The advice given here is good... prioritise and fend off those that are not life changing. Mortgage can be sorted if handled carefully, into a temporary suspension and/or temporary change to interest only, to give you leeway. Read the links given here, debt 'rushes in on people like a tide and leads to an almost panic reaction sometimes, don't load yourself with too much, read and be calm and MAKE NOTES, copy and paste bits that you might 'lose' later with continued reading. Open any notepad/wordpad/office page and cut and paste the context and the content that gives a chink of light in the mirkiness. Take things carefully and although you will not have the easiest of times, you will feel that you have control and taking control is the greatest bit of peace of mind you can have. All the best!

Yeah, I think you have it... unless someone has a killer letter I'll just wing it I suppose.

This is what they wrote... "Before we can use our reasonable endeavours to have the entry removed at the Credit Reference Agency you said you might have a precedent document we could start with. Please let us have this precedent document together with your signed agreement." I have asked them to remove the info they [bS] sent about me from the CRA as the information it shows is incorrect. They want me to give them the format of words for this request... to me it's something like "please remove all entries regarding late payments made on this file as the information is incorrect" but that seems so simple and if it was that simple why would the BS need help to write something that simple??? Thanks for your help guys/gals!

Bump...

Right, I have come to an arrangement with the Hinckley and Rugby BS the upshot of which is that they are prepared to write to the leading CRAs and request my entry [which is wrong] to be removed. Now I believe that if they send a simple request then the entry is removed. [they being the originators of the erroneous entry] But they have asked me to provide a letter for them to send doing this, odd but there you go. Are there any bods out there that can start me off with a good letter that perhaps we/I can mod? Your help [as always] is much appreciated.

LETTER BEFORE ACTION xxx xxx xxx xxx Thames Credit Limited. PO Box 44, Bromley, Kent. BR1 1ZB 13/06/07 Dear Sir/Madam [Ms. Jane Maberley] Following our telcon. today at 16.30hrs I would like to re-iterate my request to ensure clarity. [1] Please be aware that we do not acknowledge any debts to your company, [2] Thames Credit have been more than ample time to justify their continued requests for payments from me. [3] Thames Credit were sent the following by recorded delivery on the 7th April 2007:- xxx xxx xxx xxx Thames Credit Limited. PO Box 44, Bromley, Kent. BR1 1ZB 07/04/2007 Dear Sir/Madam Reference: xxx Your refs: xxx Please be aware that we do not acknowledge these debts to your company, and therefore require you to supply the following documentation before we will correspond further Firstly, you must supply us with a true copy of the agreement you refer to in this matter. This is our right under the legislation contained within section 77 (1) and section 78 (1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 - your obligation also extends to providing statements of account. I enclose a £1 postal order in payment of the statutory fee. We also require that you supply signed true copies of the deeds of assignment of the above referenced agreements. You are reminded that you are obliged to supply these documents, whether you are the original creditor or not, under section 189 of the CCA 1974. We understand a copy of our credit agreement should be supplied within 12 working days. As you are aware, a credit agreement that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totally unenforceable under the CCA and therefore is a complete defence to any court claim that is issued. Take note at this stage, that any legal action you may contemplate will be both vigorously defended and contested. In the meantime please be aware that we consider this matter to be “in dispute”. Page1 We look forward to hearing from you. Yours faithfully xxx Enc. PO £1 [4] Allowing 5 days for the postal system to deliver the item you were required by law to show evidence of a debt. [5] On the 16th April 2007 I sent you the following letter:- xxx xxx xxx xxx Thames Credit Limited. PO Box 44, Bromley, Kent. BR1 1ZB 16/04/2007 Dear Sir/Madam Reference: xxx Your refs:xxx Dated 12/04/07 Please be aware that we do not acknowledge any debts to your company. Thank you for acknowledging receipt of our notice that you supply us with a true copy of any agreement, statements of account and signed true copies of the deeds of assignment of the above referenced agreements. You have acknowledged of receipt of our notice as being the 12th April 2007 and we expect that by the end of the working day of the 26th April 2007 to have received in full all that has been requested in our previous letter. Your kind offer to supply the requested information in full for free is neither asked for or necessary. Any refusal of fee WILL NOT preclude or allow you to delay your obligations under the Acts of Parliament outlined in our previous letter of the 7th April 2007, therefore, we return to you the £1 postal order in payment of the statutory fee. Please be aware that we consider this matter to be “in dispute”. Yours faithfully xxx Enc. PO £1 [6] There has been no further correspondance from Thames Credit and as of the 26th May 2007 Thames Credit has been in the position of demanding money with no legal basis to do so, this is in common parlance is fraud. [7] Having allowed Thames Credit a further 2weeks since the 26th May 2007 in order to allow you time to either [a] find this 'agreement' or remove my name from the Credit reference Agencies I discover today that to date Thames Credit has done neither. [8] I HEREBY SERVE NOTICE ON THAMES CREDIT LIMITED AND ITS PARENT OR ASSOCIATED COMPANIES THAT IF BY 21ST JUNE 2007 THEY [sINGULARLY OR SEVERALLY] HAVE NOT COMMENCED THE REMOVAL OF MY NAME FROM THE REGISTERS OF THE MAIN CREDIT REFERENCE AGENCIES WILL RESULT IN LEGAL ACTION IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE FSA, THE FINANCIAL OMBUDSMAN. Yours faithfully xxx Hopefully this will stir them up a bit.

Nothing at all from Thames Credit have just issued a warning that if they have not commenced the removal of my name from the likes of equifax etc within the week action will be started with the FSA and FO.

Some stuff arrived today. I don't think these people have a clue as to what is going on!!! They show no manual intervention with regard to the letters that are charged at variously £10 to £100 [really!!!] so they seem to owe me a good proportion of the £750 they have charged for letters I would say that £700 refund is in order... Also the arrangement had been for them to do insurance 'in house' and they did not cancel the insurance for 6 months after the sale [incurring some £250 charge] which they seem to think I should pay! Wrong! The redemption seems wrong to me also [i paid it off with a windfall] but i am not 100% confident doing it with a calculator and parper and pen... is there a program for the Open Office software that will do mortgages correctly? I have looked but seem to have failed miserably if there is, sorry if I am thick. All the above 'charges' have been simply added to the total sum owed so would like a smart spreadsheet to kill this completely. My figures seem to suggest that they owe me around £1200 and of course if paid will contribute 5% to the site... Cheers for any help in nailing the first of my tormenters to the cross of their own making.

Found it... REGISTERED ADDRESS: - LLOYDS TSB BANK PLC 25 GRESHAM STREET LONDON EC2V 7HN Cheque made out to 'Lloyds TSB bank PLC.'

Do I send the LTSB S.A.R. to Card Concerns in Brighton or my local branch? Who do I make the cheque payable to? Is that Card Concerns also?

30th April 2007 Data Protection Act 1998 Subject Access Request Dear Sir/Madam ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx 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. I enclose the statutory maximum fee of £10. You have 40 days in which to comply. Furthermore, if I discover that you have levied disproportionate penalties against me, then I shall be reclaiming them, and also reclaiming the enclosed £10 Data Protection Act subject access request fee. If there is specific information which you require in order to satisfy yourself as to my identity, please let me know by return. However, please note that the above address is the one which you normally use to communicate my private business to me and which you have hitherto found to be acceptable. I would be happy to collect the Data from my local branch. Yours faithfully, The above... in the post... this evening. I am constructing a more concilliatory letter for the £1500 they have taken from my second account. I will offer them the chance to simply pay that back and i will make up the small amount that remains outstanding to level that account and then close the account. I'll try nice before I bite them hard on that account.

Yeah on both the current accounts I can go back 5 years 11 months... The c-card is just six months... crafty. My main account has always been in credit so no charges!!! My second account has been overcharged around £1500 and I will go for that... My c-card has received £2300 in payments since Aug 04 that's 33 payments averaging £70 per month on a total of -£2,500 on that date and yet dispite paying that amount the account stands at -£3600!!! and no-one has used the card Nice trick eh!

OK, I have a Credit card that seems to have been balls'dup big time, and 2 accounts that need sorting a bit. I can go back 6 years on the accounts on the net so don't need to send an S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) for those but I do for the C-card... is there anything I should do first? This may well be a little contentious with Lloyds as it looks like the C-card is gonna mean something close to £2000 will be my claim and one of the accounts will be about the same or more. Do they get particularly 'sulky' about this sort of thing? I have a quite reasonable relationship with my local Lloyds but worry that that 'goodwill' is now based on them quietly filching my spondulicks... A little bit of tactical advice is what I need, sort of pointers... wanna get this one pinned down without killing the beast.

By sheer fluke the 40 days on this one are up on the 26th May... No 'phone call so far, so time passes... slowly. Lloyds Bank are now in the firing line... I am quite getting into this, it is very empowering to take back some control over those that have thwarted you...

26th April dispatched and 'no show'... the entire lie is at present unenforceable. So the next hurdle is the 26th of May whereupon I submit a form to remove the entire lie completely.

Instant reply... the glorious power of sending through snail-mail and E-mail... Dear xxxxxxxx Thank you for your emails of 20 & 22 April. We understand what is required from a subject access request, however we were endeavouring to provide you the specific information you requested in you email of 2 April. I am in the process of gathering the further information you have requested in order to resolve your issues and would request that you provide us with a telephone number, so that I can contact you prior to sending out this information. I trust this is in order and look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely I will give my mobile to them but will preface any conversation with 'something' but as yet i am not sure exactly what that preface should be... any suggestions???

My reply to the above Hinckley & Rugby Building Society, Upper Bond Street, Hinckley, Leicestershire. LE10 1DG 22nd April 2007 Data Protection Act 1998 Subject Access Request Dear Mrs. Whitwood ACCOUNT: xxxxxxx I am in receipt of your letter dated 19th April 2007 and its enclosures. I note that you have failed [so far] to provide the full information that you obliged to under the Subject Access Request, as defined by the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998. I would draw your attention to the case of Durant v Financial Services Authority (2003) EWCA Civ 1746 and recommend that you use the details in that case as a guideline for the extent of information that I have asked and have paid in full for. I would further advise you to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office, and seek guidance in the full scope of the request. To clarify what I am asking for: As per my Data Subject Access Request, I require disclosure of any notes (including computer screen notes), letters, documents, and any other evidence or information to or from both joint account holders that may have caused any action to be taken by yourselves in relation to the cause, level or financial break-down of these charges. Also, where these charges have been applied due to manual intervention by any member of your staff or any other person, I require any evidence you hold of that manual intervention. In an additional effort to assist you I include below a brief outline of the scope of your obligations, the list is not comprehensive, but it may be of value. Statement… I consider that many ’charges’ that have been made to the account to be in fact penalties levied for my breach of contract and I require that you supply a certified breakdown of your actual costs incurred for each ’charge’ or breach. You are, of course, aware that penalty charges are outlawed. Statement… I require a full explanation of the ’legal’ charges, and your justification for imposing them without a breakdown or proper account of the charge, I require that you supply a certified proof of your actual costs incurred for each ’legal’ charge or breach of contract. You are, of course, aware that penalty charges are outlawed. Statement… I require a copy of the Insurance Policy for which I have been charged £617.44 providing sufficient information for me to ascertain whether or not this is a further penalty masquerading as a legitimate charge. This ‘insurance’, presumably for the benefit of both parties, is not ‘part’ of a the mortgage per se and the figures given to xxxxxx should have reflected this. Statement… I require a breakdown of how the sum of £8681.80 was arrived at as the arrears figure which was then subsequently given to xxxxxx I contend and can prove that the redemption figure of £152,747.70 is too great and that the figure of £144,065.90 [£152,747.70 - £8,681.80] as the figure that would be the redemption amount if payments had been maintained as per the agreement is too small, leading to further errors in the final settlement sums. Statement… I require the schedule of interest rates and mechanism for repayment sums and their change dates during the time of this mortgage so as to ascertain the exact amount of the errors mentioned above. It has come to my attention that the regime of fees which you applied to my account is unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer Regulations - a view that has been upheld by the recent announcement from the Office of Fair Trading. Whilst I agree that some of the charges levied on my account may be legitimate expenses incurred by yourselves but until such evidence proving such legitimacy of all or any of the sums involved is supplied I dispute that they are a true reflection of your actual costs. I now turn my attention to the sum of £95.00 refunded by yourselves. Thank you for the return of this sum and it correct allocation, however please be aware that any future payments are to be sent to me alone, the reasons are simple, it is me that has paid for the arrears in their entirety and the insurances too. The two elements that are in question are [a] the projected figure [as if payments were made on the due date] and the final redemption figure. When the projected figure [a] has been proved wrong then I will claim the difference directly through the courts [as I have had to previously] and when the redemption figure is revised to its correct value the Society will refund the difference directly to me in the form of a cheque, it is NOT under any circumstances to be divided equally as you have done with the previous refund. As this will result in my having to issue a further Writ of Execution upon yyyyyyy Please confer with xxxxxxx should you wish to verify the legal position in this matter. Yours faithfully,

They sent some stuff but not enough to really sort the wheat from the chaff... Their reply to the above. 19th April 2007 Dear xxxxx Re: xxxxxx I refer to your letter dated 2nd April 2007 with regard to subject access request under the Data Protection Act 1998 and your cheque for £10.00 Please find enclosed copies of your mortgage statements for the above account. As the lastdid not contain a breakdown of the fees charged I have enclosed a computer print out listing these charges individually together with copies of our tarriff of Mortgage Charges during the duration of this mortgage. Whilst writing I note that in the original mortgage agreement the mortgage charges applicable at the time were a sealing fee of £75.00 with separate dispatch of title deeds of £25.00. The total fees for redemtion administration at the time you entered the mortgage agreement with the society amounted to £100.00. As you have paid a higher fee than originally quoted, I have enclosed the Societys cheques for £95 split between the two mortgage holders to refund this overpayment. I trust this is in order but if i can be of further assistance then please do not hesitate to contact me. Yours etc etc.

Hi there, another day... another war. This time a real biter. Hinckley & Rugby Building Society, Upper Bond Street, Hinckley, Leicestershire. LE10 1DG 2nd April 2007 Data Protection Act 1998 Subject Access Request Dear Sir/Madam ACCOUNT: xxxxxxxxxxxx Please supply me with a complete list of transactions and charges relating to my 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 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. I enclose the statutory maximum fee of £10. You have 40 days in which to comply. Furthermore, if I discover that you have levied disproportionate penalties against me, then I shall be reclaiming them, and also reclaiming the enclosed £10 DPA subject access request fee. If there is specific information which you require in order to satisfy yourself as to my identity, please let me know by return. However, please note that the above address is the one which henceforth you are to use to communicate my private business to me. Yours faithfully,

Got a call, the 'otherside' offering to pay if bailiff cancelled so agreed to hold off for a week... received a cheque today... for slightly less than £2000. NOT ENOUGH! [and plain rude too!] So, back down to the Court in 5 minutes, re-instate with new figure for Bailiff to collect. I feel like a fool, I took them at their word that they would payy all and they haven't. I feel slighted and I have noticed that I can claim for my time as a 'Litigant in person', my computer logs how much time I spend on my work and my 'play' on the net and I have spent a good 150+ hours on this alone over the last 3/4 months reading up on the law etc etc, now am I right that I can charge this at £9.50 per hour? Damn it, I know it's petty, but I am really fed up with them sending me bills and me sending them none for my time, I win but get nothing for all my time and effort... Any ideas???

Thames Credit Limited. PO Box 44, Bromley, Kent. BR1 1ZB 16/04/2007 Dear Sir/Madam Reference: xxxxxxxx Your refs: STD Dated 12/04/07 Please be aware that we do not acknowledge any debts to your company. Thank you for acknowledging receipt of our notice that you supply us with a true copy of any agreement, statements of account and signed true copies of the deeds of assignment of the above referenced agreements. You have acknowledged of receipt of our notice as being the 12th April 2007 and we expect that by the end of the working day of the 26th April 2007 to have received in full all that has been requested in our previous letter. Your kind offer to supply the requested information in full for free is neither asked for or necessary. Any refusal of fee WILL NOT preclude or allow you to delay your obligations under the Acts of Parliament outlined in our previous letter of the 7th April 2007, therefore, we return to you the £1 postal order in payment of the statutory fee. Please be aware that we consider this matter to be “in dispute”. Yours faithfully V-Bird Enc. PO £1

The 12th it is... so the axis dates are:- 26th April. then... 26th May.

Letter today from Thames. Dated 12/04/07 and referenced correctly. I quote the text letter for letter:- Thank you for your letter of the 7 April 2007. We have requested a copy of the original application form and statements from HFC Bank Limited. We would ask you to be patient whilst we collate the documentation and enclose your £1.00 postal order, as we do not charge for this request. Please be assured that we will contact you without further delay once we have the information. Yours etc etc. I phoned the number immediately informing them that the clock is ticking and that I will return the postal order for them to cash as part of my legal request to them. A letter will now follow from me confirming what I stated above. One question... does the clock start on the date on the letter sent by me or on their acknowledgement?

The above sent registered post on the 7th as of yet nothing to prove their receipt of this request. [My heartfelt thanks to the main template makers and Alanfromderby for the format of the above letter.]

The next battle rages in this thread... Thames Credit Limited. PO Box 44, Bromley, Kent. BR1 1ZB 07/04/2007 Dear Sir/Madam Reference: xxxxxx Your refs: xxxxxx Please be aware that we do not acknowledge these debts to your company, and therefore require you to supply the following documentation before we will correspond further Firstly, you must supply us with a true copy of the agreement you refer to in this matter. This is our right under the legislation contained within section 77 (1) and section 78 (1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 - your obligation also extends to providing statements of account. I enclose a £1 postal order in payment of the statutory fee. We also require that you supply signed true copies of the deeds of assignment of the above referenced agreements. You are reminded that you are obliged to supply these documents, whether you are the original creditor or not, under section 189 of the CCA 1974. We understand a copy of our credit agreement should be supplied within 12 working days. As you are aware, a credit agreement that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totally unenforceable under the CCA and therefore is a complete defence to any court claim that is issued. Take note at this stage, that any legal action you may contemplate will be both vigorously defended and contested. In the meantime please be aware that we consider this matter to be “in dispute”. We look forward to hearing from you. Yours faithfully V-bird. Enc. PO £1