hi Bosboy, yes I think I should have cleared the balance at that point - I thought they could just close the account and send me a cheque for what I had won minus what I owed them (like I requested!) i currently have another case pending against Lloyds which is on hold. My main aim is to clear the debt and have it removed from my credit file - i could try settling with 1st Credit? then i think i might have to go back to court to get it removed from my credit file as it was the charges which made me overdrawn. i'm just hoping to see if anyone has any advice for me? thanks

I did a bank charges case against Lloyds TSB, went to court on 20th April 2007 and won the case. At the time of the court date the account in question was overdrawn by around £700 mostly made up of charges. Lloyds didn't turn up at court and shortly afterwards I received a notice from the courts saying "it is ordered that 1. The Defendant pay the Claimant the sum of £2878.88 2. There be no order as to costs". By September 2007 I still hadn't received the money from Lloyds - no contact from them at all despite me chasing - so it was back to the court, pay £55 quid and they sent in the bailifs and a couple of weeks later I got the cheque. The account has been frozen since and is on my credit file as a Default. Recently I have been contacted by 1st Credit chasing £887.99 which I dispute - what do I need to do next?

I think its part of the fun Al27. You are right about not responding unless you have a bit more experience dealing with these things. 4 years ago when I first started getting my finances sorted from being in a lot of debt (C£20k) I would have been terrified and trying to make arrangements to pay them in installments! Now i'm debt free and they are only asking for £90 so I thought I'd have a bit of fun standing up to them.

I would be interested to see what you guys think. First letter: 23rd June 2008 Dear Sirs, Re: Parking charge notice number 12080523445 I received your letter issued 5th June and note that there has been some delay in your contacting me as I have been awaiting DVLA to change the vehicle into my ownership. Your “Charge Certificate” states that the date of the charge is 23rd May 2008 however the very same document details that the vehicle entered the car park at 21:39 on that date. Therefore it is worth noting that the vehicle could only have been parked in the car park for some 2 hours and 21 minutes on 23rd May 2008. I note the sum, in the amount of £95.00 reduced amount of £75.00 if paid within 14 days, appears to be a penalty rather than a true reflection of your costs in this matter. I therefore believe that this is in contravention of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 under which a party to the contract cannot claim a “penalty” charge, only recover reasonable losses created by a breach. As you may already be aware the sum is to be regarded as a penalty if it is greater than even the greatest loss which could be suffered from the breach. With regard to the costs I note that within 21 minutes of the vehicle having arrived all the retail premises on the park had closed, with the exception of McDonalds which has its own car park, and that both on arrival and departure the car park was mostly empty. It is therefore unlikely that the presence of my vehicle incurred any costs in lost retail revenue for the retailers on the park. Please send me a calculation or explanation of your costs in this matter. If I have not heard from you within 14 days of the date of this letter I shall assume you have sent the “Charge Certificate” in error and I will consider the matter closed. Yours faithfully, Response received 3 days later to say appeal unsuccessful. Second letter: 30th June 2008 Dear Sirs, Re: Parking charge notice number 12080523445 Regarding your letter dated 25th June I note that you have not responded with an outline of your costs in this matter, and that your decision is that my “appeal has been unsuccessful”. As I stated in my letter of 23rd June I do not believe that this penalty charge is lawful with respect to the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Act 1999. Under the terms of the above Acts I therefore reiterate my request that you supply me with an explanation of your costs in this matter. If you are unsure as to the nature of the legislation above please forward this letter to your legal representative. I do not intend to pay this penalty as I believe it to be unlawful. Yours faithfully, They were very quick to respond to the first letter so I'm now wondering if I can consider the matter closed? I'd love to hear your opinions! Thanks