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I have just come home to a letter from Cobbetts, what I believe is a standard template, etc; Our client does not believe you will win in court, etc, etc....................... ............but as a goodwill gesture would like to offer you £650, as long as you do not disclose this to anyone else, and withdraw the claim, blah, blah, blah. Oh, and at the end it says that if I refuse this then they will notify the court, etc, etc. I don't think I need to post the entire letter, as I have seen it before many times on the site. So what do you think? Take it or go for the entire amount? Hmmm..............hard choice! To be honest though I am very pleased that somthing has beeen offered as I was starting to doubt if I would receive anything, with how long this has taken, etc. Still, I'm not saying that I'm acepting it though! -NEIL

It looks like I do not need to send the letter to Cobbetts, as I have just had a phone call from them (I called last night and left an answerphone message). Apparently they DO have my schedule of charges, it is a standard letter that they send to letters stating that the CPR Request is intimidating. For future reference, if you use the template that states that you think the request is intimidating, etc, you may receiv this response also.

I have just drafted this response: NEIL ****** ********* ********* ********* ********* Cobbetts LLP Ship Canal House King Street Manchester M2 4WB Dear Sir or Madam: Claim No:********* Ref No: ********** Dear Sir/Madam, I refer to your letter dated 23 October 2006: 'We note your comments on our Request for Further Information. It is our client's contention that your Particulars of Claim did not properly particularise your claim. For example, our client cannot properly defend a claim where you have not given the details of each charge you claim is disproportionate and unreasonable.’ ‘The court is bound by an overiding objective to deal with cases justly and ensure that parties are on an equal footing. It was clearly the case that our client could not respond to your claim where you did not provide sufficient particulars. Our client therefore objects to your allegation that the Request is intimidating.’ In my initial response to your request I attached a schedule of all the charges I am claiming. The date of interest applied to these charges is as of 1st September 2006, the date the claim was submitted. This information was also supplied to the defendant 27 June 2006, and I have additionally supplied this information to the court. Your client may object to the fact that I find the CPR Part 18 Request intimidating, but as mentioned in my previous correspondence, I anticipate that the claim will be allocated to the small claims track and would not then expect to have to deal with a Part 18 request since these are specifically excluded under Part 27 unless the court specifically orders me to do so of its own initiative. As your client is fully aware, the charges I am claiming were applied to the following account: Account Name: ********** Sort Code: ******** Account Number: ********* I have yet again attached the schedule of charges for your information. Payment of full amount claimed is required by cheque to the above address. A copy of this response has been sent to both the court and the defendants’ representative. Yours sincerely NEIL What do you think?

In reply to my response regarding the CPR request, I have received this today from Cobbetts: 'We note your comments on our Request for Further Information. It is our client's contention that your Particulars of Claim did not properly particularise your claim. For example, our client cannot properly defend a claim where you have not given the details of each charge you claim is disproportionate and unreasonable. The court is bound by an overiding objective to deal with cases justly and ensure that parties are on an equal footing. It was clearly the case that our client could not respond to your claim where you did not provide sufficient particulars. Our client therefore objects to your allegation that the Request is intimidating.' I find this letter very strange as a schedule of my charges was attached to my response to them. I also sent a copy to the court. RBS have known what charges I am claiming back also. Has anybody received a letter like this before? What would be the best way of responding to this, send yet another breakdown of charges? -NEIL

Thanks Stacy.

Hi again, sorry for not keeping this thread upto date, have been hectic. So, I received a defence from Cobbetts just before the 28 days were up, they were asking for the CPR Section 18 stuff, to which I resplied that I am not going to supply it unless asked by the court, it was actually one of the templates on this site I used. At the same time I had notification that my claim has been transferred to Truro County Court (I sent a copy of my response to Cobbetts to them too). I have got an Allocation Questionnaire to complete, which needs to be with the court by 28/10. Can I ask a couple of questions about filling in the AQ? 1. A question on the form asks if a month is required to allow Defendant and Claimant to try and settle. Personally I don't think I should tick it as RBS have had long enough. What do you think? 2. Witnesses and Experts - Obviously I don't have any witnessess, and I take it that I don't complete the Experts section either? 3. Additional Info - I take it you just list everything that has gone on since initially requesting refund back, copies of letters, etc, to give the court a full picture? Sorry if I seem a little vacant when it comes to court/legal matters - I am because I've never had any dealings like this before! Thanks in advance, -NEIL

I used the address of the branch my account is held at.

Hi, You add the 8% interest when you make the claim via Moneyclaim or your local court. If you look in the templates section you will see there is a spreadsheet available that works out the amount of interest for you. Good luck! -NEIL

I've had a read of your thread, and it's good to hear that people are actually getting something back from them. Nice one.

After a hectic summer I have finally managed to get around to submitting my claim with MCOL.

Good luck Steve!

Just a quick question after being on MoneyClaim site: The Defendant address requires it to be in England or Wales. I take it you use your branch address and not head office? Cheers, -NEIL

So do it! Must be fustrating though.... I think that if you have given them so much time then I wouldn't take any more fobbing off. All the best, -NEIL

The 14 days from the date of my LBA is actually up today, and postie has already been - abosolutely nothing from RBS. Last correspondance was on 29/06 saying it was being passed to Customer Relations. Just to be polite I gave Customer Relations a call and the person took some details and finally managed to find my 'case'. She had to speak to head office over it apparently so would call me back. I have just had the call from her with lots of apologies for the delay, but saying that Head Office are looking into it and I will hear from them within 7-10 days. I left it at that, although I did say that my LBA stated 14 days for a response. It's not her fault, she was just the messenger. What do you guys think? Wait for their response to my LBA or just go ahead with action? To be honest I think going ahead with a claim is the way forward, I have given them plenty of time. Anyone see any problem arising from doing so? Many thanks, -NEIL

I am not sure about "1" , you can claim back "3", but you are right, you cannot claim back "2". You are paying them for a service, ie, your Royalities Premier account and the very few benefits that go with it.

To be honest I would send al correspondence to the branch directly. They will prob send a 'sod off' letter back, then send the LBA, again to the branch. This was my approach and it has now been forwarded to Custome Relations Dept. Hope this helps.

No, nothing apart from the letter saying that it was being passed to the Customer Relations dept. The 14 days is up on next Tuesday, 11th July. I found it funny today though as I had a phonecall off them and thought straight away it was regarding this matter. It wasn't, they were asking me if my overdraft was ok and would I like to take out a loan with lower rate of interest to my current one. I'm not even using my account at the moment, I have my salary and DD sorted elsewhere until this matter is concluded. All the best, -NEIL

Rogerwilko, I was confused as to what to do when I received my first letter off the branch, it was worded the same as yours and the seems to be their standard 'Sod off' letter. I then sent a LBA, together with a breakdown of the charges that I am claiming back, which they have received as I have had a letter off them saying it has now been passed to 'Customer Relations'. If I was you I would send a LBA, giving them another 14 days. There is a very good one on this site, posted by 'Imported'. All the best, -NEIL

LBA letter sent with charges breakdown on 27th June. I received a letter off them yesterday stating that this has now been referred to their Customer Relations Dept, who will contact me soon. Claim will be made against them for full amount & interest & Court fee on 12th July. -NEIL

Thanks for the encouragement and advice, Pam. I'm sending the letter template that 'Imported' has posted, hopefully they will realise that I'm not going to be fobbed off with this. Cheers, -NEIL

Hello. This is the case I am persuing with Royal Bank of Scotland. I heard about the possibility of a refund for the charges I have paid, so I looked into it, came across this forum and found it very informative reading. I requested bank statements for the past 5 years from my branch, they arrived and I went through the whole lot and came to £888.54 in charges. I sent a letter to the branch based on one of your templates available on this site (thanks for making these available) requesting for this money to be paid back, etc. I did state that at this point I am only looking for the full amount and that if this ends up in me making a claim then I will be charging for interest also. I had a letter back today from them (within 14 days) stating as follows: ' Thank you for your letter dated 12 June 2006 and I apologise for any dissatisfaction caused by the application of charges to your account. We believe that our charges are fair, reasonable and transparent. We consider that the amounts debited to your account have been applied strictly in accordance with your agreement with us and our published tariff which we are satisfied, complies with all applicable laws and regulations. We are also commited to ensuring the transparency of the information that we give to our customers about the operation of our products. We have considered and responded to the Office of Fair Trading's statement of 5 April 2006. We do not accept the Office of Fair Trading's findings in relation to credit card fees. We are concerned that the Office of Fair Trading has publicy called into question the setting of charges applied to other products, including current accounts. The Office of Fair Trading has restricted its investigation to credit cards and made no attempt to consult with RBS or the industry in relation to other, entirely different products. Consequently, against that background, we must difffer with the views expressed in your letter and will not be refunding any of the charges aplied to your bank account. Again, thank you for taking the time and trouble to write.' I sent my letter to my branch, and the above letter was their response. I am now starting to think that I should have sent it to the head office, but I can't change that. Could I just ask for a little advice here? What would you do if you were in this position? Send a final letter giving them one last chance, and include the interest, or just leave it and go and file a claim? Sorry to have to ask, but any help would be thankfully received. -NEIL

Ignore my questions on O/D interest and standard monthly charge - I've just read the answers to my questions. Doh!

Hi. Only today have I come across this site, and the ability to try and claim back charges from banks. Fascinating stuff. I bank with RBS, and have just come off the phone to my branch where I have ordered every statement since the account has been opened (5 years). I did ask if there was any charge for this and I was told that there was not. I have no idea what the value in charges adds up to! Just a question, with regard to claiming back charges - I currently have a Premier account and the monthly charge is £15. I assume that this cannot be claimed back but only any additional charges for going over O/D limit, etc? Does normal monthly O/D interest fall into this category also? Many thanks, -NEIL