Cheers Lucy - the referencing Agency is Maras, apparently its the most commonly used. Am glad you said its prob just for defaults and ccj - havent got any of those so will be ok i guess, was just stressing as total agency fees were £450 - and if you dont pass the check you loose all the money - nice eh?!

hi james - cheers for that. do you know if its just a minor offence, or if it'll seriously affect my rating? i have a loan and credit cards which i pay off every month, which I guess would be a positive - are these likely to offset this?

Hi - I'm moving house in the next couple of weeks, and have just filled out inof for a Maras credit check as the letting agent requires it. After thinking about is, I've got a bit stressed about my credit rating!. I'm currently over my overdraft limt by £170 (and won't be able to pay this off until I get paid at the end of the month) and have been going over it by about this for the last 6 months due to an original mismanagement 6 months ago, followed by a HUGE charge form HSBC, which i couldn't afford, which caused me to have to go over the next month, and get another huge charge etc. etc. I know this was very stupid, but i wasnt expecting to have to move so soon, and though i'd get things sorted before i had to rely on my credit rating again. I've just rung HSBC, and they told me that going over the overdraft limit damages my credit rating - which I didnt think it did..? now i'm worried I'll fail the credit score and wont get the flat I need. Could anyone tell me if HSBC are right please?

cheers for that - did read the other thread but didnt really have time to take it all in as moving house at the mo and have no internet, which is making this tricky! Ranf courts today to check if DG had bothered filing anything at the courts and they havent, so thats their day period gone, so have drafted a strike out letter and will deliver it by hand/recorded delivery to court/DG today. Had a bit of a shock when i saw the news this morning about the high court case! As DG will no longer be able to make any representations to the court untill the hearing in my particular case, ie; they want to wait for the outcome of the test case, then im guessing they wont be able to ask for my case to be stayed until then? by which time they'll hopefully have made an offer...i know this is probably being asked a lot at the mo but im sneakinly borrowing the internet at work and havent got a chance to go through all the other threads to see what the general consencus is, but do you think i'll still get paid out or have to wait for the outcome of this case based on what i've said above? thanks again Lats, your help is very much appreciated!!! sam

hi, thanks for that. Is this the strike out letter? am guessing it is - do you think i should send the draft order and the letter? cheers sam

cheers for gettin back so quick lats, yes, i did do an aq and sent the draft order with it...is this good?

Got my Court directions through yestersday!!!! Am very happy, hopefully not much longer now... looks like the courts are properly on my side as well, directions are: 'Upon review of the court file It is ordered that: 1. The claim be allocated to the small claims track. 2. The claim be listed for further directions only at a preliminary hearing. (time estimate 5 minutes) 3. At this hearing the court will consider either: a) to stay the claim pending the decision in a test case involving the defendant, or b) to give directions for this claim to be heard as a test case, and if nessesary to re-allocate the claim to the multi-track for that purpose. 4. Not less than 14 days before the preliminary hearing, the defendant shall file with the court and serve upon the claimant details of any cases proceeding as a test case, the decision in which will determine the issues in this claim. Altenatively, the defendant shall file with the court and serve upon the claimant draft directions for this case to proceed as a tect case. 5. The claimant may make any representations to the court in writing provided these are recieved by the court and served upon the defendant not less than 5 days before the preliminar hearing, If either party is prepeared to abide by the decision of the judge as to the directions to be given, that party is excused from attending the preliminary hearing. DISTRICT JUDGE HAYES has considered the statements of case and allocation questionarres filed and allocated the claim to the small claims track. Before the claim be listed for hearing, the judge has ordered that a preliminary hearing should take place: - to consider whether the claim can be disposed of because the defendant has no real prospect of success at a final hearing.' i love the last bit!!! Right, am really bricking it now because of all the mentions of test cases, but im guessing thats just the courts trying to put the wind up the bank? also, where it says that i may make written representations to the court/defendant 5days before the hearing, is that gonna be my court bundle? and does this all sound fairly standard?

cheers guys! Rang the court today and they said that although they still havent got to my claim, it seems the judges in norwich are very much on our side and the chances of it being thrown out regardless of my draft order are quite high! They reckon that if it goes to a preliminary hearing the date would probably be early sept, but i spose i'll have to have the bundle in way before then if it goes that way, so from what you guys are saying i could have the dosh fairly soon! God i love HSBC for saving all this money for me, i might even write them a thankyou letter, actually, maybe not...

hi there lateralus, havent been on here for a while as i was getting a bit obsessed with the whole thing, and waiting for the payout was driving me up the wall! Thought id stop in and say a quick hello, still waiting tho, and still heard nothing from DG. Rang the courts on fri to ask how my claim was proceding and they said my case had been looked at by the judge and was now back with the office just waiting to be processed, they're still a bit behind with the paperwork but they said they might know whether theyre gonna give me a court date or if the judge agreed with the draft order. Am gonna send DG another nudge tomorrow, but i cant beleive its taken this long (i am sometimes a tad impatient tho...) I was reading one of your threads from a while ago and you seemed to have worked out which cases DG were making offers on based on when the claims were filed at the court, which was very clever, any idea which claims theyd be workin on now?

I tried to use the name, but they reckon pink floyd are already hunting me down for the royalty cheque sos im gonna lie low for a bit on that one... Anyway, filed my AQ at the court yesterday - DG hadnt filed theirs when i rang just before they closed, but im sure they'll get let off there. I attached the Draft order from the AQ link you gave me, and also included the letter about mediation. Apparently theyre about 5weeks behind on the AQ's for bank cases but i happen to be friends with the girl who does all the paperwork for them at the court office so i might be able to get mine pushed through nice and quick but i guess this is a bit naughty so i'll probably have to wait a while. How long d'you reckon it'll take to get a court date? Am gonna keep on nudging DG every few days, is there anything else i should be doing?

oh yeah, nice one, thanks again!

how does this sound? DG Solicitors 12 Calthorpe Road Edgbaston Birmingham B15 1QZ Re: Mr Get your hands off my stack - v - HSBC account no, XXXXXX claim no and filing date. XXXXX – 11th April I am somewhat disappointed that you have not replied to my earlier correspondence via facsimile on Monday 13th May, although as I am mindful that you are dealing with a particularly high volume of claims at the present this is perfectly understandable. It has come to my attention that as of 22/05/07, you have not filed the Allocation Questionnaire in this case which is due on 01/06/07. I am currently in the process of filling out my copy of the Allocation Questionnaire, and will be filing it this Friday 25th May. I would remind you that with the filing of the Allocation Questionnaire, the amount of my claim will rise by a further £100 to recover the cost of me proceeding to this stage of the claim. As I mentioned earlier, I am mindful of the vast number of claims with which you are currently dealing. In order to more speedily resolve this matter, I am willing to accept the sum of £2,738.00, as opposed to the sum of £2,838.47 (plus interest at £00.53 per day since the issue of the claim) which will be the total after the filing of my Allocation Questionaire. I do not agree to waive my rights in respect of any other actions, nor do I agree to a clause of confidentiality. I hope to hear from you very soon so that a reasonable conclusion to this claim might be achieved. I am sure that the courts would approve of our settling this matter in a timely manner and without their intervention. I look forward to hearing from you. Faithfully, thought id spell it out for em - not too cheeky i hope!

brilliant! very glad about that cos i kind of thought i might have come all this way and have to start again! havent filled out my aq yet, am gonna send another nudging letter tomorrow, got till the 1st of june to hand in the aq. do you think its worth me mentioning that i have noticed what i have done with the dates in the letter? although im guessing they dont even read them properly anyway!

yes, but you have to sleep 'in da hood...' aha... just had a thought this morning about my case. When i first sent the lba's and all the other stuff before filing my claim the schedule of charges i had was correct because the amount i was demanding back was within an exact 6year period from when i sent the last letter. When i filed the claim i used the same schedule of charges, thinking that as that was the period i was claiming for i should stick with it. so basically what im saying is i think ive gone and done it all wrong cos i filed my claim on the 11th april with a schedule of charges that went from the 9th march 2001-9th march 2007. this, im guessing, makes me a nidiot?:o i hope ive not been a nidiot. bugger! is it too late to amend my claim?

you are a saint lateralus, im gonna recommend you for a nighthood or something like that! cheers, will keep you posted...

Hi laterlus, cheers for your reply:D That mediation link was just what i was looking for, i couldnt really see any reason against it but theres a few good ones there, and will def use the letter. Sent DG a breakdown of my charges a couple of days before their deadline to enter a defence was up, am almost wishing i hadnt, as they were cutting it fine on the deadline, and i think my letter might have reminded them, otherwise i'd have won by default, but thats just a theory. So anyway they got the breakdown then, and i faxed them a nudge and another schedule on monday, still no response. My claim is for £2,427.47, so will have to pay, but im gonna have to wait till just before the deadline anyway cos im skint ( more charges this month...) and i get paid just before it, but got a remission from court fees when i filed so may get that again, fingers crossed. On the age thing, there's only one charge im claiming for (£27.50) which was applied when i was under 18, but will def have a look into it, as if i get a judge like the one from birmingham i definitely want to get em for something, even if its only £27.50!!

cheers guys!

right, getting a bit jumpy about this now, specially considering the lloyds case in the last few days, but reading through what everyones been saying, i still want to go for it! got my AQ through in this mornings post, banks defence is as follows: 1. The claimants account is governed by the defendants personal and/or business banking terms and conditions. (i dont have the original t&c's i signed for when i opened the account as i was only 16 and didnt think id need em - does anyone have any old t&c's?as i understand the sneaky blighters have changed the wording to be more vague and im starting to think i might need them!) 2. Pursuant to the Defendants terms and conditions the Defendant is entitled to make a charge for its services as set out in the Defendants price list, including and overdraft review fee for considering whether to provide and providing and (sic) overdraft. (this review fee they're on about here, is it seperate to the charges issue? i mean, if its a fee for them to sit about and think about whether i can go overdrawn or not - regardless of the fact that i already have! - can i still say that the fact that it doesnt cost them that to pay people to mull it over or not means its unfair and they should give it back?) 3. The Defendant denies that the charges applied to the Claimants account amount to penalties at common law and/or unfair contract terms for the purposes to the UTCCR's 1999. 4. The charges applied to the Claimants account are reasonable and are properly and fuly disclosed in the Defendants terms and conditions and published price list. The charges represent the contracually agreed price for the services provided and the UTCCR's are not applicable to them; alternatively, they are not unfair contrary to the UTCCR's. Further, the charges are not default charges and, accordingly, cannot amount to a penalty. 5. Save as set out above, each and every allegation made by the Claimant is denied. For the reasons set out above, it is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief claimed or any relief. I guess this is pretty much the same defence as everyone else has got so im doin ok so far and not cocked it all up on a technicality. Next thing to do then i spose is send off the AQ all nice and neat, and im guessing that on the Mediation bit ive been sent im sposed to say that i would love to mediate with them? Also sent DG a fax on monday saying that i would accept an offer of the same amount than my claim (less 47p!) but surprisingly havent heard from them. Think im on top of things then but you never know...

hi there mellymum - just wondering whether youve found anyone who has the original T&C's yet?

nice one, that was more than accomodating, i dont know what the word for that would be though!

yeah, i heard that as well mate.. just noticed that on the litigation section eveyone elses thread seems to give an indication of what stage they're at, so i guess something catchy like 'HSBC just entered defence' cheers!

oh yeah, and does anyone know how i can change what my thread is called?

doh! didnt manage to send the nudging fax as been a tad busy this week, and HSBC have only gone and entered a defence already! I only know this as i rang the court today and asked, so far i have recived no correspondance at all from the bank (other than the statements , which had a covering letter to say that they were happy to cover all the costs of doing thst themselves, which was suspiciously nice of them i thought...wondering if theyve go something up their sleeve for me?) was really hoping they'd make an offer, as i really need that cash, and would have taken slightly less. i guess i'll get a copy of their defence, so's i can see their reasons, can i still send them a nudging fax, or am i beyond that point now?

Thanks - all posted, guess i just wait now, gonna send them the nudging fax some time next week, they have till fri to enter a defence. hopefully they'll make a bit of an offer as im skint as usual!

hi there - does anyone know how i would go about pm'ing a moderator? on the litigation section it says to pm a moderator once youve started your claim and i have forgotten to do this until now! cheers