Just incase this escalates...I know that you must firstly follow your company's grievance procedure and take it from there. If this were to eventually go to a Emp. tribunal, your case will only be considered if you have tried internal grievence procedure first. ACAS can be contacted on 08457 47 47 47 for impartial advice. Google "flexible working" and read up some of the official websites which tell you your rights...this may help to form the points of any grievance. Good luck..I took my ex-employer to a tribunal 3 yrs ago over something similar and won. If you have home insurance, you may well have built in legal cover, which should pay for a lawyer (check your policy).;-) Anne

The report said "Last March, Trading Standards described the charges as "outrageous" and "unjustified" but BT said it cost more to process non-direct debit payments and that those customers were also more likely to forget to pay." I pay my bill, in cash, on time. But I have to pay this extra charge incase Joe Bloggs down the road pays late?? And the judge accepted this? Why should I be penalised because other customers may pay late? I understand they are then subject to yet another fee, but you get my drift...

hmm sometimes too much info is dangerous eh?! No wonder the letting agency receptionist didnt have a clue what I was talking about when I asked her about TDS yesterday!! Thanks again...will update after phone call

Thanks for the quick response Planner. I forgot to mention that we live in Scotland, I dont know if that affects the advice given. The post - clean hasnt been done yet...theyt are just keeping the money incase the Landlord wants it cleaned again. Surely 1 inspection is enough? Who wouldnt want their house cleaned again, free! We received a cheque for the balance yesterday, which has been put into the bank today (if hubby has done what he was told!). However, I have a phonecall with the letting manager organised for 2pm today to discuss the £65. I think they are just all chancing their luck, as they seem to be making stuff up as they go along. I know it is not a significant amount of money, but we have just bought a house so every penny is a prisoner and I feel its the principle thats important. The landlord was a pain in the bottom for a long period of time, unknown to the letting agency, her and members of her family were coming to the house, looking through windows and taking pictures of the back gardens etc. Also discussing the terms of our lease with my next door neighbour, so I definately grudge giving her another £65 for the pleasure! Thanks again P, Anne

Sorry...its a long one..........My husband & I rented a house from 2nd Oct 06 - 2nd April 08. The initial rental was for 6 mths, the lease was then renewed on 3rd April 07 for a further 12 months. Note, it was only hubby named on lease. The house was rented from the Landlord via a letting agency. Before moving in, we paid a deposit of £595. When we moved in, we had to scrub the house,as the previous tenants left it quite dirty (despite the let. agency alledgedly inspecting it after they left). We never received an inventory to sign. I requested one just before we vacated last week, to remind me what should be left. They sent an inventory, with a note saying it was a yr old, which was completely wrong, even down to the colour of the walls etc. I called the agency and was told their system had muddled all inventories up and they didnt have an up-to -date one, but that would be taken into consideration. So we left last week, the house was gleaming, we had spent a week washing carpets, walls cupboards etc. The agency inspected it and said it was in a great condition and then gave me a small list of things that were chargeable, only 2 of these were applicable to us (I know I could have got off with all of them dur to no inventory, but Im an honest gal!). Then she said that an additional £65 of our deposit was going to be kept to clean the place. She said this was kept from all deposits so as to clean each property. I said this certainly hadnt been done when we moved in.I explained the house didnt need cleaned, we had had people in doing that. So she agreed to refund that too. 10 mins later, I get a call saying the Landlord is going to be moving back into the house in the middle of April and wants to hold off refunding us the £65 untilk she has inspected it! "Incase she thinks it needs cleaned". Anyone know the legality of this? I know we missed our deposit being put in a TDS by 3 days. Thanks, Anne

Thanks..you say this should be returned the Friday before the Prelim hearing...her hearing is scheduled for next Thurs. :o Does this mean we should file the minute before 4pm today... Thanks

Hi just a quick question. My mum had her return date yesterday (Hamilton Sherriff Court) for a small claim, but when she called the court this morn, they said that HBOS hadn't got back to them at all yest. Can anyone tell me where she stands now, does this mean she has won? What should she do now? Thanks guys...

Maybe it would be an idea to PM Bankfodder regarding this, with it being a test case n all. I know he doesnt answer individual queries, but this is very interesting

posted reply in original thread...

Stick with your own timetable...you are the one raising a claim against them. Just check the FAQ's etc, to make sure you're doing it ok. Also - I know this sounds silly, but the Small Claims Limit is £750 (not including any interest etc). You are claiming for £753, which exceeds it. Me personally, I wouldnt split it (£750 + £3!) or go down summary cause, I would cap it at £750,(a bit wimpish I know!) but as I said...that's just me. Perhaps FOS is another route? Be careful...hopefully one of the more knowlegable guys will post on this one to give more advice. Good Luck!

Ta!

thats cool thanks. The 14 days stipulated in the LBA is up on Monday, so we will fire the next claim to the court then. In the first 2 letters sent to LLoyds re this 3rd claim, the amount was for £450, but the have charged another £200 since then. When we are putting our claim into the court next week, can we claim for the updated amount or does it still have to be the £450? You would think I would have a clue about this by now eh??

Steve - they settled the second claim at the same time as the first :grin: . Thats what I meant by us being very lucky. The "running your account properly" condition is a grey area as the new lot of charges where accrued before the recent settlement/conditions. You think we should proceed with the claim asap then? (We have already issued a LBA a few weeks ago). Should I just continue to send LLoyds/SC&M my letter revoking their conditions...what can they do? Take their money back...dodgy ground for them if I took it back to court!

basically your offer with conditions attached is as follows If you were to claim again for previous charges before the settlement date they would use this against you. Settlement date? Dont know what you mean Bigmac. Sorry:(

sorry, they did add the condition about "running the bank acc according to T&C's etc" (didnt note before as didnt think they were important) What do you reccomend we do regarding these and our next claim? Note with the letter they sent, there was nothing to sign and send back

Hi folks. Received a letter from Lloyds this afternoon (not SC&M) with details of the settlement they paid yesterday. Its quite a funny letter - "the bank intends to defend this claim", "there is no merit in your claim" blah blah blah and then "oh by the way we have put £x into your account today as full and final settlemnt of the claim" Anyway, they have given us 4 "conditions we have to meet in order to get the money eh, that they have already given us . 2 points concern me - 1) "The payment will be in full and final settlement of the claim" Does this mean we wouldn't be able to claim in the future for other bank charges? 2) "The terms of this agreement are confidential...." Well no I dont think so. Im not comfortable with them dictating terms to us when we where the ones bringing action against them! Can anyone confirm the 1st point? Is that what it means? Cos while we have been doing this claim, they have taken lots more charges!! (Prob trying to recoup their costs!) A

Good News at last. Hubby called SC&M this afternoon in a last ditch attempt to settle our claims. They have paid the money into his account this afternoon inc 8% interest! Phew! Now getting to work on our Wasted Costs Claim (following the step-by-step instructions def ) I know we were lucky with this one, I just want to say thanks to those that helped esp stevokenevo.

Hamilton Sheriff Court...cheers again. I know it looks as if we didnt take this seriously to begin with, thats not the case. We were simply misinformed. I'm more than aware that court action is a serious issue - we wouldnt have gone this far if we weren't willing to see it thru. Just lost our way a bit. :o Any encouragement/ advice etc is really appreciated.

Hi Folks - I (my hubby) have my preliminary hearing at the Sheriff Court tomorrow v Lloyds. Has anyone attended one of these before? If so, I have a few questions, if someone can help me out please? 1)Can you tell me what to expect and what happens? 2)What is this hearing for...is it to decide if we can continue with the claim? 3)Can anyone also advise EXACTLY what info I need to take along with me the court at this stage please? We are getting really nervous now, just want to make sure I have everything I need and all the facts straight in my head. Thanks again

oops

I wouldn't worry too much. Bankfodder has posted a reply to this news in the LLoyds forum (sorry I've lost the link...need to sleep! )

Thanks! Im overly consciencious now...from one extreme to the other!:o HAve you seen the news about LLoyds? BBC NEWS | Business | Bank's overdraft charges upheld Oh dear

Excellent....well done!

Thanks, your support is most welcome! can you tell me about AQ tho? The court hasn't mentioned this yet...am I too ahead of myself? I read the FAQ's and it said the AQ is sent by the court after the bank has entered a defence. Should I call n ask for one to be sent or just leave it?

Thanks again. So we go to the prelim hearing, wait n see what the judge says...worst case scenario he makes us go for summary cause (which we will follow step-by-step ).