Hi there, and thanks for replying. The 'outstanding debts' are the usual suspects - mortgage and credit cards. Not a blemish on any of those accounts, no late payments etc. As far as the credit cards are concerned I owe about 30% of my total credit limit, which apparently is looked upon favourably as it is below the 50% that a lot of potential lenders consider the maximum. All three credit reports now have the Orange default totally removed; with CallCredit the rating is 'Average',; with Equifax it is 'Very Good', and with Experian it is 'Excellent'. When the Orange Default was on with all the agencies, all three gave me a 'Poor' rating. I suspect that when a potential lender accesses a credit report it is only the credit score that they are interested in. The fact that the Default was for only £10 is either not available to them or they just don't enquire why the credit rating is so low.

Hi everyone; I had an account with Orange for a mobile phone which was well past it's contract date. Last year, in May 2011, I cancelled the account with Orange and transferred the phone number to O2. I was told by Orange at the time that my account was closed and I did not owe Orange anything. I have not received ANY correspondence from Orange since that date about any final or overdue payments. Over the last eight months since June 2011 we have been trying to restructure our outstanding debt. We have also tried to arrange a new mortgage on our property. All such attempts were met with refusal which destroyed our financial plans and caused us great hardship. In January 2012 I checked my Equifax, Experian and CallCredit credit ratings and discovered that after I had left Orange in May they raised an invoice for £10 that they did did not tell me about or send an invoice for. I also discovered that for every month from June 2011 Orange informed all the credit agencies I had not paid that invoice right up until December 2011, at which time they then placed my account into Default and notified all the credit agencies. My previously held 'Excellent' rating that I had for many years dropped to 'Poor' with all three agencies. Orange's actions have had an extremely serious effect on our finances - we could not even open a new bank current account. I have requested from Orange copies of the letters that they 'allegedly' sent out to me over this £10 charge, as well as the letters informing us that we would be in default if we did not pay. To date they have not produced those letters, and every one of Orange's representatives spoken to cannot tell me WHEN these letters were supposed to have been sent out because there is no record on their system. I believe that Orange's actions since May 2011 are tantamount to libel by stating something to the Credit Agencies that had no basis in fact i.e. that we were in default when they hadn't even told us that they had raised a £10 charge on my Orange account AFTER it was closed. We have suffered 8 months of distress, humiliation and financial hardship because of these actions by Orange. Orange have now informed the three Credit Reference Agencies and have removed the Default and all Late Payment notices to them, backdated to May 2011, and my credit rating has now been restored with all three agencies. I have tried to complain to Orange about how unhappy I am over their actions and the amount of distress and financial difficulty they have caused by me being unable to restructure my finances and being turned down for credit over the last 8 months or so, but I just get shunted from one call-centre bod to another. My question is this: should I pursue Orange for any compensation and apology, and if so, how should I go about it? Thanks in advance for ANY advice or assistance.

Afternoon; Not really an option. We plan on selling up down here in the South East, moving to Scotland, buying a plot of land, and building our own house. Alliance & Leicester don't get involved in Self Build Mortgages, but that wouldn't be a problem as there are specialist organisations that offer draw down mortgages for people building their own houses. Thanks for your input anyway. It looks increasingly likely that A&L won't budge, which is fine because the chances are we won't complete until after the Early Redemption Period finishes with them. regards, and thanks again.

Afternoon all Our Mortgate is a 3 year fixed rate with Alliance & Leicester, the 3 years of which are up on 15th March 2010, after which it revert to standard variable rate. The Early Redemption Charge is 3% of the mortgage if redeemed anytime before 15th March 2010. Due to a change in personal circumstances we are now selling our home. I advised A & L of this and asked that if I redeemed my mortgage before 15th March 2010, would I still be liable for the full 3%. They replied that I would. I then wrote and asked that if I redeemeed before 15th March 2010, provided I paid them the outstanding mortgage payments right up to 15th March 2010, would they still charge me the full 3%. They have just replied that even if I redeemed my mortgage 1 day before 15th March 2010, they would still charge me 3%, which in our case is just over £7,500 I believe I read somewhere that, provided you mitigate in full any loss incured by the lender as a result of your early redemption of a mortgage, which I obviously will do by offering to pay them a sum amounting to all the mortgage payments up to the expiry of the fixed term penalty period, then anything extra they charge you for early redemption is slightly unlawful, and wouldn't stand up in law. Is this correct? regards to all

Morning all; Brief history: Initial letters off to Lloyds 19th May All f**k off letters received from Lloyds by 2nd June Action filed in Court 14th July SC&M acknowledged 24th July Defence received 23rd August AQ sent off by end of August Stay ordered by Judge 11th October 4 letters and 4 phone calls made to SC&M during the stay, all of which resulted in absolutely no response. Letter to Judge on 14th October detailing the steps taken by us to reach a settlement, and the response from the defendant (i.e. nil) Letter received 17th Nov, from SC&M offering full settllement! There were conditions attached, one of which was that we wouldn’t tell anybody about the conditions (!), but it looks like SC&M have now woken up to the fact they cannot insist on draconian terms or conditions in these matters. I think that they must have got fed up with claimants refusing to settle when there were unenforceable, unrealistic and too restrictive terms in their offer. So they didn’t put them in. Without going into specifics, their conditions have not infringed on any of my son’s liberties, nor do they prevent him from starting any future claim against Lloyds. They do not require visits to the bank to review his finances or account management. Long slog, but worth every penny, and there will be a donation on its way to the Bank Action Group in recognition of the superlative guidance and advice received. Many, many thanks. My son will now transfer his account to his parachute account, close his Lloyds account, and manage his finances WITHOUT incurring any future charges . Advice to all with claims still going through – STICK WITH IT! Regards to all

Further to me writing a letter to the District Judge who ordered a stay until 11th November in order for the parties to reach settlement, I have received a reply from the Court Claims Section: "I am in receipt of your letter dated 13th October 2006. If at the end of the stay a settlement has not been reached, you may write to the Judge explaining the situation and the file can be referred to the Judge for directions." So although our AQ was sent off at the end of August, followed 2 weeks later by the AQ from SC&M, it has taken the Court over a month to decide that they will order a stay until 11th November - some 2 months after the AQ deadline. I have no idea whether this is because: The Court are fed up with these claims and don't want to waste their resources when they know that the banks invariably settle before the hearing date, or The Court is snowed under with other cases and are just trying to give themself some space, or The Court genuinely believe that SC&M and Lloyds will enter into a meaningful discussion regarding our claim during this period. Whatever the reason, it's really frustrating. I have decided that once a week until the 11th November I will send SC&M a registered letter asking them to discuss settlement as required by the Judge's Order. At least that way I will be in a position to write to the Judge at the end of the stay with proof that I have obeyed his Order in attempting to reach settlement, even if Lloyds and SC&M have not. regards to all

Hi everyone; AQ sent off over a month ago, and nothing heard ...... ....until Friday when we received a letter from the District Judge who had ordered a stay to allow a settlement to be reached, by 11th November. Considering I've contacted SC&M twice times by letter and three times by phone asking if their clients wishes to enter any form of dialogue, AND have been ignored after every attempt, I personally do not see what effect this stay will have. I have written to SC&M pointing out that the ball's in their court (no pun intended) and that I will write to the District Judge to inform him/her that to date SC&M and Lloyds refuse to talk. I have also written to the Judge stating that whilst I will naturally comply with the Order and attenpt to enter discussions with SC&M and their Client, I don't hold out much hope as they have ignored me to date. Let's see if I get a reply from either of them. Meanwhile, what happens when the date of the Stay has come and gone? Do I have to then inform the Court / Judge that my attempts to resolve the issue have met with a refusal of SC&M and Lloyds to talk to me? regards to all

Unfortunately not .... I was calling on my mobile in the car. Not driving, of course.

I received a copy of Lloyd's AQ a week or so ago, and they had also ticked the box to request a stay for a month. When I phoned SC&M, the lady I spoke to said that it was standard for them to tick that box. When I asked her if that was so Lloyds could have an extra month for them to negotiate or settle, she said, "No, it's just standard that we tick the box". She then went on to say that "...Lloyds always like to settle these cases before they get to court" Straight from the horses mouth, as it were.

Morning; in reply to your message: the best advice I can give is to check out the Library on this forum - it is an excellent source of information, guidance and help. In particular concerning S.A.R.s, it says: The request is not valid until it is properly received at the bank and is accompanied by the maximum statutory payment of £10. You should ensure that the bank has all the information about you which it needs to identify you in it's records and also to be satisfied that it is you who is requesting the data disclosure. If the request is incomplete in any way then the bank has a valid reason for not complying. The bank has 40 days in which to comply with your request. You would be well advised to follow the request up with regular chasers - by telephone if possible but also by letter - especially if you have not received any acknowledgement of your request. Keep a diary of all calls and copies of all letters. You are urged to record telephone conversations if possible. When your data arrives, if you consider that it is incomplete then complain immediately to the bank and tell them that the 40 days is still running. Some people have received their data inadequately packaged or is damaged and in some cases it is clear that some data has fallen out of the package. If this is the case, then you should photograph the package before you open it, then try to assess what may be missing. Send an immediate letter of complaint to the bank together with some of the photos. You may also feel that your security has been compromised by the bank. In this case you should contact your branch immediately and insist on new account numbers, cards etc. If the bank fails to supply you with your data then you should complain to the bank. Give them 7 days to comply and tell them that you will begin a complaint to the Information Commissioner and also that you will begin a County Court action under the Data Protection Act. If the bank does not respond to your 7 day warning then begin your complaint and start your action Warmest regards - and don't give up!

Hi everyone. We started proceedings against Lloyds several months ago. Received their (standard) defence. We filed our Allocation Questionnaire on 25th August, well before the deadline of 11th September, and we sent a letter to SC&M in Brighton the same day (25th August) with a copy of our completed AQ "out of courtesy". Received a letter today (27th September) from SC&M with Lloyds AQ, and asking if we could send them a copy of our AQ. Rang SC&M not 30 minutes ago, and they confirmed that they had, in fact, received our AQ a month ago. They also confirmed that they had made a typo in their letter in that it wasn't the Northampton Court, but the Hastings Court where they had filed their AQ (doesn't anyone in SC&M proofread their letters?). Interestingly, when I brought up the matter of the 1 month's stay of execution that they had requested on their AQ, I was told that this was standard procedure in order to give Lloyds time to settle, because (and I quote) "Lloyds always like to settle these claims before going to court". The nice lady at SC&M indicated that they were just waiting for Lloyds to come back to them with instructions to settle. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and it's not a bloody train coming the other way!

When we received our Allocation Questionnaire, we had to file it by 11th September. The last date for filing the AQ was 11th September (today). Our form was sent off a week ago, and the court has received it. However, when I rang the court today they told me that the defence (Lloyds) had NOT filed their AQ by the cut off day - today. What has surprised me is that when I asked what would now happen, the Clerk told me the file would be passed to the judge at the end of this week, and he would probably look at the file at the end of NEXT week i.e. 11 days after the cut off date for returning the AQ. I was also told that the judge could do one of three things at this stage: a. Set a court date without waiting for the defence's AQ, b. Instruct the defence to submit their AQ pretty damn quick, or c. Strike out the defence and find for us. Am I the only one who find's this sort of approach a bit haphazard? I was under the (obviously mistaken) impression that if either side failed to meet any of these court deadlines, then it would be fairly automatic that the other side would win. This is obviously not the case when it comes to filing AQs. regards to all

Hi all; the thread title says it all really. Does anybody know of anyone who has taken an action out against Lloyds, or any other bank, that has ended up in front of a Judge? I believe that there was one case (last year?) that was thrown out or dismissed in London (at the Merchantile Court?) on a technicality, but I am interested if there have been any more. There was mention on another thread on this forum that one forum member had been told by the Court that they were waiting on the results of a case that is either being heard, or is due to be heard, but I can't find any mention of this case anywhere. AQ sent to Court last week, and a copy to Lloyds solicitors over the weekend - nothing heard from them as yet. regards to all

We received the AQ and Lloyd's defence about a week after they filed their defence (on the last day they were allowed to!). Our AQ was sent back within a couple of days, and we also sent a letter off to Lloyd's solicitors with a copy of our AQ to let them know (out of courtesy) when we couldn't attend Court in September. This has also (we hope) instigated a dialogue with the solicitors in order that they can maybe come to their senses and start negotiating before it gets anywhere near the Courtroom. Hang in there, they (Lloyds and the solicitors) will generally try and drag it out as long as possible, if other people's experiences on this brilliant website are anything to go by. Don't forget to post any developments onto this site, and feel free to ask for assistance. There is a wealth of experience here from people that are either going through what you are now, or have concluded their cases with the banks. regards

Hi after giving it some thought, I am going to send a letter to SC&M as follows: Please find enclosed a copy of the Allocation Questionnaire I recently submitted as the Claimant to Hastings County Court in respect of claim number 6HS01505 against your clients, Lloyds Tsb Bank Plc. I have copied this to you as a courtesy in order for you to be aware of a short period in September when I will not be able to attend court. I am sure that the court will notify you, but I thought you would appreciate the information as soon as possible. You will notice that I have specifically requested that there be no postponement to allow time to settle the claim by informal discussion as I have been in correspondence with your client since 19th May 2006 over this matter, and they have steadfastly refused to enter into any form of discussion or negotiation with me despite the fact that I was willing to resolve this matter by agreement. I therefore feel that the only way to resolve this situation is to bring this matter to the County Court for their decision. Please also note that I have requested that the Court order Standard Disclosure over the subject of the contested charges levied by the bank. The County Court and your Client were both provided with full details of the contested charges and interest calculations on the Particulars of Claim – please advise me if you have received a copy from your client; if not, then please contact me and I will provide one for you. So, I will see what sort of response we receive. If nothing else, it has initiated some sort of dialogue with them. By the way, SC&M in Brighton is a one-man outfit - there is only 1 solicitor / lawyer at that office, and the firm only has 3 solicitors spread over a total of (I think) 4 offices in the UK. Guess they must be pretty busy. Regards to all. ps, what's this about a Test Case in London this week mentioned on another thread?

Hi Isiris, and thanks for the reply. I will wait and see what happens. Some people on the site have sent letters to SC&M when their AQ and Lloyd's defence have been received and enclosing a copy of the AQ for the solicitor's reference and stating that they see no need for a 1 month extension. I think what you are doing is opening up a dialogue with the solicitor's to see if they come back with an offer. regards to all

Hi there; we received the AQ and Lloyd's pathetic defence this morning. The AQ was filled in, but I am wondering if now is a good time to send SC&M a copy of my AQ "out of courtesy", and state that we are fully prepared to go to Court unless our claim is met in full. In other words, having received the AW and Lloyds defence, should I now initiate contact with their solicitors? All replies gratefully received! 17th July 2006 - Small Claims Court action filed 20th July 2006 - Claim deemed to have been served 24th July 2006 - Defendent filed an Acknowledgment of Service 17th August 2006 - Defendant's solicitors filed a defence (Sechiari Clark & Mitchell). 24th August 2006 - Defence & AQ received.

Hi everyone; Just received the Defence from SCM on behalf of LLoyds. Appears to be the bog standard one: Claim No. 6 HS 01505 IN THE HASTINGS COUNTY COURT BETWEEN: Mr Christopher James Finlay Claimant and LLOYDS TSB BANK PLC Defendant --------- DEFENCE --------- 1. The Defendant Lloyds TSB Bank plc (the Bank) is a bank is a bank (note: 1 point off for repetition - you would think that solicitors would know better!) whose registered office is 25 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7HN. It is admitted that the Claimant has been a customer of the Bank at all material times. 2. By opening an account with the Bank, the customer enters into a commercial arrangement with the Bank for the provision of banking services. The Bank is entitled, as part of the arrangement, to charge for those services. At account opening a customer is provided with details of the Bank's charges, currently in a leaflet a guide to our banking charges. By using the account, the customer acknowledges that the charges are incorporated into the contract. For personal customers, a number of services are provided for free, notwithstanding that they are an expense to the Bank. Such services presently include, but are not limited to, providing; cheques bank statements the facility to make payments by direct debit and standing order debit cards ATMs (cash machines). 3. By maintaining the account in credit, or within any limit agreed with the Bank, the customer may avoid most if not all charges. If the customer fails to ensure that there are sufficient cleared funds in the account to cover payments, whether by cheque, debit card, standing order or direct debit, the customer makes a request for a payment to be made from the Bank's own funds. If the Bank makes payment, or returns the payment, it provides a service as specified in the leaflet and mkaes a charge in accordance with the terms of the contract. On page 1 of the leaflet, the Bank explains that "there are normally no charges for everyday banking at Lloyds TSB when your account is in credit. When you use and agreed overdraft, there is no monthly fee and we only charge interest on the amount you are overdrawn each day. Where you go overdrawn without an agreement or where you use special services, such as copy statements, we will make a charge. This guide explains how these charges work, and when they will apply. If you want to use a service that we haven't listed, we'll tell you the cost that service before you give us the go-ahead". 4. There is no breach of contract, the charge cannot therefore be a penalty, consequently there is no requirement that the charge be a pre-estimate of the Bank's loss. 5. The customer is given advance warning of charges being imposed; statements show the charges, if any, the customer has incurred during the course of a month, and which will appear as debits on the following month's statement. Customers are warned by letter when they go overdrawn or over their agreed limit without arrangement with the Bank. If the customer fails to remedy the position, and payments such as standing orders and direct debits are refused then again the customer is warned by letter. 6. The charges are fair and reasonable, and it is denied that they are unlawful. 7. The customer is notified of the charges in plain intelligible language at the conclusion of the contract, and on each monthly statement. The charges are terms which relate to the price payable by the customer for a service provided by the Bank, and pursuant to Regulation 6 of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, are not subject to the assessment of fairness. 8. In the premises: 8.1 the charges are for banking services, and are not damages nor a penalty; 8.2 the Bank is entitled by contract to impose the charges, which are fair and reasonable; 8.3 it is denied that the charges are unlawful or contravene any statute or regulation. 9. The Claimant's claim is denied in its entirety. It is further denied that the Claimant is entiteld to the sum claimed or to any sum from the Bank . Statement of Truth The Defendant believes that the facts stated in this Defence are true. I am duly authorised by the Defendant to sign this statement. Signed Alan Ingledew Full name: Alan Ingledew, Recoveries Team Leader for the Defendant, Lloyds TSB Bank plc. Served 16th day of August 2006 by Sechiari Clark & Mitchell of Department SO, PO Box 499, Upper Ground Floor, 1-5 Queens Road Quadrant, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 3XJ: Telephone 01273 205381: Fax 01273 745356: Reference XX/XXX/XXXXXX/XXXX Solicitors for the Defendant ========================= I will be filling in the AQ as per the magnificent guidelines on this web site. The question is, should I now contact the Solicitors telling them how disappointed I am that their Clients have not entered into any meaningful discussions regarding these charges, and that we have always been prepared to reach an agreement before taking this action? regards to all =========================== 17th July 2006 - Small Claims Court action filed 20th July 2006 - Claim deemed to have been served 24th July 2006 - Defendent filed an Acknowledgment of Service 17th August 2006 - Defendant's solicitors filed a defence (Sechiari Clark & Mitchell). 24th August 2006 - Defence & AQ received.

Hi everyone. Brief synopsis: My 25 year old son Chris had been hammered for overdraft charges over the last 4 years. Total charges £830, plus calculated interest of £196.71. Lloyds wouldn't increase his agreed overdraft amount (currently £210) as a result of their charges keeping him permanently overdrawn. We followed all the excellent advice and guidance on this site, sent Lloyds letters containing the full list of contested charges etc. 17th July 2006 - Small Claims Court action filed 20th July 2006 - Claim deemed to have been served 24th July 2006 - Defendent filed an Acknowledgment of Service 17th August 2006 - Defendant's solicitors filed a defence (Sechiari Clark & Mitchell) Rang the court today and they will be sending out the AQ to both parties next week. In order to calm my son's nervousness about the liklihood of actually going to Court, ( ) can somebody let us know what normally happens at this stage when people have brought an action against Lloyds? What is the probability that they would settle before any court appearance? Any and all advice, replies & comments gratefully received! regards to all.

I have just registered on the forum on behalf of my son. He's 25, relatively low paid, and for the last 4 years or so has been hammered by Lloyds in charges to the tune of about £800. He get's very depressed about it, because he can see no way out of it. This morning he was charge another £30 for being about £4 over his overdraft limit. A vicious circle. We've received the statements from Lloyds, calculated the amount, written them two or three letters demanding reimbursement, and received condescending replies. Today I'm filling in the County Court forms. He's got nothing to lose - even if he loses the case and Lloyds claim court fees etc, they've got all his money already! regards to all