaving my account overdrawn (by their own doing) just before rent day, and dont want to really signed the agreement that i accept the offer as its giving them the upper hand. They paid me ALL i requested, so i cant understand why they are following it up now???! And its at the back of my mind that there might just be an extra amount awarded due to the OFT involvement (bit of compo??!) but if i dont sign, ill be in the s**t!!!!

Hmm.... interesting perspective. I might just do the very same as the bank..... see if they DO pay up close to the court date, then cancel the case 'as settled' if they dont, just a few days before

They settled 'for economical reasons' and 'without admitting liability'. They left it til the last minute, but didnt file a defence, they said they would, but never got round to it.

Having won my case already and it paid in full, i had forgot about my claim for costs (for my time, stationary, phone calls etc...) and i have this morning received a date for a small claims hearing date. The hearing is on the 3rd August, and im not particularly bothered about this as it was just a little extra for my time, but obviously i would like to win this too. Any thoughts or suggestions about attending a hearing for personal costs?

Great letter tempate link at the start of this thread..... but how can anyone include a list of ALL successfull claims of their bank in the form of a full list....? Is there a current list for each bank that people can copy from? Surely people arent going into each and every thread to get the case numbers then copying them individually....!

Really was looking for a list thats being updated constantly, thought there would be one that i could copy and paste??? How would i get such list as per template snippit above - apart from clicking and copying from every thread in the won cases forum?

Is there a list of successfull won cases SO FAR, that i can include in my costs claim upon wording: "I also enclose a list of all cases of which I am aware in which Halifax PLC was the Defendant. Every one of these cases was settled in full before a hearing despite a defence being entered by the Defendant." I have looked, but alas, cant find it!!! Thanks.....

***SETTLED IN FULL*** Just checked my online banking, and the cash was there. I expect to get the letter tomorrow!! I think i shall try for MY costs now.....!!! Claim number: 7BC00913 Issued: 04/04/07 Court: BLACKPOOL COUNTY COURT Charges: £500:00 Interest: £98:54 Costs: £80:00 Total Claim: £678:54

I WON....!!! Just checked my account, and the FULL amount is there..... suppose i shall get a letter through the post tomorrow....!!! WAHOOOOOO!!!

OK... the letter states "the defendant filed an acknowledgement of service on 11th April" it then says the defendant has 28 days from the date of service of the claim form with particulars of claim, or of the particulars of claim, to file a defence. 28 days i make it to 9th May.... so what do i expect next. Do i receive a defence, a form, a court date....??? Do banks normally pay up before a court date is issued, or do they drag it out further...? Once ive been through every step itll all be straight forward i suppose!!!

Just got an 'acknowledgement of service' letter through today, files on the 11th April by Halifax.... the claim was deemed served on them on the 10th! They indicated they intend to defend ALL of the claim. Im quite scared now... do you think ill have to go to court?

Just to add, i got another letter through stating that i had refused a telephone offer of £550. This was their last offer. They would not be increasing the amount. 1: Surely a phonecall is just hearsay and couldnt stand in court as it could never be backed up? 2: How can they NOT offer a higher amount as they would have to pay the court costs anyway....! Either way... they have until the 24th to admit or defend, if they leave it til last thing and miss out again, their loss, coz i'll be at the court last thing on the 24th to hand in the 'win by default' form!!! Whats the shortest amount of time a person can give them to pay up?

Well done....

and yet they earn SO much profit, they can afford it!!!

It does seem much more difficult for business accounts

Thanks..... that makes me feel a little better now. Im pretty sure they'll settle before court, if they dont, itll be interesting to hear how they explain 'commercially sensitive information' and let it go public!

I did ring them back afterwards.... I stated that i would accept their offer as a partial payment, but would hold out for the rest as i had already started my court claim..... They then said they could offer me £550 (£50 over my original amount) but as this wouldnt include court costs which i already paid i had no option but to wait. I then rang the court to see if i could in fact cancel and return costs, but there was no answer, so now i have no option but to hold out. It really annoys me though.... the silly games theyre playing. Why wait till the end knowing that itll cost them even more when they finally pay out? If theyre gonna end up paying the larger amounts anyway (8% & Court Costs) without actually fighting in court, why dont they just pay up, and give the rest to charity - as they seem intent on costing themselves more that what people originally claim!

thing is.... since yesterday the cost has already increased as ive already paid the court costs, and applied for the 8% interest, so the ammount i am now claiming for is £678.54

Having only just issued my court claim yesterday (4th April) i received a letter today dated 3rd April offering me a partial payment. It would seem THEY are the ones using standard templates as the first page says "I am arranging a payment of £XXX to be made to you in full and final settlement of your complaint" but they didnt include the amount til the next page.... almost like a 'fill in the blanks' template! How rude, when theyve been passing judgement on us for doing the same! Anyway... the next page goes on to say the gesture of goodwill payment of £348 will be paid withing the next 14 days automatically. Now.... my claim was for £500 exactly, but since yesterday with 8% and court costs - now stands at £678.54 What do i do now, they made an 'offer' sort of, before i filed for court, but it still wasnt enough!

Having given Halifax my full cooperation and sending correctly timed letters, today i sent the following email (despite the fact that i wasnt prepared to give anymore chances) Dear Halifax, Re: D/xxxxxxxx I wrote to you on 06/03/07 requesting you return charges taken from my account. These charges were to the value of £500. I gave you 14 days to respond to my request, then again gave a final chance to settle the matter by serving a 'Letter Before Court Action' upon youreselves dated 20/03/07 giving another 14 days to respond. To date I have not received a satisfactory response, and this email is a reminder that i fully intend to defend my claim in a court of law. I will be filing my claim tomorrow (04/04/07) in the Blackpool County Court as 'Money claim for the return of penalty charges applied to the claimants bank account by the defendant' unless i hear a positive response today. This will inccur court costs which I will claim from yourselves, plus interest under s.96 County Courts Act 1984. I may also claim daily interest under the same act against yourselves until this matter is settled. May i reiterate that the cost to yourselves by failing to comply with my claim by 04/04/07 will increase from £500, to £678.54, then will increase daily under the above act. Yours.... Mr xxxxxxxx (Tel: xxxxxxxxxxx) But.... i didnt get a response today.... maybe tomorrow the money will be there? If not, i will walk to the court buildings and begin to get excited!!!

I am helping someone claim their charges back, have checked their statements and their is only a 'total charges' listing. they have a business account, how exactly would i find out for them how this is broke down, as it says in FAQ: Important! For buisness accounts ONLY the "total charges" include a combination of reclaimable and genuine charges, and you will need a breakdown to exactly know what proportion of "total charges" are unlawful. Also, when working out the 8%, assuming they may get a chance to claim this, do i just add the single monthly 'total charge' date in the interest calculator - eg:charges for month up to 16th Feb 2003, as there is no specific date for whatever that 'total' includes....?!

Sod it..... im gonna deem it as served.... after all, they'd only send one standard letter then take it from me assuming i had received it - giving no chance of explanation or agreement.

Having checked my tracking number online for my LBA (due to become court action on 3rd April) and theres no response, so just rang them up (royal mail) to trace, and they said its a delayed item and not delivered! What do i do now....? I dont want to send another letter, this time special delivery, as have always been of the mindset that i will not give them countless chances, but if they havent received it....... ?????!!!!!

I had these £5 charges too, with no explanation. Starting on 31/03/2001 (maybe earlier but thats when my statement request starts) then every month up until 31/12/2001. I did noticed that the 11th month was missed out, but i got a £33 charge that month so i must have been let off!!!!