Taking Your Bank To Court.

If you haven't got the result you want through letters, then it's time to resort to bluffing your bank with court action.

It's unlikely that the bank will actually try to defend themselves in court (at the time of writing this has not yet happened!). And if your claim is for under £5,000, then you can go through the small claims court, even using the online system!

If your claim is for more than £5,000, then see if you can reduce the claim, either by not reclaiming all fees (for example if the claim is £5,001) or if the fees relate to more than one account, make multiple smaller claims.

At this point you then need to check how much a claim is going to cost you to start (you can claim for costs if you win / the bank does not defend the case). Then you can start the proceedings.

To do this, visit the HM Courts website.

At this point, if you haven't already considered creating a new account then you should look into one now, just in case...

*** UPDATE 15 May 2007 *** Lloyds TSB has become the first bank to successfully defend itself against allegations of unfair bank charges, at Birmingham County Court. An appeal is being considered. For more information, visit the BBC.