Congrats. I'm now preparing myself for a long battle with abbey.

Letter received from abbey after my court action, another case of passing the buck... "Thank you for your letter dated 29 september 2006, addressed to our heads of complaints, marc Winder. The matter has been passed to me for response on his behalf. I understand from my investigation that we wrote to you recently addressing th eissures you raised in relation to the charges incurred on your account. I further understand that we refunded charges totalling £437.00 to your above account number. As you have now notified us that legal proceedings are being taken in relation to this matter, Abbey's lawyers will deal with the matter directly. As such it would be inappropriate of me to respond any further to your correspondence." Jenny Atkin Senior Customer Resolution Manager

Siobhann I'm not an expert but I wouldn't make any payments as the account is in dispute, they will keep charging you interest but you can claim all this back. You should also ask them to place your account on hold while its in dispute, it worked for me until they passed to to DCA (Debitas). Unfortunatly, In all the cases i've been dealing with capital and abbey seem to be the worst. Good Luck

I also had a london address so i used that.

Just came across this. I've had problems with NTL and had to cancel my direct debit as they were alwways overcharging me so now they add more fees each month for Non direct debit handling charges (£4 a month) and Late payment charges back. I've send in a Prelim letter to NTL asking for it all back. Will update when i hear.

Hi Bookworm, After reading your thread i decided to go after my car loan charges from black horse finance (£219) however they have refused on the basis that the OFT decission on cherages is only for banks and credit card companies.... I'm about to file on moneyclaim, should i use the same particulars of claim from the site or should it be amended? Good Luck.

My account was actually with Bank of scotland in Glasgow but i filed under english law and sent all my address to Halifax: Chris Baker Halifax Customer Relations, PO BOX 548 Leeds LS1 1WU

I wrote to Blackhorse finance asking for £219 of charges back against a car loan i have using the bank template letters only to be told by them that they will not pay anything back as the law only applies to banks and credit cards. Does anyone know if i can claim back these charges? I sent the a prelim letter and a LBA now and they have refused so i would be at the point of filing with moneyclaim if i can....

sort off, I filed with Money Claim on 29th sep and then sent them a letter after action. They acknolowledge they claim as intending to defend on 4th oct but i received a letter from them that was also dated the 4th oct offering full settlement within 5 days to my account if i close the case. I received payment into my acount yesterday.

Just received full settlement into my account and 5% Donation paid..

Hi Crk81 Can you tell me where you addressed yur letters? I'm trying to do the same.

Now that i seem to be on a roll with my bank charges, I'm going to start going after my mortgage fees. Prelim sent 16th Oct. Request for repayment of charges Dear Sir/Madam, My request I am writing to ask you to refund the charges which you have levied from my account since inception. I now understand that the regime of fees which you have applied to my account in relation to application fees, early redemption fees and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent consumer regulations. If you say that they are not, then will you please demonstrate this by letting me have a full breakdown of the costs to which you have been put by as a result of my breaches, in order to reassure me that your penalties really do reflect your costs? In the case of Castaneda and Others v. Clydebank Engineering and Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (1904) 12 SLT 498 the House of Lords held that a contractual party can only recover damages for actual or liquidated losses incurred from a breach of contract as oppose to a charge which represents a penalty. This law was confirmed and upheld in Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co Ltd v New Garage and Motor Co Ltd [1915] AC 79. A charge will be held to be a penalty if the sum stipulated for is extravagant and unconscionable in amount in comparison to the greatest loss that could conceivably be proved to have followed from the breach. A penalty clause is void in its entirety and unenforceable. In addition your charges appear to represent an unfair term of contract which is contrary to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (SI. 1999/2083). My account falls within the ambit of Regulation 5 of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 as we are consumers. Your charges constitute an unfair penalty under Schedule 2 of the said Regulations which provide an indicative and non-exhaustive list of terms which may be regarded as unfair. Under paragraph 1(e) of schedule 2 this specifically includes terms which have the object of requiring any consumer who fails his obligation to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation. I would vigorously contend that this is the position regarding the redemption fee of £823 and exit fee of £175 which you deemed fit to apply to my account. Furthermore a fee levied requiring us to indemnify you against any commercial risk to yourself in offering us a reduced interest rate in order to attract our custom is also contrary to s.4 Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. We are confident that a court is likely to consider this clause to be unreasonable within s.11 of the said Act as a large commercial institution such as yourselves is in a far better placed position than us as consumers to bear the burden of the vicissitudes of business. I would like to bring your attention to the following statement by The Office of Fair Trading: "A term in a mortgage agreement which requires the borrower to pay more for breaching the contract terms than actual costs and losses caused to the lender by the breach (or a genuine pre-estimate of that) is likely to be regarded as an unfair penalty and to be unenforceable both at common law and (in a consumer mortgage) under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations. A redemption charge may be regarded as a penalty even if it is expressed as the price for exercising a right rather than a consequence of breaking the agreement." I believe that the charges you have levied of £998 for exit fees, and early redemption fees far exceed any true cost to yourself as a result of our breach and any genuine pre-estimate you could conceivably reach. If you disagree, then will you please demonstrate this by letting me have a full breakdown of the costs to which you have been put to as a result of our breaches, in order to reassure us that your charges really do reflect your costs. Your responsibilities I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that we took out the loan. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law. I am frankly shocked that you have operated our account in this way as we had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise. We consider that your repeated representations that your charges are fair and reasonable are deceptive and that they have deceived us into agreeing to pay them. Your concealment of the true nature of your charges has prevented us from asserting our rights until now. My targets to resolve this matter I really hope that this matter can be resolved amicably and without the need for redress to the courts. Thus I am asking that you refund the charges which have unlawfully been levied on my account. Failure to refund all the money unlawfully taken from us will result in us taking further action. I will give you 14 days to reply accepting, unconditionally, my request in principle and letting me know a date by which I will receive payment. If you do not respond, or you do not respond positively, within this time period, I shall send you a letter before action giving you a further 14 days in which to reflect. I believe that these targets are more than sufficient for a large company such as yours with dedicated staff and departments. After that, there will be no further communication from me and I shall issue a claim at the expiry of the second deadline. Thus take this letter as 28 days written notice of our intention to issue a court claim should you not comply with my request. I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me about this matter and I am writing this letter to you on the assumption that you will prefer to do this than merely respond with standard letters and leaflets. Yours faithfully,

Hi, my brother got himself into the same mess with capital and i have just issued a court order as they only offered me 50% refund, have a read at my threads. Next step is to send them a prelim letter, you will find this under bank templates

Thanks. I think i will sit it out and see what happens as they said in their letter that they will credit my account within 5 days (wed 18th) and I haven't been asked to sign anything. If i get cash by the end of the week, i will then go after the balance.

BOS have offered me a full refund but my claim was only for statements in my possession Nov 03 - Aug 06 so I'm not sure if i should accept. I have not received all my S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) information for periods Aug 00 - Nov 03 and estimate about another £2000 of charges, so does anyone have advice on how to proceed, should i accept ths offer and start a new claim once i have information or should i ask for an estimated amount to be paid on top of my settlement figure? ??? HBOS S.A.R sent 20/8/2006 Reply recieved, 24/8, statements received daily from 04/09 Prelim sent 25/08/2006 2nd Prelim sent 30/8/06 as no reply to above Reply received 1/9 offering approx £291 Letter Sent 1/9 Accepted as partial settlement but want full settlement LBA Sent 13/09/2006 Reply offering £873 received 14/9 19/9 accepted as partial settlement MCOL Submitted 28/9 MCOL acknowledged 3/10 Letter received 4/10 offering full settlement but without admission of liablity.

I'd send a harrassement letter and report them, thats what i've now now. I've put in a complaint to OFTEL and Information Commissioner. Re: Harassment by telephone Dear Sir, Despite my letters regarding ANY communication from your company, which stated that I require ALL communications in writing, your telephone calls continue. This behaviour constitutes harassment; the letters stated quite clearly to you that I require ALL communications in writing for future Court use. Do not telephone me again - remove any telephone numbers you hold for me from your systems. Your telephone calls are in breach of the Office of Fair Trading guidelines. If you continue with them after the receipt of this letter an official complaint, together with a log recording the times and frequency of the calls will be passed both to that office and to the Trading Standards office. For your information note that ALL telephone calls are taped. This type of debt collection method is contrary to the ‘Section 40 of Administration of Justice Act 1970 and the Protection from Harassment Act 1970’ in that it is intended to cause alarm and distress to the recipient. Your methods will not be tolerated. A formal complaint, containing copies of all correspondence including yours, has now been submitted to the relevant authorities. This will be relevant to questions of your fitness to hold a licence under the Consumer Credit Act, whether or not it results in a prosecution. If you continue to call, you will also be in breach of the Wireless Telegraphy Act (1949) and, as such, I will report you to both Trading Standards and The Office of Fair Trading. Take further note that continued telephone calls after the receipt of a request not to call may constitute a criminal offence under Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003. Communicate in writing and ONLY in writing, your telephone calls will NOT be answered. HOWEVER, CALLS WILL TRIGGER COMPLAINTS TO THE REGULATORY BODIES. I trust that I have made myself understood on this matter,

I agree, I had a BOS Scotland account opened in Glasgow but decided to file in england and have just won a settlement. Make sure you address all the letters to HBOS at there Leeds address. Good Luck

Good Luck, thats what i did and they came back within a week of filing offering full setttlement.....

LETTER BEFORE ACTION Dear Sir/Madam, ACCOUNT NUMBER: ??????????? I now understand that the regime of “fees” which you had been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, Vacating fees and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations. I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law. Based on the statements in my possession I calculate that you have taken £480 plus £150 which you have charged me for vacating the mortgage. Total £630. I enclose a schedule of the charges which I am claiming with this letter. I reserve the right to amend this amount following receipt of the information requested in my Subject Access Request dated 20th August 06. To quote The Govan Law Centre: "[bank] charges represent a penalty and are therefore irrecoverable at common law. In the Scottish case of Castaneda and Others v. Clydebank Engineering and Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (1904) 12 SLT 498 the House of Lords held that a contractual party can only recover damages for actual or liquidated losses incurred from a breach of contract. This is also the position in English law: Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co Ltd v New Garage and Motor Co Ltd [1915] AC 79." Ford Motor Co v Armstrong [1915]; Bridge v Campbell Discount Co. Ltd [1962]; Murray v Leisureplay [2004]. I am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary. I require repayment in full of this money. If you do not comply fully within 14 days then I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount plus interest plus my costs and without further notice. Yours faithfully, Then i sent LBA Birmingham Midshires PO BOX 81 Penderfold Business Park Wobaston Road Wolverhampton WV9 5HZ LETTER BEFORE ACTION Ref – ??? Dear Ms Wilson, Mortgage Roll Number: ?????????// I am very disappointed that you have failed to respond within the timescales of my letter of the 30th August 06. I am given you a final opportunity to rectify this as I now understand that the regime of fees which you have been applying to my account in relation to late fees and exit fees, are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations. I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law. To quote The Govan Law Centre: "[bank] charges represent a penalty and are therefore irrecoverable at common law. In the Scottish case of Castaneda and Others v. Clydebank Engineering and Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (1904) 12 SLT 498 the House of Lords held that a contractual party can only recover damages for actual or liquidated losses incurred from a breach of contract. This is also the position in English law: Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co Ltd v New Garage and Motor Co Ltd [1915] AC 79." Ford Motor Co v Armstrong [1915]; Bridge v Campbell Discount Co. Ltd [1962]; Murray v Leisureplay [2004]. I am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary. I calculate that you have taken £630 in charges. I require repayment in full of this. If you do not comply fully within 10 days (noon on 6th Oct 06) then I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount plus interest plus my costs and without further notice. Furthermore, I shall submit a Consumer Credit Act 1974 complaint to the OFT upon the basis that you have failed to comply with the OFT's direction of 5 April 2006 and are therefore not a 'fit and proper person' to hold a consumer credit licence under the 1974 Act. If you do not understand what this means then seek advice from your legal department. Yours faithfully,

Good Luck, and remember claiming they never informed you of their fees for Additional Mortgage services helps.

:o Looks like am on a roll now, just won my 2nd claim against bank of scotland. My account is with bank of scotland in glasgow but i decided to file under english law and use halifax. Details below: HBOS S.A.R sent 20/8/2006 Reply recieved, 24/8, statements received daily from 04/09 Prelim sent 25/08/2006 2nd Prelim sent 30/8/06 as no reply to above Reply received 1/9 offering approx £291 Letter Sent 1/9 Accepted as partial settlement but want full settlement LBA Sent 13/09/2006 Reply offering £873 received 14/9 19/9 accepted as partial settlement MCOL Submitted 28/9 MCOL acknowledged 3/10 Letter received 4/10 offering full settlement but without admission of liablity. Extract below: "....Your claim relates to bank charges debited to yur account. These charges were debited to your account in accordance with the acount terms and conditions, which you agreed to accept, and by whihc yu are bound. I have returned the form of Acknowledgemnet of service to Northampton County Court indicating that Halifax intends to defend your claim. However, on a purly commercial basis, it will cost Halifax money to defend your claim interms of legal costs that will be incurred. For this reason, but without admission of liablity. Halifax is willing to reimburse £2190.00 in respect of bank charges incurred, together with your £120.00 court fee...." the charges they have offered to pay date from Nov 03 to present. I have not received all my S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) information for periods Aug 00 - Nov 03 and estimate about another £2000 of charges, so does nayone have advice on how to proceed, should i accept ths offer and start new claim once i have information or should i ask for an estimated amount to be paid? ???

This is the address i used. Good Luck Birmingham Midshires PO BOX 81 Penderfold Business Park Wobaston Road Wolverhampton WV9 5HZ

I have filed a moneyclaim against capital which they intend to defend. However, sent following letter to Debitas Legal who claim to be working for capital and they have ignored it, I called capital one and they tell me they are not discusing the case as it was past to debitas. Debitas Legal Services PO Box 6459 Nottingham NG2 3FG 21 September 2006 c.c to Mr R Udy – Capital One Ref – DEB/5550 CAPITAL ACCOUNT NUMBER: ???? I should like to advise that the outstanding balance on the above account is in dispute and is between myself and the original provider (capital one) and as I believe this debt to be carrying a disproportionate level of unlawful penalty charges, under the Office of Fair Trading Regulations 2.H any further attempts to contact me will be considered harassment and will be reported to the OFT. Please also note that a partial offer has been accepted and a money claim and a claim for removal of a default notice for the balance against Capital One is going ahead. I have requested by phone to Ms Sukh Wal at your offices at 16.38pm today any other contact from your company will be considered Harassment, but she has refused to stop contacting me, claims I must settle the debt with debitor and was very badly trained as to the aspect of claims in dispute. She has, therefore, decided not to abide by the following laws:- 1. Protection from Harassment Act 1970 - all of it 2. Administration of Justice Act 1970, Section 40 onwards 3. Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949, misuse 4. Human Rights Act 1990, Article 8 - Right to respect for private and family life I am sure you are aware that the Courts have the power to remove the debt owed if harassment can be proven. I have been keeping a diary of the phone calls and further letters so this shouldn’t be a problem. I have made 3 copies of my letter. One is being sent to capital and, if my wishes are not complied with, I will give no further warning and I will give a copy to the police and Oftel. Consequently I no longer acknowledge any debt to your company. No payments will be made to you by me, at least until the resolution of the dispute referred to. I must point out that, if it turns out I have been defaulted on this account by Debitas, it will become a subject of further legal action against Debitas If, as I suspect, I have been defaulted on this account I will be lodging complaints with the Banking Ombudsman, The Office of Fair Trading and the Data Protection Controller and will issue Court proceedings in order to recover damages and compensation for Defamation of Character and the Removal of the Default from my Personal Data File. Please, therefore, refrain from making any requests for payment, either in writing or by telephone, or taking any legal action to recover any alleged debt. When I have a resolution to the dispute referred to, I will write to you again." They seemed to have ignored my letter and have sent me a letter saying they are considering issuing court procedding aginst me unless i call them to pay.... What next?

if you have a list of transaction, just put it into the basic spreadsheet in date order and excel will do it for you

nnelson,...read right through the posts you deserve every penny you are about to recieve. I filed at my local court on thursday so am just beginning my long hurdle. As you are an expert i may need some advice soon. Good Luck and hope everything goes well .