Hi, In June 2007 I had reached the point in the reclaim process where I had sent my LBA letter and had received a standard letter in reply. The next stage was to issue a court claim. I debated whether to issue the court claim, spoke to a solicitor but he didn’t really have any advice. A few things in my personal life happened and this was all put on hold. I’m now ready to carry on with the claim however, Is there a certain amount of time to complete this process? i.e. if I sent the LBA June last year, can I still issue a court claim now? Or should I re-start process again? I’m still incurring paid referrals – however my documentation only looks from July 2002 to June 2007. Will any further charges (after June 2007 to present day) be taking in consideration and also refunded? Should I issue the court claim, or wait and see what happens in the test case? If the banks lose, will they just refund charges as standard to all customers, or only to those that have issued a court claim? Appreciate any advice

the solicitor did ask if the test case had any relevance to my case... I basically am claiming loads of 'Paid Refereals' caused by unauthorised overdraft. not sure where i stand with this... i can imagine going to court, and them saying it was my own fault i kept getting charged?!?!?

am claiming from July 2002 to now...so have some time. I think

hi, still debating whether to issue the court claim, spoke to a solicitor but he didnt really have any advice. The way i see it, I could spend £100+ issueing the claim, barclays are likely to ask for a stay to see what happens with the test case...if they win, then ive lost the court fee... However, if they lose the case then they will have records of my claim (LBA etc) and will pay up. so is it worth just waiting for the result of the test case. Is there a certain amount of time to complete this process? i.e. if I sent the LBA 2 weeks ago, do I have to issue court claim within a certain time?

thanks for your replies, im gonna go for it...:? i have to now issue a court claim, i understand that its not advised to file claims online through MCOL (courts are frequently threatening to strike out claims filed by MCOL, due to the shortened particulars of claim, and because a list of charges cannot be included) I will therefore use a N1 form..Im trying to reclaim charges from Barclays, so should I use the Particulars of claim - N1 - hard copy version or the ## New POC for N1 Barclays bank ## in the (Bank Templates Library) Do I post this (how many copies?) to my local county court? Do I need to send it with a covering letter? Should I send it to a particular person/position? Do I enclose a cheque? if so, who should i make it payable to? Thanks

is this a standard letter they reply with?

ok, sent my LBA letter, its been over 14 days (gave them a bit extra due to postal strikes)...just received the following letter... ............................................................................... We refer to your complaint on bank charges. We believe that your complaint concerns the level, fairness or lawfulness of the charges. We believe the charges are legal, fair and transparent Since we last wrote to you, the bank (with several other banks) became involved in legal proceedings with the office of fair trading (oft) on bank charges which we believe will resolve the legal issues about the fairness and legality of your bank charges. It would be our normal approach to resolve your complaint through our internal complaints process as quickly as possible. However, until the determination of the legal issues in the above proceedings, we have asked the financial services authority (fsa) to suspend the normal timetable for dealing with bank charges, and the fsa has agreed to this request to condition that protect your rights. We can assure you we have registered and stored your complaint. Please retain your bank records, as this will make it easier for you to support your complaint on resolution of the test case. Once the legal proceedings between the oft and the banks finish, we will resolve your complaint as quickly as possible. We are sorry that we have not been able to respond in full to your complaint now, but we (together with the fsa and the oft) think that it is necessary to resolve the key legal issues before we decide how we should respond to your complaint. Obviously exactly what will happen next will depend on the courts. We do not know how long the case will take - we have promised to proceed as quickly as possible but inevitably given the importance of the issues being considered this may take many months to finally resolve. But we can assure you that once the legal proceedings are completed we will resolve your complaint as quickly as possible. If at the stage you do not agree with our conclusions you will of course be able to refer your case to the financial ombudsman service (fos) (or to the courts). Should we decide to refer your case to the financial ombudsman services (fos), you should be aware that we have asked both the fos and the courts not to proceed with any other case they are hearing until the test case is resolved. The fos has indicated as a general proposition that it will indeed not proceed with cases which rely on the legal issues being considered in the test case. Similarly, you should be aware that if you choose to issue a claim in the county courts, the bank will immediately apply to the courts for an order to stay your action until resolution of the banks proceedings with the oft. We will keep you updated appropriately about the proceedings with the oft. You can also check the latest position on our website. The fsa requires us to ensure that your complaint will not be adversely affected by the delay in dealing with it. ............................................................................... not sure what to do, should I move to the next step - issue a court claim???

Hi, Sent the ‘Preliminary Approach’ letter and received a standard letter/leaflet in reply. It’s now been 14 days, so am about to send the ‘Letter Before Action’ Do I send this letter to the same address as the Preliminary Letter? Head of Customer Relations Barclays Bank plc 1 Churchill Place London E14 5HP Should I include the 8% interest on my Schedule of Charges with this letter? Also, I had to rework the letter template because they did reply…does this sound ok? I am very disappointed that you have not responded positively to my letter of the 03rd July 2007, instead choosing to send a standard letter and leaflet in reply. Thanks for your help in advance

Have received my statements and i am just about to send 'Letter 2 - Preliminary approach for repayment'. Whats address should I send this to? The same as the letter requesting statements? i.e. Barclays Data Protection Barclays Bank Plc 1 Churchill Place London E14 5HP I have also completed the Schedule of Charges, should I include the 'interest 8% APR' field? The Letter includes the following 'I calculate that you have taken £XXXXX plus £XXX which you have charged me in overdraft interest for the sum which you have taken. Total £XXXXX . I enclose a schedule of the charges which I am claiming with this letter.' My Schedule of Charges for which I want to claim, only consists of PAID REFERRAL's & UNPAIDS OUT. Therefore can I change the above to 'I calculate that you have taken £XXXXX. I enclose a schedule of the charges which I am claiming with this letter.'

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sorry about that, have edited

Sorry, more questions.... hope u dont mind. The letter template on this website (1. Data Protection Act, Subject Access Request letter - List of charges), doesnt appear to request statements for the last 6 years. Other templates I have seen do mention this specific time period. Is this ok, and should I just use the "1. Data Protection Act, Subject Access Request letter - List of charges" as below?

thanks for all your help. I will send a new letter today to the Churchill Place address. Does it matter what letter I use Bank Charges: Reclaim them, they're unlawful, get up to six years' money back... - this one from Money Saving Expert or http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/516-1-data-protection-act.html - the letter fro this website?

Thanks for all your help, looks like ive made a bit of a mess of this. Should I resend the letter requesting list of all the default charges over the last six years (by recorded delivery) to one of the below addresses? If so, which one? Barclays Data Protection 1Churchill Place London E14 5HP or Barclays Data Protection Radbroke Hall Knutsford Cheshire WA16 9EU Or shall I call them on 01565 614208 / 01565 614281 to request info? Would a letter be better as its evidence?

thanks for the welcome. sent to Barclays Data Protection Radbroke Hall Knutsford Cheshire WA16 9EU called 0845 755 5555 dont believe the cheque has been cashed, will double check tonight. Ok, shall I resend the letter? to the address you supplied, or can i request over the phone?

sent a cheque, but didnt send by recorded delivery (school boy error, but thought it may have more chance going missing if the wrong person signed for it) a firend has said i should send another letter saying i want the information within 14 days (which im legally entitled to) and state who I have spoken to on the phone.

On the 01st of May 2007, I sent a letter (using template) to Barclays Data Protection requesting a fully comprehensive list of all the default charges for direct debit, unauthorised overdrafts and standing orders I have paid over the last six years. Unfortunately, after 40days I received no response and therefore phoned them today (11th June 2007). I was told that my letter has not been received (even though correctly addressed), however they did order the requested information over the phone, although this could take another 40 days to process. I have report the above to the Information Commissioner. What should I do? Except its not been received and wait another 40 days?