Does anyone know which banks might be likely to negatively affect your credit rating if you try to claim bank charges? I've read bits implying that it might happen, but I wasn't sure if it actually does happen regularly. I have successfully claimed from Barclays and have just had a case against Smile stayed. My reason for asking is that I've just been turned down for a mortgage, despite our household income doubling since we bought our house, we've just sold a house we used to let out, meaning we need half the mortgage we had and we have a lump sum to invest. Plus our current house has increased in value by about a third since we bought it and we are only asking for half that amount as a mortgage. As I'm currently a full-time Home Executive (an exciting way of saying 'housewife') my income was obviously not included, so I assumed that the mortgage application involved me just in name. I just can't think of any reason the application would have been declined other than my credit rating. I am in no debt, and have never been in financial trouble, aside from the overdraft fees, but that never got out of hand, it was a few years ago and my overdraft was always paid off by my wages each month, so there were just a few days of charges over a few months. So to sum up my ramble, does anyone know if Smile or Barclays are likely to have put something on my credit record affecting my mortgage application? If they have, is there anything I can do to get it removed, seeing as it's entirely irrelevant?

My application to remove the say has been rejected. It seems fairly black and white to me that if the only money going into my account is from benefits, and it's illegal for the bank to take away someone's benefit money, then surely they're in the wrong? It's all easy to prove, my statements are very clear that the only money going into my account is benefit money! I'm going to have a look on all the guides etc and see if there is any way to appeal this decision.

My application to remove the say has been rejected. It seems fairly black and white to me that if the only money going into my account is from benefits, and it's illegal for the bank to take away someone's benefit money, then surely they're in the wrong? It's all easy to prove, my statements are very clear that the only money going into my account is benefit money! I'm going to have a look on all the guides etc and see if there is any way to appeal this decision. Thank you Sequenci, but my husband earns a decent wage, enough for me to stay home full time with our babies anyway, but as much as he pays for everything, he doesn't give me 'pocket money' or any money to spend on myself, so my only income is benefits, which I usually end up spending on treats for the girls anyway!

Damnit! I had a successful claim against Barclays a few months ago and got really excited when I saw that letter! Thank you for bringing me down to earth though! Hopefully I'll still get a positive reaction to the compromise letter to Smile.

I've had a letter from the court! The case is being transferred from MCOL to my local court 'for that court to deal with the claimant's application to lift the stay'. The paperwork says: And: Would I be right in being quite optimistic about my chances? If I'm reading it right, the court is sympathetic, especially dispensing with the AQ.

I've had a letter from the court! The case is being transferred from MCOL to my local court 'for that court to deal with the claimant's application to lift the stay'. The paperwork says: And: Would I be right in being quite optimistic about my chances? If I'm reading it right, the court is sympathetic, especially dispensing with the AQ.

Thank you so much, Slick, your suggestions and encouragement are much appreciated!

The court don't know about the house money, I just wrote in my N244 that my only income is from benefits, which is true. I think I'll send the letter, thank you for your help. I just really need to get that money back and would rather not wait! It's really a tiny amount by Smile's standards. I really hope it entices them to just pay up!

I think the trouble is that as much as my only income is benefits, my husband earns a comfortable wage and pays all the bills, so I can't really claim hardship. But the fact stands that they're taking my benefit money, which must count for something? I put that in my N244 application anyway. I'm guessing I just need to wait for a response from the court to find out if my application is successful. Is it worth me sending this letter or will it weaken my case?

Having made a successful claim against Barclays a few months ago (which was resolved a week before the case was due in court) I have had to start another claim against Smile, my parachute account! They have crippled me with bank charges. I have only had my account for less than a year and it has only been over the overdraft limit for a few months of that time but my charges are currently at £585, with £180 of that in this month alone. I'm currently at the stage where a stay has been applied to the court case. I sent off my N244 just before the deadline (I'm a chronically disorganised mum of two toddlers, a hopeless case!) with my witness statement etc, although I couldn't find the OFT POC and there weren't many examples of successful claims against Co-op and Smile in the litigation database, but hey, the witness statement seems comprehensive and persuasive. I'm also confident because my only income is from benefits (a whopping £100 approx a month from very basic child benefit and child tax credits, I'm no benefit junkie!), as is evident on my bank statements, so I'm hoping that will work in my favour, despite my bad eBay habit (I've got 2 children and love a bargain and never buy them new clothes or toys) and I'm hoping the court won't take into account my husband's income. I'm honest about my situation to the benefits people so the rest shouldn't matter. My big problem is that two of the worst months for charges have happened since I started the court process and I'm hoping to avoid having to make two claims. Do you think it's worth sending a letter to Smile pointing out the strength of my position and hoping they cave in early? The letter I've written is as follows, I'm just really worried that I'll weaken my case somehow, I'm really not confident about legal matters and much as it seems straightforward to me I'm scared that I'll say something wrong and end up being the one case that ends up being totally trampled in court. Anyway, here's the letter: I hope I'm not making myself sound like an arse with all this money stuff, we're not well off by any means, we couldn't sell our house in time before my husband started a new job in a different county so we remortgaged it to buy a new one and rented out the old one for a short time and have recently managed to sell it. I was hoping that the mention of the money might act as a little olive branch and tempt Smile to reconsider their position and just give me back my £585 because it's such a tiny amount to them. What do you think? Will this letter weaken my case? Should I add 'Without Prejudice' to the top of the letter or will that make things worse?

Could someone give me some advice about this please? All I really want to know is whether sending this letter to Smile will weaken my case.

Having made a successful claim against Barclays a few months ago (which was resolved a week before the case was due in court) I have had to start another claim against Smile, my parachute account! They have crippled me with bank charges. I have only had my account for less than a year and it has only been over the overdraft limit for a few months of that time but my charges are currently at £585, with £180 of that in this month alone. I'm currently at the stage where a stay has been applied to the court case. I sent off my N244 just before the deadline (I'm a chronically disorganised mum of two toddlers, a hopeless case!) with my witness statement etc, although I couldn't find the OFT POC and there weren't many examples of successful claims against Co-op and Smile in the litigation database, but hey, the witness statement seems comprehensive and persuasive. I'm also confident because my only income is from benefits (a whopping £100 approx a month from very basic child benefit and child tax credits, I'm no benefit junkie!), as is evident on my bank statements, so I'm hoping that will work in my favour, despite my bad eBay habit (I've got 2 children and love a bargain and never buy them new clothes or toys) and I'm hoping the court won't take into account my husband's income. I'm honest about my situation to the benefits people so the rest shouldn't matter. My big problem is that two of the worst months for charges have happened since I started the court process and I'm hoping to avoid having to make two claims. Do you think it's worth sending a letter to Smile pointing out the strength of my position and hoping they cave in early? The letter I've written is as follows, I'm just really worried that I'll weaken my case somehow, I'm really not confident about legal matters and much as it seems straightforward to me I'm scared that I'll say something wrong and end up being the one case that ends up being totally trampled in court. Anyway, here's the letter: I hope I'm not making myself sound like an arse with all this money stuff, we're not well off by any means, we couldn't sell our house in time before my husband started a new job in a different county so we remortgaged it to buy a new one and rented out the old one for a short time and have recently managed to sell it. I was hoping that the mention of the money might act as a little olive branch and tempt Smile to reconsider their position and just give me back my £585 because it's such a tiny amount to them. What do you think? Will this letter weaken my case? Should I add 'Without Prejudice' to the top of the letter or will that make things worse?

I've won! I got a letter last Friday with the usual blurb, a few days after I sent off my court bundle. I signed, crossed out the confidentiality agreement and the money was in my account first thing Monday morning! Thank you so much to everyone who helped me! *goes off to find donation button*

Thank you for such a quick reply! Another quick question (sorry)... Is there a standard for for the covering letters or should I just do one saying 'please find enclosed documents on which I intend to rely at the hearing' and cc Barclays and the court?

Another quick question! Just finalising my bundle now. Should I include the covering letter from Barclays when they sent me the copies of my statements? I'm thinking it's not relevant, but should I include it for the sake of completeness?

Thank you! That might save me a few pence on postage! Thank the Gods for photocopiers at work, is all I can say, otherwise it almost wouldn't be worth my while claiming back this money!

Quick question, I'm just getting my court bundle ready, and it's really stacking up. Do I need to include all pages of the statements for the time I'm claiming for or can I just include the pages with the charges I'm claiming?

Phoned yet again today, finally got a court date, 23rd May. Here's hoping I get an offer soon! It's a bit daft of them to drag it out so long, it's not like you're just going to give up after paying out all that money, between now and the court date! Do I just wait for the date now or is it worth sending off another schedule of charges or anything?

This is quite a quick one, not really worth a thread, but I was chuffed! I opened my Smile account just before starting proceedings with a long-standing Barclays account, just in case, so I've only had this account for 6 months or so. I went over my overdraft limit by £7 last month, and was charged £15 'service fee' and £15 'penalty charge' or something. I wasn't happy, but wasn't keen on going through all the rigmarole with yet another bank. So I called to find out what they would say about the charges, I had a whole speech prepared. She looked at my account, saw that I was only £7 over my limit, and without any prompting from me, or even a stern tone of voice, she volunteered to refund the money straight away! So what percentage do I owe you?! Do I win for the shortest claim yet? I think it was an entire 30 seconds, not including the time I was in a telephone queue.

I just phoned the court yet again, all they can tell me is that it's been referred to the judge. I'm getting more and more impatient to find out where I stand!

I called the court yesterday to find out what's been going on, it's been almost 3 weeks since I sent off my AQ and apparently it was referred to the judge on Friday, so he can look through it and allocate a court date, I think. I'm not sure why it took so long, they must be really snowed under. Hopefully I'll get a court date soon and might hear from Barclays! You know the 6 year rule? Is that 6 years from the first time you contact the bank and ask for your money back or 6 years from starting court proceedings? I've been proceeding assuming the former, but Barclays are claiming the latter and from looking through other threads they're only likely to refund from the date the MCOL was issued.

Thank you, that's reassuring! Thank you for replying so quickly! I think I'll call the court tomorrow to make sure they got the AQ and find out if a date's been set.

Does it matter that I just put 'it'll take an hour' rather than the whole sensible statement in the huge New AQ Guidelines thread?

I'm really worried. I was just idly flicking through some threads to get an idea of what to expect next and I found a whole load of new info about the AQ that I hadn't seen before. When I was filling it out I looked at the AQ guide and the Step by Step guide, quite reasonably, I thought. Then I found that thread about new info on the AQ, with a whole statement to put in the info section at the back, but I put none of that, I followed the AQ guide literally and just put 'I expect this to take no more than an hour' or words to that effect. How badly have I ruined my chances of a successful claim? I'm really worried about this, is there any way that the Step by Step guide and the AQ guide could have a link in to that other AQ info? I can't be the only one stupid enough to think the Step by Step guide has all the info I'll need. Seeing as the board is so busy, it would help a lot of other people who might be stuck and get missed. I'm just going through the court bundle now, to stay ahead of the game, but it looks really daunting. I've learned my lesson though, I'm not going to rely on the poor 'search' function on the board, but will carefully comb through each info section and individual threads to get a proper idea of what I should be doing.

Right, I've sent off the spreadsheet thing with the list of charges, dates and interest etc. Sent a copy to the court and one to Barclays. Should have added a congrats card for their record profits, ah well, I'll congratulate them when they face me in court. One thing I wondered, I've now paid over £200 in court fees, do I add that to the schedule of charges or will that automatically be added to my claim against them? I still haven't heard from the court since I submitted my AQ, it's been over 2 weeks now. Hopefully I'll get something soon.