In recent weeks it appears that Halifax Bank of Scotland have adopted a policy of rejecting all penalty charge refunds with a standard letter. However, what has become clear is that they very quickly review the situation if you contact them ( Preferably in writing) outlining your disatifaction with their decision and informing them that your complaint should be treated as an ongoing issue, which has been reported to the Financial Ombudsman Service. As I work in the charity sector and deal with penalty charge recovery on a daily basis, I have found this a very effective tactic in forcing their hand as they respond within days. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the initial offer will almost certainly fall some way short of the total claim. If this happens, then politely inform them of a figure that you the claimant would be prepared to accept.In all recent cases, I have managed to get them to accept the figure demanded as they are fully aware that an invstigation by the FOS will almost certainly result in the entire ammount being returned, In addition I understand that in such circumstances there is a fee payable to the FSO by the banks. There is of course no fee payable by the claimant, which is usefull lever when negotiating. Good luck JC

Hi 40 working days for statments. Please note that in the last few weeks Halifax Bank of Scotland have started sending out a standard refusal letter with all claims. To defeat this, I can confirm that if you write back stating that you are disatisfied with their response and advise them that you intend to make an immediate complaint to the Financial Services Authority, they respond very quickly with an offer of payment.

Hi I work in the chairtable sector and have dealt with literally hundreds of claims. In my opinion,the TSB have intimated an intention to defend but will almost certainly not turn up in court. In our most recent case against Lloyds TSB in Haddington Sheriff Court (Scotland 25th June 2007) the TSB refunded the total claim + Interest and court costs on the morning of the hearing and then failed to attend. Had a letter from Lloyds defending the whole claim sent to us yesterday. I am claiming for around £380 on behalf of my wife. The fact they are defending has really worried us, and I am a nervous wreck now. I've just gone through the charges and I have spotted a stupid mistake, I've got my dates mixed up on one of the charges, I've put £60 charged on 7/05/05 instead of 7/01/05. I can't believe I didn't spot this before as I was sure I doubled checked the dates and amounts. Everything else is correct. What do I do? Is this a major problem? HELP! Please someone respond and tell me what I should do.

Sorry I am unable to make comment on the Northern Ireland Judgement in itself, however the fact that the debt has been passed to a third party agent makes no difference to the fact that bank charges may be in part unlawful. Having dealt with this lesser publicised anomaly for some time, I would suggest that you send a subject access request to the original creditor and advise Cabot of your intention to dispute the ammount pursued. Remember that the original creditor has an oblgation to respond to your request within the forty day period and under OFT rules relating to debt collection practices the collection agent has an obligation to fully investigate reasonably disputed accounts. One you receive the requested information lodge the counter claim to the original creditor. In some cases involving third party agents, I have found the counter claim to be greater than the ammount being pursued by the debt collection agent. If Cabot continue to pursue you throughout the course of this process you should lodge a complaint to the OFT. Ps debt collectors don't like this procedure as it makes their brain hurt. Good Luck