I think I have finally worked out how to use my thread. Please read above questions that I have replied to myself. Any advice would be appreciated.

Starting to struggle!!! All correspondence sent to A&L has been in both myself and my partners name, as it is a joint account. I am about to start MCOL, do I do it in both our names, or just my own? Also, I have omitted to claim interest charged....is it now too late?

I am currently claiming bcak charges from A&L, and the S.A.R., took 42 days from the date of the recorded delivery letter, although I did have to ring them after 38 days just to remind them!!

I have sent the final request before action letter over two weeks ago, and have heard nothing. Do I need to proceed straight to MCOL? Any advice please!!!

I sent the final letter stating that they had 14 days to pay, and that has now expired. Do I now proceed with court action without further notice?

Have now sent my final request before action letter by recorded delivery. I suppose I just sit tight now for the next 14 days?

I used the interest calculator I found on either this web site or moneysavingexpert.com. Thanks for the advice, it is very much appreciated

I have sent the first letter asking for my charges to be refunded, and they have come back with their standard letter regarding their charges being fair. The only problem I have is that the amount they owe me at the moment is £3970.00 plus interest, (currently £965.09), a total of £4935.09, which is getting close to £5000, which is I believe the maximum you can claim in the small claims court. What happens if the figure goes above £5000 before we get to court.

Thanks Josamolly for your reply. I phoned the Alliance and Leicester on Monday 20th November to tell them I was going to take them to court if I had not received information pertaining to my account within 7 days. The gentleman I spoke to told me that the information would be with me by the end of the week. Yesterday I received this letter in the post. Any comments in blue are my own. Thank you for your enquiry of 20th November. (I sent a recorded delivery letter on the 9th October) It may be helpful if I explain that at the Alliance and Leicester, processing begins at the end of the working day and will continue until the early hours of the following morning. Once complete, all transactions presented to us for payment will debit the appropriate account. If there are insufficent funds in the account at the time, transactions will fail. A decision is made to either pay or reverse the failed items and the approprate charge is raised in accordance with our charging policy and published tariff. Should a balance exceed agreed limits for more than one day (more than two days prior to 1 July 2006) in a statement month, Unauthorised Overdrawing fee will be incurred, which are notified by statement 14 days prior to debiting the account. Ideally, we would like to be able to discuss such situations with individual customers, however, this is not practical, as we must make decisions within strict timescale. (When I have spoken to their customer services before about a direct debit, they said that there was nothing they could do to allow it to go through, as it is all automated!) Alliance and Leicester has a range of great value current account products offering market leading rates and in return we ask customers to operate via the self-serve facilities available. Whilst balances are provided for guidance, I am sure you will agree that it is advisable for customers to keep a record of transactions to ensure sufficient funds are available to meet payments falling due. We beliueve our charges are reasonable and competitive compared with the industry and are clearly shown within our literature and on our website, as together with timescales, which clearly should be allowed for making credits and debits to your account. It may help if I can explain why charges were raised on your account in this instance. (I never ask about charges, I merely sent out a Subject Access Request). On 6th Novemberyour account was charged £5.56 interest and your monthly overdraft charge of £5 as previously confirmed in your October statement. Due to insufficient funds in the account to cover the charges your account went overdrawn by £6.79 resulting in overdrwan charges of £50.00 due on 5th December. Whilst I am satisfied that the charges have been raised correctly, I have arranged to refund the fees totalling £50.00 due on your account 5th December as a gesture of goodwill. I have ensured knock on chages of £50.00 due in January will also be refunded. Please be aware of the steps you can take to prevent charges being raised, as future charges raised correctly will stand. I hope we will now be able to draw this matter to a close and if I do not hear from you within the next 8 weeks, will assume this is the case. However in accordance with regulatory requirements, I am enclosing our leaflet which explains the steps you would need to take if you wish to pursue this matter further, including the ultimate availability of the Financial Ombudsman Service." At no point have I ever talked to them about any individual charges. They have not sent any other information concerning the Subject access request. What should I do now? Any advice would be very welcome.

Can anyone help. I sent my letter, (with the £10), to the Alliance and Leicester by recorded delivery on the 10th October. Two weeks later, on the 24th October, I had not had a reply, so I phoned them. They said they had no information about this, (even though the cheque had been cashed), and could I fax them a copy which I duely did. Two weeks later I had still not had even an acknowledgement from them, and contacted them again. Again I was told that they did not have the information, and could I fax another copy. This time I asked the lady to whom I spoke to call me when she had received the information, which she duely did. However, the 40 days are up on the 19th November, (5 days time) and I am yet to receive any written acknowledgement. What should I do now??