On my bank statements there is a monthly overdraft charge of £8.00, ( going back to 2001). There is also an overdraft arrangement charge of £10. Are either of these charges legitimate?

posted sar today

Like most people on the forum we all need the money and I think it is more the actual satisfaction of actually getting a result from the banks after the amount of pleading and begging to get charges that could have put food on the table at the time they took the money I claimed for 2 years worth of charges and on the occasions i was penalised was whilst things were difficult ie out of work for short periods. 2 years ago i had to sell my car to pay for food and when you think things couldnt get worse they take your money one of the best things for me was the fact that I was actually paying charges whilst on the dole and we all know that every penny of dole money keeps your children fed Regards Greg

hi all just thought I would post this to clarifie the final response received Dear Sir we refer to the above matter and to your letter dated 14 september 2006 (the one where I accepted part payment and continue to claim in full) Although our client maintains its position as stated in our letter of 13 september 2006 and is confident that it will be succesful at a final hearing, its legal fees will certainly outweigh the value of the claim and as such, our client must take a commercial approach to such claims. accordingly without any admission of liability, our client is prepared to settle this matter in full to prevent incurring any further legal fees. we enclose a cheque in the sum of £1105.23. As previously stated, acceptance by you of this goodwill paymentwill be in full and final settlement of your claim against our client and strictly on the basis that you write to the court withdrawing your claim. we would ask that you now write to the court and discontinue proceedings in this matter and we should be grateful if you complete the copies of discontinuance forward to the court and the duplicate to us we await receipt of the completed notice of discontinuance yours faithfully

do not worry about the settlement date and the fact that they will try to bully you I received my settlement today I was due to be in court next week remember that if you do go to court the judge will help you when making your case. regards Greg

if the cobbets letter is without prejudice it cannot be brought before the court anyway, they will settle I received my settlement today and there letter stated that there client has decided to make a commercial offer of the full amount as it will cost them more in legal fees to pursue this case Greg

Just send a reply stating that you will accept there offer as part payment and you will still continue to claim the outstanding balance through the county courts. do not worry we will help you every step of the way and they will settle regards Greg

dont ignore letters - always send a response. You will find coppies of letters within the forum. Regards, Greg

Hang in there my claim took three months to settlement today I received offer of half from solicitors on 13th september sent response would accept as part payment on 14th received cheque for full amount today so it is worth the wait just follow the step by step procedures all the best Greg

Thanks for all the help and support everyone and feel free to contact me if you need any assistance keep an eye on julie v alliance and leicester we are taking them on now Regards Greg

NATWEST SETTLED WOOHOO got cheque for full amount today will pm mods to move thread YIPEEEEEEEEE

Right Have handed everything into court this morning now lets wait and see if anything happens before 4th October when I have to appear at the prelim hearing thanks for all the help so far Greg

Thanks for that handing it all in on monday do I send a copy to cobbetts?

Right Have just filled in SAR from templates Julie:)

Have just spoken to Alliance & Leicester about requesting past 6 years bank statements. Was informed that a statement of bank charges will take about 3 weeks at a cost of £21 and monthly statements will cost me £5 each ( in other words £360!!! -BUT APPARENTLY THE BANK MANAGER MAY COME TO SOME AGREEMENT OVER THIS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!) This will take 5 to 7 days.

about to ask Alliance and Leicester for 6 years statements havent a clue how much yet but quite a few charges totted up over past few months

hope so gf got her statement today from a & l and are charging her 50 quid in charges end of month so we are going to start pursuing hers as well now Greg

Right here goes can I submit this to the court on monday along with my spreadsheet Dear Sir or Madam: I acknowledge the receipt of the defence posted by Cobbetts on behalf of National Westminster Bank (Natwest). In Cobbetts defence response, they requested further information under CPR Part 18. The guidance that I have received indicates that CPR Part 18 does not apply to the small claims track and is therefore irrelevant in this case. I am sure that Cobbetts are already aware of this and I can therefore only conclude that the inquiry was intended to intimidate. However I am aware that Part 27.2(f) applies subject to paragraph 3 of part 27.2 which states that the Court of its own initiative may order a party to provide further information if it considers that is appropriate to do so. In acknowledgment of this and in good faith as well as respect for the court I will provide the following information. Enclosed is a full list of the breakdown of charges with my account details. In respect of the relevant clauses and contract terms, I sent a letter to the defendant, National Westminster Bank several months ago asking for copies of my bank statements in relation of charges levied against my account Unfortunately they did not send a copy of the original terms and conditions. I have endeavoured to obtain them in multiple trips to National Westminster branches, but the best I have managed to retrieve from them is a leaflet about charges. In respect of the charges detailed on the enclosed spreadsheet, the relevant statements of the said leaflet are as follows; · Where just a date is given, this relates to o Service charge £10 § Monthly maintenance charge · “If you borrow more than your agreed overdraft limit you will be liable for a maintenance charge applied monthly, 16 days after the end of the charging period (or the next business day if this is a Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holiday). The charging period is normally in line with the date that we send your statement to you.” · Paid referral £30 per day o “If we pay a debit drawn on your account which results in an unarranged overdraft, a daily referral charge is payable and will be applied monthly on the sixth business day of the following month.” · Unpaid items £38 per item (previously £35) o “Payable when a cheque, standing order or Direct Debit is not paid due to there being insufficient funds available on your account” · Unauthorised transaction fees £35 o Card misuse § “Payable when we are forced to pay an item which has been supported by cheque guarantee or Maestro although there are insufficient funds available on your account” · “When your account is overdrawn in excess of any agreed overdraft limit, a maintenance charge will also be applied.” However as stated in my original claim and letters the charges laid out in the original contract are unlawful penalty charges and cannot be legally enforced. i.e. charges in relation to unauthorised Overdraft, Referral, Chq/DD/SO Unpaid and Default Notice etc are a disproportionate penalty and therefore unenforceable as they are contrary to common law. Further, as a disproportionate penalty they are invalid under the Unfair (Contracts) Terms Act 1977 s.4 and under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Para.8 and sch.2 (1) (e). In the event that the charges are not a penalty then they are unreasonable within the meaning of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 s.15. I hope this clarifies the situation for you. Yours sincerely, Gregory Parker

wrong do not ignore it send them the letter telling that cpr part 18 not applicable...... I ignored the request and now I have to submit it to the courts by monday look through the threads and find some templates stating as a gesture of goodwill and that it is an intimidatory tactic hope this clarifies Greg

I stupidly did not tell cobbets to get lost as far as the part 18 request was concerned it seems this is what the prelim is about

I Have received the following today DISTRICT Judge has considered the statements of case and allocation questionaires filed and allocated the claim to the small claims track before the claim is listed for hearing, the judge has ordered that a preliminary hearing should take place because :- special directions are needed in this claim to prepare for the final hearing which the judge would prefer to explain to you in person. the preliminary hearing will take place at 14:00 on the 4th October 2006 at Bradford County court The claimant shall provide the further information set out in the defendants request dated 15 October 2006 ( spoke to court should be 15 august 2006) attached to this order by 21 September 2006 ( yesterday ) spoke to court to extend till monday cause I only received it today post marked 20 september 2006 all I have are my statements and the spreadsheet listing all charges

Please remember that if you have received any letters that state WITHOUT PREJUDICE anywhere in the letter you will not be able to submit those letters to the court otherwise the judge would be forced to resign from the case and it would then have to go to another judge delaying even more time Regards Greg

just state that you will not agree to there confidentiality clause also remember that if the letter you have been sent states anywhere that it is without prejidice then it cannot be submitted to the court Regards Greg

Went to court today to find out about prelim hearing 4 october 2pm as the order did not arrive in post they read to me from the screen that the prelim hearing is for the judge to decide the direction that my case needs to follow lets hope they either settle before and i receive a cheque or they don't turn up on the date and I can file default judgement

I had my first refferal fee after I filed my case so it is not included in my current claim I would probably have to file another claim for them but looking through the forum I would say yes these referral fees are still classed as unfair charges I think the mods might be able to answer this better regards Greg