Hi there, after some advice! We have a flat which we rent out - our first tenants - they moved in last August and have been great tenants (never bothering us) and they renewed their 6 months tenancy for 12months last Feb. However, they rang us on 1st November saying they are moving to london as they need to renew visas and they are moving out at the beginning of December. As this was 2 days before we had our baby it was a bit of a nightmare as you can imagine! I wrote to them to confirm that they were moving out and that they would need to return the keys to us on 30th November and that they would still have to pay us the rent for Dec and Jan as their tenancy is until 31st Jan 09. They rung me 3 days after i had my baby () and argued with me that they could not afford to pay the rent on 2 properties for 2 months. I tried to explain (calmly) that they had agreed to a 12months tenancy and if they chose to leave early, they must pay the rent for those 2 months. The lady is from an asian country and doesn't really understand what i am trying to explain to her and shouts a lot (I explained that they had a 12month tenancy, she claims they only signed a 6month lease so i sent her a copy the tenancy with her signature on. Then they tried to claim that they signed it with a letting agent and as we now manage it and not agent that the tenancy is invalid and they have no tenancy with us! GRRR) Anyway, i explained to her on the phone that we are trying to get a new tenant and it is on with a letting agent but no interest yet. She said that we could keep the deposit (of £787.50) for the rent owed and they will pay us an extra £262.50 to cover the 2 months rent, she wrote a letter to confirm this and i spoke to the agent who held the deposit and they said if i sent them a copy of that letter they would be able to return the deposit to us. "BRILLIANT" thought i! They move out at end of Nov, we pay mortgage on 12th of month so that gives them 12days to get the money to us to pay December mortgage. Alas, no! I phoned lettings agent today and now i am told that they can't return the deposit to me until after the TENANCY EXPIRES not when they move out! Meaning we can't get it back until after 31st Jan!! I could ring the tenant and ask her to pay the rent on 1st Dec and 1st Jan as normal but: 1. i know they don't have the money to pay us on those dates as well as paying for their new property, AND 2. she is very difficult to communicate with as she doesn't understand english law and the bindingness of a contract I also have the problem of - what if i need to make and deductions from the deposit? I have visited the property recently and it is immaculate and i can't fault it but until it is empty, i won't be able to make a judgement on the overall condition (due to condition property left in - empty or not, if it's clean or not and any damage caused when moving out) Please advise on what i can do regarding the rent due for December and January? and is it right that the lettings agent can't release the deposit until after 31st January? As it currently stands, we have no new tenant lined up and only had 1 viewing in 17days! And we are being charged £150 tenant find fee by new agent - which we have told the old tenants they will need to pay too (as it says in their agreement that should they end their tenancy early they are liable for any costs involved with finding new tenants) Many thanks

I've just looked on MCOL and they have until sunday to enter defences for both cases...and guess what....they've done one!! although i am slightly confused - they have entered the date of the defence as the same date i issued the claim! an error surely?

thanks - i've just bought a house and i have a holiday coming up so it's hopefully going to come soon!

Well, here i go again! having successfully claimed my charges back from Natwest (it took about 5months from LBA and they did it 1 month before court date) and having done my brother's from Natwest (they paid him in full 14days after he sent the 1st request for money) and having got my mate up to court stage with Barclays (her date is 22nd June i think)i have decided to tackle 2 accounts i used to have with Lloyds TSB - one was an old joint account and one was an old current account. The amount i have claimed (including interest) is: current - £643.27 joint - £503.80 I have complete a MCOL and the date of issed service was 13th May, yesterday they acknowledged the current account one giving them until 10th June to enter defence or pay up! great! I was just wondering, in most people's experience with Lloyds, do they tend to enter a defence and how far down the line will they pay out? Cheers guys Kerry x

my friend has now received her allocation questionairre - can anyone tell me what the answers are meant to be? i know it used to be posted on here when i did mine!!

Hi there! I have successfully claimed my own charges back from Natwest and i am now doing my friend's from Woolwich! I am at the stage where we filled in the MCOL on 5th Jan and it was issued on 8th Jan. there has been no response as yet. can someone remind me - is it 7 days from issue date (8/1/07) that it is deemed to be "served" and then 14days from that date which they have to acknowledge? Which means that they have until monday 22nd Jan? correct? and for all of you other Woolwich claimers: 1. how long does it take them to acknowledge the MCOL? do they do it on the last possible day like Natwest? 2. how far do Woolwich tend to go before they settle (with Natwest i had to fill in an AQ and i had a court date and they settled 3 weeks before the court date) My friend has claimed back £2649.20 including interest and charges! I'll keep you all posted on how it goes - grateful for any answers to my questions! Kerry x

How weird, i was just reading my thread and say you have out "not long for me now i hope" and then i looked and saw this!! WELL DONE KATE! I felt emotional when i won mine too! Have a great shopping spree!! *admires her own new boots*

i might do my business account now. are there any differences into claiming back charges with business accounts?

i am so excited! i have a man here painting my kitchen and he thought i'd lost the plot! i have just started to help one of my good friends with her claim against woolwich last week so off i go again!! not sure if mentioned it in my thread but i was declared bankrupt in July - my ex had a lot of debts in joint names i didn't know about - and i was worried about going to court incase the used that against me! i am SO please i won!! he also asked me for half of the money!! you can guess my reply!! drinks are on me this weekend!!!

OH MY GOD!! I have just recieved a very nice cheque in the post for - £1480.10p!! I HAVE WON!!! 5 months (nearly) after i started and i have won!! i have had moments where i have doubted i would ever win ("i bet i'll be one of the unlucky ones") and i have felt like giving up and that it was all an uphill struggle but i did it!! to anyone out there just starting out, don't EVER give up! you will win!!! i am SOOO pleased!!! My son can have his new bed and his new carpet! My boyfriend is a BBC journalist and is going to do a story on it for the website too (anyone else living in Dorset who has suceeded and would like their story told, please PM me) THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Expect a donation as soon as the cheque is cleared!

20days since i sent the letter and i've not had any response, 3 weeks today until my court date! yikes!! how long do they normally take to pay up?

does anyone know how long cobbetts take to respond to this letter? about 2 weeks isn't it? and also, the letter they sent me was the standard "you are not allowed to tell the court about this letter but if you reject our offer we reserve the right to throw it back in your face in court" letter. should i let the court see it? I see a lot of people on here as accepting the money as partial payment and say they will pursue the rest - should i have done that? i'm worried that i worded my letter wrong (I put that although their client feels that i would no win should this case go to court, i have evidence from other people which suggests otherwise) - maybe i shouldn't have said that!! YIKES! help! i'm panicking now! got so far - don't want to fall down right at the end!

That sounds interesting martin.....explain more!

Oh yeah, good point about the c.a!! hmm! i'm going to refuse to agree to it with mine - but he's not interviewing me! i didn't do the MP letters etc. Also, as a footnote, did you see on Watchdog tonight? they said at the end that they want to hear from people regarding bank charges!!

WOW TB, i have read your claim details and i recieved my court date a week ago and my partial offer letter today, which i have declined. i also noticed that you are local to me! (I'm in Dorch). i showed your thread to my boyfriend who is a BBC journalist for Dorset and would like to arrange an interview if possible? I'll pm you!

Had my offer of £750 frm cobbetts today as a "goodwill gesture" saying that should this go to court the court would agree with them that the charges lwvied are fair and transparent. should i decline the offer then they will draw the attention of the court tothis reasonable offer. i have until friday to accept! i have sent back a letter saying i am willing to discuss settlement for the FULL amount with no conditions. I faxed it and posted it first class today Wish me luck!! hopefully i will get a cheque by the end of the week!! i have faxed AND posted it! YIKES

thanks guys, i'll keep you posted

thanks! i hope so! i keep reading the "i won" threads and everyone else seems to have had "half settlement" offer letters way before this stage, and some even receive phone calls offering to settle in full1 i hope mine isn't one which goes to court and then i have to get bailiffs in!! any advice on what to expect in court?

sorry to bump, can anyone answer this query?

hi there! if you read my story (click link in signature) you will see that i did everything correctly, i did the MCOL and they entered a defence and i had the allocation questionairre. i have jist had my court date for 20th november and am hoping they will settle out of court - i have not recieved any correspondence from cobbetts offering me anything, the only time i have heard from them was their defence and then a copy of their allocation questionairre. i am REALLY hoping to recieve a full settlement before court though!

UPDATE: i had a letter today from the court with my hearing date - 20th november! Apparently i have to deliver to every party (including the court) copies of all documents i intend to rely on at the hearing by 2nd november - including all my statements! and i have to take my contract relating to my account - i don't have this!! HELP!! anyone else got this far? what happens now? will they actually let it go to court or will the bank now settle with me? god, i can't believe i have to wait ANOTHER month and a half to get my money! ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

no nothing apart from the court stuff!

Just a quick update, i spoke to the court last week and was told all is in order and the district judge will look at it this week and i will probably recieve a court date for a few weeks time, she told me they may settle then as it costs them more to go to court than pay the claim! she seemed to know about the bank charges thing herself (maybe she's claiming back hers!) So, another case of sitting and waiting!

I sent this response to Natwest in reply to their request for me to respond to the defence and the CPR thingy - someone on here sent me this letter to send: I write in response to the recently submitted Defence and Request for Further Information you submitted to XXXXXX Court, relating to my claim (claim number – XXXXXXXX) against your client XXXXXXX Bank. I understand you have asked for a detailed schedule individually listing all charges debited to my bank account. I have of course provided a schedule of the charges and believe this is sufficient for your clients to exactly understand the details of my case. Please find an additional copy enclosed. Particularly, as your clients have always been fully aware of all charges they have made to my account and indeed, my calculations have been taken directly from information they have supplied me. I suggest you obtain a schedule from your clients as to their confirmation of the charges they have made (and interest thereon). I believe both yourselves and Nat West have been supplied with all of the details necessary to move this claim forwards. I am aware that the Court can order certain and further information from both parties, you appear to have attempted to obtain this information suggesting I am under strict obligations to obey your requests rather than the Courts. With this in mind, I see no reason why I should be sending you any further information relating to this case. It is the Court that decides whether or not any further information is required, not yourselves. Where the Court orders such detailed information, I shall request reciprocal documentation from your clients detailing those same charges and interest to which I am reclaiming along with evidence to confirm the exact costs to which your clients have been subjected and from which they have added profit margins to arrive at the eventual charge made to my accounts for each and every charge. If you feel it other than an abuse of the process to request for further information in the manner you requested it, I have no difficulty in making a reciprocal request. On the advice of other claimants, whose claims are in identical circumstances to mine and who have been passed onto you by Nat West, I will be sending a copy of this letter to the Court. I will also be sending them copies of the letters, which clearly show the schedule of charges and details that you claim I have not yet supplied. I consider that upon allocation this case will be referred to the Small Claims Track; accordingly I consider your CPR Part 18 request to be irrelevant as Part 18 would not apply. I shall not be responding to your requests. I shall of course respond to the order of the Court leaving the matters to be settled by the court. i phoned the court last week and i have been told that all has been recieved and the district judge is looking at it this week and i will hear from them then!

Well, no more word yet! i am just waiting for the postman each day in the hope that THEY will give up - what if i get sent a court date? i am poohing myself about having to go to court! I have worked out, from reading on here, that most claims under £1000 are settled once the moneyclaim is issued and those over £1000 seem to take longer! I still have (a little bit of) faith that i WILL get my money back and i can see that there is a bit of light at the end of the tunnel!!