Hi all Just a quick question for anybody who can help me with this. I have searched the forums but without a definative answer. My OH had a 12 month contract with T Mobile. Her phone was stolen and she reported this to T Mobile who said they would cancel the old sim send out a new one and charge £10 for it but would not replace the phone. Ok no problem, sim arrived but wouldn't work in new phone bought from local tesco. Phoned T Mobile - oh no it wont work in any other phone except one that we will sell to you at an exorbatant price. Ok i will cancel contract cause you cant provide a service. You cant They are now continuing to charge a monthly fee for a phone i dont have and have sent late payment details to CRA's cause i stopped the DD. they are now threatening to charge balance of contract. if i do nothing they will treaten court action, DCA etc and defaults on credit file. I do not have a written signed contract with them as it was renewed over the telephone and they have confirmed this. Where do i stand ?

Just to close this thread off I took some free legal advice on the matter which was much as most people thought in that the sheriff would probably take the view that as i had cashed the cheque that was my acceptance. So i didnt proceed with the claim. All i lost was the court fee of £39. I still got all my charges back and it cost CB to employ their lawyer in court for the day. Thanks to all help here Claimitall

Thanks to all for your advice I feel that the CB have been quite clever in that they have managed to turn my claim from unlawful charges argument into one about the law on what F&F settlements mean. I think you are right Caro. my gut feeling in court was the sheriff was offering me a way out. As much as it irks and gets my back up that they have got away i think that i would not get to argue the finer points on unlawful charges in court. I think we have to learn from this, as the clydesdale were certainly trying it on with the cheque as they could have just reduced the amount i owed on the card. Julestools has also posted some ideas on how to counteract this on this thread http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/site-questions-suggestions/60 762-settlement-rejection-letter.html Anyway onwards and upwards

I agree with you - i didnt sign anything just cashed the cheque. The court hearing is continued for another 2 weeks as the Sheriff appeared to side with the banks argument and suggested i seek legal advice before i go further to "proof" .

George They sent me a further letter acknowledging my partial settlement and "reminding" me that i had settled fully whilst also stating that as i had started a court claim their legal department was now dealing with the matter.

I wonder if maybe anyone has a definative answer to this one. I claimed CB and went through first letter then LBA and got usual fob off. I then put in small claim for 490 plus int of 120 and 39 costs. I then got a letter and cheque from Neil McKirdy for 550. The letter was dated 1 week before the claim went in but i received it 1 week after the claim. Suspicious huh. letter stated encashment of cheque was full and final settlement. I wrote back saying i would accept the cheque as part payment and that as a small claim had been raised then i would expect the balance to be paid. I did cash the cheque following my letter. I received a further letter saying that as i had cashed the cheque then i had accepted their terms and that I had effectively barred any further action in court. I decided to test this at the hearing as they had decided to defend. They brought in local solicitor and their defence was usual charges are fair and representative of cost etc and also stated that I was barred from proceeding as i had accepted and cashed cheque. The sheriff did appear to agree with this view and strongly suggested i take legal advice before appearing at the continuation in a couple of weeks. What is the view as i have seen numerous different points relating to this in the threads over the last few months. I am quite prepared to test both the unfair charges defence and the full and final settlement defence statements in court if you people out there think it is worth getting involved.

I wonder if maybe anyone has a definative answer to this one. I claimed CB and went through first letter then LBA and got usual fob off. I then put in small claim for 490 plus int of 120 and 39 costs. I then got a letter and cheque from Neil McKirdy for 550. The letter was dated 1 week before the claim went in but i received it 1 week after the claim. Suspicious huh. letter stated encashment of cheque was full and final settlement. I wrote back saying i would accept the cheque as part payment and that as a small claim had been raised then i would expect the balance to be paid. I did cash the cheque following my letter. I received a further letter saying that as i had cashed the cheque then i had accepted their terms and that I had effectively barred any further action in court. I decided to test this at the hearing as they had decided to defend. They brought in local solicitor and their defence was usual charges are fair and representative of cost etc and also stated that I was barred from proceeding as i had accepted and cashed cheque. The sheriff did appear to agree with this view and strongly suggested i take legal advice before appearing at the continuation in a couple of weeks. What is the view as i have seen numerous different points relating to this in the threads over the last few months. I am quite prepared to test both the unfair charges defence and the full and final settlement defence statements in court if you people out there think it is worth getting involved.

I wonder if maybe anyone has a definative answer to this one. I claimed CB and went through first letter then LBA and got usual fob off. I then put in small claim for 490 plus int of 120 and 39 costs. I then got a letter and cheque from Neil McKirdy for 550. The letter was dated 1 week before the claim went in but i received it 1 week after the claim. Suspicious huh. letter stated encashment of cheque was full and final settlement. I wrote back saying i would accept the cheque as part payment and that as a small claim had been raised then i would expect the balance to be paid. I did cash the cheque following my letter. I received a further letter saying that as i had cashed the cheque then i had accepted their terms and that I had effectively barred any further action in court. I decided to test this at the hearing as they had decided to defend. They brought in local solicitor and their defence was usual charges are fair and representative of cost etc and also stated that I was barred from proceeding as i had accepted and cashed cheque. The sheriff did appear to agree with this view and strongly suggested i take legal advice before appearing at the continuation in a couple of weeks. What is the view as i have seen numerous different points relating to this in the threads over the last few months. I am quite prepared to test both the unfair charges defence and the full and final settlement defence statements in court if you people out there think it is worth getting involved.

George Been reading your posts with interest. maybe you or others have a definative answer to this one. I also claimed CB and went through first letter then LBA and got usual fob off. I then put in small claim for 490 plus int of 120 and 39 costs. I then got a letter and cheque from Neil McKirdy for 550. The letter was dated 1 week before the claim went in but i received it 1 week after the claim. Suspicious huh. letter stated encashment of cheque was full and final settlement. I wrote back saying i would accept the cheque as part payment and that as a small claim had been raised then i would expect the balance to be paid. I did cash the cheque following my letter. I received a further letter saying that as i had cashed the cheque then i had accepted their terms and that I had effectively barred any further action in court. I decided to test this at the hearing as they had decided to defend. They brought in local solicitor and their defence was usual charges are fair and representative of cost etc and also stated that I was barred from proceeding as i had accepted and cashed cheque. The sheriff did appear to agree with this view and strongly suggested i take legal advice before appearing at the continuation in a couple of weeks. What is the view as i have seen numerous different points relating to this in the threads over the last few months. I am quite prepared to test both the unfair charges defence and the full and final settlement defence statements in court if you people out there think it is worth getting involved.

Thats not what the sheriff seems to be saying in my case Robert. I accepted and cashed the cheque based on their understanding that it was in full and final settlement despite the fact i wrote saying i accepted it on account and would persue for the rest (which in fact was interest only on the original sum). The sheriff interjected saying it didnt matter what the dates were did i or did i not cash the cheque. That was his point of law.

Absolutely mindz but if they say spending this money is in full and final how can that not be the same as cashing a cheque. I am not trying to be negative on this just trying to get my head around what is right and wrong. Have i done the wrong thing here in cashing the cheque should i have sent it back and is this then a new tactic by the banks

I am just back from Small Claims Hearing this morning so maybe put my ore in to the debate. I claimed £490 odd pounds back from Bank and got the usual fob off letter and after 2 letters to them detailing what i would do put in a small claim for the original amount and interest and court cost. I got a letter from them a week after they had received the summons but they dated the letter a week before the summons. The envelope was not franked so no proof. they enclosed a cheque for the original amount and said encashment would be my accepting full and final settlemement. I wrote back saying i accepted the payment only as part payment and would continue my claim for the balance. They defended the claim and i had the chance to withdraw however the nice lady in the small claims said they hadn't paid the full amount so her advice was appear in court. This morning the banks solicitors defence apart from the usual points about charges being lawful etc was that by cashing their cheque in full and final settlement and therefore i was barred from proceeding with the action. The sheriff seemed to agree with that as a point of law and suggested a continuation for 2 weeks for me to take some legal advice on the matter. A couple of points here then, one is that should a bank just refund the money into your account is that not you accepting the money unless you send it back the same as a cheque and if i continue with this claim is the fact that i cashed the cheque a point of law in full and final settlement.

Thanks for the reply Whoar I am actually way beyond this stage, i have put in a claim and LTSB failed to defend or even acknowledge so a decree was awarded against them by the sheriff court and i am looking for some help with the next stage ihence my question on the thread - bailiffs into the branch i think, but perhaps legally there is something else i need to do first.

Wrote to LTSB saying i had a decree from the court in my hands and that unless they paid within 14 days i would take steps to have the decree enforced. They wrote back..... sorry you are disapointed with service... etc etc...will will look into sometime in the next decade and we might get back to you......... 14 days are now up - i have the decree against them what do i do next ? Can anyone help with the next stage

Just bumping this up to the top see if there is any advice