No offence taken - as I said, I'm a happy guy now so can anyone answer my hypothetical question? I live in a rented house with my brother. There is a TV in the lounge. Bailiffs come round and somehow get in. They see said TV. I say it's not mine...It's my brothers, he bought it off ebay about 6 years ago. TV license is in his name. Same goes for the PC in the hypothetical study. How can they prove it's mine (when it isn't)? How can I prove it's not mine? Who needs to prove what, and with what would they prove it? If anyone has any solid ideas on this I'd be very grateful - I want to know if I'm putting my brother's possesions in jeapordy? I can take the hassle of people coming after me, but I don't want to inflict any problems on him. Again - no worries about being judgemental - I didn't take it that way anyhow, and I know I'm being slightly off-message with this. Besides, this forum really helped me claim back my bank charges - pity the OFT and friends waded in and spoilt everything. What a stitch up that's going to be!!!

My woes may well increase Tony, but quite frankly I've given up caring, and that's kind of freed me. I know it's going to sound incredibly glib of me, but most of the strain of this debt comes from the worry - If you don't care, you don't worry - I sleep at night now instead of lying awake trying to come up with a solution. The banks took a risk - As all investors do when they lent me money - It was a bad risk, and they didn't care. Now they've passed it on to DCAs and their filthy little game continues. Charges keep being added to any account I have week after week, and that's all part of their plan. I don't have a permanent address - I'm crashing at my brothers because I couldn't afford to pay rent on my last place. I only have my guitars - which as I understand it are off-limits to the bailiffs as that is my trade. How do I prove I have nothing? You cannot prove a negative!!! I went through the whole process of getting back my bank charges, and helped by this site and the very wise and kind people on it, I'd had a court date set just a few days before the OFT case was launched. I had to borrow money off my Dad to pay for the court stuff, and now I'm high n dry - waiting for the case to be resolved and totally broke in the meantime. Maybe I should plead hardship? But again, how do you go about proving a negative? I realise these posts will have many of you weeping with frustration. I know I'm going against all you're good advice, but I honestly no longer care. I hate the banks, and I hate the system. Their greed has done me damage, but it has also done the whole country damage, and pushed us towards a recession. They play this game as if there was only one outcome - that they win. They rely on bail-outs from the taxpayer and make huge profits off the back of people's genuine misery. I'm not playing this game anymore. I own nothing. I sleep well. I play my guitar and I'm happier than I ever have been in the past few years. That - to me - is a result.

Ha!!! Looked into that one and it cost £600 or something!!! If I had £600 I wouldn't be bankrupt would I? Better off holding out for my creditors to apply for me

Hey guys - Just a quick question that I've been pondreing for a while... I have nearly 10,000 pound worth of debt with several banks - a loan and a couple of credit cards. Now, I own nothing - no house (i rent), no car (i drive my mums old car) - I don't buy stuff with cards or cheques ('cos I don't have them) and I live in a house with my brother. I mean - what have I really got to lose? We have a TV and the like, but who's to say whether it's mine or my brother's? There's no paperwork showing who bought it. As far as I see it - if I've got nothing, no matter what percentage they take, it's still nothing!!! So if the worst came to the worst and the bailiffs came a knocking, what could they take? Even an attachment to my earnings would be negligable as I only work part-time. Any thoughts?

"Low tolerances of those that are self-serving" - Sounds like the banks could be in trouble then? Also, I'd like to say that in my opinion, the legal profession has more to worry about than TB - The courts rely on public confidence to operate, and as far as I'm concerned, any Judge who awards in favour of the banks is damaging confidence - If believing that justice is governed not by the strength of your arguement, but by how much money and influence you have, makes me a conspiracy theorist then so be it. Last week I had a cheque on it's third day of clearing in my account - on the same day a smaller payment was due out of said account - Lloyds bounced the payment and charged me £30 for the "service" then paid in the cheque - Is that "Just" forestrich?

Thing is I don't reckon anyone is stopping their claim - it's the FSA that is stopping us claiming!!! Of course we want to continue...that's the point. We can't.

nice idea kog - we could save post offices too!

I can understand why some people are finding this thread a little defeatist, but there are some of us that can't afford to wait two months for OUR money to be returned let alone two years. For us - this decision is as good as a loss. I'll be bankrupt before any decision. Look at how many cases we've won - The OFT/FOS/FSA were not needed here - at least not if they were going to award such a one-sided waiver. It's a disgrace. There's something fishy going on, and it makes me mad.

Apparently CC claims go ahead as per. Don't take my word for it - i'm stupid don't ya know

This whole change in the process is ANNOYING - so let us moan!! It feels like just another hurdle that's been placed on the road to justice - I need to share my frustration...so call me stupid.

The fact that they can still charge us - despite the now ongoing case - and yet we're all stuck in limbo is the thing that worries me the most. It's this un-balanced approach by the financial cartel of the FSA, FOS and the OFT that makes me pessimistic about the eventual ruling. The banks were starting to lose too much money. The courts were getting jammed. Somehow, this pesky consumer revolt had to be pinned down. And yes, JFK was killed by the CIA, The moon landings were filmed in Vegas, and Tony Blair intentionally lied about Iraq...at least two of those are true...;-)

3 years!!!! Brilliant. Thanks OFT - weren't we all doing quite well without them? How many cases had been lost to the banks? How many had been won? Once again the consumer gets done over - The sad truth is the stakes have just gotten too high - Now the banks can't even contemplate losing - If this case results in them having to automatically pay everyone back then I'll personally eat the 8 thousand pages of statements I've had to wade through. @!*!

Hey brothers and sisters - For what it's worth, my advice is to bite down hard on something - I get the feeling we're all about to be royally screwed. Now wouldn't that make a change?

Be-A-Utiful MB. iCalc works a treat, and a) sounds like the way forward. Now I just have to print out the letters/schedule, drive to Aylesbury in the morning and send [problem] the info. Even though they say they're minded to make an offer, I'll believe it when I see it, and not before! Hopefully, in one court bundle's time, I shall emerge victorious!!!! Once again - Your help has been INVALUABLE. Thanks v. v. much. Jim

Hey Michael - Thanks for that - I'm overlapping you slightly so please excuse any confusion. Will option 2/b (changing the amount of the claim) have a negative effect? or is it a matter of scale (i.e. a few pounds is unlikely to cause a stir wheras a few hundred will get the case dismissed!) Hopefully that'll be the last of my pestering! Thanks so much for your time and help. Jim.

Michael - sorry to be a pain, but I'm having a bit of a problem opening the spreadsheet with openoffice - I still have my original schedule of charges from Martin Lewis' site and - as you say - there's a blank collumn on the left hand side - I'm guessing I could just go back through my statements and fill that collumn in by hand? Either that or just set it all out in a table - the interest calcs should still be good? Am I right in my (wishful) thinking? Cheers, Jim

Just re-entering my schedule of charges and have noticed what could be a school-boy error! My first charge is from 11/02/01 - six years from when I first wrote to Lloyds contesting my charges. However, when I finally made my MCOL claim it was May, and I included a charge from that month. Therefore my claim runs from 11/02/01 to May 07 - more than six years!!! I've read on some threads that the six-year rule may not apply - in which case I presume my claim is okay - Can anyone confirm this, or have I made a booboo?

Michael Browne - U r a star. Brokenbybanks - mendedbyCAG.

Hi Night Owl, thanks so much for your help. Just one point of clarification...as regards c) - it does say in the letter from the court that I should specify the reason fro each charge AND the objection made to it? Is that just court jargon, or do I have to argue against each one quoting the typical arguements against lloyds defence - i.e. these are not service charges... Gawd bless you 'elpful people.

Hey MB The exact wording is as follows; "DEPUTY DISTRICT JUDGE EDWARDS has considered the statements of case and allocation questionnaires filed and allocated to the small claims track." "the claimant shall by 25th July 2007 provide full details of each and avery charge of which complaint is made specifying the reason for which it was made and the objection to it." It then goes on to say that the hearing will be on 28th August, at Aylesbury county Court, and is expected to last no longer than 30mins - "Each party shall deliver to every other party and to the court offices copies of all documents on which he intends to rely at the hearing no later than 14days before the hearing." I realise this seems a bit last minute, but I've taken two days off work to make sure I get it done, and I'll deliver my response to the court in person Tomorrow. Thanks for your interest.

Please - Can anyone advise me? My Allocation Questionairre has been dispensed with, but I have been allocated a court date on the 28th August. I have also recieved a letter from the court requesting that I "provide full details of each and every charge of which complaint is made specifying the reason for which it was made and the objection to it." I've also had a letter from [problem] saying that Lloyds are considering an offer, but with the following passage; "We note from your pleadings that you atre claiming (alleging) that various deductions were made from your account over the past few years, but you do not specifically say when and how" "In light of this, can you provide the following information by return - 1. Each and every charge that you say was deducted from your account. 2. How you caqlculate any interest. 3. How you arrived at the sum of £622.31; and 4. Confirm your sort code and Bank account Numbers." Could anyone help me with the following questions - it would be really appreciated. a) Since my claim, I have been charged on four other occasions - can I update my claim to include these charges, and if so - does that mean I have to change the start date of the claim (i.e. six years from now, rather than six years from the date I made the MCOL claim)? b) since my original MCOL claim, the 8% interest I included will have increased by approx two months worth - do I include this additional sum when submitting the charges to the judge? c) When the judge asks for my reasons and objections to each charge, should I address each individual charge, or can I include a passage that deals with the charges as a whole? d) I understand that the 8% interest is only awardable by the court - should I acknowledge this in my response to [problem]? I calculated the charges on Martin Lewis' site, should I also reference the site in my response to [problem]? e) I sent Lloyds a schedule of charges as per martin lewis' site in May - why are [problem] now saying they do not have this information? Surely they can get most of the information they are requesting directly from Lloyds? Finally, and MOST importantly; f) My original MCOL claim was made before I was a member of CAG, and the POC was pretty brief - Can I just follow the instructions on this site for filling in the POC section, convert it into letter form, and send that to the judge? Any help on ANY of these points would be brilliant!

Beautiful One of a Kind! I like it. The fact that banks are attempting to jam up the system is such a blatant abuse of our court system. As far as I can see they are using people's individual lack of resources against them - If I have to miss a day of work that costs me 20% of my weekly income, whilst the banks are dealing with claims en-masse, counting on people losing faith or just not being able to afford to go on. Whilst we are all becoming more familiar with the legal nuances of the system at evenings and weekends, the banks can hire a firm of solicitors. Justice? WHAT IS "JUST" ABOUT THIS??? I'm going to fight this claim even if it bankrupts me... Phew - rant over. Sorry. Again many thanks for the help - just one more question if I may - I notice that we're asked to log our claim details but that we should also avoid mailing the moderators. Is there somewhere specific to send our details or do we just add them to a database?

Hey all, I've just recieved a letter from Northampton court saying that my AQ has been dispensed with - How is this fair? Surely the AQ is a chance to put the basics to the court and also an opportunity to expose the bank's time-wasting tactics. Is this a new thing brought about by an overflowing small claims system? And what does it mean as regards the draft order discussed on this thread? Sorry for all the questions, but I'd taken the day off work to complete my AQ, and now I'm at a bit of a loss...Oh how I hate U Lloyds. From reading earlier postings it would seem all I can do is wait for the court to get in touch, but I just think this kind of nullifies the draft order and it seemed like such a great idea.

Hey all Most disconserting to read all this!!! I'm new here so forgive if this is stupid question, but can we not demand the T & C we signed under the Data Protection Act? My brother's been with Lloyds since about 1992, surely they can't expect us to have kept our original copy for over a decade? I too am with Barclays, and signed in 1998, a year before the 1999 act. Again, apologies if this is a silly question but as pointed out elsewhere, it's all a bit confusing!!! Thanks alot BrokenByBanks

Hi all - brokenbybanks here. This is my first post, I'm SO glad to have found this site!! Scotty - I'm at about the same stage as you. I'm currently just received an acknowledgement of service of my claim from Northampton County Court and it says on it (rather obviously) that the bank intends to defend all of this claim. I've read a fair bit about the process online and am slightly worried that I was too brief with the details that I first entered onto Money Claim... I wonder if anyone could reassure me that there is room for ample description of my case on the Allocation Questionnaire that I guess I will be receiving at the end of the month? Also I was wondering about Terms and Conditions. Surely you can request the original T & C that you signed up to under the Data Protection Act. After all who is going to have kept the originals - I've been with Lloyds since the mid-nineties? The point MUST be that Paid Referal Fees are still Penalty charges, i.e. punitive and totally in excess of costs to the banks!!! Thanks for listening, any and all help much appreciated. Keep up the good work. BrokenByBanks