I'm not proposing to counter claim. Should I just let it run the legal course and when its done and dusted, claim back the unlawful charges?

I guess the moral here is Don't trust em!! Always change to another bank before you start procedings and put all your regular payments over to it. As a point of interest Smile took away my overdraft facility so I had to make sure that account was in credit before they closed the overdraft. So far the account still works..

Hi. I'm in big trouble with this credit card account, they say I owe them £7824.79. I received a county court claim form today (16th Jan). I have 14 days to reply to this claim. Should I (a) reply and ask for time to pay. (b) Dispute the amount of the claim and start reclaiming action, or © ask for additional time to investigate the claim. Any Advice..

Guess what.. Smile are withdrawing my overdraft facility on the 30th of December. Merry Xmas Smile.

The Financial Ombudsman is a quango run by the banks themselves and as such has no vested interest in offering a fair service to the general public. What we need to put pressure on is the government itself to regulate the clearing banks. Abby National Bank of England Barclays Co-op Egg Halifax Lloyds TSB Nat West These banks are allowed by charter to operate outside the laws of England when dealing with the nations finances and as such are allowed to get away with ripping us off at every oportunity. Clearance times have increased in the last few years despite pressure from the OFT and other bodies. The banks use it to manipulate our money and increse their revenue. I know this a bit off thread so please could the moderators move it if they wish.. Great work peeps...

25th November... Discovered an "Interest Adjustment" of £180 on my statment then the next day received a letter stating that the money was refunded as a "gesture of goodwill". Still got the rest of the ongoing charges to reclaim then I will start on the Credit Cards. Another point.. I paid in a cheque via the post office to smile on the 14th nov. This would have covered the outstanding charges plus the bills that I had to pay. They claim not to have received this cheque, thus putting my account in even more jeopardy. Has any one else had this happen?

Sent off LBA today 8th Nov...

If your on a low income you shouldn't be paying council tax at all.

Just started on the reclaiming a modest £180 in charges from Smile. I've only had the account for a short while but they managed to charge me this amount for going over an agreed overdraft by £25.... Due in part to another banking beef I have, the long clearance times for paying money in... Especially electronic transfers!! Didn't need a SAR so sent of the initial stage 1 letter. Got a swift response saying that they were sorry I felt the need to complain and should see their web-site for complaints procedures (COMPLAIN??). Will see how it develops.

Hi peeps... Whilst struggling to pay the mortgage and feed the family and waiting patiently for the DWP to sort out my JSA... The credit card companies and the banks keep ringing me up and telling me I owe them hundreds of pounds and can I make an imediate payment!!! So I have this huge stack of charges to reclaim. Should be interesting.. Hi to all the group from Skyclad.