Latest in the saga. I had heard nothing for ages and was stupid enough to think that this meant that the judge might actually be reading the draft directions I had sent. I got back last Friday to a letter from Morpeth County Court. This is it I think, finally I'm getting somewhere. . . It's a letter telling me that the Judge has ordered a stay until 31st August. So after 4 months without a word from them this Judge thinks the bank and SC&M are going to communicate with me??? After several minutes of ranting and swearing I calmed down enough to realise that this is just another delaying tactic and I should have expected it. I really am trying to keep calm but this whole situation is Frustrating! If any other institution tried this there'd be hell to pay. Anyway can't be helped - I remember seeing something on the forums about writing to SC&M and copying in the court. I'll look for that now.

Thanks again Guidot. I don't think there have been that many cases up here so that may be why I got an AQ. I only know of one other person that has been to court with this and that was last year. Several friends and family members are following my lead now so I may have started a revolution. Biff1666 thanks for joining us. I'm posting my AQ to the court, and a copy to SC&M, today following the new strategy. Hopefully this will work in my favour if the courts up here are fairly new at this. I'll keep you all posted.

Finally recieved a copy of the banks defense - standard 9 point job. Also recieved my Allocation Questionaire so going to fill that out today and get it straight back to them. Still haven't had any contact from the bank what so ever about this, they've not even had the decency to acknowledge any of my letters. Hopefully things will get moving a bit faster now.

I can understand both points of view on this. I am worried by these developments but I intend to fight as long and as hard as possible to try and get my money back. The bank kept hitting me with charges at a time when I couldn't afford to pay anyone anything. It's taken nearly 6 years to deal with the fallout of that time and if there's a chance I can get a little justice I'm going to take it. At the same time though it's worth remembering that making a claim costs money and if you lose you don't get it back. As these charges affect people who have money problems to begin with I think we each need to look at our situations and go from there. We need to realise that this isn't a case of do this and you'll get your money anymore. Yes the odds are greatly in our favour but that will be scant consolation to those who lose there case and lose even more money they can't afford to the banks.

Fantastic news matey! I am chuffed to bits for you. Thanks for taking time out from your own case to offer me your wisdom, I really appreciate it. Once again well done.

Just checked MCOL again and the bank have filed a defense already!!! They only acknowledged last friday. Should get the letter about court allocation tomorrow. Looks like I might be going to court after all.

Just checked MCOL and LLoyds acknowledged my claim on Friday. This seems awfully fast as it's only 7 days after service. Is this a new tactic? Nearly all the posts I've seen have them doing everything on or after the deadlines. I haven't had the NOA through from the court so I haven't sent the solicitors a copy of my charges yet.

Thanks and congratulations, it's good to hear that they are still settling. My local court will be Morpeth in Northumberland. So far no strange decisions up here but you never know.

Thanks all, I think I'll leave the amendment for now. Quick question - My claim isn't served until the 9th do I wait for the NOA until I send the bank a(nother) copy of the schedule or should I send to their head office address now?

Bump

Thanks Paul, I spoke to a guy called Mark at MCOL first thing and he was really helpful. Unfortunately my claim has been issued so I need to file an amendment. If I wait until the case goes to local court before issuing the amendment is it not more likely that Lloyds will enter a defence stating that I can't even get my dates right? Oh, The woes of being an idiot.

Thanks Paul, Just missed them for today will try first thing tomorrow.

AAAARGH!!! I have just spotted a mistake on my MCOL claim. I pasted the template from here into word and changed the relavent parts in there. Somehow my date in point 2 has switched back to 01/02/03 istead of 01/11/01. I can't believe this has happened I checked through twice myself and my wife checked it as well. All I can think is that I didn't paste the final draft. Do I need to file an amendment or is there a way to change this as it hasn't been issued yet????

Screw it. I've filed today using MCOL and sent my schedule in. Let's hope the judges get their act together before I get to court. It's taken me 6 years of hard graft to get out of the financial hole they put me into with these charges and it will be another 6 years before the ccj I ended up with (from another company) gets wiped off my record. I'll let everyone know how I get on.

Thanks Barty, I've been watching all the press coverage of the Judge in Hulls descision to reject claims before him and on the BBC this mornign a guy from Which? was saying that after the letters to bank stage going to the ombudsman is the next pont of call. Is this feasible, and if so what sort of timescales am I looking at. I really can't afford to loose the £80 court fee followed by £100 for an AQ (if it gets that far) if it's going to be thrown out. Those 2 Judges must be the banks greatest friends at the minute because a lot of people I know ready to give their claims up as it is starting to look like throwing good money after bad.

Hi everyone, I am really glad I found this site as hopefully I can get my claim back on track after possibly shooting myself in the foot. I first heard about reclaiming unfair charges through a colleague at work who put me onto moneysavingexpert.com and gave me a couple of other sites with template letters etc. I got details of my charges through from Lloyds TSB (on the 40th day) without much trouble but... After reading through moneysavingexpert.com's forums and reading all the notes I asked for the additional 8% interest straight away. The idea being that the bank would be more likely to offer the amount it owes me to get me off their back. After reading through several threads on this site I realise that this is a no-no and I'm now panicking a bit. I have heard nothing from TSB in response to my first two letters and as it's now over 2 weeks since I threatened legal action (I've allowed a couple of days for the bank holiday) I am now going to take them to court. My quandry is should I send another letter, based on the CAG template, asking for the correct amount or go ahead with my claim through the court? I don't want to delay things too much as I have just passed my driving test and am hoping to use any money I get back to buy an old banger. Any suggestions or help will be gratefully appreciated. Jacker1976