It's not the route I went down but I have read enough that they are extremly helpful, get results and as they have now suggested this to you you have to be seen by the courts (if it came to that) of having taken all reasonable steps before undertaking court time. FOS are there to help you the consumer, as this is all part of a contravention of the Consumer Act, use them for what they are for and if you're not satisfied you can still take it further.

Good Luck:)

Hi, the last reply I got from my bank stated that they were not going to refund my charges and said that if I'm not satisfied with this response I should now refer my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Who are they and is it going to be worth my while going to them?

I too have just sorted a settlement out of court with ABBEY.  Although I have settled for slightly less than the original claim was for I am well chuffed that I got them to agree to £4500 instead of £5000.  They had already offered me a 65% settlement but I just wrote back saying I didn't think it was enough.  I've found the process much easier since it got to the court stage as you then get a number for the legal department where you can speak to somebody who can actually give you info on the progress of your claim and they have actually been quite helpful.  So once again, a message for all of you who are mid claim: KEEP GOING, DONT GIVE UP, EVEN WHEN IT GETS A BIT SCARY, PERSEVERE AND YOU'LL GET THERE IN THE END!!!

Libby x

Hi there,
I just got back over that amount from Abbey in two chunks. After the initial letter requesting repayments I got over a third debited to my account straight away. I was sick to the back teeth of them anyway, so after sttarting up an account elsewhere I requested the rest of the money through the courts. They then sent in a form saying they would be defending my action. As I wanted a quick result I rang the Paralegal dealing with the case and immediately she accepted my terms which were that my overdraft be paid off and I get some extra money aswell. No arguments. NOTHING! All done and dusted within a couple of weeks. And when I added it all up it was more than I had initialially asked for.

As a regualr customer with a regular income you do not need to close your account. Accept what they offer first off, then push for the rest. You'll get it without too much trouble at all.

hi everyone, after floating around on my bubble of excitement after winning aginst lloyds tsb i then decided to take on rbs and have excellent news, they have backed down now (finally, its only taken 5 letters and 3 months) after being threatened to have it taken out of their hands and going to court, i am getting a full and final settlement of the full amount requested! thing is, they wanted me to send back a signed agreement which i did the day there letter arrived but it does not state how long they have from me aggreeing to them paying the money back? does anyone know if they have a time limit on this happening???

Thank you and good luck to everyone mid claims!

hi can anyone let me know if they have contacted capital one credit card on reclaiming charges, and if so what was the out come.           many thanks

hi there, i have just read the note about bank carge claims being thrown out of court . i myself have been told by my local judge that my claim needs further particulars or will be thrown out and despite having written to this judge asking what particulars these might be have been told by the court they cannot answer my question and that i should seek further advice, have you any thing further you on this laughable situation . kim

More claims thrown out of court - is it time we questioned the financial dealings of certain judges, couldn't possibly be shareholders in Lloyds TSB?

Well it's one thing claiming back excessive charges but a whole new ball game game to continually expose yourself to further and ongoing costs.It sounds like he is careless rather than unable to stay in credit.What is there to understand.Tell him to get a grip and have more spending money!!

My sonwho is 19 has a bank account with Lloyds they have given hm a £200 overdraft but he keeps going over and is being charged each month about £90 he does not understand that it is a waste of money giving it to the bankeach month we have tried to explain this but am afraid he is burying his head in the sand will he be able to get any of it back off the bank they must love giving overdrafts to teenagers who do not understand

Evening!  Once Abbey had told me where to go, I filled in a small claims form that I got from my local county court.

To help me fill this in I used a template you can find on lots of website eg bbc news or moneysavingexpert.com.  All you have to do is fill in the blanks ie your details and the amount of your claim against RBS.

It costs up to £120 depending on the amount of your claim, which should be refunded if the court goes in your favour.  It also means that the bank can no longer drag their feet quite as much, as the courts set strict time limits in which they should reply.

Be prepared though for them to drag it out as long as they are allowed in the hope that you will back down, as Abbey are still doing in my case, but I think I'm almost there now and would advise you to keep on fighting for what's YOURS!!!

Libby x

hi there everyone, i havent been on in a while since my lloyds claim which was absolutely picture perfect, i wrote they responded with a full and final settlement figure i was very happy to accept. RBS on the other hand are trying to put me off, and failing, i snt a letter to them, they never replied, i sent another letter, they replied saying they woudl investigate, three months later and stil nothing so i dropped a letter into my local branch saying how much i wanted and by when, they replied offering me a very very pathetic settlement figure, i replied saying no thanks and that they had one week to give me a full an final refund of the amount i was asking or i woudl take this further, a week and a half later and nothing!

 problem is i said i would take it further but i dont knwo what the next step is? i suppose now i have to get someone else involvef? solicitor?court? i am not going to back down off this as it is my money and RBS have annoyed the hell out of me since i opened my account so i want it back and with all the interest. 

all i have heard since is a statement, with surprise surprise another bloody "maintenance fee" being applied!!!??? can anyone please tell me who i go to next? and how much it is likely to cost? thank you

Well hi everyone! haven't been on for a while as I have been waiting for abbey to file their defence to my claim, which they now have.

They still claim the charges are legal and that I had fair warning of what the charges would be for each unpaid/returned DD etc.They also claim that the charges ARE proprtionate although still do not explain how.

What they have done however is enclosed with this an offer of 65% of my total claim which is £3304.96, in my opinion falling way short of the £5000 I have claimed for.

So I thought I might write them back and ask if they would be willing to settle out of court with the sum of £4500.  Has any one else been in this position and if so what's yr best advice?

Libby x

Note meant for lyn72  and  sue a

This is not really the best site for correct proceedure for reclaiming bank charges although many people have been successful. I always refer to theconsumeractiongroup.co.uk although this will almost certainly involve many hours of reading in an attempt to get things right.

For a small insight of what should be the first steps you are quite welcome to refer to my post which is the first post on page 9. After that make sure you are doing things correctly please ask.

There are templates on www.penaltycharges.co.uk of letters to send reminding them of their responsibilities under the Data Protection act.

Natwest took 44 calendar days to respond to my request for the information.