Started a claim with MoneyClaim today. Wish hubby and me luck! DianeC

Thanks, karnevil, On this basis, I continue. Here's the latest letter (a mish-mash of template stuff [thank you] and me). Something tells me we'll be claiming. ******************************************************* 10th October 2006 Dear Terry Jones, ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxxxxx I acknowledge receipt of a cheque for £174.00 and accept this payment as a partial settlement with regard to the full amount you owe me of £270. I repeat my request in that I require repayment in full of this money. If you do not comply fully within four days from the date of this letter, which is fourteen days dated from my previous Letter Before Action, I will indeed begin action to claim for the remaining £96.00 plus interest plus my costs and without further notice. Furthermore, I shall submit a Consumer Credit Act 1974 complaint to the OFT upon the basis that you have failed to comply with the OFT's direction of April 2006 and are therefore not a 'fit and proper person' to hold a consumer credit licence under the 1974 Act. Yours Sincerely, DianeC's Hubby **************************************************** It would be soooooooo nice to have been the first that did not have to claim against Amex through the court. Sigh. Never mind. Thanks for your help! DianeC

Thank you Steven, I'm already composing the next letter... Will keep you all posted. I'm also beginning a weird claim against our mortgage company -- a pre-redemption challenge. We are selling our house, and are faced with strange and devious penalties for redeeming early. I'll grab some time later to start a thread explaining more. Many thanks, Diane.

Hello fellow Warriors (Claimants), I've been claiming against Amex on behalf of my husband for £270 Late Payment Fees against his Amex credit card (account closed last year). Now everything has gone swimmingly really, they've responded to my letters within allotted time-frames, etc., indeed, reading some of the Amex threads here, they've been acting as per usual -- I fully expected I'd have to go to Money Claim in a week's time to file. But the LBA got my hubby the reply copied below instead, and I'd like to know is it something new? Text in red had me scratching my head, btw -- they've been really responsive and we received the letter they are talking about. I can only assume they are receiving so many claims that they are getting a little confused... (Bless). ************************************************ Dear DianeC's Hubby I refer to your letters received in this office on 14th September and 4th October concerning the default charges levied to your account. I am sorry that you did not receive our acknowledgement letter sent to you last month, advising you that we would respond to you within twenty eight days. Whilst I appreciate your comments concerning the recent announcement by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), American Express maintains that our charges are fair and reasonable and are avoidable by complying with the Terms and Conditions of our agreement with you. In light of the OFT recommendation American Express has changed the charging policy with respect to default payments. Our charges vary according to product and account type and reflect the differing riskes associated with each. The changes were applicable from 1st July 2006 and our previous default charges will not be amended. We have informed the OFT that our default chages will be £8.00 on credit cards. This reflects the costs involved in administering accounts in default, and is calculated in accordance with the guidance issued by the OFT on how to calculate default charges. However, with reference to your request, and as a gesture of goodwill, we are prepared to refund to you the sum of £174.00. This represents the difference in the default fees between the pre-existing and new rate above, as applied to your account from December 2003 to April 2005. Please find enclosed a cheque made payable to you for £174.00. Yours Sincerely, Terry Jones Executive Office Manager ***************************************************** So, Hubby's nearly a hundred pounds down, and I don't know what to do now. I feel my husband should receive the full amount as a "gesture of goodwill", not a figure they feel is fair. Were they being fair when they levied these charges? Could do with a little advice please. Regards, Diane.

Hi Blackrain, I'm about to request refund of fees from Amex on behalf of my husband. I read this thread with great interest and now wonder what, if any, result did you get? Best regards to you, Diane.

Hi maroonfox5, We want to get rid of our mortgage completely, grab the equity and buy something outright. (A person can dream, eh?) My husband has recently been told he's heart-attack high-risk, so we can do without the stress of a huge (and it is huge) monthly mortgage payment. We'll see. I will keep you all updated though, for certain, when we go for it. Basically, I'm going to fight the redemption penalties over and beyond what I think their expenses are. I mean, how can they raise the penalty by a thousand in the second year then drop it again for the third? The only way this makes sense is to look at statistics that say mortgage borrowers are more likely to re-mortgage during that second year. Therefore, we're being penalised MORE in that year purely to stop us re-mortgaging elsewhere. Is this reasonable? I don't think so. Diane.

Hi, VERY interesting thread and some brave people out there. I salute you all. So, would I be correct in assuming that a mortgage lender could only really claim back: In the case of a discounted mortgage being taken out, the value of the interest discount. (Seems fair) In the case of a cashback mortgage being taken out, the amount of that cashback, plus interest at normal rates (to be extra generous and fair to them). The cost of administrating the mortgage for as long as a person has that mortgage with the company. (Not for the length of time the mortgage was taken out, initially, of course). And if yes, would I therefore be right to say that any costs above and beyond these three instances would be unfair penalities according to the OFT, and therefore should be claimable? If I'm right (and yes, I have read the whole thread, just trying to simplify it all in my mind) then a simple list like this used in one of the letter templates when asking for a break-down of those charges might be useful. Can anyone else add to the list at all? We are looking at reedeming a mortgage early this year, hopefully. But (and get this) our redemption charges are a thousand pounds higher in this, the mortgage's second year, than they were last year, and a thousand pounds higher from what they will be next year. (!?) We're in a three-year discounted mortgage. Only discounted by a quarter of a percent, though our charges for redeeming this year will be well four and a half thousand pounds. Sigh. I might write and ask them for a breakdown before we sell. Will keep you all posted. The mortgage is, by the way, with The Leeds & Holbeck - the society at the beginning of this thread, I believe. Best to you all. Diane. -- Going off to sort out bank charge refunds.