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I declined the offer completely and, in the template, gave them notice to withdraw the amount from the account.

Events so far: 20 April 07 - Request for repayment of £195 sent to Barclays. 28 April 07 - Letter from Barclays - "we are sorry you are unhappy" (standard) letter received. 8 May 07 - LBA sent to Barclays Customer Relations Manager, Churchill Place - claiming £295 (Yes, £100 had been added incharges by the bank in the interim period!!) 15 May 07 - Another letter from Barclays - "I am sorry you are unhappy with the charges you have incurred ... your comments are receiving attention ... blah blah blah ... (we'll get back to youin 8 weeks)" 23 May 07 - Letter from Barclays - £195 refund "in full andfinal settlement of your complaint" - amount automatically credited to account. 24 May 07 - Response to offer sent - Declining offer - Charges by bank now totalling £325.00 - revised schedule of charges sentwith letter - letter and schedule sent to Anita Hicks, Churchill Place,giving her until 6 June to reconsider decision. My question - - The deadline that I have given themhas elapsed, and I am ready to take a trip to my local court to complete the N1 paperwork to get things rolling. However, in my Letter of Rejection of Offer, I stated that "I wish to stress that I do not accept your offer as full and final settlement and the money transferred to my account should not be viewed as my acceptance. I hereby authorise you to remove this sum accordingly." The bank have to date not removed this amount credited to my account. Do I assume the money credited to my account is part settlement, and only claim for the difference? Or do I claim for the whole amount? My fear is that I will claim for the difference, and the bank will then take the money back! Can someone please advise?

Another aspect of this recent case was that the decision was made by the a Distract Judge. Such a decision does not set a precedent for future cases, and other judges are not obliged to refer to the decision. I would support what has already been said above - if you follow the step-by-step advice on this site, you shouldn't go wrong.

Julie: Remember to keep a track of the time spent on preparing your case against Barclays - you may be able to claim a reasonable amount of this in a Wasted Costs Order later. See the excellent template by Bankfodder.

Babynan: CPR stands for Civil Procedure (Proceedings) Rules, and outlines the rules for how cases are brought to, and dealt by, the courts.

Thanks for your advice,Claire. I will send Barclays the LBA with a new schedule, detailing all of the charges claimed to date (including the new charges incurred within the last fortnight).

Having calculated the amount of penalty charges levied on my account, I sent Barclays a preliminary letter requesting payment of these charges (with schedule attached). Now, 14 days later,I have received a letter back, saying that they are 'looking into the matter',and will get back to me in the next few weeks. I am now in the process of sending them the follow up letter (in templates) giving them a further 14 days "to reflect" on their decision before finally claiming against them. My question is - I have discovered that, in the mean time, they have continued to levy charges on the account (Paid referral fees) - Can I claim these additional charges now,or do I have to go back to the beginning of the process to claim these additional charges in a separate letter? Any help will be appreciated.

Following on from my success with claiming from Barclays for the last 6 years, I have decided to take on Barclaycard. I sent off my SAR Request on the 11th August to Churchill Place, and received statements back today from May 2004, with Late Payment Charges / Exceeded Limit Charges of £120. I have been following the threads about the 'microfiche argument' raised by BC with great interest. Having come from a legal/teaching background myself (and having researched the internet databases on the DPA), it doesn't seem as though this argument has really been addressed - apart from the Lloyds case,which still doesn't provide any real answers. This debate - about whether data stored ona bank's microfiche system can amount to a "relevant filing system" - needs to be addressed soon - Possibly by the Information Commissioner himself? Some of the more recent threads from other members seem to be resolved to the fact that Barclaycard are trying to use every argument under the sun to stall from having to make payments (which, as we all know, they are) - and are considering paying the £3 per additional statement. In my case, it has not been until last year that I lost control of my spending on my BC,so I will only be claiming for that amount. I wish everyone well, though, in their attempts to recover for the whole 6 years. Good Luck (and dont give up the fight)!! I'll keep everyone posted about my claim against BC.

Taomi, Another course of action would be to takeit intoyour local branch personally. That way, your sure the bank has it. Remember to getsomeoneto sign for it though, that they've received it.

Craig: The first step you should take is to take some time reading through the questions and replies on this Barclays thread. No doubt, some of the questions that you have will be answered on here. Secondly, read through the FAQ section on the main page. This has been written, and continues to be updated, by the site's Moderators and others who hav gone through the process already. When you feel confident to start taking action, keep your thread updated, andlet everyone know how your doing. This site isa great source of information and support !!

Yes. Court date was set for 16 August.

After a lot of paperwork, and preparation for court, Barclays wrote to me today, saying they were prepared to settle!! Apart from that, I can't go in to too much detail, as there's a confidentiality clause involved. Just a note to 'doubters' - persevere, and you will win! Take care everyone. I'll check back regularly to see if I can be of any assistance to anyone. In the meantime, thanks to everyone here (including the mods.)!

The important thing is to stick to your deadlines, not theirs!! Barclays are known for their delay tactics - the idea is that, the more drawn-out they make the entire process, the more people will be intimidated in giving up. Stick to your guns!

Andyroo & others seeking information: I started by including all letters which I sent to Barclays, and received from them. I put these in chronological order. In hindsight, although I didn't include it, I would have also sent a copy of the letter which Barclays normally sends when it charges you £35 (The one that says We are charging you for having insufficient funds in your account, blah blah blah). If you choose to do this, write above it, "Sample Letter" (which, when accepted into evidence, will prove what Barclays have been doing, adding to your argument that it shouldnt cost £35 to only write this letter! As far as the legislation is concerned, I used the Google search engine to find specific mention of the names of the Acts. I typed in the names of the Acts (e.g. "Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977"), and there were a few hits. Some of these sights allowedyou to print off the relevant sections of the legislation. Other useful sources of information: Govan Law - Resources: penalty & unfair bank charges | legal help from Govan Law Centre, Glasgow, UK Bank Charges Hell - bankchargeshell.co.uk - Bank Charges St Brendan's Law - Information about contractlaw and terms - Saint Brendan's - Law pages - index Don't forget to include a copy of the OFT's April 2006 report on Default Charges - downloadable & printable from the OFT website http://www.oft.gov.uk. Before sending a copy of this to Mr Jeremiah (or his other assistants) and to the court, read through it, and highlight the relevant bits of the report. The judge will appreciate this, rather than having to trawl through the wholedocument. Notice, the end paragraph mentions that, although the Report focusses on credit card charges, its findings should also be applied to other banking services, such as overdrafts etc! Good luck in your research. Please pmmeif you get stuck on any of the above. PS: Although I've submitted my 'bundle' of evidence to both the bank and my local court, well before the deadline, the final deadline day for the bank to do the same was today, and no docs. have been received by either myself or the bank. Does this mean Barclays cannot produce any evidence???!!!

Mervalous: I am at the same stage as you. I am going to submit all of my evidence today, and spent the last week preparing everything. I have included: A copy of all correspondence with the bank. A breakdown of charges + interest. A summary of the dispute to date. A reply to Barclays defence. Details of Acts of Parliament and cases I will be referring to. Including Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, Supplyof Goods and Services Act 1982 and, of course, the 1999 legislation (sections 5, 8, and Schedule 2(1)(e)). I have highlighted relevant sections. A copy of the OFT Report on Default Charges [downloadable from OFT website]. I hope this helps.

Paulwlton, No, you haven't done anything wrong. This part of the defence can be seen as one more of Barclays 'stalling tactics' - they know very well how much they've charged you (after all, it was the bank that sent you the statements which you used to calculate the charges!). As long as you have kept a schedule of charges & interest, don't worry. I would send them a copy of this breakdown (recorded delivery of course), and then mention to the court that you have done so when you receive information about your court date, when you are getting all of the paperwork together.

Received mycourt date yesterday - 16 August at Hastings County Court, East Sussex

Yes, Holteender, it does count as an excessive fee, which you can include within your claim.

Welcome, Nafta. You will find this site a good source of information and support.

I filed my allocation questionairre with my local court today, and eagerly await a court date from the judge. I have asked for the bank to produce evidence of (a) A detailed breakdown of all charges and (b) details of its charging process.

Briefly, the circumstances are: A few years ago, when I was living with my (now ex-) partner, we were tempted into buying a store card from Evans. I took out the card in my name, and my ex- was allowed her own card (mine being the main account). The account was in my name alone. About five months ago, my partner and I went our separate ways [we were never married]. I paid off the amount outstanding on the card and, at the beginning of February 2006, rang G E Money up (the finance company for the store card), to tell them that, because I didn't want the hassle of further debts from them, I had torn up my card and wished it cancelled. The customer advisor said that she would do it there and then. Remember, at that time, the account was paid up (and GE had confirmed receipt of payment). The following month, I received a statement from GE Money for over £700. I then remembered that I hadn't informed my ex- who, not knowing that I had cancelled the card, spent on it. I phoned GE Money up, questioning why she was allowed to spend on a closed account. They said that the account had not been closed! After speaking with my ex-, she agreed with me that,if GE Money were to transfer the account into her name, she would happily pay the amount. However, GE Money said this could not be done. (After all, was the accountnot closed?!). I have writen GE Money several letters since, but these have gone unanswered. GE Money also keep sending further statements (on which they've added their interest). My question is: What can I do? I don't think I should be made to repay the amount that GE Money now ask, as the amount should not have been allowed on the closed account. Should I take them to court, and get it to order GE Money to extinguish the full amount? Any help would be useful.

Briefly, the circumstances are: A few years ago, when I was living with my (now ex-) partner, we were tempted into buying a store card from Evans. I took out the card in my name, and my ex- was allowed her own card (mine being the main account). The account was in my name alone. About five months ago, my partner and I went our separate ways [we were never married]. I paid off the amount outstanding on the card and, at the beginning of February 2006, rang G E Money up (the finance company for the store card), to tell them that, because I didn't want the hassle of further debts from them, I had torn up my card and wished it cancelled. The customer advisor said that she would do it there and then. Remember, at that time, the account was paid up (and GE had confirmed receipt of payment). The following month, I received a statement from GE Money for over £700. I then remembered that I hadn't informed my ex- who, not knowing that I had cancelled the card, spent on it. I phoned GE Money up, questioning why she was allowed to spend on a closed account. They said that the account had not been closed! After speaking with my ex-, she agreed with me that,if GE Money were to transfer the account into her name, she would happily pay the amount. However, GE Money said this could not be done. (After all, was the accountnot closed?!). I have writen GE Money several letters since, but these have gone unanswered. GE Money also keep sending further statements (on which they've added their interest). My question is: What can I do? I don't think I should be made to repay the amount that GE Money now ask, as the amount should not have been allowed on the closed account. Should I take them to court, and get it to order GE Money to extinguish the full amount? Any help would be useful.

I, too, have found out that Barclays intends to defend the claim in full, and have duly received an Allocation Questionairre (and Transfer of Proceedings notification to my local court). I am just in the process of completing the questionairre, when a few thoughts came to mind: 1. Should I state in the questionairre that I intend to bring evidence, in the form of OFT Reports/sound files (the latter found in templates), showing that the bank charges are disproportionate? 2. As Brent mentions, should I not ask for the bank to produce a beakdown of how the charges are calculated? Surely the above would provide further ammunition against the bank?

Add my name to the list please. Received notification that Barclays was defending my claim a few days ago.