Dear Abroadgirl, i would definitely write the bank/solicitor a hardship letter asap. use the same form as the ones on this thread but to fit your details. I also included an 'expenditure form' which showed my incoming/outgoing money side by side. My totals were almost the same, proving my acute financial hardship. The FOS framework is clear but the Banks must be reminded to use it in our cases. Good luck. Keep us posted

I've got my money. :). Happy xmas kids, love mum

thanks again lovely people, i will post again when the money is in. :)

thanks everyone. i couldn't have done it without your support. wragge said money in account within 5 days, then i will phone them. they will send a letter for me to confirm i have received money. then call court to confirm payment in full and cancel court date in february. should be home and dry by next friday. i will post and let you know, thankyou all again, qae. xx

they have offered the full amount. i said i would call back.

Anna Wright from Wragge and Co. left a message for me to call her. Any tips on what not to say?? I presume she is calling about the above letter.

the letters will be special posted tomorrow. thank you for your help, QAE

I am informed by a FAQ sheet from Alliance and Leicester that they would be conducting a filtering process to ensure that cases of financial hardship are still dealt with during the waiver period. The FOS has stated that cases of financial hardship must be allowed to proceed. I can only think that my case has been over looked accidentally by the bank as they are well aware that my sole income is social security benefit as i wrote to them on the 28th of june and the 9th of july and informed them that they had taken charges from my benefits, including disability living allowance that is paid into my account but is the entitlement of my 9 year old disabled daughter. I reminded alliance and Leicester, in these letters, that section 187 of the social security act and section 45 of the tax credits act states that these benefits are inalienable, that is, every assignment or charge on these benefits and every agreement to assign or charge such benefit shall be void. Patricia Hewitt stated to the Bankers Assoc on 26/10/2006 that ' adirect payment is not money that belongs to an individual, it is public money to be spent on the persons care and needs. Taking this money will mean their care and needs are not met'. The care and needs of my disabled child are not met when monies are taken from the weekly budget to pay bank charges. I have broken down my finances on the weekly expenditure form enclosed which show that my disposable income after all house hold expenses are taken into account is less than ten pounds a week. when we are hit with bank charges the payments must come from monies that are set aside for food and fuel, causing us great hardship. It is very difficult for me to respond to financial emergencies due to my limited income and my debt repayments are all for esential items as shown. There are no extravagant or luxury purchases in our household. I waste no money on alcohol and tobacco. Due to the caring responsibilities to my disabled child it is unlikely that i will be able to go back to work in the foreseeable future and so i am locked into benefit poverty and debt. My financial hardship is clear. I have asked that monies claimed from bank charges be offset against the £400 over draft i have with Alliance and Leicester. This overdraft was given to me in March 2006 when i was in financial difficulties and very vulnerable. My sole income was social security benefit. I consider it to be grossly irresponsible of alliance and Leicester to encourage me to go into this amount of debt with them and have little hope of paying the money back. It would be an enormous relief to be able to pay this money back, close my account and have no further dealings with them. I would respectfully request that the FOS moves to protect this vulnerable family from further financial uncertainty and instruct alliance and leicester to deal with my case immediately. Can i have some guidance on this letter please, editing and additions etc. Thanks guys, QAE

a letter to FOS sounds like a plan, I will draft a copy and then pm it to you for your opinion (if that's ok.) i will read through the defense again and call the court about any extra papers. it feels better to be doing something!

I have received the 'General Form of Judgement or Order' today and this is what it says Before District Judge Backhouse sitting in Woolwich County Court, 165/167 Powis Street, London, SE18 8JW Upon hearing the Solicitor for the Claiment and the Defendent in person IT IS ORDERED THAT 1. The claim be adjourned to 11th February 2008 at 2.00pm before District Judge Backhouse. Time estimate 2 hours. The hearing will be in relation solely to whether the charges amount to a penalty. 2. Defendant has permission to file and serve any further evidence as to the amount of the charges by 4pm 7 November 2007 Dated 10 October 2007 So where do I go from here then? Any ideas? All help gratefully received!!

they have been asked to produce evidence of their 'costs'. can't be more clear than that i'm afraid. the court will be sending an order, if this has the date on i will let you know. been reading through the court bundles and feeling far more confident about the case and basic issues/arguments. i'm enjoying this now!

Firstly, thank you so much for your kindness in helping me. A few weeks ago i recieved a letter from court saying cases all stayed because of testcase. I wrote to the court manager and said my case was also based on the benefits acts, outlined my financial hardship and asked judge to reconsider. The court then allowed the case to proceed and date of 10th october given I then got a letter from bank solicitor saying that they were going to ask for a stay on 10th october. i phoned the court and was told that the hearing would be about the stay and the case. I used a letter called a 'deny stay letter' from another site but edited to suit my situation and evidence and highlighted my severe personal financial situation again. I prepared a speech concerning my financial hardship and brought supporting evidence into court. i also brought a file contain the court bundle. in the court the judge asked the banks solicitor if he had read my 'deny stay letter' and gave him time to read it. he had hardly any of the papers i had sent through as a court bundle back in june. he failed to impress the judge with any of his arguments and had no paper work to back up any of his defences. The judge asked me if I thought i could win my case based solely on the penalty charge issue and i pretended to be very confident and my paper work from the website made me appear knowledgeable. i mentioned my hardship speech but the judge made it clear that i didnt need it as she had no intention of staying the case. she asked me again if i could win the penalty charge argument. i lied that i was definate and she then gave the banks solicitor 28 days to produce documents about 'costs' i think and said that the court would issue an order and that was that. i certainly wasn't prepared for this outcome and just played it by ear. SCAREY STUFF!!! My court bundle is not as detailed as the one you showed me but the judge seemed to think it was ok although she hadn't read all of it. However there is no witness statement and i want to submit a new schedule of charges as the one i gave in had the interest calculated at 8% of the total not per annum. ( you know, the amount divided by 100 and then multiplied by 8) how embarrassing. The solicitor didn't have the information at all so shall i send them the proper version that i made using the 'money savings expert calculator' or just hang on to the figures and negotiate when they make an offer. i've only got a T&c from june 2007 and 1998 off a website. not got as much case law either, but quite a bit. What do you think. are they going to risk a court case?? do i need to improve court bundle? What's my next move janus??

sorry, it wasn't yesterday it was wednesday

woolwich court. claim issued on 6/6.2007 bundle to court/bank in june. ( its as 'full' as i could make it) got relevant case law, t&c from other website and guessed the rest. judge seemed to like it though. i'm unsure of T&c as from 98 and my case is 2001-2006. i am claimng approx £1400 with 8% calculated in the wrong way and no idea on how to work out costs and court interest etc. hope this helps, thank you for getting back to me so quickly as my brain is fried after my oscar winning blag yesterday in the court room, please don't let me have to do that again!!!

went to court yesterday and the case is not stayed. judge asked me if i was confident i could win my case on the penalty charge issue only. of course i said yes. eek! so alliance and leicester have been given 28 days to produce documents and i need to become fluent in the penalty charge argument. HELP!!!!!