I phoned the moneyclaim helpline yesterday and they said I wouldn't be able to claim the interest as I hadn't added it to the total. No mention of a N244 form. I'll phone again today and ask. Thanks.

Thanks folks. Was originally inclined to carry on with the claim but realised I'd made a mistake on moneyclaim. Added the interest to the details of the claim but forgot to add it to the total (idiot - more haste less speed etc). So I'd have to re do the claim which would a) cost another £120 and b) may not look too good if I raised another claim after receiving an offer of full settlement, especially as I've split the claim anyway. So I think I'll accept & start going after the rest. I could really do with the money. Thanks again to all who've offered advice. I'll keep you posted.

I should have started court action last week, but didn't get round to it. Finally started a claim on moneyclaim yesterday. BUT, received a letter this morning (dated 21st September) from Tommy McLean agreeing to meet the claim in full. What to do now ? I've started the claim already & added the 8% interest so it's more than the full amount being offered. The letter also states the usual full & final settlement bit, and that any future charges will stand. I've already got other charges to go after as I split the claim. I'm also intending claiming on my business account. Is it worth phoning him direct, or is it better to write back ? Any help gratefully received.

It's true that account opening & customer communication costs may differ, but the cost of applying automatic penalty changes doesn't. There's little difference between a smile account & a co-op bank account in the day-to-day running.

Thanks. I was just thinking that if they don't charge the same amounts, then it would be difficult for them to claim that the charge was a true reflection of their costs as they are the same bank. They don't have seperate systems for processing these 'core banking' functions. The true cost should be the same.

Does anybody know if Smile & Co-op charge the same amount for the same thing ? (DD rejections etc)

LBA (including rejection of offer) hand delivered to the branch today.

Today, 14 days exactly from delivering preliminary letter, received fob off letter, we believe charges are fair etc, but offering just over £1500 as a good will gesture. I had the LBA letter all ready to go, will have to rewrite now to include a 'thanks but no thanks' bit. Is it normal to get an offer after preliminary letter ? Also, the letter was from my business advisor at the branch, not a central unit.

Preliminary letter hand delivered to branch on 11th August, asking for the first 5k.

thanks

Thanks everyone, that's pretty much what I thought. I'll subtract the royalties service charge and claim the rest. Thanks again.

Does anyone know how the monthly fee for an RBS royalties gold account shows up on a statement ? I seem to get a charge mid month that just says CHG TO 01JAN A/c xxxxxx. I think this might be it as i seem to get it even if there have been no charges, but it's not always the same amount. It's a minimum of £10, but sometimes £30 or £40. Do I need to take £10 off each of these before I try to claim it back ??

My statements have finally arrived, however, the earliest 6 months statements are missing. As they were late in providing them, I had a friendly followup call earlier today from a lady at my branch, checking if they had arrived. She's going to order the earlier ones again. I'm now in a dilemma. I've been through the statements and there's over £7000 in charges. Not including interest. Obviously I'm eager to get things moving, but as the total's over 5k I was going to work forward from the earliest charges until I hit the 5k and go for that lot first. Can't do that now until the earliest 6 months arrive. The charges are mainly recent though, with the earlier statements having the odd £10 on them but nothing more. So, should I wait ? Should I forget the earliest ones & start from the earliest I have ? Should I go for the whole lot in one go and change the amount later ? Or, is there anything I can add to the preliminary letter to say that I'll be revising the claim when the earlier statements arrive ? There may be loads more, who knows. Any thoughts gratefully received.

I sent in my Data Protection Act request in mid june, should have received statements last week. Phoned to chase 2 weeks ago & was told it would be another week as they were getting a lot of these through. Still not arrived so i phoned customer relations again today. Guess what ? My statements have been produced & destroyed as they didn't know where to send them. I was not a happy chappie. Another delaying tactic. Just had a call from my branch, very apologetic, re-ordered statements for me urgently. Should I let it go or report them to the information commissioner ? Is it worth it ?

I wouldn't put it past them to try. When I was made redundant (a long time ago) they gave me an overdraft to sort me out until my redundancy money came through. A condition of which was that I also paid off my loan when the money came in. Never twigged at the time but I even had the redundancy protection cover on the loan.

Most banks have their own internal credit rating systems for existing customers. Experian etc charge per search so it's cheaper for them to do it in-house where possible. They don't like parting with money ;-)

Sorry, was going to post here as well, but the banner at the top of the forum said to say hello in the bear-garden.

About to start playing this fantastic game. Great site. Looking forward to donating in the near future. Starting with RBS who I reckon must have taken well over 5k off us. Waiting for the statements now.