I have received an acknowledgement of service today and it states the defendant, wendy starr, indicates the intention to defend the claim. So their 28 days begins. Anyone know what happens from this point? I can't seem to find any actual cases of what happens when/if they carry on to submit a defence.

For this stage send your request without the 8%. At court stage you will include the 8%. You can add the interest at this point accrued on your charges which you would use the complex charges spreadsheet to work out. 0.0022 is just another way of calculating the 8%. Hope that helps.

BTW- I don't suppose anyone has a copy of the spreadsheet for advanced interest on credit cards in works format? I think vampiress's email is overburdened and I can't download the ones linked in the library. TIA

Working out interest to add now, will put in claim tomorrow. Think the finance charges are a combined total of cash and purchase interest? Adding about £60 a month to the owed total. Good luck getting a cheque Tekcom. My fingers are crossed for you. Do you think I should add that I want payment by cheque into my particulars? I will be filing in person at the county court tomorrow so it's not too late to tag something like that on..

I didn't ask for any interest or any charges listed as 'financial charges'?. I only asked for the charges specifically made for over limit and late payment. That's the £700 part. The rest of the money I owe is mostly made up of purchase/cash interest, financial charges, and fees. Fortunately they have now stopped piling on the interest and closed my account and I am simply paying back the money to the DCA. I suppose I should just be thankful to get the debt reduced. It just would have been useful to have the charges in my hand now and just continue to pay the account as I have been doing - our roof has come down in our house and it would have been nice to afford to get it fixed. arrgh.. oh well, if we can't get a cheque we'll just have to look on the bright side - we won't be any worse off than before, and will be closer to paying off the debt.

Cap One owes me just over £700. I am putting my claim in tuesday. When they make an offer I will be asking for a cheque. I am not refusing to pay them back what I owe them, but I have other more pressing needs for the refund money at this time, and if they really want their money that much faster, or to keep the refund for themselves then they can counter claim, right?

I am a couple days away from filing a claim. I sent off the prelim and the LBA and now have heard from Capitol One. As well as from Buchananclark + wells.. See, here's the "Mess" Part. I have a long standing debt with Cap 1. This came about because their charges put me over my credit limit of £2000, I was on a tight budget and only could pay the charges each month , but not enough to put me back in credit, so amount grew ever onward and upward, hitting totals of £2800. Even after paying over £700 in charges my account still stands at £2429. For over 6 months I have been paying their agency £5 a week towards it which has just been paying more against the charges, still on a tight budget. So today I get a letter from the debt collection agency, making me an offer for me to pay 60% of total amount, and have rest written off, If I pay it in one lump sum by Monday. I'll just get my purse... At the same time I have recieved an offer from Cap One, the difference between £12 only of course.. but worse- to be paid into my account toward reducing the debt!! So effectivively paying themselves back the portion of the charges they are offering to refund!? Which incidentally doesn't even take me back within my original credit limit. So how do I sort this mess out? I want the FULL amount of Charges, paid to me- Not to my C1 account. And as for BC+W - I can't afford to pay off the debt, even though the reduced amount brings the debt to a fairer amount for which I would almost be willing to pay- over an extended period of time. What should I say to them? Anything? So Please, anyone who knows how I might respond to each of these? please let me know. Especially - How do I proceed with court claim so the money goes to me & not back to C1? TIA

I have just had a credit card replaced and in looking at the accompanying letter it states late charges as £12 and returned credit cheques as £12 and over limit as £12.. and stopping cheques £12... Are these new rates to somehow comply with the £12 reference by the OFT?

Hi. What are you nervous about? I think you should be prepared for them to close your account. It may not happen, but better to be prepared then caught off guard. a) I have so far been able to stay with them, even though I have had more charges since filing. With the refunded charges now in my account the new charges have been paid, as has my overdraft. I intend to keep my account in order from this point, and so long as I can keep my account in order I will not claim the new charges as this seems to trigger a cancellation of the account. I decided the new charges weren't worth the hassle - they are covered by the 8% interest and I would have difficulty opening another current account. b) I have noticed a slight change in manner when dealing with the bank. They are more formal and kurt towards me- but they're not my friends- they're a business so I don't need the pretence of friendly banter.. They were quick to cancel my direct debits that put me over my limit and have been eager to point out that they will continue to levvy charges as before. So the only way I can see to avoid the need for a second claim is to avoid triggering the charges in the first place.. Hope this helps.

Thanks, I have to hand the credit for it going so smoothly over to the CAG/ BAG- its all thanks to them for their expertise- Not to mention Vampiress's spreadsheets... They all deserve a medal! I can honestly say there isn't anything to be nervous about. My own lack of prior experience in claiming back charges was the only scary part. But following the steps set out on the forum was really straight forward. I know a lot of people have commented how it isn't even so much the money, but the principle of the thing that matters to them- well for me, as a single parent on benefits, it's way more than that to me. I know banks rely on people like me who struggle to make ends meet, to account for their billions in annual profits, but I don't feel sorry for them. They didn't feel sorry taking the food out of our mouths, by prioritising their profits over and above all else. If they weren't in the wrong they wouldn't pay it back, but they are and they have. I have nothing but gratitude for the mods/admin here who are volunteering their valuable time to help us all out with this battle against the banking giants. It's like a modern day take on Robin Hood - except on the right side of the law...

Money been refunded!

Well here it is. DC Solicitors are offering the full amount and want me to sign to secrecy. Do I just *delete as appropriate? I accept the money. *I agree to keep my claim a BIG SECRET...? I won't be happy til the money is actually in my account. Even then I won't be fully happy as the cheeky beggars are still applying charges to my account. Is it worth emailing them to remind them of the findings of the OFT and just ask them to refund the charges? Or will this be enough to make them want to close my account? I want to keep my account if I can help it- I just don't want the excessive charges.. I have noticed that since starting this, the smiley helpful voice on the other end of the HSBC telephone has turned a bit sour and official toward me. Do you think there is a mark on their monitors next to my name which means they are now obliged to use a testy tone with me in all future communications? They were all smiley and polite to me when they were getting away with reaping my account for every penny, but now they've been rumbled they don't have the same courteous regard for some reason? well off to the post box with my acceptance for them to arrange a refund. Anyone know how long now til I see my money?

It's not strictly necessary but for the £1 it costs to send it to be signed for, and the ability to prove it has been received and tracked, I would recommend it.

I am in the same boat. They are relentless with these charges, even when I told them I had DD's meant to be coming out on the day before my money went in, and I assured them the money would be in first thing the following day, they still returned them unpaid and charged me £30 each and told me to find alternative ways to pay the unpaid DD's. Again, perpetuating the knock on effect of putting my tight budget into turmoil. Why does the bank believe it is more important than the TV licence or water company? Because they paid themselves the £30 charges without question of me having the funds available whilst at the same time not paying the lesser amounts owed to the other companies. They think they are God, and if we still lived in a world where cash was an adequate substitute for plastic- I would stuff my mattress with my money and stick two fingers up to the banks! sorry, in answer, I don't think they will ever learn.

Yes, I want these new charges refunded- but because of the likelihood of having my account closed I will wait the new charges out for a while. I don't want to lose my switch/ Credit/ chequing facilities before I have to- if only they would charge me a reasonable amount- the swine!

I sent the following letter to hsbc: Dear Mr Langdale Ref: XXXXXXXXXXXX Thank you for your letter dated 19 July 2006 making an offer of £1660.00 from the £1845.00 of bank charges I requested. I must inform you however that I had already put in a claim with the courts on 19 July 2006, following my letter before action dated 3 July 2006. The new amount I am asking for is £2028.79. This amount includes an updated amount of charges applied to my account up to the time of submitting my claim, as well as interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% per year. I will therefore accept £2028.79 in full and final settlement of this matter . Until this amount has been credited to my account the claim will continue to follow the procedure of the courts. You should be hearing from them very shortly. me x The only thing I regret saying is the full and final settlement bit- I have just had another lot of charges added to my account so its not final afterall...

Thanks for that davisc02. I figured that was the way to work out the interest but my final amount is nothing compared to what I have been seeing claimed for by others at litigation stage so just wanted to double check. I have also read that some people send letters to say they would accept as part payment and then carry on with MC - but I had already taken my N1 claim form to the county court the day Before I got the letter making an offer from the bank. I think I am going to let the claim stand as a response to the offer. Mr Langdale must be dealing with so many of these anyway, it will be hard to tell one claim against another! Thanks again for your response. Even after reading all the FAQ's and browsing the whole forum, a little assurance here and there doesn't go amiss. Good Luck with your claim!

I keep on posting my queries here even though I get no response . BUT if anyone else does read this and has the answer, Please share it with me- I am grateful for replies! 1) Have I calculated the 8% interest correctly? I see others with similar amounts to claim back as me with much higher interest amounts than me? I took 8% from each charge from the day it became owed- so money owing from 3 years ago would be higher than the charge interest applied last month.. Are others simply claiming 8% on the whole amount backdated to the first date any money became owed? 2)I put my claim in the county court but the next day had an offer from the bank. Do I have to reply to the bank? it's not the amount I was asking for, and the letter says if we get no response we will take it you have refused the offer... TIA:)

Yesterday I went and handed my claim into the court. I was told that I would be sent a claim number within the next 14 days. Today I received the standard letter from HSBC making me an offer of £1660, I had asked for £1845. When i made the claim at county, I had added on a new charge and the 8% as well taking it up to £2028. So this latter is the amount I am now after. I will search other posts to see if I can find out how others have proceeded from this point to get the whole amount? :idea: Or if anyone can give me some ideas on how to respond?

Had no reply yet to my LBA. Deadline tomorrow. Just wondering if when I put in my claim if I am able to add on charges applied since I sent the LBA? If so do I just add it to the submitted schedule of charges I submit to the courts? I believe this is the stage where I would also add on the 8%.. which if I file my claim tomorrow should be £426 I believe if I have done it right. I haven't been able to open the spreadsheet in the library, but have just calculated daily interest on the total amount since the first charge I am claiming. Not sure if this is right.. but.. if it is, I am surprised I haven't had a response from the bank if they don't want to part with even more of thier ill gotten gains??

Thanks for that Bank Fodder:) Sorry Bookworm, I will do from this point forward.

I am due to file my claim if I get no response by Tuesday. I have been to MCOL site to have a look and it appears that you can't file online if you need fees waived? I am on benefit and am wondering if anyone has gone to their local court to file a claim and got the fee assistance? I can't afford the court cost until the end of the month- which would give the bank longer to comply.. but I'm wondering if I should go to the court and see if I can escape the fee to stick to my original time frame? Anyone have any experience of doing this? TIA

I was just wondering about claiming back charges from a catalogue company. Basically I owed about £300 to Studio cards, but it got out of hand with the regular invoice charge, admin charges, service charge, and I also paid a lot of money out for payment protection.. which i cancelled eventually as I couldn't afford it with all the other charges. When I fell behind they passed me off to Moorcroft recovery who quickly went for a CCJ which I accepted and am now paying back monthly, including solicitors fees and court costs. Anyway, just wondering if I can claim the aforementioned charges back from Studio? It would help toward paying off the £700 CCJ no doubt. Is it the same as the banks? Do I just claim the admin charge as the service charge is 2.6% of each statement- so is this a fair interest charge? and why did my invoices cost me nearly £20? And can I claim back the money paid on payment protection scheme? It obviously was no more help than throwing a tenner down the bog each month after all. Any advice greatly received.

For the cost of a stamp I just wanted to make certain there was no confusion between the people dealing with my claim. I told Mr langdale that because I didn't get a timely response to my first letter I had sent a follow up letter (the LBA which I enclosed) to phil... So if nothing else he will know I am going to stick to my guns and my deadlines...

I sent a duplicate copy to the sen off that replied back so that if he does take the case instead of Phil, the dates remain the same. I think all roads lead to Leeds eventually...