Well, I have just finished a rather nice bottle of Champagne & I am feeling suitably chilled out (hic!). The first time I have relaxed in about three weeks. Good luck to everyone who is after a refund of THEIR money, don't worry, you will get it back as long as you don't do anything really stoopid like claim for 15 years worth of charges or ask for a refund of overdraft interest. Saying that, I made about half a dozen mistakes (according to the CAG guidelines) and yet I still got paid, however I HIGHLY recommend following the CAG script as you will then not be plagued with doubt if it gets to the court stage. Many thanks to everyone, especially Kopstar1965 who has been my rock over the last couple of weeks - thanks mate. For those of you who are thinking of getting your charges back - go for it. Nationwide may be the most difficult to get money back from but they do back down in the end if you stand your ground. PS Listen to MilkTrayMan, he is full of good advice.

Got home at lunchtime today & I had received a letter from the Nationwide confirming that they would refund all charges £1247.50 plus interest £507.79 and court costs of £120 !!! Checked account and the money was in there!!!!! A message for everyone who is still waiting for their money & who perhaps are in the court process & panicking - don't worry. Although I highly recommend following the CAG timeline to the letter, I followed the advice on another website & in hindsight mucked a few things up including asking for the 8% interest straight away before getting to the court stage, asking for slightly over 6 years (6 years 1 month) of charges, which I got, not sending copies of the schedule of charges to the court, not giving 14 days for the Nationwide to reply at each stage. I may have got refunded sooner if I followed the CAG route but still, I did get my money. The stage I am at is 28 days + 16 & I received my court papers last week with the Nationwide's defence that they would not pay me back anything. Now I can relax after a terribly anxious few weeks!!!

Wow!! Congratulations!!!!! That is fantastic news, did they pay you the lesser MCOL amount that you emailed Eversheds about yesterday or the original amount? I wonder if you emailing them made a difference, in which case that's what I will do as they stil haven't paid me a penny! Best of wishes, sittinpretty.

How did you get on at court today?

Me too, I used the MSE website as Martin Lewis has a high profile & seems very authoritative (and many of the people following his advice seemed to be getting paid) for my preparation and as I have said elsewhere, my heart sank when I discovered the CAG website with all of its additional advice. Even so, I don't think I would have asked for the compound interest as I want to keep things as simple as possible and this is my first time (and I am also slightly faint-hearted!). By the way, I still haven't received a refund, I think it may be some weeks yet.

Well I finally got my defence today. The letter dated 8th June is titled 'Notice of transfer proceedings' and goes as follows: A defence to this claim has been filed. The claim has been transferred to the court covering the area where the claimant lives or carries on business. Then there is another page Before District Judge Murdoch Sitting at Northamton County Court Without hearing IT IS ORDERED THAT: - 1. The filing of an allocation questionnaire be dispensed with in the case unless the district judge at the court of transfer orders otherwise Then there is another page with Nationwide's defence Defence 1 The Defendant admits that the claimant holds a current account with the defendant. 2 Any charges debited to the claimant's account have been debited in accordance with the contract made between the claimant and the defendant in relation to the account 3 The claimant has been regularly advised of the amounts that would be debited to his account in respect of, unauthorised overdrafts, transactions unpaid due to insufficient funds and card misuse. 4 The defendant therefore denies that the claimant is entitled to repayment of the charges, as claimed, or at all. And that's pretty much it. I guess I just now wait for a court date, as no allocation questionnaire will be sent to me? As my original claim included charges a few weeks over the 6 years should I now amend my claim to exclude these or just sit tight & see what happens? Thanks sittinpretty.

I wouldn't worry at all - others, including myself are in the same boat. Nationwide put in a defence on my claim on the 28th day on 30th May & I haven't heard anything either. After a week I phoned MCOL and they told me they were six working days behind, last Thursday I phoned them again & they advised that the paperwork had been sent to my local court & I would hear direct from them not MCOL on Tuesday or Wednesday this week (two weeks after the defence was put in). I think the delays are due to the massive numbers of claims going through the courts (1000+ with MCOL alone each day). I panicked about the delay last week & a few posters quite rightly told me to chill, which I started to do a couple of days ago & I now found that my nervous twitch has gone! You will hear shortly I am sure & then Nationwide will get round to refunding you!

Kopstar, I think I may have done two things wrong in my claim though, which have may have caused me not to be paid & could potentially mess things up for me - I did not send a schedule of charges to MCOL once I registered my claim with them (although Nationwide have two copies), this was because initially I followed the advice on Martin Lewis' Money Saving Expert website & it didn't make any reference to having to do this - I only discovered CAG about three weeks after I put the claim in & my heart then sank. Also, I put my claim in at the end of April and included bank charges for the period of 6 years and 3 weeks before because I was in a bit of a huff with the Nationwide due to them taking ages to supply me with the bank charge data (46 days). I put my S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) request in at the end of Feb and it took Nationwide until mid April to send me the info, breaking the Data Protection Act in the meantime. So I put my request in including about £250 worth of charges from April 2nd 2001, which was just outside the 6 year limit, but which in my eyes (at the time) were legitimate because Nationwide had dragged its feet in supplying me with the data. I now think that this was a mistake on my part. Hopefully these two issues are just a coincidence in my claim not being paid, but not yet having received a defence I don't know but I think I am right to be pessimistic. Have you followed the CAG instructions or have you done something which may have caused a delay? Does anyone have any advice on what I should now do? Should I send the court and possibly Eversheds the schedule of charges (about 5 weeks late!) and should I change my claim to only include less that 6 years worth of charges? To recap, Nationwide put in a defence 10 days ago but I have not received the defence, although I understand that it is being transferred to my local county court at the moment. According to Eversheds they put in a denial defence, whatever that means.

I too am 28 days + 9! I still have heard nothing after the Nationwide put in a defence that long time ago & nothing from MCOL either. My request is £1760 in total including interest, not a huge amount compared to some others who got paid well in advance of the 28 days so why haven't they paid me? The stress waiting to to hear from someone (anyone!) is becoming unbearable, and the checking of my account twice daily and seeing the same balance day after day is becoming depressing!

I spoke to MCOL again lunchtime, they have only just referred my case to the local county court, the local court will then send me a copy of the defence but probably not until next Tuesday or Wednesday. This will be two weeks after Nationwide put in a defence so this is a warning to everyone, once the defence has been put in by Nationwide don't expect to hear anything for a fortnight, unless Nationwide pay the money into your account in the meantime (which hopefully they will!) Kopstar is right, have patience, but it is difficult. It is the not knowing which is driving me mad.

I telephoned Eversheds at lunchtime and spoke to a very friendly lady who advised me that Nationwide had put in a 'denial defence' in respect of my claim (the defence was put in 9 days ago & I had heard nothing from anyone). She couldn't really be any more explicit, she didn't seem to have very much info. Does anyone know what this type of defence means?

I telephoned Eversheds at lunchtime and spoke to a very friendly lady who advised me that Nationwide had put in a 'denial defence' in respect of my claim (the defence was put in 9 days ago & I had heard nothing from anyone). She couldn't really be any more explicit but thought this gave Nationwide more time to 'gather information' and she did talk about this in respect of refunds being made but understandibly she had to be quite coy. She told me that Nationwide were refunding most people unless they can 'see though the claim'. It appeared that they had the minimum of info from the Nationwide and the defence barely seems to exist. The impression I have from speaking to MCOL & Eversheds is that there are a huge number of claims being made, especially since mid April when guides on how to obtain bank refunds really hit the public domain on TV. My feeling is that Nationwide has had a glut of extra claims since then and that if they are stalling it is to give themselves extra time to arrange refunds rather than for any other reason. I could be completely wrong, but that is my gut feeling.

I have had no money paid into my account or anything through the post yet, it is now 8 days past Nationwide putting in a defence and I am getting really, really frustrated!!! I phoned MCOL on Monday, they are six working days behind & they can't cope with all the claims etc... I don't feel as though I am getting value for money for my £120! As suggested by someone in another thread I have emailed Eversheds this evening to ask them what their defence is, I will keep you informed.

Thanks, I have emailed Eversheds to ask them what their defence is, I will let you know what they say (if they bother replying, that is!).

It is now 7 days past when Nationwide put in its defence (on the 28th day of course) & as I have still heard nothing & as no money has been paid into my account, I telephoned MCOL at lunchtime today to see where Nationwide's defence was and they advised me that they are 6 working days behind schedule as they are 'receiving 1000 claims a day' and can't cope very well. They haven't processed my paperwork yet and there seems a multi step internal MCOL process before it can be released to me so I think I'll forget about hearing anything for a few days! I think Nationwide are aware of this and are perhaps taking advantage by delaying paying money to people.

I have Intelligent Finance T&Cs for the year 2000, which they sent to me when I opened my account with them in April 2001, if anyone needs them.

I remember when I originally opened my Flexaccount in 1987 that the Nationwide trumpeted in the press and in TV adverts that unlike banks, they did not apply bank charges on their newly launched current account. I can't remember what the ads said exactly, but I vaguely remember that they were in the vein that bank charges were unfair & that they could understand if people went into the red now and again etc. This policy was obviously changed within a few years but would this have any impact on charges I subsequently incurred in 2001-2003? Could I argue that the account I opened in 1987 was promoted as charge-free? I don't ever remember signing any new T&Cs after I opened the account. If I could get hold of any advertising material from that era, I am wondering if that would be of any interest to a court, what do people think? I realise that this is a long shot!

I am in a similar boat, Nationwide entered a defence at the last minute on Wednesday 30th May, nothing paid into my account yet & nothing received by post from the court. I will keep you informed as to what happens with my case. I know one other person whose 28 days ended on the same day and they received their money on the 31st, why are the treating people differently?

I have done a little more research into the six year issue and I am more reassured than I was before - it seems that at least two other Nationwide claimants who have made claims including charges over six years have had refunds for the charges incurred within the six year limit but not those over - therefore Nationwide have not been ignoring the whole claim, that is what I was really worrying about, actually having to go court & having the case dismissed for this reason alone. I am still extremely anxious though (I have hardly eaten anything these past couple of days!) as it is now two days past Nationwide putting in a defence and most other people seem to have had their money back by now. On the whole, when do people get their money after Nationwide put in a defence - is it within a few days or do they take things up to the day before court? I am prepared to go to court but the thought of it makes me feel ill. Also, when you submit your claim, does the six year limit apply from then or when you first asked for the charges back a few weeks before?

I would like some advice on whether I have done the right thing, I have put my claim in for Nationwide charges going back to April 2001, slightly over 6 years and the timeline is as follows, I followed this timeline using Martin Lewis’ website before I discovered CAG: 26.02.07 Sent request by recorded delivery for list of charges going back 6 years 10.04.07 40 day Data Protection Act limit reached, sent chaser letter threatening Information Commissioners Office action. 13.04.07 Received special delivery letter (backdated to 05.04.07!!!) with requested 6 years info (46 days after Data Protection Act request received by Nationwide), Nationwide 6 year charges summary sheet goes back to 05.03.01. 14.04.07 Sent letter by recorded delivery requesting refund of the charges going back to 02.04.01 otherwise court action would take place. 20.04.07 Received a letter dated 19.04.07 from Nationwide refusing request. 20.04.07 Sent LBA letter. 27.04.07 Received letter (bizarrely backdated to 18.04.07, i.e. before their first bog-off letter) Nationwide again refusing request. 27.04.07 Started MCOL proceedings. 28.05.07 Nationwide entered defence (as yet unknown). My first request for a refund was dated 14.04.07 & included charges going back to 02.04.01, which were slightly over the 6 year limit. However, my Data Protection Act request process started on 26.02.07 & it was due to Nationwide taking a whopping 46 days to provide the charges info that pushed over £200 worth of charges incurred on 02.04.01 over the 6 year limit. My question is, is Nationwide likely to use the 6 year rule in their defence & have the whole claim struck out & if so should I modify my claim (if that is now possible) to exclude anything beyond 6 years? I am loathe to do this as these charges are worth over £200. In their letter of 05.04.07 (which I didn’t get until 13.04.07) they state ‘please find enclosed the information requested regarding charges to your account for the previous six years” so by their reckoning the 02.04.01 charges were within 6 years! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. By the way, why does Nationwide keep sending out letters with back-dated dates on? Surely this is dodgy practice? I have retained the envelope for the letter dated 18.04.07 & it is date stamped 27.04.07 on the back, would a court take a dim view of this? They also back-dated their DPA letter by 8 days to make it seem as though they had answered me within the 40 day limit although this was not received by me by special delivery until 6 days after the DPA limit. This is very suspicious.

I see in another thread that you won, congratulations! My 28 days were also up yesterday and Nationwide entered a defence at the last minute (typical!). I keep checking my account every couple of hours hoping that they will put a deposit in but nothing yet, I am getting really anxious, worrying that I have messed things up somewhere along the line and they intend to go to court. How did you find out that you'd won? Did they simply pay the money into your account or did you get a letter from them?