Preliminary Hearing Regarding Bank Charges Claim - Advice Please.

Edinburghlass_2

rplow wrote: »

1. How likely are they to make an offer before this and if they do how last minute is it likely to be?
2. If we do end up going to court what do we need to take with us?

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The letter you got from the court should tell you what you need to take with you but have a read of the previous posts which should help.

lou2804

I have recently received a notice of allocation to the small claims track (preliminary hearing), and just wanted a bit of advice/ reassurance.

It states that a proper officer has considered the statements of case and allocated the claim to the small claims track.

Before the claim is listed for hearing, te judge has ordered that a preliminary hearing sould take place because; - specail direction is needed to prepare for the final hearing.

At this stage they will decide whether;
(a) to stay the claim pending the decision in a test claim involving the defendant, or
(b) to give directions for this case to be heard as a test case, and if necessary to reallocate the claim to the multi track for that purpose.

It also states that not less than 14 days before the prelimiary eraing the Defendant shall file with the Court and serve upon the Claimant details in which will dertermine the issues in this claim. Alternatively, the Defendant shall file with the Court and serve upon the Claimant draft directions for this case to proceed as a test case.

I now feel that i am getting out of my depth as i cant afford a solicitor to represent me, can you please give some advice on the above, any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

sugaJen

My friend has to attend a preliminary hearing on the 18th July, the letter has just got the date and time on and no directions (thats what the hearing is for) Im gonna read up and see if there is anything he could take that might go in his favour.

mac67

I have been sent a court date for my cliam for unfair bank charges I do not fully understand can someone help me please The order reads. It is ordered that: 1 Allocation Questionnaires are dispensed with:this cliam is allocated to the Small Cliams Track. 2 The claimant shall by 10-Aug-07 file and serve: (a) A schedule setting out each charge repayment of which is sought, showing the date,amount, and alleged reason (if any) for that charge being made; (b) Copies of any statement or other document relied upon as showing that each and every charge has been made; (c) A statement of the claimant's own evidence, if such is to be relied upon as tending to show that the alleged charges has been made, or that they are irrecoverable as penalties. If the Claimant fails to comply with this order , the cliam will be struck out without further order. 3 The Defendant shall by 07-Sep-07 file and serve a response to the Claimant's schedule, stating in respect of each item claimed: (a) Pursuant to what contractual provision such charge was made, producing a copy of the contractual document relied upon; (b) Whether such charge is accepted to be a penalty, and if not , why not; (c) If such charge is alleged to be pre-estimate of the defendant's loss incurred by the Claimant's actions(whether or not such action is to be treated as a breach of the contract between the parties), all facts and matters intended to be relied upon as showing that such is a proper estimate of such loss,and all evidence to be adduced at trail as to what the true cost of dealing with the matter was. If the Defendant fails to comply with this order, the defence will be struck out without further order. 4 Decided cases and other legal materials should not be filed, but brought to the hearing with additional copies for the court and the opposing party. 5 List for hearing next available date after 05-Oct-07, time estimate 1 hour, reserved to District Judge Atkinson. 6 This order has been made by the court of its own initiative, without hearing the parties or giving them an opportunity to make representations. Any party affected by the order may apply to have it set aside, varied or stayed. Such an application must be made not more then 7 days after the date on which the order was sereved on the party making the application. If any one can advice me on what I should do now it would be a great help.

tripled

I was wondering if at the directions hearing I can convince the judge to strike out the defence? This would be based on the fact they made no effort to avoid court action (they never responded to a single letter I sent them except the DPA request), the fact that they are trying to evade providing me with information (after they entered a defence, I asked them for a copy of their t&c from when my account was opened and a schedule of charges, instead they sent me more bank statements around a month later) and that they are settling other cases before court.

LozBingley

You need a full court bundle from the sounds of it! Thats all your information relating to the case.

Court Bundle
1. All Correspondence to and from the bank (& solicitors)
2. Latest Schedule of Charges (list of charges)
3. Bank Statements (showing the charges)

from this point on you can download the 40 pages of information from...
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...6&d=1174895919

4. Relevant Case Law Summary
5. Early Day motion from the House of Parliament <-link
6. Dunlop v New Garage (case summary)
7. UTCCR 1999 (The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999)<O:p</O:p
8. UCTA 1977 (Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977)
9. SOGA 1982 (Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982)
10. OFT Statement Summary (OFT Summary <-link)
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mac67

Thank you very much loz

LozBingley

tripled wrote: »

I was wondering if at the directions hearing I can convince the judge to strike out the defence? This would be based on the fact they made no effort to avoid court action (they never responded to a single letter I sent them except the DPA request), the fact that they are trying to evade providing me with information (after they entered a defence, I asked them for a copy of their t&c from when my account was opened and a schedule of charges, instead they sent me more bank statements around a month later) and that they are settling other cases before court.

I think the bank will settle before a full hearing. You need to provide a summary of your charges and your letters to and from the bank. Take a copy of the full bundle just in case and make sure you have read it. You need to show the Judge you understand that the reason the charges are unlawful is because the charges are more than the cost of applying them, so the bank is making a profit on its penalty charge. If asked you should say you believe the majority of the charges are applied to your account in an automated process and so cost less than £1 to administer with the majority of that cost being the postage of notification

tripled

Thanks for the advice guys and gals, I am feeling more confident now.

I was just hoping to clarify how to argue the case it is a penalty charge, if asked. The bank's defence rests on the fact they say they provide a service, which is what the charge is for. My arguement would be that (a) they have never altered my overdraft limit when going overdrawn, so could they provide a breakdown of how the decisions were made and in what % of cases they increase the limit, also that if you ask for an overdraft it is reviewed free, so what is the difference? (b) When paying or not paying an item overlimit, the charge the paid/returned item fee indescriminantly, how can refusing to pay an item be a service to me? I would also point out that these charges are only levied when breaching contract (it says in the t&c I should not go overdrawn), and that I am not consulted as to if I would like my overdraft to be reviewed or item paid, this charge is levied automatically. Finally I would point out that the OFT views them as default charges and is investigating them accordingly.

Come someone suggest if this is the right way to be going about things, or if there are different arguements I should be using.

I'm going to send a nudge letter today, but I want to be fully prepared and confident in my arguements if it does end up in front of a judge.

Cheers for all your help

chocolatetoffee74

Can anyone out there help, we have been given a preliminary court hearing for next week, because we asked for special instructions, do we need to bring anything for this?