Hi Thanks for the response... the letter is actually really brief. The letter has a heading 'Notice of Hearing' then at the top right there is a box with my claim number, etc, the wording of the letter is then as follows: TAKE NOTICE that the Hearing will take place on 28 August 2007 at 2:00PM at Croydon County Court, Altyre Road, Croydon, Surrey, CR9 5AB When you should attend 15 MINUTES has been allowed for the hearing Please Note: This case may be released to another Judge, possibly at a different court ...that's it! Any thoughts? Arn

Hi all I'm currently trying to take on Abbey for approximately £1,200 of charges, including interest. I've gone through the normal early stages, they gave me some money back, but I said it wasn't good enough, and demanded the rest. I've now filed a claim with the moneyclaim website, I've received Abbey's defence, and now I've received a court date. The thing is I'm really confused with what to do now.... I'm going to be out of the country on the day of the hearing (28 August), and need to get the date rescheduled to some time later. I called the court and asked how to do this, and they told me I had to write to Abbey's solicitors requesting a change, they then need to agree, and write to the court, then I need to write to the court as well. Does this sound correct? It seems awfully long winded to me. Also is there a correct way of writing this type of letter (or does someone have a template I could use)? I've never written to a solicitor before, let alone the solicitor of someone I'm suing! Also I'm confused by all this talk of various types of hearing that are mentioned in some of the other threads. On my letter from the county court there's nothing to indicate whether this is an allocation hearing or the final hearing or whatever... it just says 'hearing'. Also there is nothing on there to indicate when I should get my court bundle in, or if this is a hearing where I'll need the full bundle, and I'm very confused about what I need to do next (and I have to admit I'm just a little scared too). Can anyone help me, and set my mind at ease? Cheers Arn

Hi Thanks for the pointers... my only doubts about the LBA were that I was under the impression that this was to be sent if the bank had completely ignored your prelim letter. Im my case they haven't ignored it, but have offered me a GOGW payment of £280 (as opposed to my total claim of £973), hence I wasn't sure if a LBA was still the correct next step to take. Maybe if i combine the goodwill rejection letter with the LBA that might fit the bill....

I just thought I'd give this a little bump... Can anyone offer any advice as to which step it would be best to take next? Also has anyone attempted using the FOS instead of the courts? Cheers Arn

Hi all This is my first post, so please be kind! Well I've been reading through these forums for a while now, and decided to follow everyone else's example and claim my charges back. I got all my statements for the past 5 years (ie since the inception of my account) without any real problem, and ploughed through them to reveal they had charged me a grand total of £973 over that time! I sent them the first request for my money back, and got the standard 'we will respond in the next 4 weeks' letter in return. Then (surprisingly) they sent me a final response within my original 2 week timescale! Unfortunately they have only given me £280 as a 'gesture of goodwill', and have stated that the charges accurately reflect the admin costs associated with bounced direct debits, etc. They have also stated in their letter that the OFT announcement was "in relation to Credit Card default charges and not overdraft default charges or to other products, such as Bank Accounts." Am I mistaken or is this complete BS?? So now I'm wondering which rounte to take. Should I send them a letter before action, or just go straight to the small claims court? Also I see that they say in their letter that I can refer my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Has anyone tried this route instead of going to court? Surely if charges are unlawful, then the FOS would be bound to find in the client's favour, and force the bank to cough up? Cheers Arn