I'm claiming back bank charges against Barclays Bank

JamieLondon2012

I am claiming back bank charges from Barclays Bank.

I have sent them a court summons which cost me £70. I am including their response to receiving the court papers below.

Their response below shows that they intend to have this struck out of court.

Can anyone provide an advice on preventing this from happening??

******

Bank Response:


[FONT=Arial Narrow, sans-serif]I refer to your Claim Form issued on 1 6 August 2012 in which you assert a claim for un[/FONT][FONT=Arial Narrow, sans-serif]authorised overdraft charges applied to your account.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial Narrow, sans-serif]To make the current legal position clear, the Office of Fair Trading(the "OFT") and consumers [/FONT][FONT=Arial Narrow, sans-serif]have previously challenged unauthorised overdraft charges on the grounds that a) they[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Narrow, sans-serif]constituted penalties at common law; and b) they are unfair under Regulation 5 ofthe Unfair [/FONT][FONT=Arial Narrow, sans-serif]Termsin Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 ("UTCCR"), on the basis that they are too[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Narrow, sans-serif]high.Following decisions in the case of Office of Fair Trading - v - AbbeyNational PLC and [/FONT][FONT=Arial Narrow, sans-serif]others,given by Mr Justice Andrew Smith ([2008] 2 All ER (Comm) 625 and[2009] 1 All ER[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Narrow, sans-serif](Comm)717) and the Supreme Court on25 November 2009 ([2009] UKSC 6),neither of these [/FONT][FONT=Arial Narrow, sans-serif]arguments are now open to consumers. Barclays'overdraft charges have been heldby Andrew [/FONT][FONT=Arial Narrow, sans-serif]SmithJ not to be capable of amounting to penalty charges; and the Supreme Court has [/FONT][FONT=Arial Narrow, sans-serif]confirmed that such charges are part of the price for personal current account services and so [/FONT][FONT=Arial Narrow, sans-serif]cannotbe found to be unfair under the UTCCRs on the basis that they are too high.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial Narrow, sans-serif]Accordingly,it is clear that you seek to rely on legal arguments which have been considered [/FONT][FONT=Arial Narrow, sans-serif]and rejected by the High Court and by the Supreme Court. lt follows that your claim must fail.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial Narrow, sans-serif]I request that by close of business on 31 August you withdraw this claim. lf I do not [/FONT][FONT=Arial Narrow, sans-serif]receive confirmation from you that your claim has been withdrawn by the close of business on [/FONT][FONT=Arial Narrow, sans-serif]that date, we shall proceed with an application to the Court for the claim to be struck out.[/FONT]

pickpocketlocket

The letter from Barclays is accurate - did you not do any research before issuing the claim?

Are you in hardship? You may be able to get a partial refund from the bank if you are. However, by issuing a small claims action I doubt the bank will be falling over themselves to help you.

JamieLondon2012

I wish to add I made my claim on the grounds of hardship. See below;
Particulars of Claim



I am claiming bank charges to the amount of
£1287.22 inured over a 6 year period from the
date of my original claim back in 2007.I wish
to pursue this claim on the grounds that I
was experiencing severe financial hardship at
the time of incurring the charges in
question, lasting up until this present time.
I was trying to run my own business and
struggling to meet my outgoings. This has
included an inability to pay for necessities
which include council tax, utility bills and
rent. As well as my inability to make loan
and credit card repayments which required me
to seek debt counselling advice and
appointments with a doctor for anti
depressants caused by the stress of my
situation.I was charged penalty's by Barclays
Bank of up to £30 a time, which were
unaffordable to me and I was trapped in a
cycle of incurring charges which only added
to my financial hardship.
I will provide the defendant with separate
detailed particulars within 14 days after
service of the claim form.

pickpocketlocket

Are you in hardship now? Did you not ask the bank about reclaiming?

JamieLondon2012

Yes, Im still in hardship.

I did not ask the bank about reclaiming. I feel court action is more
productive as speaking with the bank will not achieve anything. I no longer bank with Barclays.

JamieLondon2012

also the banks response to the court summons does not address the hardship issue but they feel they can have my claim struck out....

pickpocketlocket

JamieLondon2012 wrote: »

Yes, Im still in hardship.

I did not ask the bank about reclaiming. I feel court action is more
productive as speaking with the bank will not achieve anything. I no longer bank with Barclays.

You're wrong, the bank would have assessed a hardship claim according to FOS guidelines.

The court will expect you to have followed the banks own procedures before taking legal action. You are doing yourself no favours by "going legal" immediately.

Speak to the bank tomorrow about reclaiming on the grounds of financial hardship (you will have to prove this applies to you). Calm down and follow the correct procedure - it will be far more productive if you do.

JamieLondon2012

update on this;

The case was struck out by the court.

dunstonh

Logical outcome and one wholly expected.

You have probably lost your ability to get it reviewed by the FOS now as the bank can refer the FOS to your loss in court.

JamieLondon2012

well, with respect no one was able to predict or inform me of the likely outcome when I posted on the subject originally.....

Now my question is... Is financial hardship a reason for relacaiming bank charges or isnt it?