Hi all, I have three NatWest Claims on the go, one for our joint account, one for my sole account and one for the credit card. However I've just received the letter with regards to the bank charges being lawful & transparent and about the OFT legal proceedings. They did not say which account it is regarding as all three have had the lba's sent out, so should I presume it is for all of them? With regards to court proceedings & the next stage should I put one claim in for the full amount of the three claims or three individual claims in - one for each account? I've never had to take it to the court stage before so I need to read everything, but I haven't as yet found anything about individual accounts with the one company. Thank you for your help Arie

Hiya Just an update. Ok I sent the Letter before action and then received an offer within 5 days of £300. We have decided to accept this as could do with the pennies lol. You have to sign a full & final settlement letter to get it, but basically they have offered approx 50% of what was owed. I know if we had carried on we probably would have got the full amount, but Ill save that for all the others Ive got to write to. Take care Arie.xxx

Hey again, just an update, I received the same response as I did when I sent the Marbles prelim letter in. So going to send the next letter in

Hi all, Ive finally received the majority of statements requested today 6th September 2006. So Ive sent the Prelim letter Wish me luck! Arie xxx

Hiya, Ive received a letter today stating that they have fully investigated the matters raised & the default charges are payable if customers do not make the minimum required payment by the payment due date, if they exceed their credit limit or if a payment to their credit card is returned unpaid. It then says that the amount of these charges, and the circumstances, in which they are applied, is set out clearly in HFC Bank Ltd's credit card agreements. & that they believe that their charges to their customers are fair & resonable. It then says that the OFT has recently published the findings from its enquiry into default charges on credit cards. HFC bank has carefully considered the OFT's publication and does not accept its findings. Then they go on to say that the OFT's investigation has led to a change of market practices & they have decided due to commercial reasons & in the interests of customers, to reduce their credit card default charges that have already been applied. They then say that they regret that they are not prepared to make any refund on default bank charges or provide any compensation payments. etc etc etc... So what should I do now? Is it best to send the letter before action or not? As they said they arent paying anything as to what us 'customers' have paid in charges! If you could help me on this one i'd appreciate it Take care Arie xxx

Hiya all, Ive finally received the statements as Benefiticial are part of Marbles so they sent both mine & my partners at the same time. However they have not sent 20th March 2000 to February 2003 (inclusive) statements or August 2003 & January 2005. So Ive sent another letter, this time giving them 14 days to send these statements, as they should have sent them all at the same time. Thanks Arie xxx

Hiya all, Just an update really.... I have finally received the bank statements from Marbles and worked out that my partner is owed £636.72, so I have just sent off the Prelim letter with a schedule of charges, so fingers crossed! Thanks Arie xxx

lol good point, well we havent set dates yet, but Im looking forward to sending the banks nasty letters instead of me usually receiving them

I just thought Id say hello to everyone I found this site via the wedding guide forum and Im certianly glad Ive found it. Id like to say a big thank you for all the information everyone has put in, its an interesting read and has spurred me to send the Data Protection / first letters to each company I have dealt with in the past six years - trust me there are quite a few! Ive posted to the individual forums ie. Arie vs (name) to keep you updated on my progress. Also I certainly have my fingers crossed as if we do get the money we are owed it will pay for our wedding & possibly part of our honeymoon, which to say the least would be a major relief! lol I have looked through the FAQ section but didn't see a question for an approximate on how long it takes until you get your money bacl. I know this is possibly the same as how long is a piece of string, but Im mainly asking for an average Anyways its good to meet you all & I wish you all success with your claims. Take Care Arie xxx

Thanks Tigs thats a helpful page, ive added it to my favourites so I can look back, as I bet the moderators get countless questions, bless em. Anyways good luck with your claims Take care Arie xxx

Ok now Im targeting Marbles lol, well for my partner He has had his credit card with Marbles for approximately four years, so ive sent the data protection act letter to them with the £10 cheque, and hopefully we should receive some details so we can work out what charges have been made. So I'll keep you updated on this one too, but any advice would be great Take care Arie xxx

Ok this is an old account, closed about a year ago because I had countless problems with them and my £250 credit card limit kept going over drawn due to charges and what not, and without knowing a thing I paid them all, but hey if i get them back then its all worthwhile, kinda like a saving account i guess lol. Anyways I have sent them the data protection letter with the £10 cheque so they can send me all the stuff, and if they send me the notes too, id hate to think what they wrote about me lol, we had a fair few arguements! So I'll let you know how things go & good luck to everyone else Arie xxx

Hiya everyone, I thought Id keep you all posted on what happens with HSBC. Basically I am sorting out my partners claims for the past six years with his HSBC current account and the HSBC credit card that he has with them. Ive sent the Data Protection letter today, enclosing one cheque of £10 to them (hope this is right) as its 2 accounts, but the same company. So fingers crossed & I'll let you know, but my partner is not the best at looking after his account and I know there has been charge after charge, for the well at least past 5 years (thats how long we've been together). So hopefully if this one works out and all the others eg. Natwest etc. we will have a bit of money for our wedding next year. Can anyone let me know any success stories and how long it usually takes for everything to be sorted out? Thanks & good luck Arie xxx

Hiya Yep I have an agreed overdraft, so is it basically any charge except the overdrafts interest? thanks Arie xxx

hiya everyone just a quick intro, I found this site via the wedding forum as we are getting married next year and to be honest I truely didn't realise we could get anything back. I have been charged countless times for being over my overdraft (not good!), credit cards, late payment fees and bounced payments, even when I go a couple of pounds over my limit I get whacked with a stupid charge which is higher than the origional money I went over with - Ive personally always though banks are out there to make as much money as they can, through us lot basically. So today Ive contacted Natwest and asked them for copy statements for both my sole & my joint account for the past six years. They said it would take 14 working days, so fingers crossed they arrive asap. Any advice on next steps and what I can claim back for ie. late fee's overdraft interest, bounced cheques / charges etc. would be much appreciated as by the sounds of it I have a lot to learn! thanks again & good luck to everyone. take care Arie xxx

Hiya Im new to this btw, but Ive just rang the national call centre tel:- 0845 600 2803 (option 2) and asked for all statements for the last six years, they said it would be a £5 charge per statement (Ive asked for two in total) and will take 14 working days so approx 3 weeks by sounds of it. If you havent received them after three weeks give them a call or send them a letter perhaps. Hope this helps Arie xxx