oh sorry i hope my post wasn't misleading... the RBS haven't settled yet... i haven't had back the bank statements from them so i don't know how much they owe me! i was just gettin excited about the fact that i know we're getting it all back! with the 2 other claims that have just settled (smile and halifax) it took about 3 months from sending the SAR's to getting our grubby little mitts on the cash... (mainly because they both sent back the SAR info we requested on the 38th day!) good luck with your claim matey...

Hey ho... here we go again... me and other half have just successfully got back £998 from Smile (settled in full last week) and £3018 from Halifax (settled in full after court filed in our favour this week). so watch out RBS... we're on a roll.... strike three-ah! SAR posted this week.... watch this space... hurrah!

sorry interest at 8% was over £400... so really well worth it!

i'd saved it in word so have cut and pasted our blurb below (where i've put XXX or ?? you need to fill in your own details): The claimant’s action is on the grounds that they have a contract with the defendant, XXXXXX bank, which is conducted on their standard terms and conditions. The claimant is claiming the return of money taken by the defendant in the way of charges over the last ?? years plus the interest they have levied on those charges. The bank's charges are a disproportionate penalty and therefore unenforceable as they are contrary to common law. Further, as a disproportionate penalty they are invalid under the Unfair (Contracts) Terms Act 1977 s.4 and under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Para.8 and sch.2(1)(e). In the event that the charges are not a penalty then they are unreasonable within the meaning of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 s.15. The claimant has repeatedly asked the defendant to justify their charges but they have declined to do so. That did the trick for us matey... also make sure you use the excel spreadsheet on this site to work out your costs plus 8%, it got us an extra £200+... well worth it... also the court and the bank know you mean business... GOOD LUCK! as long as you don't try to cut corners and fill everything out properly you'll get your money back... maybe even before christmas if you do it tomorrow!

final update on this thread, halifax paid up today... but were £20 short.. unbelievable!!... they pay the money days late and then are short by £20.. christ if we still owed them £20 the bailiffs would be knocking the door down! anyway cheers for all the help... am to start a thread in the RBS bit as they've had their SAR this week!

aw shucks.. cheers guys!

hey hey my old thread came back... or did it never go away?? i'm not too hot with all this newfangled techno-wotsits... (god how old do i sound and i'm only 30!) anyhoo... update... we applied for a judgement on monday as their time had run out.. on thurs this week we received, thru the post, a judgement in our favour for the full amount plus 8% interest plus £120 costs TOTAL £3018 hurrah! then on Friday this week got a very very nice phone call from the halifax themselves (they have never ever been soooo nice to us) to say how terribly sorry they are that they haven't yet given us back the money owed.. they made a mistake and that the payment will be actioned on monday!! a total turnaround from their previous letter telling us that they were no way, not now, not ever gonna refund more than the £600 they offered us! ha. once we get the money a donation will be winging its way to you guys, we would never have got this back without the help on this site... i've told everyone i know about it... cheers! (did i mention we got £998 back from smile last week after the letter before action.. and an sar will be landing on the doorstep of the RBS tomorrow...)

just to let you know... we were claiming over £2500 from the halifax, after the letter before action they sent us the same letter as yours... saying they will never ever ever pay us back the whole amount... that we are irresponsible.. and that as we have declined the £600 offered they can't do any more for us... i filled in the N1 form and delivered it as there wasn't enough space on the online thingy to fit our claim... make sure you don't edit your claim just to save time so it will fit on moneyclaim... i think some people have come unstuck that way! anyway... we received a letter from the court to say that halifax intended to defend our claim... but then we never heard back from them... we filed a request for judgement on monday... got judgement in our favour thru post on thursday... got grovelly... kissy.. phone call from halifax on friday.. very sorry we haven't already refunded you THE WHOLE AMOUNT... we'll action it on monday! so we got back all charges PLUS 8% interest PLUS £120 it cost us!! Total £3018!!! GOOD LUCK UP THE REVOLUTION!

hey allyxia, (i am rubbish at replying to stuff sorry!) i live in a small village in north wales too... mad! (or is that a bit like being an american and saying 'hey you live in the uk... do you know the queen?' anyway did you ever hear from your friend... i suppose i was hoping that she may have started to feel guilty and sorted you out... i think i will always be an optimist where people are concerned... and alway let down!! anyway we just won 2 cases... Smile paid up in full £998 before it went to court halifax have just received a court judgement against them (hurrah) in our favour for £3018!!! they just called to say they'll action the money being sent to us by mon! .. hope you're doing as well with your claims.. cheers and merry christmas!

we did have a thread running in this forum but its vanished??? i wasn't even being offensive or anything... honest!! anyway... just to remind you... SAR sent.... reply letter offering £250 in anticipation of any futher requests for money... no thanks... they owe us over £2500 prelim letter sent, offer raised to £600 declined again Letter before action sent... reply from halifax to say that they will not now, not ever give us more than the £600 offered. N1 filed by hand in local county court for amount plus 8% interest plus £120 it cost us to take them to court.. total £3018 letter received from the court to say that halifax intend to defend... gutted.. however... they had only until 20th nov to lodge their defense... we've not heard a word... called the courts today who say they have nothing from halifax.. they are behind in their paperwork so slight possibility they have something... but very doubtful!! we've filled in a request for judgement and await the outcome... I THINK THIS MEANS WE'VE WON THOUGHT DON'T YOU?? cheers guys... oh and we'll be donating once we get our grubby little mits on the cash!! ps... Smile settled after the letter before action for £998 and we've just sent SAR to royal bank of scotland... happy christmas!

To be honest i don't know... the reason why we gave them more time is because we have debt (credit cards/ overdraft etc..) with them and were worried they might try to ask for it all back... i know that sounds sad but it's the truth... also we moved from RBS and Halifax (see other threads) to Smile because I really agree with their ethical banking policy.. at least the interest they make off me doesn't go towards funding fascist dictators trading arms in the 3rd world etc... sorry... went off on a tangent there!... so we really didn't want to fall out with them as out of all the banks they are the best of the bunch.. in my opinion! I think maybe they're just inundated with claims at the moment... oh god this is why i'll never have any money... I'm rubbish at keeping hold of it and rubbish at making sure i get it back!! ha ha.... sorry for being of no use whatsover! Good luck with them whatever you decided to do!

I donated 5% yesterday... £50 paid.... i wouldn't have got the money back without this site.... to be honest i can't believe that some people don't give something back... ... i did, however, forget to fill in the questionthingy so will do it now! cheers!

yes my bum moved things.... wobble wobble...

Oh and i've just dontate £50 (5% of the £1k we got back) via PayPal.. we wouldn't have this cash without the info on this site, cheers guys!

New Update... Halifax have just 10 more days to get their defense into court... lets hope they're too busy eh? I've just posted a thread in the Co op bit but thought i'd let you know that smile replied days late to my letter before action (i was going to deliver the N1 to court on Monday). But today got a letter saying they'd put £998 back into our account. SETTLED IN FULL!! Hurrah! lets hope Halifascists do the same....

hey guys, SAR sent ages ago. Smile sent back (on the 37th day) a huge envelope containing copies of all statements. (I have 3 accounts 1 joint, 1 student and 1 Visa). Total charges since accounts open (3years ago) for all 3 accounts £998... Gutted! Prelim letter sent, after about 17 days got a letter back saying 'we are looking into the charges issues at the moment, please be patient and we'll get back to you). I must have been having a good day because be I did wait for another week, at the end of this time I received another letter saying exactly the same thing! 'thankyou for your patience, sorry we haven't yet come to a conclusion etc..' Saw my bum so sent the Letter Before Action. They were supposed to reply by last Tuesday but didn't. Yesterday I filled in and printed off N1 form to take by hand to the court on monday. BUT GUESS WHAT??? Today in the post got a letter apologising for not getting back sooner and they've put the whole £998 back into the joint account today! MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS!! (me and other half are in the process of getting £3k back from Halifax... we've got a thread going in Halifax forum, court action has been filed, Halifax have acknowledged our claim and say they will defend... BUT.... we've not heard anything else back and they now have only 10days to put their defense to the court before we get our £3k back) Keep on fighting!! I AM OFF TO SET UP A PAYPAL ACCOUNT RIGHT NOW TO DONATE 5%... COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT ALL GREAT INFO ON THIS SITE CHEERS!

hey guys, SAR sent ages ago. Smile sent back (on the 37th day) a huge envelope containing copies of all statements. (I have 3 accounts 1 joint, 1 student and 1 Visa). Total charges since accounts open (3years ago) for all 3 accounts £998... Gutted! Prelim letter sent, after about 17 days got a letter back saying 'we are looking into the charges issues at the moment, please be patient and we'll get back to you). I must have been having a good day because be I did wait for another week, at the end of this time I received another letter saying exactly the same thing! 'thankyou for your patience, sorry we haven't yet come to a conclusion etc..' Saw my bum so sent the Letter Before Action. They were supposed to reply by last Tuesday but didn't. Yesterday I filled in and printed off N1 form to take by hand to the court on monday. BUT GUESS WHAT??? Today in the post got a letter apologising for not getting back sooner and they've put the whole £998 back into the joint account today! MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS!! (me and other half are in the process of getting £3k back from Halifax... we've got a thread going in Halifax forum, court action has been filed, Halifax have acknowledged our claim and say they will defend... BUT.... we've not heard anything else back and they now have only 10days to put their defense to the court before we get our £3k back) Keep on fighting!!

Thanks for the advice... it's really useful to get prepared in advance... it makes such a change for us to be calling the shots with them jumping after us for a change... no chance we're gonna mess this opportunity up! will keep you posted... Oh we're also in the process of claiming £1k from smile (they've not replied within the 14 days to the letter before action..) and... We'll be sending the SAR to RBS ASAP... oh how funny am I?... pass me the wine quick...

Just to keep you updated, we've now received a 'Notice that Acknowledgement of Service Has Been Filed' by Halifax's solicitors. It states that Halifax has 28 days from service to file a defense... Do we need to do anything else in the meantime or just sit tight? I've got to say that having looked at this site I'd be surprised if they managed to defend every single case... there must be hundreds every week! But if they do want to go to court we're ready! Although all advice at this point would be gratefully received! cheers!

just thought we'd post our claim now that it's going to court: Us vs Halifascists: £3000 SAR sent, reply within 40 days with offer of £250 and reminder that we are naughty people who are unable to manage money properly, this is not their fault! offer very politely declined and Prelim letter sent. Offer raised to £600, and another reminder of just how irresponsible we are! Again offer declined and letter before action sent. Reply from the Halifax telling us to go jump as they are no way, not ever going to refund all the money. And they reserve the right to close the accounts (they are dormant anyway). Claim made in court (N1 form filled in and delivered by hand) for the amount of £2444 PLUS 8% interest £437.97 PLUS £120 court costs total claim £3001.97, Claim number 6ML01539 We'll keep you posted... oh and thanks for all the invaluable advice on this site, and your amazing excel sheet for calculating the interest! (we'll be donating 5% guys cheers!)

Modern Day Anarchy So I’m sat on hold to the Great consumer God blag-Mobile And I’m listening to that music they’ve specifically chosen to try and make me more docile. but I don’t want new contracts, upgrades or bling, I want them to stop taking money from my account without asking A process more commonly known as stealing. But the tw@t on the line isn’t listening to me… He’s like…‘Don’t leave us now Sophie, we’ll give you stuff free…’ STOP My time isn’t free. No not anymore, If my time were personified she’d be a whore putting it about this way and that Prostituting herself to the next bureaucrat, getting fat…Off the misery of others. That’s it now, I’ve had enough, Off come the gloves, it’s time to fight tough. Lets tear down the system, let’s rip it apart, Lets see destruction pierce right through the heart Lets riot in streets and burn great big flags. Lets stick two fingers up to all greedy slags. Just you try and hold us down... Lets topple the monarchy; we’ll wear that crown. Lets see rampant consumerism drown… Oh yes I’ll protest, I’ll shout to the sky! But tomorrow afternoon though, if you don’t mind, cos today’s my appointment at Toni & Guy and it’s Saturday night and I wanna get high… forget about work, my sh!t boss and the rain. But tomorrow afternoon, I will come to complain. Cos I’m an Armchair Anarchist, that’s what I am, I spend my free time creating more spam. I’m an Armchair Anarchist, oh yes that’s me, With my ‘Stop the War’ badge and my widescreen TV. You see? I’ll show my support to those trying to shut down DESO (http://www.calltheshots.org) The rally’s on Sunday? Aw man, Gutted… That’s when I do my weekly shop at Tesco. And if I don’t get there early all the good stuff’s gone and the parking’s a nightmare, it’s just f*cking wrong. Look I’ll give you a tenner to put to the cause.. but my Visa’s at home and I forgot my purse. So I’ll come on the next march; I promise I will The one where you shout about foxes being killed (ah, they’re so cute). I even bank with the Co-op. Because… I’m an Armchair Anarchist, No arms dealers helped there, I buy all organic, And coffee traded Fair. Yes I’m an Armchair Anarchist, I’ll do what I can, You can put my name down for a space in the van For the riots on Mayday. I’ll be there you’ll see, I believe every man was born to be free. Listen I’ve got to go now, can’t stop to chat I’ve got a viewing on this really nice flat, It’s got views of the river and great security I’m gonna move into that one and rent mine out, for a fee. Make me some money, so then I’ll call the shots, And then I can tell my boss to go get… lost. Oh, I believe every man was born to be free, starting with me Me and my rampant Armchair Anarchy... so that was my little rant... i truly belive the main problem is that most people won't bother with court action, unless it makes enough money.. and a lot of people won't bother making a contibution to your site as it's too much trouble.. i read today that one person didn't cotribute as they don't have a Paypal account!!! they are able to log onto this site... understand the wealth of information provided FREE and then follow this up with court action... yet they are unable to set up a paypal account... erm... WHAT?? I think this site is a diamond and have told everyone i know about it... cheers!

thanks v much for that... the N1's getting sent off tomorrow... we're also claiming £1k from Smile, and then i need to sort out my RBS account! cheers... will keep you posted.

hi, firstly to say what a fantastic site... we'll most definitely be making a donation once we've got our cash, we couldn't have done it without you! One question though, my partner is in the process of taking the Halifax to court for £2k, we've gone through the letters process as stated in your faq's etc... When we sent off the Subject access request form the Halifax (finally) sent us a computer print out listing the dates of each charged against him, but it doesn't say what each charge is for, the list simply offers the date and the charge (£28, £105, £30 etc...) does this matter when claiming in court? do we have to know exactly what each charge is for?... more importantly does the court need to know or will it suffice to have the date and amount? another little oddity... when I typed the amounts into an excel spreadsheet for our records the total was £1573 for one account, yet their total is £2221 for the same list of figures??? Doesn't really inspire your confidence in them does it? cheers...