Many Thanks - I'll start preparing myself just in case.

Just remind me. At what point will I get the allocation questionnaire?

Stonelaughter - Cheers. Letter sent but I realised last night that I hadn't included in the figure I have given them my £120 court costs, just an oversight. Would that cause me a problem? Obviously the claim thay have from the courts informs them of what I'm claiming in full - Andy

Stonelaughter - Thanks. I'm about to send off my letter to DG later today. As I'm really close now to getting this sorted and I don't want to mess anything up could you just read the content below which I intend to send. "Thank you for your letter dated 9 November 2006. I respectfully decline your offer of settlement as it does not satisfy my claim which includes interest and court costs totalling £2368.08. I will accept the sum offered (£1902.75) only as part settlement and on the clear understanding that I will only withdraw my court claim upon receipt of the remaining balance in full which includes unconditional payment of interest and court costs. I trust this clarifies my position."

Obviously the way threads work has confused me. Prior to using this site I had never used them before. (I may still have one more outstanding somewhere) - Really sorry! While I'm logged on thought I'd give a brief update. On Saturday DG solicitors offered me the full amount of 1902.75 which is the amount I originally asked for before having to use MCOL. Obviously this now doesn't cover my court costs or interest and I feel rather cheated but don't want to sound greedy either. I have been advised to ask for the full amount which is just under £2500 which I intend doing tomorrow, although I wouldn't mind some reassurances that this is definitely the way to go. The bank's 28 days are up on 21/11.

bong - thanks, most helpful. just one more query for later. the letter from dg solicitors says hsbc want me to keep the offer confidential. If they offer the full amt later do I delete the conidential bit?

I filed my MCOL - issue date 24/10. bank acknowledged claim 25/10. I have today received an offer fron DG solicitors which matches my original claim in full. what it doesn't include is the 8% interest plus my court costs. should I accept as part payment and go for the remainder. they have until 21/11 to defend. also do I need to inform the court that they've made this offer. getting so close now.

Stonelaughter, Thanks for your swift response. Details so far: 30/6/06 - S.A.R sent (plus £10 - later returned) 4/9/06 - Req for repayment letter + schedule of charges (£1859 + £43.75 O/D charges totalling £1903.75) 20/9/06 (letter dated by bank but not received until 27/9) - Bank offered £1223.00 (without prejudice) 29/9/06 Letter sent accepting this offer as part payment. I gave them 14 working days to respond i.e until 16/10/06. They didn't respond. 18/10/06 - MCOL claim made including court costs + 8% interest now totalling £2491.84. Court issued claim on 19th (gave 24th as official claim date). 25/10/06 - letter received from court stating that defendent wishes to defend the claim (FD's solicitors in Birmingham) That's where I'm at.

I have just received a response from FD stating that they intend to defend my claim in full. Although I knew this may happen and will go the whole way if needs be I was wondering whether anyone could tell me if this is the norm?

I have filed my claim via MCOL and having checked the MCOL website the bank have acknowledged my claim. I have followed every bit of advice from the site so far but what I haven't done is sent the bank my revised schedule of charges (8% interest + court costs) since filing my claim. Should I send them this or wait for the bank to request it.

There's a rejection letter in the templates section.

I wrote to FD accepting a partial offer of £1223 (I requested £1902.75), but informed them that I would pursue them for the remainder through the courts if necessary. I actually gave them 14 working days to respond (expired yesterday). Nothing in the post today so I have no option to use MCOL. I do however have a couple of questions: (1) Is there a time limit on me filing a claim? I warned the bank that this would happen if they did not respond by the 16th (I don't currently have the £120 court fee available - shld have in about a week though) (2) I have been sending all my correspondence to First Direct in Leeds. It does however sugggest on the site that the court letter should be addressed to the bank's Head Office - I can't find one for FD. Should it go to Leeds or HSBC HO in London? Thanks

I've been reading this thread with interest as it is very similar to my predicament. The bank offered me 2/3 of my claim. I accepted this but told them I would request the remainder through the courts if necessary. They have until Monday to respond when I will have to go down the moneyclaim route. Keep at it and let me know how you get on. It can be hard but well worth it in the end I'm sure . If/when successful I will be spreading the word.

Thank you very much. It will be in the post later today.

In the letter I received offering me a partial payment, the guy stated that if I didn't accept it and I wanted to escalate my concerns I should write to a Robert Kernaghan. The letter I am sending (see below and thank you closey) is going back to the one who made me the offer but asking him to pass it to Robert should he wish to do so. Is that ok? Plus as they hadn't responded in time to my first LBA letter I sent my second after the 14 day deadline - then the partial offer arrived (their letter was dated 20/9 but arrived on the 27th) Is it ok to give them a deadline of 16/10 (14 days from my 2nd LBA letter) or should it be a further 14 days from my rejection letter date. Really sorry if I'm going on a bit but don't want to mess anything up. Response to settlement offer. Dear Mr Ruane, Thank you for your letter dated 20 September 2006. We respectfully decline your offer of settlement and request, once again, that you return to us all charges imposed on this account, totalling £1902.75 We will accept the sum offered (£1223.00) only as part settlement and on the clear understanding that we will pursue recovery of the remainder, with a County Court claim if necessary. Our letter before action sent on the 26th September indicates that you have until 16/10/2006 to respond before Court action commences. You are reminded that there will be no extension to this timescale. We trust this clarifies our position. Should you wish to pass our letter to Robert Kernaghan, Customer Relations Manager, please do so. The help so far recieved has been brilliant but just feeling a little stressed as the process moves on

I have today received a letter from FD offering me over £1200 ( My charges totalled £1900+) although the bank are accepting no liability they claim it would be able to defend it's charges as the tarrifs were set out in the contract I signed when I set up my account etc..... The offer is tempting but wondered if this is the norm and what others have done in such circumstances.

As usual the people who use this site are so helpful and supportive. Thanks for the advice - Andy

I have sent my claim for charges to FD (std letter giving them 14 days to respond) They wrote to me some days later informing me that they were sorry I was complaining and a complaints procedure booklet was enclosed(it wasn't) and that they'd formally respond in 10 working days. The time was up yesterday but still no response. I'm ready to send the 2nd letter giving them another 14 dayts at which point I'll start legal action.....but should I give them more time before sending this 2nd letter?? Andy

Harvey, I would suggest sending the standard letter from this site requesting details of all the charges levied against your account in the last xx years (upto 6) and include a £10 data protection fee (I actually got this back). I'm of the opinion of doing everything as suggested on this site. Better to have all the info in writing.

Just needed that reassurance - Thanks

I am about to send off my preliminary letter and schedule of charges but for some reason getting a little nervous. I have literally listed all the charges from 6 years of statements plus debit interest and placed in the spreadsheet. Do I need to deduct anything re manual intervention from the bank. They have listed all the dealings with me but no details on costs they have incurred. Don't want to make a mistake at this early stage. Andy

Thanks for the advice, really appreciated. Andy

I also sent £10 to FD but they returned it. I later recieved 6 years worth of statements - Andy

I have received all my bank statements and listed all the charges. I now want to send the preliminary letter plus the schedule of charges. Do I include all the charges as represented on the statements? The reason for asking is I have no idea how much manual intervention has taken place and therfore not sure if I should be deducting anything? - Andy

Send the letter with the £10 but in my case FD returned the £10 back to me?? I'm about produce my spreadsheet and preliminary letter. Over the 6 year period they have charged me over £1800. I was lucky to have another bank account cos FD withdrew all my banking facilities, demanding I pay back my £200 overdraft +£347 in charges. They then closed my account hence me doing what I'm doing - Andy