Don't give in mate, they are financial vampires. They prey on the worst off in our society and offer you £1100 hoping you will be desperate enough to settle. If you are in a position to hold out then do so. I have a claim on the way. I am just waiting for the result of the court case. Regardless of the result I will claim, this is not related to the bank fees case in any way, regardless of what they say. Good luck mate Andrew

Thanks for the advice, just phone 2 local branches who have both agreed that the guarantee number is the long 16 digit number across the face of the card and just to be on the safe side I called NatWest customer services as well. 14 Days are up tomorrow and I will start an MCOL claim on the 10th when I get paid. Thanks for all your help and advice CAG'ers I will keep you informed

Thanks for all the responses, Can anybody tell me for certain which number should be on the back of this NatWest cheque. I have always taken the long number in the middle of the card in the past, but I do know that NatWest cards do have a 9 digit 'card number' printed on them as well as the long number. Everyone I have spoken to says the long number is the correct one, but I would like to be sure before I waste money on the MCOL fees. So far I have heard nothing from NatWest, Andrew

One thing I know for sure is that you cannot cancel a guaranteed cheque. Also a couple of days after after I received the cheque he wrote another cheque to cover a meal bill at my local pub, I watched the landlady 'back' the cheque (exactly the way I backed mine) and her cheque cleared with no problems. I feel that they are just trying it on with me because I am a private individual not a business. The landlady has offered to come to court with me to give evidence if it goes that far and has even offered to have her solicitor attend as well to represent me which is a very generous offer. She doesn't like the banks either !

Thanks lookinforinfo, I have drafted this letter for the bank I am hoping this does the trick, but if I have to use the the MCOL route I am very confident of success.

Thanks for the advice, someone else has advised me to write to the bank asking for a definitive reason why the checks were refused, complain to the ombudsman, and possibly use MCOL to get the cash. I think I'll give that a go.

I have got over £500 of 'arrears management fees' from SPML/Capstone they haven't shown me any mercy and I get the feeling that they actually want to reposess my house rather than service my loan. Give as good as you get mate, report them to the FSA. I will be watching this thread with interest. Good luck jotty

I have recently paid 3 guaranteed cheques into my account. They were from Natwest and were all correctly 'backed' with the long card number, expiry date and were signed in front of me, the signature matching the bank card signature strip. Natwest has returned all 3 cheques stamped 'refer to drawer not drawn in accordance with cheque card criteria' All 3 cheques were from the same account, I got them on different days and were taken in good faith for goods I supplied. Obviously there were no funds in the guys account and I have now learned he is in China so he was clearly trying to 'pull a fast one' Despite this, surely the bank must honour the cheques. I went into my local Natwest and made a teller phone the cheque cashing place who said that the guys signature didn't match the signature they had on record. I have known the guy for a couple of years so it was definately his cheque book and not stolen. To make matters worse Barclays let me draw on the cheques the next day then took the money back and charged me £30 although I know this isn't Natwests fault. Who do I write to or phone and what do I say, is there some law that lets the banks get away with this. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks.

Has anybody claimed their charges back from Capstone (SPML) I have got at least £500 of late payment charges at £50 a time, (they used to charge £65) Does the 'actual costs not profits' argument work with mortgages ?

Got my documents transferring my claim to Cambridge County Court and 'allocation questionnaire be dispensed with in this case' on 27/03/2007

I have sent a date protection letter to MBNA (A&L Credit Card) and after 2 weeks got the following reply "As per your request here are the copy statements for your account prior to the conversion from HBOS to MBNA. Many thanks, Samantha Johnson." The statements sent cover 1 month in 2003, my first month in fact, before I incurred any charges. I intend to call them tomorrow but any additional advice would be welcome.

Nice one mate, hopefully I will be able to post some positive news soon :):)

Thanks for the advice Gordon, I will call them in the morning (and follow that up with a letter if necessary) I hope I am as successful as you have been

Library section mate, you will find it here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/

Really pleased to have found this site, the reason I hadn't posted earlier was I wanted some success to report first. I have sent the date protection letter to MBNA (Alliance & Leicester Credit Card) and recieved a reply today, "As per your request here are the copy statements for your account prior to the conversion from HBOS (?) to MBNA. Many Thanks. Samantha Johnson" I didn't request statements prior to anything. The statements sent have no charges on them as they only cover 3 Feb - 3 Mar 2003 when I had just opened the card and had not had the opportunity to get any charges. Is this a time wasting tactic ? and who are HBOS ? Any help would be appreciated Thanks 1971andrew Edit : Ohhhh.....by the way I have a few other claims lined up and 10% of any and all settlements will be donated to this site. Thanks again