Has any bank defended their actions in court?

JohnPeard · 1 November 2006 at 9:36AM

It is absolutely great to hear that the banks are refunding the thefts from customers.

However, all the postings I have seen on this site (and others) indicate that the banks are settling out of court.

Have there been any cases where the banks have defended their actions in court, and if so what was the judgement?

gt94sss2 · 1 November 2006 at 1:26PM

JohnPeard wrote:

However, all the postings I have seen on this site (and others) indicate that the banks are settling out of court.

Have there been any cases where the banks have defended their actions in court, and if so what was the judgement?

You are probably better off asking this question on the Consumer Action Group's forum

However, I suspect not, as its not financially worth the banks taking it to court.

Also, IANAL but I believe Small Claims Court cases do not set any precedents in any case.

Regards
Sunil

JohnPeard · 1 November 2006 at 2:57PM

http://anmblog.typepad.com/this_is_money_blog/2006/07/bank_charges_fi.html

After some 'googling' I found the above link, which gives a valuable update.

So, it seems just as a test case was to be heard, Lloyds settled.

Strange, eh?

JohnPeard · 1 November 2006 at 3:19PM

gt94sss2 wrote:

However, I suspect not, as its not financially worth the banks taking it to court.

Also, IANAL but I believe Small Claims Court cases do not set any precedents in any case.

Regards
Sunil

Yes, I can see that a few hundred people, at say an average of £4000 refund, this still would be chicken-feed to the banks, (they'd get it back within 4 hours of trading).

However, if it went to a High Court, with a precedent set, then I would have thought the banks would be forced to repay all such charges to everyone, even if they didn't claim - and that would cost £bns.

I would have thought that the major banks would have been keen to get this to (high) court? I really can't believe they can't afford a team of highly paid QC's to challenge this - they only have to do it once. Is their defence really that weak?

justruth · 1 November 2006 at 10:54PM

Have a look at theOFT summary on the matter, it clearly shows that it would be too costly to take legal action like this against just one bank but strongly suggets that the terms of the contract by which thebanks impose these fees are legally unfair and as such non impossable. I am due in court with Barclays in just over a week, but I am fairly confident that they will settle last minute. The consumer action group helped me out with my law pack of papers to take to court, and following their steps has certainly worked well for me.

Be warned though, 1/2 an hour on the CAG forums and you will be upholding your consumer rights all over the place!

JohnPeard · 2 November 2006 at 8:48AM

The very best of luck in your claim, and I am sure you are right about the banks settling on the steps of the court.

But with a note of caution - I think we all need some advice on how to prepare our case in the event that it does come to court. I suspect that the banks are just holding fire, until they can pick off a case they consider they will have 99.99% chance of winning, in order for them to set a precedent. This might mean escalating a small claims to a higher court.

This means, not only having a clear line of 'attack' supported by documentary evidence, but anticipating the lines of defence that the bank will hold up. Those will have to be effectively countered.

If I were a solicitor, working for the banks (which I am NOT !!), I think I could come up with at least 6 powerful lines of defence. I won't post them here - not going to assist them in any way.

Having been to court on a number of occasions to sue (in the line of my business) it is astonishing to see what the other side comes up with - including perjury !

justruth · 13 November 2006 at 9:23PM

Just so you know, as anticipated, my case was settled last minute without having to go to court. So long as you follow the steps on CAG and read through everything, you'll be fine. Good luck xx

Bambam · 13 November 2006 at 9:33PM

Banks need to prove there was manual intervention when letters were sent out to customers and they also need to justify their sky high charges. They can't!!

Rex_Mundi · 13 November 2006 at 9:38PM

I remember reading one thread over at CAG a while back where the member had gone to court against Natwest, and the bank won.

It seems it had more to do with the customer not preparing well enough for court rather than the bank having a strong case. If I remember rightly, the bank offered a strange defence for their case, and threw the claimant off track.

Since then, Natwest seem to be paying out to stop the cases rather than trying this again.

If I can find the thread over at CAG, I'll post it here.

Lizzy · 14 November 2006 at 2:33AM

justruth wrote:

Just so you know, as anticipated, my case was settled last minute without having to go to court. So long as you follow the steps on CAG and read through everything, you'll be fine. Good luck xx

Well done, I have Barclays in my sight too. Just waiting for their defence yawn.........they really drag it out dont they !! I loved what you said about spending half and hour on the CAG website and spouting consumer rights. Its addictive.

There are many people on the CAG forum that would LOVE to have their day in court with the banks and are really upest when it does'nt happen.

emmalou_2 · 14 November 2006 at 10:59AM

How long have ya been waiting lizzy? im waiting for them to file a defence but it will of been 14 days tomorrow and ive heard nothing - its makin me feel like ive forgot to do something cos it cant be this easy!!

Has any bank defended their actions in court?

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