Excellent point Mind you, they'd have to get in the door first and that's not going to happen. I'll take all the advice on board and get a letter put together. Thanks.

I'm thinking along those lines Although I work full time, I have a number of serious health problems that classify me as disabled so it would look even worse on them that the person offering them payment is classified as vulnerable as well (physically maybe but in every other sense I'm quite dangerous ). I pay my taxes and never play the disability card but I'm willing to make an exception for these idiots just to make them look bad. Thanks so much for your responses - it's a great help to chew things over like this.

No, it wasn't a committal hearing, the appointment was with a person from Capita at the council offices. I spoke to her on the phone instead and she was fine - I told her I'd make an offer of repayment but that I'd want to see a breakdown of where he'd got the figures from. She said that would be okay and I confirmed it in an email and requested bank details to set up the payment. The reference to imprisonment was one of those, "you could end up with a prison sentence" statements on a letter. After I sent the email... nothing until now. I'm inclined to think it's an end of financial year automatically generated process.

Hi, it was the council mentioning imprisonment and yes, I got the impression they were trying to scare him - more a statement of what they "could" do. Anyway, they'd have to get past me first and I don't rate their chances :> I've offered them a repayment - he has no income at all - but they never got around to sending me the breakdown I asked for, or bank details to set up a standing order. I have everything documented (including the fact that my emails were read) so they're just showing their incompetence really.

Thanks for the reply. The house was sold almost 4 years ago and it's changed hands again since. It was just the one address. The reason I asked fora breakdown is because we paid a whole years' worth not long before the house was sold as they were threatening court action. My husband thinks the £800-odd bill was paid in full and they haven't deducted it so he's looking back through all the old paperwork. We did google Capita/Equita and found that they were Capita's own bailiffs. I think I'm going to put your points in writing and send it recorded delivery along with a copy of the offer I made in October. It's bloody annoying - paying tax to an incompetent council on an empty house we couldn't sell because of incompetent banks/government

Hello My son is 29 and is currently living with us. He had moved into a house of his own a few years ago but became unemployed and put the house on the market just as the credit crunch and housing market crashed. The house remained empty for 2 years and we managed to pay his mortgage and council tax for part of the time but eventually our finances no longer permitted it. We contacted the council and told them that the property was standing empty but we were struggling to find a buyer. They waived the council tax for 6 months only. Chris is suffering from a form of depression - he rarely leaves the house - the last time was before Christmas. He doesn't even sign on for JSA. Luckily my husband and I both have good jobs. Last year, he had a visit at our address from a bailiff (he didn't answer the door but a letter was pushed through) regarding his council tax arrears. I presume they took our address from the electoral roll. A further letter followed warning of imprisonment. An appointment had been made for him to attend but he couldn't leave the house so I got him to authorise me to deal with the council and I explained everything to the lady there. I said that, if the council sent me an itemised account of what was owing, from when and what had been paid already (because it was much more than it should have been), I would contact her with an offer of repayment. I presume either Chris had received communications from the court or the had been sent to his old address where the council tax was owed from. I didn't receive any documents but I emailed the lady I'd spoken to at Capita and offered to repay the debt at £20 per month, asking again for an itemised bill and bank details so I could arrange a standing order. That was in October last year. 2 weeks ago, Chris received 3 separate letters with different amounts, from Equita, demanding payment or they would visit and seize goods. After a couple of days he received 3 further letters (in the same post), saying they were going to visit over the weekend with a van. We decided to wait and see if anyone came - we thought it might be interesting as this is not Chris's house, everything in it is in my husband's name (he's Chris's step-dad so our name is different) and we have always paid our council tax in full. Nobody came. I think my husband was disappointed to be honest Yesterday Chris received 3 more letters (presumably trying to maximise on their charges). The amounts are £548, £769 and £855. My husband is certain that the amount outstanding is much less than this and that some payments have not been deducted. He is currently going through all the old paperwork which was in the loft. I think the thing that angers me most is that I've already informed the council that this is OUR property, Chris is staying here but has no real disposable assets - the TV and computer he uses were bought by us. He earns zero per month and doesn't leave the house because he's unwell. I have offered to pay the money at £20 per month, which is more than they would get if Chris were on JSA but got no reply. We have no intention of dealing with bailiffs or paying them charges x 3! The original demand last year was for a single sum. Can someone advise me the best way to proceed with this please? Thanks. Sorry for the long-windedness. Glynisd

Hi - apologies in advance for long-windedness Following a serious illness I have had to reduce my working hours and, with the cost of everything going up, I was struggling to keep up my DMP with Payplan. Having spent several years lining the overstuffed pockets of the numerous bottom-feeders who have bought my debts, I decided to stop my payments to Payplan, see who persisted in the chase and negotiate terms with them. Last week a man called Jim came to collect our doorstep (or something like that). My husband answered the door after Jim nearly knocked it down. Jim said, "Is Mrs D in?" Husband replies, "What's it about?" Jim replies, "An outstanding debt." I think maybe there's a little issue here with data protection - me and hubby are not financially linked and the debts are mine. For all Jim knew he could have caused a divorce. hubby tells Jim, "We do not do business at the door without an appointment" and Jim thrusts 2 cards and a small brown envelope into his hand and says, "I'm making an appointment!" Husband shuts door on Jim who buggers off. The 2 cards (no envelope - no privacy - clearly a debt collector) Are from Credit Security Ltd, both for a couple of Lloyds TSB accounts. The reverse of the cards are set up like payment cards - one stating a payment of £200 a week and the other £100 a week!!! I was only paying Payplan £185 per month and I can't afford that any more so he's got as much chance as I have of being the next pope! Each card offered 40% off as a settlement - I just happen to have £6,000 under the mattress! The card in the envelope is from The Lewis Group and is from Debenhams - a final notice for a debt of £2800. All 3 have the name Jim and a mobile number. On each he has written "Calling Thursday 6:05 Approx", with Approx underlined several times. Apparently this was his idea of making an appointment because tonight at 6:05 (exactly, not approx) he banged on the door again! We ignored him this time. To be honest, I'm prepared to honour all these debts with the original creditor but, after this, I don't feel inclined to give the bottom-feeders a penny. Any advice here? I'm sending a "stay away from our doorstep" letter and I think I'm inclined to say something about Jim disclosing my private, sensitive financial business to my husband. He didn't know it was my husband - could have been anybody and potentially embarrassing. For all he knew I might have kept my debts secret from hubby. You guys usually know what to do... Thanks G Hubby has a spare mobile SIM with some credit that needs using. He's planning to ring Jim's mobile at frequent intervals while he's working so he can't make or receive calls. A 'denial of service' would cause Jim as much annoyance as he causes others. BAD husband

That's exactly the way they treated me - in my case it was a £9.99 direct debit that would have taken me £4 over my limit! The thing that bugs me the most is the way their staff talk to you as though you were a wayward 5 year-old having privileges withdrawn for being naughty! So, our crayons taken away and bed without any supper for us then eh? glynisd

Might be sooner than I thought! I've sent them a message to ask for a new bank card and pin and have been told that I would have to telephone them to discuss the matter because of the way I have been managing my account! Considering the fact that the refunded charges cleared my entire overdraft and left me with a credit balance, it could be said that they were the ones who had been mis-managing my account, not me. Have you had a response to your letter yet? glynisd

Love it!!:grin: Can I steal this if ever the need arises? glynisd

Smile tend to do that sort of thing. In my case they had already "downgraded" my account months before I started to pursue them for my charges. I had "transgressed" a couple of times (Smile refusing to honour direct debits that would have taken me £3.50 over my limit and at the same time adding charges that actually took me £12.00 over said limit then add on the daily charges - we all know the routine) a year or so ago and, when debit card was due to expire, the new one failed to arrive. I rang Smile to find out where my card was and I was interrogated by a snotty young lady about the direct debits that they had refused during the previous months and asked to account for the way I was conducting my account. She spoke to me like a wayward 5-year old who'd been naughty! I pointed out that, in all 3 cases, the offending amount was no more than about £4 and that Smile had made the matter much worse with their disproportionate charges. I told her that I was less than impressed with the way Smile had handled my account. The upshott was that she insisted I return my chequebook and debit card and she would send me an electron card to ensure that I used my account more responsibly. Touche - it was their ball and they were taking it home! This didn't affect my banking all that much - like you I don't write cheques anyway and most shops take electron. The thing that bugged me was the way I was treated - I'm a professional, have 2 degrees, and am in my 40s and here I am with some snotty lass half my age talking to me like I'm a wayward toddler. It was at that point I decided to take my business elsewhere and chase Smile for all my money back. I suppose your experience could be "punishment" for daring to challenge them (and winning) but, as I said, it seems to be their practice anyway. The letter I received when they refunded my account told me "you must not go overdrawn without permission again". Not much chance of that - I transferred the remaining money into my NatWest account and have left a small balance in my Smile account to keep it ticking over. I shall close the account when it suits me, not them!

Hi all Good news! :DI sent my original request for a refund of unfair charges at the end of August and, up until a couple of weeks ago, Smile hadn't responded apart from sending me demands to settle the overdraft on my current account which they had now declared to be a "debt". The overdraft was, in fact made up entirely from unfair charges - it was only slightly less than the amount I was claiming back. Last Monday I sent Smile a second letter (worded much more strongly) by recorded delivery and I also sent an equally strong letter to their "debt management" section telling them that the "debt" was in dispute and explaining exactly why (I had spoken to someone at Smile about this the previous week). They had also threatened to send my account to debt-collectors and add £250 for the privilege. In my letter I told them that I fully intended to pursue my claim for charges to court if necessary and that I would simply add on the £250 at that stage if they insisted on imposing it! Anyway, 3 days later they had refunded the full amount of my claim into my account! It paid off my overdraft and left my account £60 in credit! :oIt doesn't stop there - I had another letter from the Co-op debt management section this morning tellimg me that they were crediting my account with the sum of £105.59 in addition to the amount that their colleagues from Smile had refunded - bonus!!!! I presume this was a calculation of 8% interest or something - I haven't worked it out yet. They also told me that to avoid charges in the future I must never go overdrawn without the Bank's suthority (I'm tempted to point out that, technically, I was overdrawn with their authority because they made the decision to impose the huge charges which made up the overdraft but I think I'll leave it there!) That's a total of £1370.59!!!! I can't go out on a spending spree because most of it has paid off my "overdraft" but it is such a relief to know that I don't owe the bank more than a grand! I shall now make a donation to the cause - many thanks for the support and advice. Glynis D

Hope you're feeling better soon! I'm just sending off my LBA1 to Smile - I'll let you know how it goes and thanks for all your help (I haven't asked you any direct questions but reading your advice to others has helped me a lot!) G

I don't know about the secure message route. I sent a snail letter with a cheque (paid from my husband's bank) and I got a reply within days saying "we will comply". They have now sent my documents but we noticed that they did not cash the cheque until a few days ago, presumably when they were ready to despatch them. Seems to be no consistency in their dealings does there? Good luck Glynis

Good luck! So far I've found just over £1000 on mine and that's not including the charges they've heaped on during the past month. Let us know how you get on. Glynis

Thanks for that Martin. I found the template ok but whenever I clicked on the links to open them I ended up with a blank screen. I've solved it by using Firefox instead of IE - can't see any reason why that should have made a difference but it did! Cheers. Glynis

Got mine yesterday - just ahead of the 40-day deadline. They didn't cash the cheque until just before they posted the documents and I was beginning to think they hadn't received my letter - foolishly I didn't send it by recorded delivery. Anyway, time to start my calculations. Does anyone have a copy of the excel spreadsheet from the documents section on this forum, or know why I'm having trouble accessing it? Perhaps the change of servers is causing the problem? I'd be grateful for some help. Cheers. Glynis

On the positive side: I've had a response from Smile confirming that they will send my documents within the stated 40 days so we're on the way. On the not-so-positive side: I noticed when I logged onto my Smile account a couple of days ago that they intend to charge another £70 on the 22nd of this month (this is a further charge incurred as a result of the £85 worth of charges from last month where they 'bounced' a £10.99 Direct Debit that would have taken me £4 over limit). I've already started using my NatWest "parachute" account so my salary etc. is safe. In theory, this could keep escalating until the cows come home... Would it be worth my while sending Smile a secure message asking that they drop these charges since I am in the process of disputing and claiming all charges back? Or should I just let them get on with it and include them in my claim when I get my documents? Any advice would be appreciated. Glynis Edited to remove wording that could be considered libelous

Thanks - my husband forwarded the link to me yesterday and I must admit that it had me worried . Glynis (SAR - (Subject Access Request) - (Subject Access Request) - (Subject Access Request) sent to Smile - reply received promising documents within 40 days) (SAR sent to LTSB - awaiting response)

Has anyone seen this article and got any advice? I've just sent my Data Protection Act request to Lloyds tsb and one to the Halifax on behalf of my son. Do we just proceed as normal? Glynis http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/saving-and-banking/article.html?in_article_id=410687&in_page_id=7&ct=5

Hi Don't panic - that's only if you use their regular "request a copy statement" service. If you want to receive a copy of all the data they hold on you, you need to send them a request for data held under the Data Protection Act - that way you only need to pay a single fee of £10. Take a look at the FAQ on this forum for the full instructions on how to do this, suggested wording of letters etc. There's a very useful section full of bank document templates that you can adapt to fit your individual case - it really is worth taking a few days to read as much as you can before you proceed. Good luck! Glynis

Hi all Just a quick update. I've written my DPA letter (with the help of the bank templates section on this forum - thanks peeps) and will send it off tomorrow with my £10, then I can start the 40 day countdown. As a precaution I've moved my direct debits from my Smile account to my NatWest basic account and arranged for my salary to be paid in there as well - just in case Smile take the hump - I can always move them back if they don't but I like to work on the side of caution. So, watch this space and thanks for the support and encouragement. I'd like to echo the sentiments on here about reading the FAQs and using the document templates. Thanks to the originators of those for making it so much easier for the rest of us! Cheers. Glynis

Thanks everyone. That's been very helpful. We didn't want to rock the boat with the DMP but, at the end of the day, he only has so much surplus income each month and, no matter how awkward the Halifax get, he can't be forced to pay more than he has. I think it will be worth a try, as you rightly say, it will reduce his debt if nothing else and the debt has been mainly caused by ridiculous charges. I'll keep you posted and thanks again:) Glynis

Hi all I'm fairly new around here - I've been lurking for a while but have only just started posting so please bear with me if I appear a bit dense on occasions. I have just begun to wage war on Smile and Lloyds TSB to (hopefully) recover my own charges and I am now about to wage war on the Halifax on behalf of a family member who has been stung with ridiculous charges on both his current account and his credit card. I've had a good read in the appropriate forum areas and have read the FAQs but so far I haven't been able to find the answer to this question: My family member is currently on a DMP (debt management plan) and the banks concerned are among the creditors being repaid on said plan - is he still eligible to pursue those banks in respect of unfair charges? Even though he has debts with those banks, the charges were still unfair (and, in some cases, have been instrumental in him getting into financial trouble in the first place)... I have assumed that he can make a claim for the unfair charges but I just wanted to make sure before I advise him to start the ball rolling... Thanks. Glynis

First of all, many, many thanks to all here! Reading your posts has spurred me on to make a start. This month was the final straw. I have a direct debit of £10.99 with UGC (for my son's cinema pass) which goes out on around the 22nd of each month. The trouble is, I sometimes overlook it - my salary is paid into my account on the 26th of the month and most of my other direct debits go out on or around the 1st of the month. I know it's my fault. I know it's my responsibility but sometimes it slips my mind and I forget to leave enough in the bank to cover it. I realise that this takes me over my overdraft limit (£860 - mainly incurred by punitive bank charges I have to say) - but not by much. :-? Anyway, this month, the debit was called for on the 18th of the month and I only had £5 available credit in my account - it would have put me overlimit by about £7. Smile refused the payment and promptly slapped on a charge of £25 ("Commission Unpaid Item) - which immediately put me £20 overlimit and consequently incurred 9 days' worth of £5 daily "overlimit charges" and a £15 "service charge" totalling £85! (£25 the grabbed straight away and the other £60 to be plundered on the 22nd of this month) - all this for going what would have been £7 overlimit!!!:o From the statements I have access to online I've calculated that they've stung me for around £475 in the past year alone so I'm now going to take steps to get my money back. After all, I had to work a damn sight harder to earn it than they have! It amounts to little more than leglised theft and I'm not letting them do it any more. I've read the FAQs and drafted a DPA letter to request statements going back beyond the last year (if you ask for statements via their site they want to charge you £10 each - surely that's an unfair charge in itself - how does it cost £10 to print and send a statement:? ). Can somebody please answer the following question - In order to pay Smile the required £10 for my account data, do I need to write them a cheque, or can I somehow authorise them to take the £10 directly from my account (they don't seem to have any problem dipping into my account the rest of the time)? Anyway, rant over - wish me luck! Glynis