No problem we live and learn. Now that my claim is has been struck out, does it stop me in the future trying again with a better argument ?

Thinking back, the judge did concede that the ombudsman’s decision was not binding on the court but he certainly used it as the basis for his decision. I doubt if he would have ignored the ombudsman.He did make comment that any issue of this kind should be resolved by a court which I took to mean in other words dont bother with the Ombudsman. He made no mention as the level of charges and if they are justifiable, but again this was because the Ombudsman had already said they where.

Thanks BF, that was basically what the Judge said to the Solicitor who was caught unawares that I would be on to it, so yes its very good advice. Its not unlike the bank charges fiasco, we know we are all right but the Judges will always fall back on the law rather than try and change it in my opinion.

Thanks DX, yes seems like a lot of hard work to get to roughly where I wanted to be 12 months ago. Did learn a hell of a lot though from the way the Judge directed his questions and need to up my game when it comes to the type and amount of evidence in my application. He didn't criticise but did make suggestions which I found very helpful.

Been to court this morning case v Rooftop. they had applied for the claim to be struck out based on my complaint being frivolous especially in light of the decision by the Ombudsman last year that the Arrears Management Fees where lawful and in line with my contract. Briefly I was claiming back £850 in AMF's, Rooftop had offered to repay £500 which they did back in July but for reason only known to them they wouldn't repay the other £350 ( the total amount was made up of 17 x £50 pm charges). Hearing was brief Judge said I had a well presented case but he eventually agreed to strike out, mainly citing the Ombudsman's decision as his reasons., which was a blow. Not sure if they will now reinstate the £500 they repaid, just have to wait and see. Not sure if this affects further claims, Rooftop did get criticised by the Judge when I asked about their costs for the Solicitor which I am liable for under t&c's which they had applied back in October well before the case came to court and he ordered them to be refunded so its cost them £1200 rather than refund £350 so a minor win I guess although I am already paying £000's in interest anyway. I will await the full write up and now await the reaction of Rooftop as they will no doubt feel its "happy days" as regards charges. Next one is JP Morgan for Home Visit Fees.....................

The brilliant advice on here never ceases to amaze, you have saved people £’s and many sleepless nights.

So with regard to the other part of my claim for fees, I also issued proceedings against Rooftop for the Account Management fees. I had asked them to refund 17 Account Management fees relating to my arrears of £50 a time (£850) and they had offered to refund 11, not sure why they wouldn’t refund the other 6 so I issued a claim via MCOL. This morning was the 29th day so I requested judgement online as I had heard nothing and it is now pending on the system. However in the lunchtime post I got a nice bundle from their solicitors saying that they are now intending to defend which wasn’t unexpected. They claim it should be struck out due to breach or CPR rules, that the costs where within t&c’s and that their offer of 11 was fair. My argument is that why offer 11 and not all 18 as they are all the same. I will await the response from the court, as I suspect the Judgement application will be refused. Is there anything else I need to be doing ?

I may need help with a further submission, I have until the 23rd of Sept to submit the allocation/mediation forms. Should I submit my argument before then or wait for court direction etc ?

Yes its fine, I have thought about throwing in the towel ages ago. Its correct that I cant dispute the T&C’S, we didn’t agree with them because in our opinion they served no purpose as JP where more than aware of the situation and a home visit was merely a means to try and “discover” other issues that weren’t really there to help with any subsequent possession proceedings. If we had been offered the service we would have refused it so to then charge us for not wanting the visits seems a bit of a nerve. Just to presume that we would have agreed is yes the basis of the case. I will complete the forms sent, and agree to mediation on the basis that they refund the charges and my court costs, but will not agree to the NDA they want us to sign. Am I correct so far?

This the defence they have put in, my argument has always been that we never agreed to them or to paying the fees but they claim it was in our t&c’s. They have already agreed to refund but wanted me to sign a NDA which would have prevented any future claims for other charges. They have had a SPO in place since 2009 and have tried to enforce twice but we have always been able to clear the majority of the arrears. For info the arrears are now cleared.

OK so I have started court proceedings separately for the charges against both JP & Rooftop. JP have sent in a defence which is basically a cut n paste of their previous letters denying liability and saying its a condition of my mortgage contract with them that if I fail to contact them then they can send people to my house and charge me even though they never spoke to me. They have offered to refund the charges in question, but wanted me to sign a NDA which in my opinion would have prevented me claiming anything else such as admin fees etc so I refused and they stopped writing so I am now asking the court to decide who is right. The actual amount claimed is £277 plus the 8% so it comes to over £500. I am about to complete the allocation notice the court have sent but before I do as anyone any advice. With regard to Rooftop, they acknowledged the claim on the last day and I am awaiting their response.

Well done DOC, I have sent off my MCOL claim based on your excellent arguments for refund of charges so lets see where this gets south of the border.

Another update, and an apologise for the length of time this is taking Rooftop have now agreed to stop charging me £50 pm and have offered to refund all the ones they have added to my account over last year or so. They wont agree interest but didn’t add any so I am happy to let them take the charges off. I can now go for other bits, and am yet to hear from the mob who had my mortgage previously JP Morgan, but feel my case is now much stronger based on this new result. No court yet but I feel its getting closer now with JP as they have put up the barriers and refuse to refund until i sign the ridiculous NDA, which is never going to happen. What is staggering is the total ineptness of the staff at these companies, the ones i have dealt with have very little knowledge about the products they administer - mine didn’t know that i had an interest only account for example. It beggars belief at times. So upwards and onwards, charges down from £4000 to under £3000 .

Just ignore him, tin pot DCA who have been trawling job agencies for poor sods who will work for peanuts based on promises that they will be millionaires by Christmas.

The NIP is a statutory one that has to be served within 14 days warning of prosecution. It isn’t a 100% guarantee that there will be but a summons usually follows with 3 weeks as they will have to send paperwork to court to issue. If it first time she will be offered a course instead of prosecution. Please just be sure who was driving as they may have a photo and if you try and deceive then that is a far more serious offence.