Court advice needed please

alex_read

Hi everyone!

I'm just writing 2nd/follow up letters to 2 credit card companies about their fees and thinking about the court option. I had 3 questions on this and would be grateful for any advice or links please ...

1) I'm now living abroad in Finland, and if I need to whizz over to a court case, that'll mean me catching a plane (I can't swim that far yet :cP) and tubes and whatnot getting there. Are travel costs something I would have to be hit with, or do the small claims courts let you claim travel expenses (even planes rather than just busses etc.) please.

2) When you book a court, do they give you a list of a couple of dates to choose from to have your case heard on, or would they tell me it's on this date and I need to make that no matter what?

3) Last one! On the article about the credit card charges on this site, Martin's mentioned using a financial ombudsman rather than the courts as this hasn't failed yet. I'm just wondering if there is a thread on the loses, or whether a high amount of people have tried the court way and failed?

Thanks!
-Alex

natweststaffmember

Alex do you have a UK address because if not then you may not be able to start the case.

alex_read

Hi there & thanks for the reply. Yep I'm using my parents address on all my letters and can do for the courts thanks, that one is a UK one luckily.

natweststaffmember

alex_read wrote: »

Hi there & thanks for the reply. Yep I'm using my parents address on all my letters and can do for the courts thanks, that one is a UK one luckily.

If you file at court the likelihood is that they will defend but eventually pay up but you may have to complete an allocation questionnaire.