They are defending my claim

Kurt_Hamster

mud wrote: »

Rejected first offer, decided to take them to court. Feeling very worried about this as they have today put in a defence. I have no idea what to expect and don't know what a court bundle is and all the other jargon that I keep reading. Please can somebody give me some advice as to how to prepare. Also how long does it take for court dates to come through?

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=400981

stubs

I've just found this part of the site, having already submitted my claim and am now serioulsy concerned that I may have jepordised my chances!

I recently recieved a defence from The Royal Bank of Scotland, by way of a letter from their solicitors (Cobbetts)

Without going too much into detail about their response (I will ask about that in another thread, as there are other issues I need to clarify) - part of their request is that I'm to supply full deatils of each charge I am claiming for.

It's only now that I realise I may have claimed for some unclaimable charges!
I simply went through all my statements & highlighted each occurance of "CHG", but I now fear that 29 of the 102 occurances are monthly account fee's.

My account is a Royalties, but these charges only occurred when I was over my agreed overdraft limit.

Am I correct in thinking that I shouldn't have claimed for these? And if so, have I now blown my chances?
What do I do next? - Should I make the court & solicitors aware to the fact that I was wrong, and submit a revised amount? or should I just let the claim go through as it is, and let the court decide the correct amount?

On my statements, it doesn't detail that the charges are just monthly fees (althought, that's not to say that any accompanying letters didn't either!).. I just see:

INT TO 01APR A/C ********
CHG TO 30MAR A/C ********

I didn't claim the interest, just the "CHG"


Please help :undecided

Edinburghlass_2

You'll find the "letter from bank/solicitor" thread here and basically send them what they want as regards your list of charges etc but you can ignore the rest, please read this...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=391640

IF the Royalties charges only occured when you were overdrawn in a month you can claim those, however you can't claim the £12 charges for having a Royalties account so you will need to check your claim.

Kurt_Hamster

There's a difference between a penalty charge and a generic charge for a service.

I'd ring your local court, explain that you've got your figures wrong and would it be possible to submit a revised N1. If they say no you will have to request an amendment using Form N244 (at a cost of £35).

The other downside to this is that the clock will start again as the bank's solicitor may have to revise their defence, either way it's likely that they will be given a further 14 days to do so.

stubs

I don't get charged anything each month if I stay within my agreed overdraft... certainly not £10 per month anyway! Just the interest, or cost of the actual overdraft facility. The £10 charges were only for when I'd gone over, and were marked on my statement as "CHG"

Thanks for the replies!

stubs

Edinburghlass wrote: »

basically send them what they want as regards your list of charges etc but you can ignore the rest,

This is what they've asked me for:

2.1 To what accounts were the charges applied
2.2 In relation to each charge please identify the date, amount & reason
2.3 In relation to each charge, please clarify the following: (a) is it the case of the Claimant the same should not have been charged? (b) If yes; please explain why the Claimant contends... (c) If no; is it the case of the Claimant that the same should not have been charged in this amount? (d) If yes; please explain why the same should not have been charged in this amount and dentify the sum the Claimant contends should have been charged. (e) If nol please state the Claimants case.

4.1 Please specify the clauses pursuant to which the charges were applied;
4.2 Please specify wether the charges applied were due to a breach of contract by the Claimant;
4.3 Pease identify in each case the particular breach of contract (by refrence to appropriate tems of the contract that the charge related to)

5 In you claiim you state that the charges are: "an unfair penalty under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999"

6 Please specify all of the facts relied on by the Claimant in support of the contentions in paragraph 5 above, and in particular please identify conractual provisions that the Claimant alleges are invalid by reference to the Regulations.


Please can you advise what parts of that I must reply to, and which I can ignore?

Also to note, they ask that my response is provided in accordance with CPR Part 18... do I need to adhere to this?



Many thanks again!

Kurt_Hamster

stubs wrote: »

This is what they've asked me for:

2.1 To what accounts were the charges applied
2.2 In relation to each charge please identify the date, amount & reason
2.3 In relation to each charge, please clarify the following: (a) is it the case of the Claimant the same should not have been charged? (b) If yes; please explain why the Claimant contends... (c) If no; is it the case of the Claimant that the same should not have been charged in this amount? (d) If yes; please explain why the same should not have been charged in this amount and dentify the sum the Claimant contends should have been charged. (e) If nol please state the Claimants case.

4.1 Please specify the clauses pursuant to which the charges were applied;
4.2 Please specify wether the charges applied were due to a breach of contract by the Claimant;
4.3 Pease identify in each case the particular breach of contract (by refrence to appropriate tems of the contract that the charge related to)

5 In you claiim you state that the charges are: "an unfair penalty under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999"

6 Please specify all of the facts relied on by the Claimant in support of the contentions in paragraph 5 above, and in particular please identify conractual provisions that the Claimant alleges are invalid by reference to the Regulations.


Please can you advise what parts of that I must reply to, and which I can ignore?

Also to note, they ask that my response is provided in accordance with CPR Part 18... do I need to adhere to this?



Many thanks again!

It's designed to intimidate you.

You don't have to respond to it, they are just submitting their defence.

Additionally if you are on the small claims track CPR18 (disclosure of evidence rules) does not apply. They know that, they are just trying to get you to give up out of panic.

You only have to answer questions at this stage if the Judge asks you, not if the defence asks you.

stubs

In that case, will I be ok to just re-send them the photocopied bank statements with highlighted charges.. along with a cover letter, and copy of my interest calculations (same as I sent the bank originally!)?

Also note however, I didn't realise I was supposed to send all these details to the courts after submitting my claim... that part wasn't mentioned on the main guide to claiming. Therefore, should I send them an exact copy of what I send to the solicitors?


Many thanks :T

Kurt_Hamster

You don't have to send them. They already have them. May I remind you where you got the information from in the first place?

This isn't the court asking for these details. It's the Bank's solicitors saying they will ask for them when it comes to the hearing.

stubs

I just don't want the court to think that I'm being awkward...

Do I need to send a copy to the courts?

Thanks for your replys - it has put me more at ease!