HI ALL Yes Yes Yeah... this appears to be the same standard response that Halifax are sending out. Mines the same apart from abit added about £39 being a realistic charge. My case has been transferred to Notts and its one of the courts that are applying Stay Orders until OFT. I just wondered if we could do something about OPtima giving the same standard reply to us all. Its not good... Could we mention it somewhere as it appears that they are not looking at the individual cases (ie. some of us where in receipt of welfare benefits, some cases are credit cards which I think are going ahead). Reeta

Hi Read your thread and just wondered if there was welfare benefits going into the account or not. as there is a forum for claiming charges from welfare benefits and perhaps you could use this info in your son's case. good luck Reeta:)

Hi I am leaving my rented on 27.09.07 and been told by letting agent they need keys back by 11am. I had to pay extra deposit because of my dog but it does not state this anywhere in rent agreement. the landlord wants to come with the letting agent to inspect the property and i can see that this is going to be problematic as i did not want to enter into a row over deposit return and unfair repairs, basically i don't think there is anything apart from cleaning the carpets as i have only lived in the property for 6 months and did not even unpack boxes as i was in-between houses. Why do people think just because you have a dog & kids, there is an automatic right to not return deposits ? I think the landlord wants to come himself wth letting agent as, when i moved in the next-door neighbour rang the landlord as they must have been friends otherwise how get the landlord number, to comment about my dog/the number of kids (i have shared access of my little girl and a son living with me full time) and visitors (which i felt was unfair as they are my family visiting me). I could tell by the letting agents vioce when I challenged him about the landlord calling (at 7pm for this pre-checking out visit on3/9/07) as being unreasonable time taht he was fed-up with something which I don't know what as I pay in advance my rent. They even want to charge me an additional 4 days rent until the end of sept whilst my tenancy ends on 27/9/07 . Dreading this and doubt i will have the energy to fight back. Reeta

Hi Overflow I haven't had the allocation questionaire yet or heard anything from the court yet. It makes me so angry that they think they have not done anything wrong especially as I was on Tax Credits as well. I hope this Test Case goes all wrong for them all as they have got high hopes its all win win win...

Hi If your going to miss 'p*****g them off' at Halifax, you could help me . I got the standard letter sent last week stating that the partial offer made in March 2007 was in 'full & final' settlement and nothing can be clamed afterwards so I need to accept this or reject it by 7/10/07 otherwsie my case will not be resolved until after the Test Case (MCOL claim made about week before test case announcement). I rejected this again especially as I had Tax credits paid into my bank account (was working 18 hours a week and single parent at the time) during a large amount of the 6 years. Their offer was £645 which is one years charges so only a fraction. Got their defence which appears to be a standard one which also stated in the last paragraph that £39 is the ACTUAL COST of sending a letter (I am sure read that the standard cost that OFT stated for these letters was £5 as they are computer-generated). Do yo think I need to send my Court Bundle or wait until I hear from the court ? Has ayone had any experience of Optima Solicitors, there based in Bradford? thanks Reeta

Hi I think the thread your looking for is titled: 'claiming beyond 6 years- important new information'. i think it states in there some dates for banks like Abbey & barclay. might be worth checking if its this one. Good luck Reeta

HI All Got a letter from halifax stating they have changed solicitors to Optima legal services (based in bradford) and their defence which is full of the Terms & Conditions. Do I ignore this and wait for something form the courts? Will have to check out some threads. asked moderator to move mine. Well the fight goes on......... Reeta:p

Natwest are horrible just take them through small claims court , costs £100 and scares the life out of them. I did it and it worked a treat

HI All Wrote back to them about their 'offer' (£624 when my actual charges are £3774 excluding interest charges which came up to £200 roughly) . Pointed out that it was no where near the Schedule figure (attached this again in case they 'lost' it). And quoted the above section as well to them . Lets wait and see the outcome......I thought I would be more on the ball this time as I waited to long previously to do this. Quick respond in case they 'struck out' my MCOL case and the 9/10/07 deadline on my letter may be reinforced by them. Let the battle begin as I am now daily scrolling the threads on this forum/website. thank Reeta

Hi this is really useful as I am going to use as part of my work (as I work as a family support worker) so its good to know this and personally. Going to preach to sign the e-petition on this as well. I think I have had this done to me when I worked part time as I was relaint on working tax credit to pay daily bills as my part-time wages just about covered the mortage I was left with. thanks Reeta

Hi Orange sim card went faulty, took them 6 weeks to agree to issue me a replacement sim card as they said it was my phone. I even went and brought a new cheap PAYG phone from Argos but Orange simcard still not worked. I asked for refund to cover loss of usage as my contract was due to end but no respond, so I refused to pay the last 2 months bill in lieu of them costing me loss of airtime. Sent 6 letters to Orange customer services but still no reply. If you ring them from a non-orange handset you get cut off or they pass you all around many different depts resulting in you getting additional bill as you can be on the phone for over 1 hour ! Also noticed that although my contact ended, they added a 'new charge' for Orange Care at £6 per month which is something I did not want anyway nor asked them for. Still refusing to pay and battling this out. Got a debt agency letter threatening me if I do not pay this Orange bill. What sort of Customer services are they when they don't reply to customers? Reeta

Hi kog What a wonderful person you are to spot that . I had a Halifax letter this morning and my case is in the MCOL awaiting to be heard. Similair lines to those already stated in this thread and come recorded delivery basically telling me to accept their offer in full and if it is accepted I can not ask for a further sum following the test case. I rejected this offer earlier already as they refused to acknowledge it as partial thus never received it. They have given me until 7th October to reply otherwise they assume I will await the outcome of the Test Case (thus they are expecting for the Courts to put all cases waiting to be heard on Stay). Going to lodge a complaint now due to thier tactics as suggested. thanks Reeta

Hi JUst readon another thread not to pursue any claims via MCOL at the moment but N1. Not sure what is going on. I wish I had the confidence to do this earlier like last year..............:o

Hi All, Son just rang me a work to let me know that he had to sign a recorded delivery letter from the Halifax (he's only 11) and was worried it was important. Anyway its not good news. They basically told me that they are going to request a Stay at the court for my MCOL claim as OFT has informed them they can do this in light of the TEst Case (not sure if thats true ) and referred me back to their measly offer of £695 as a final settlement (they actually owed me £3744 without the interest as I had some charges over silly things like not clearing a cheque as I was £1 pound short but then charging me £39 for this). Life's hard enough as a single parent without them acting all high & mighty especially as my wages on into thier bank each month ! THe money would be really useful due to house move. But not heard anything from the court. Any ideas' what I should do? Have you heard anything about your cases? thanks Reeta

Hi thanks for that. I had a refund offer in february for partial which I rejected but I am wondering if to accept that now even though I have done the MCOL bit which they said they are defending as they did not reply initially so I entered a default but MCOL system was down that weekend so the paper records crossed over I think in the post. My case was this stage and then they announced the Test Case. I may just wait and see what Halifax are doing and stating in thier defence. I am moving house and could do with this money. I think I may just send a follow-up letter with a schedule again and see if this puts pressure on them to cough up...I managed to get £141 out of Abbey for my son (he is only 18 years old) and that was a lot of letters but did not reach the schedue as in the end they refunded as a 'gesture of goodwill'. Just calculated that Natwest owe hubby £965 in charges as that took its time with them sending the statements. Good Luck Reeta