No one??!

OK after being in debt for several years and paying very small payments every month for the last 3.5 years (and never missing one) I'm now in the position where a family member is giving me some money to clear my debts. I've spoken to the two smaller creditors and got a full and final settlement off of about 70% of the debt, which is okay .. just waiting for their confirming letter. The two larger ones are Barclaycard Commercial (credit card in the name of a business I ran as sole trader but had to shut down for financial reasons) and Apex Credit Management - for an Egg card. They are both in the region of £3000. I have found template letters and am about to write to both offering 50% F&F settlement offer. However, my questions are more about the default notices on my account. One is from one of the smaller creditors - Capital One. In September 2008 I made a payment arrangement with them and have never missed a payment - and my credit record shows the AP logo in September 2008, but then shows Default for the following month. I'm pretty sure the payment plan started straight away and don't remember getting a default warning or letter so I am going to write and ask for proof of the letter and see if that works. The other is for the debt I have with Egg. On my credit report there's a default showing in Aug 2008 - which was issued, I remember the letter - with Egg but the next month it shows the account as settled (because they sold it to Apex) - and in the overview of my account it shows as Green - Settled. However, Apex also have it showing as a Default in August 2008. As far as I remember I never received a default notice from them, only from Egg - and in Sept 2008, when they bought the account, we made payment arrangements and I have never missed a payment. However, all that shows on my record for Apex is the default in Aug 2008 and then nothing at all, no record of anything since then (as if I defaulted and then didn't make any payments!) Obviously I am going to write to them too and ask for the proof of the default but I wondered if anyone could tell me (a) if it's legal for them to have issued a default as well as Egg (so two defaults on the same account), (b) whether it's legal (or what I can do about it) to not show that there's an Arrangement to pay (AP) or any payments made from Sept 2008 onwards And also ..... given that I'm writing to make a F&F Settlement offer, is it wise to write requesting the default stuff at the same time??!

Just received a call from Credit Solutions Ltd, asking to speak to me (gave my full name). Never heard of them before now. They asked me to confirm the first line of my address and I asked what it was in connection with. Answer was "a personal matter" so I refused to confirm my address till they gave me some clue of what it was about - which they refused to do. They said thwy'd written to me - not received anything from them, in fact never heard of them till this phone call. Call ended when it was obvious that neither of us where going to give way! Now, I do have a lot of outstanding debt - with Egg (sold on to Apex), Capital One and GE Money - which I have set up payment plans with, paying a small amount every month. They've been running for about 18 months now and every 6 months they phone, ask me if things have changed, I say they haven't., they continue with the plan. I've also got debt with Barclays (business account) and Barclaycard Business - from a business I ran that I had to close a year ago. I pay Barclaycard £30 a month, and am waiting to hear from Barclays Business - I have outstanding debtors myself from the business, so if I can get any of that back I can clear the overdraft! So I have no idea who CSL might be working with/for .... just wondered if anyone had any tips on how to deal with them?

Sorry I haven't updated. Didn't hear anything for ages and then last Friday I had two letters - one from the court saying that Capital One were defending the claim and had filed their defence; the other from Capital One saying that they weren't acknowledging blame etc but have your money back!! Woohoo!!! It's almost cleared the balance on my account. Thanks for the support

Well the claim was acknowledged on 12th Dec and i checked my Halifax account today to find that they'd deposited £90 (including £30 court costs) - so this one is settled and the money has been moved to my new current account. Mind you, I had a letter while THIS action was going on saying that they will be deducting another £28 from my now empty account because one of these latest charges made me overdrawn - I'm going to wri8te asking them to cancel it and close the account but i have a feeling this isn't over yet .....

No response to my LBA and their time is up now so I'll be submitting a claim roday.

Well I've had a bit of a delay here because life has been hectic. I did receive a response from Capital One letting me know that their offer of £160 was still open. Court claim has been submitted today so fingers crosed!!

No response from CapitalOne and the deadline is up tomorrow so I'm going to sort out the court info today.

[Transferred from "Successful claims" thread] I've already successfully won back over £800 of charges from Halifax. However, during the court action they added on another £28 (caused solely by me being overdrawn because of the charges) and there are two pending charges for end of Nov and Dec. There's also now a default on my credit rating that they applied after I submitted my MCOL. I sent my preliminary letter about all this and they've written back: Dear blah blah, "Unfortunately I am unable to refund the charges you referred to in your letter, as they were not due to a Halifax error. I note that we have previously refunded charges on your account and you were notified at the time that future valid charges would stand and that it is your responsibility to manage your account. You were also notified that if you incurred any future charges the Halifax reserved the right to withdraw your banking facilities; full details are explained in the terms and conditions of the account. The charges you have incurred are in line with the account terms and conditions, if you are dissatisfied with the terms and conditions of your account or our policy on charges then you may wish to close your account." Grrr!! The extra charges were only put on because I was overdrawn because of their charges that they've now paid back!! And I realised that they've had more than their two weeks anyway, so the LBA went in the post on 23rd November.

Okay, I wrote to the Halifax reclaiming the £28 they added after the court action started, cancelling the two pending charges for end of Nov and Dec and taking the default off my account that they applied after I submitted my MCOL and they've written back: Dear blah blah, "Unfortunately I am unable to refund the charges you referred to in your letter, as they were not due to a Halifax error. I note that we have previously refunded charges on your account and you were notified at the time that future valid charges would stand and that it is your responsibility to manage your account. You were also notified that if you incurred any future charges the Halifax reserved the right to withdraw your banking facilities; full details are explained in the terms and conditions of the account. The charges you have incurred are in line with the account terms and conditions, if you are dissatisfied with the terms and conditions of your account or our policy on charges then you may wish to close your account." Gits! the extra charges were only put on because I was overdrawn because of their charges that they've now paid back!! And I've just realised that they've had more than their two weeks anyway, so the LBA will be in the post today.

Didn't make it to the post office, and i had a reply today - offering me £130 which is the difference between their charges and the OFT's £12 ..... I'm going to write accepting it as part payment, but the battle goes on!

I just added them on to the list on the grounds that although they haven't physically taken my money yet (because there IS no money in the account) , they have charged them to me and it is my account that is now overdrawn as a result. They will expect you to clear the overdraft at some stage. The only charges you can't add are ones that they have said they will take but haven't yet - I've got one to be put on at the end of Nov and another at the end of Dec that I'm trying to get cancelled, as when they do take the money it will make me overdrawn and then they'll charge me unauthorised overdraft fees and we're back to square one again!

it is annoying how they mess us all around but still pay up eventually - but stick to your timetable even if you get a reply from them before the 14 days, then the court know that you've done everything properly. Good luck!

I ended up £200 overdrawn by the time Halifax settled and I fully expected them to pay the charges into that account, (a) to reclaim their money and (b) as it was my most recently used account. (I had also opened a new one somewhere else and moved everything there already. I was surprised that they paid the money into a different account, but i did the decent thing and paid in £200 of what they gave me to clear the overdraft - as it did consist of the charges that I'd reclaimed. just make sure that all those £450 charges are included in your claim!

Royal Mail site says that the letter was delivered but i've not heard anything from CapOne - so the LBA will be in the psot this afternoon.

Hi Sea-side Lady. thanks for your message - and good luck with your claim. it does seem like it takes forever but it's worth it, believe me! Just don't get fobbed off by the Halifax - they are going to deny point blank that they owe you any money but the fact that they pay up every time, eventually, is proof that you are in the right hee. Follow the step by step guide, make use of the templates and you'll get your money:)

Exactly the same here. They applied another £28 charge to my account after I submitted the MCOL claim and ahve already tyold me they'll be adding more charges at the end of November and December. I've just called them and they sadi they can't do anything. i told them that there is not going to be any more money paid into that account so unless they reimburse and cancel the charges it's jsut going to go on forever, me tkaing them to court and them paying up - but the answer was still no. And to think i was so decent as to pay in the £200 I was overdrawn from the refund! Wish i hadn't bothered - except that for the first time in years my credit record is okay and I don't want to screw it up!

Well done Julie!! A good day for us both Guess what - I had a letter this afternoon sayig Halifax were adding another charge at the end of December! I'm going to call them tomorrow and try and sort this out - otherwise I'll be taking them back to court!! Alison

Well done Julie!!! I still can't really believe it's all over. I was really starting to worry as other people who had filed at the same time had received their money and I'd not heard a thing. Then I had a call from the H this morning about my overdrawn account (which is overdrawn SOLELY because of charges on charges on charges) and I said that it would be cleared as soon as they reimbursed me my money, and of course he had no idea what I was talking about. And then, five hours later, the money's there!!! I'm going to make a donation, of course, because I couldn't have done this without this site - but unfortunately the only account registered with Paypal at the moment is my Halifax one, in my maiden name, and my new current account is in my married name - so you'll have to wait till paypal change the details so i can add the new account! Also, do i need to contact the court to call off the action? And is there anything else I need to do to "close" this?

if it's the same as the English courts, you'll probably get a copy of a form from the court saying that Halifax are going to defend your claim., then anything from the same day to a couple of weeks later, they'll pay up! Good luck

No post again today and nothing in the bank account this morning - but then I just happened to have a look now and it's there, the whole lot, including interest (and by the looks of it, they've also paid the 17p/day interest since I lodged the claim) and the court costs. WOOHOOOOOOOOOO!! Not a word from them, just the money. I'll have to work out what i do now, presumably i have to let the court know - and do I write a thank you letter to the Halifax?? They've paid it into an account I haven't used for months rather than my old current account, which is £212 overdrawn because of the charges, so I guess I'll have to clear that, but that still means we could be having a very happy Xmas :0) Thanks for all the support on here, guys - and good luck to everyone still battling it out with them. Right, on to whoop the Capital One butt now

Anothe one at the same stage .... I filed on the 17th, claim was acknowledged on the 20th, received the notice to defend on the 24th, not a thing since. I was starting to panic but I'll try and be a bit more patient, the poor loves have obviously got their hands full

Still not heard a thing

I was SURE there'd be a letter in the post yesterday but I've still not heard a thing from the Halifax, and they acknowledged over a week ago now. I'm starting to have a nasty feeling that I'm the one they're going to make an example of and take to court

Congratulations, Dainesefreak - and i opened an account with Smile in August when Halifax started messing me around (again) and have been very happy with it so far. £500 overdraft (which the Halifax never let me have) so I've got no excuse to get any more charges, and they were doing an offe at the time that netted me a free case of wine!