November 2006 cont. Did some homework on starting a small claims case. Read up on the books in the local library. Had no spare cash for the Court fees, and a lot of personal problems, so it’s on hold. December 2006 Still on hold, due to the expense of Christmas January 2007 Still on hold, due to the expense of Christmas February 2007 Still on hold, due to personal problems, and no money March 2007 Sent another letter before action dated 05/03/07 to Lloyds TSB. Issued court papers, used a N1 form and used a Lloyds TSB cheque to pay the court fee £120.00. Courts wrote to me on 23/03/07 informing me that Lloyds TSB had filed a Defence. April 2007 05/04/07 filled in an Allocation Questionnaire (paid £100) N149. S, C&M (Lloyds TSB’s solicitors) wrote to me on 05/04/07. The main point of their letter was that they would put the amount requested into my account; just sign & the form & it will all go away. Is it a trick? Didn’t sign & return the form. May 2007 12/05/07 S, C& M wrote to me again. They said they hadn’t heard from me & took the step of putting it into my account anyway!!! Total claim: £1485.60 got £1485.60. will be giving CAG £74.28, 5% of the money. ******* I’VE WON ****** Wrote to S,C&M, again the letter was marked “strictly without prejudice, confidential and Privileged” saying that if they hadn’t received my letter before heres a copy. Also, I am advising the County Court that my claim has been settled. However I will be submitting an order for wasted costs against Lloyds TSB Bank plc. Sent An Order for Costs against Lloyds TSB on 16/05/07. Total of £150 for all the letters; the fee for the Allocation Questionnaire and my time. List of stuff used/my time: Data protection letter posted £0.34 first class stamp £10.00 charge for data request. Preliminary letter posted £0.34 first class stamp Letter before action letter posted £0.34 first class stamp Court form posted £0.34 first class stamp Allocation Questionnaire posted £0.34 first class stamp £100 fee Letter to Lloyds TSB solicitors posted £0.34 first class stamp Letter to Lloyds TSB solicitors again posted £0.34 first class stamp Time spent on preparing case 3 hours at £10.00 an hour total £30.00 Grand total £142.38 Lloyds TSB wrote to me to inform me that they had “resolved the complaint”. June 2007 Got a letter from the Judge saying NO to the Order for Costs. His tone was you got what you asked for. THE END

CAG=Consumer Action Group, sorry. I used the N1 form. The information needed to fill in the N1 form is on this website. I paid £120 & popped down to my local courts with the N1 form & the money (I'd wrote to them THREE TIMES asking for my charges back but they had replied - no!). At this point they will sit up & take notice.

I won my case with lloyds tsb for £1486.00. Wait for their reply. Their reply will be "get lost". then Fill in the Small claims court form & pay the £120.00. CAG has notes on how to fill in the form. missmarcy

November 2006 Next move-see ya in Court then! (pls note anyone reading this thread, that its a bit out of date. Here is a happy ending so I'll update it tomorrow).

Louis is RIGHT, do your homework, take your time, be organised, plan carefully. I'm up to Court date with Lloyds TSB, but I started with getting my bank statements, LBA letters, Court Form, Allocation Questionnaire etc - All with the help & support on this site!!!

Please help, i'm at the stage where I'd sent in the Allocation questionnaire & I've got back at reply from Lloyds TSB solicitors saying they'll put what i'd claimed for into my account. Do i agree to this or wait for the court date? and do i get my court fees back? £220. missmarcy

Hi Skyscully, You've come to the right place! I've got my bank statements for a £10, sent letters to LloydsTSB and I'm up to Court stage to recover about £2000 of charges over the years! Missmarcy

Listen up people. Ok LloydsTSB took the payments even after I'd canx the DD. But now I'm up to court action so they had better watch out!

Hi, L-TSB did the same thing to me. I've got a loan with them. When i got into financial probs i canx the DD but they took the payments anyway. missmarcy

IN THE ANYWHERE COUNTY COURT BETWEEN JOE BLOGGS CLAIMANT And GRABBBIT BANK LTD DEFENDANT PARTICULARS OF CLAIM 1. The Claimant [has] [had] an account 1 ("the Account") with the Defendant which was opened on or around 2 [and closed on or around 2 ] 2. During the period in which the Account [has been] [was] operating the Defendant debited numerous charges to the Account in respect of purported breaches of contract on the part of the Claimant and also charged interest on the charges once applied. The Claimant understands that the Defendant contends that the charges were debited in accordance with the terms of the contract between itself and the Claimant. 3. A list of the charges applied is attached to these particulars of claim. 4. The Claimant contends that: a) The charges debited to the Account are punitive in nature; are not a genuine pre-estimate of cost incurred by the Defendant; exceed any alleged actual loss to the Defendant in respect of any breaches of contract on the part of the Claimant; and are not intended to represent or related to any alleged actual loss, but instead unduly enrich the Defendant which exercises the contractual term in respect of such charges with a view to profit. b) The contractual provision that permits the Defendant to levy such charges is unenforceable by virtue of the Unfair Contract Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations (1999), the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and the common law. 5. Accordingly the Claimant claims: a) the return of the amounts debited in respect of charges in the sum of £ 3 and any interest charged thereon; b) Court costs; c) Interest pursuant to section 69 County Courts Act as set out on the attached list of charges or at such rate and for such periods as the court deems just. I believe that the contents of these particulars of claim are true Signed: Date: Notes: Delete words in square brackets if not applicable 1. Insert a/c no. 2. Insert Date 3. Insert Sum

Hi, my advice is to take up the fight. Do you're homework, follow the stages. I have a loan with LloydsTSB. I cancelled the Direct Debit because I wanted to pay by cheque, but they took the payments anyway by DD & then charged me! I requested bank statements for £10 & have sent letters. Up to Court stage, so don't lose hope. Youre in the right place! Missmarcy

Dont be scared. I'm up to the point of filling in the N1 form for Court. Just do a bit more reading up on this site. save the Court form, fill it in & start adding your costs on the spreadsheet! marcy

Don Be Scared !!!

August 2006 Lloyds TSB reported half-year pre-tax profits of £1.78billion yesterday. The bank said the four per cent gain was in line with expectations. It came after a cost-cutting exercise that helped the group overcome a 20 per cent rise in provisions to cover bad debts. Chief executive Eric Daniels said: "We have made a good start to 2006". 03/08/06 - Metro newspaper. I set up a new current account with Nationwide. I had to find another one & because of my bad debts Halifax rejected my application. Nationwide were the only ones to offer an account with a basic plastic card NOT visa. Got all my direct debits & pay moved. I wrote to LTSB for my bank statements to the London address registered post. P Berryman – Snr Mgr, Data Protection Dept, LloydsTSB, The Pentagon, 48 Chiswell St, London on 07/08/06 by registered post. September 2006 Waiting, waiting, waited. In less than the forty days statements turned up on 05/09/06, but not all of them. Only up to 2000, I opened the account in 1984. I know The Data Protection Act was in 1998, but I wanted them all! It's disconcerting to look at your life through four years of statements. Spent some time with a highlighter on my statements. The total came to £1,096.01. I posted the prelim letter on 14/09/06. Received letter dated 20 Sep from Sian Scrase – Customer services Officer "Thank you for getting in touch with us. I am Sorry you are unhappy over your account charges. Like any busineess we do make a charge for some extra services… then she went on to say "We don't agree with OFT" Office of Fair Trading…. then they just enclosed a How to voice your concerns booklet. October 2006 I posted Letter Before Action letter on 02/10/06. Received letter dated 06 Oct from Sian Scrase – Customer services Officer "Thank you for your letter dated 02 Oct. I have noted your comments, but unfortunaltely I cannot add any further info to my previous letters or agree to your request. Since the bank's final response has been issued, I must advise you that we will not be entering into any further correspondence regarding the points you have raised".

July 2006 This is a warning to everyone. DO YOUR HOMEWORK!! Instead of a greedy rush to get my hands on my money back. (I've already spent the money in my mind) I read the CAG website properly, made notes & set up a new current account (this is what I am doing at the moment). When I have set up a new account will get all my bank statements from 1984. After a drink with my sister, she pointed out that I would need to open an new account with a bank NOT connected with L-TSB & eventually the banks will close ranks & LOWER their charges to stop "all this carry on". Always the voice of reason my sister!

My names Marcy I heard about the consumer action group from the moneybox programme on BBC radio 4. Over the years I have been unimpressed by the huge charges my bank LloydsTSB has put to me. But I hope to change that. Thanks to CAG & your help. Thanks