Help! I'm Going To Court With Barclays Bank!!

susietom

HELP! I'm going to court!

I've received the defence from Barclays Bank and the really worrying part (and if there is any legal experts out there, please help me!) is what they are claiming:

"The Defendent (Barclays) denies that it is liable to the Claimant for the sums claimed and interest, as pleaded or at all. In the alternative if (which is denied) the said charges are unenforceable and constituted a breach of contract by the Defendent, those charges which were applied to the account prior to 15th March 2001 are recoverable because they are time-barred under the terms of the Limitation Act 1980 in that more than six years have elapsed since the accrual of the cause of action."

I claimed for six years of charges but didn't realise it had to be from the date I filed to the court! So some of the charges are from before the 15th March 2001 (in fact from Jan 2001).

The next paragraph stated:
"In the alternative, and without prejudice to matters stated above, if (which is denied) the said charges and interest or any part thereof are unlawful or unenforceable as alleged by the Claimant or at all, and the charges were a consequence of the breach of contract by the Claimant, the Defendant has nonetheless suffered loss and damage as a consequence of such breach of contract in allowing the account to go into authorised overdraft. Accordingly, in the event that the Defendant is unable to rely on it's express entitlement to enforce the charges as set out at paragraphs 3 to 4 above, it will seek to recover to the extent necessary such loss and damage as it actually suffered, which will not necessarily be limited to the value of the said charges, and the Defendant seeks to set off such sums against any liability owed hereunder to the Claimant."

Sorry this is so long but I really don't know what to do now!! If I have unknowingly claimed for some charges before the six years does that make the whole claim invalid! Should I drop the whole thing!

Anyone with legal knowledge and advice - please help!

wotsthat

They are just trying to make you give up. The court will understand that you aren't a professional barrister and will make allowances for this.

I'mcomingbackasaman

My bank entered a defence and even stated they had a witness - yet made me an offer a week before the Court date of the total amount claimed. You should expect an offer from them to pay back all charges made from March 2001.
Someone has recently received £36,000 back from the Nat. West, it seems if the banks had a good case to defend they would have done by now but they don't want the expense of Court proceedings and publicity.

Kurt_Hamster

susietom wrote: »

Sorry this is so long but I really don't know what to do now!! If I have unknowingly claimed for some charges before the six years does that make the whole claim invalid! Should I drop the whole thing!

Anyone with legal knowledge and advice - please help!

It seems that the CAG believes that the banks have shot themselves in the foot and as a result are not covered by the Limitation Act. This means you can possibly claim for as long as the charges have gone on for.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/80486-claiming-beyond-6-yrs.html#post712882

Stephen_Leak

Firstly, the bank is the one on trial, you are the victim.

Secondly, there is no way a court will accept a bank delaying a claim so long that it got to them and then turning around and saying that some of the charges are now over the 6 years!

loveablegat

We are just about to go to court with Royal Bank of Scotland - unfortunately my partner has applied for bank charges on his company account, he is a limited company with him as director and his mother as company secretary. He is claiming over eight thousand from them and yes the papers are scary - we'll plod on and see if we get any offers before the court date - we hope so as to file our papers is costing £100. RBOS are saying the because we are a limited company "the Unfair Contract Terms in Consumer Regulations 1999" do not apply - any help/comments in this regard would be greatly appreciated

GREENY_2

hiya susietom,
the 6 years just means the banks only have to supply 6 years worth of charges,
if you have got your own statements for futher back than 6 years then you can claim for them,
a woman has claimed back 10 years cause she had her own statements and won.
so dont worry you will get an offer soon.
greeny