Business Account - reclaiming bank charges

saraharrow

Hi, I have claimed personally and won. I am now claiming for business purposes. I believe there is actually a ruling for business purposes already, ie a precedent has been set. Its Something to do with Dunlop, its that wording that you put on the MCOL claim and NOT the Consumer wording, I will just have a trawl through my emails to see if I can find the exact wording.

Our Bank has submitted a defense, but it was identical to the defense they submitted for the personal claim, so I remaining positive on the matter!

Back in a jiffy

Sarah

saraharrow

The claimant has held a Business account with the defendant, conducted on their
Standard terms and conditions since (DATE) , The defendant from
(DATE) to present day has applied charges to the claimant account,
totalling £XXXXX. The bank's charges are a disproportionate penalty and therefore unenforceable. Penalty charges are irrecoverable at common law. The precedent for this was Dunlop Pneumatic v New Garage [1915] AC 79.along with Murray v. Leisure play [2005] EWCA Civ 963. The claimant has repeatedly asked the bank to refund their charges or offer proof that they are true pre-estimate. They have declined to do so.

The claimant claims £XXXXX, being the sum unlawfully debited


These are the words that we used in our MCOL claim.

Regards

Sarah

caseya

Hi

Can you please explain what is MCOL? I am claiming 2 accounts charges, one of which is a business account and have got the same letter as Mapper. I am about to send the 'taking you to court' letter - do I need a different template for a business account?

Thanks for any help provided.

LozBingley

Can I refer you to this article on the BBC NEWS Website dated the 16-04-2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6559673.stm

MCOL is Money Claim On Line (the County Court Website) Also see BBC NEWs Site form today
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6733361.stm

caseya

saraharrow wrote: »

The claimant has held a Business account with the defendant, conducted on their
Standard terms and conditions since (DATE) , The defendant from
(DATE) to present day has applied charges to the claimant account,
totalling £XXXXX. The bank's charges are a disproportionate penalty and therefore unenforceable. Penalty charges are irrecoverable at common law. The precedent for this was Dunlop Pneumatic v New Garage [1915] AC 79.along with Murray v. Leisure play [2005] EWCA Civ 963. The claimant has repeatedly asked the bank to refund their charges or offer proof that they are true pre-estimate. They have declined to do so.

The claimant claims £XXXXX, being the sum unlawfully debited


These are the words that we used in our MCOL claim.

Regards

Sarah

Thanks ever so - am filling in the claim on MCOL now, but before I submit it, is there anyway of getting round the 'held their account since (DATE)'? This account is closed now and all paperwork for the account was shredded last year. Will I have to phone the bank to get the definitive date? Also, Sarah, did you list the individual details of charges ?

Thanks

saraharrow

Hi Caseya,
I didnt outline the list of charges relating to this, although some people advise sending this in separately.
At some point I will get an Allocation Questionaire (AQ) providing that our local court hasnt done away with them, and I intend to list them on this.
The banks have to know what they have charged you, but the onus is on us to prove it in court.
Apologies for not responding sooner, I didnt subscribe to the email notification for the thread.
Regards

Sarah

saraharrow

You might put in approx date ie September 1999, I am sure it doesnt have to be the exact date, In my personal claim I put down just a year as I couldnt recall a month.

Sarah

ken_and_dot

I have just received a reply from Lloyds to my request for refund of unlawful bank charges applied to my business account. They are refusing to refund them as they maintain that the law to which we refer does not apply to business accounts as they do not fall under the definition of 'consumer'. I run my business as a sole trader and the account is in my name plus 'trading as .......'. I have not come across this refusal before or read anything along these lines here. Are they trying it on or could they be correct?

ken_and_dot

I've just been refused the refund of bank charges by Lloyds on the grounds that my account is a business account and does not fall under the definition of 'consumer' under the Act. I am a sole trader and the account is in my name but is used for my business. I have just looked on the DTI web site and it does define a consumer as '...... an individual not acting in the course of his or her business or profession.'. I seem to recall reading of success stories which relate to business accounts. Would the claim be covered by common law rather than the 1999 Act?
.'

hooby_groovy

I've been claiming back from NatWest on two business accounts, one a sole trader and the other as a partnership. I spoke to NatWest today and they have agreed to settle and have sent an offer in the post tonight (Over £4k). At no point did they ever quible that they were business accounts, and as far as I'm aware they are the same as a personal account.

My advice would be to soldier-on through the whole process, it seems to me that they are throwing-in (what they see as) a technicality to put you off the scent.