ok, i've scanned and saved the image in a word document of RBS's detailed 3 page reply, let me know if it works ok - was too many words to type out!! Hopefullly it will work. Read it through and let me know what you think. page1.doc page2.doc page3.doc

Me 123 Address Road, Address AB12 3CD RBS HEAD OFFICE 36 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 2YB 14th March 2010 Dear Sir or Madam, Account number: 12345678 Sort-Code: 16-00-00 I have previously contacted you on 14th May 2009 with regards to a claim for bank charges that you have placed on hold until the OFT test case has completed. I feel that in issuing these charges you have broken the FSA’s regulatory principle to ‘pay due regard to the interests of its customers and treat them fairly’ and I am writing to request that you reopen my complaint taking into consideration the following new grounds: The charges are unfair under s.140A(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and contrary to the requirement of good faith, having caused a significant imbalance in our relationship and a detriment to myself, and under regulation 5(1) of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, in the following respects (save for, in the case of the latter, those matters which relate to the level of the charge as against the service supplied in exchange): (1) The charges were (or had the potential to be) excessive and punitive in comparison with the costs to the bank caused by my conduct which triggered the charges. (2) The charges were set by reference to the overall cost to the bank of providing current accounts to all of its customers which held such an account, rather than merely to the cost of my conduct thereby effectively requiring me to subsidise the provision of current accounts by the bank to other customers. (3) In the premises the bank did not deal fairly as between myself and its other customers. (4) The existence and quantum of the charges were inadequately and/or insufficiently explained and/or drawn to my attention either; when my account was first opened; when I gave an instruction which would result in the levying of a charge; or otherwise before any particular charge was applied. (5) The circumstances and manner in which the charges were levied created potential for the application of multiple charges and the levying of charges to give rise to the application of further charges. (6) The complexity of the charges and/or the circumstances in which they were levied. (7) The nature of the charges and/or the circumstances of their application was such as to cause me inherent difficulties in predicting the incidence and amount of such charges in advance. (8) The absence of any effective competition between providers of current accounts which restricted my ability to choose a current account operated on terms which did not provide for charges such as (and/or equivalent to) those levied by your bank. (9) The charges were (or had the potential to be) excessive in comparison with the level of borrowing which triggered the levying of the said charges. In particular, and without prejudice, the burden of proof for the above rests on RBS to prove that the circumstances of our relationship are fair (pursuant to s.140B(9) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974), so unless you can provide evidence to the contrary I expect a refund of the full amount requested by return. I now ask that you repay the amount I have previously requested of £xxxx which did not include the interest a court would award. In addition I would like to add a further £xxx of charges received since the date of my original complaint making a total of £xxxx. I have attached a full schedule of all the charges with this document. I look forward to a full response to this letter within 14 days and if I do not receive a satisfactory response I intend to pursue my complaint to the small claims court at the earliest opportunity. Yours faithfully, Mr Me above is my letter, now just allow me to type out their reply!

Hi All, I have average experience with this whole process, having 3 successful claims back when it was much easier (£1500 from Lloyds - settled during court proceedings, £520 first RBS claim - settled before court proceedigs, £196 from Halifax - settled during court proceedings). However, the golden days are over and the fight really is on now. Here's a brief summary of where I'm at with the sole remaining claim I have with RBS: - Initial letter before action sent May 2009, complaint was put on hold pending test case outcome (I was happy to sit tight) - Test case outcome wasn't good - Heard no reply so sent an amended letter before action attempting some of the new legal arguments (don't really have a case to claim hardship, so legal is all I have really) - Received a detailed rejection letter from RBS today dealing with each point in my amended letter and giving a fairly lengthy explanation as to why I'm legally wrong. Ends with "You may consider this to be the Bank's final response" So I realise that really my next step is small claims court. But this is uncharted territory. So for the first time I have made a post seeking some guidance as I am not a solicitor and my legal knowledge is limited. I have my particulars of claim template all ready to go, but want to know how strong it is. Also, would people be interested for me to show my amended letter and then RBS's response to this arguing each point I tried to make? Seems they put a little bit of time into their letter of rejection. Thanks guys