Reclaim Unfair Bank Charges article discussion Part II

nwuser

A few weeks ago I posted a thread asking for help to the following query:

I am claiming Bank charges from RBS (£2,100) - they entered a defence on the 27th day with MCOL. The same day their solicitors, Cobbetts, sent me a letter and a lot of legal jargon, requesting further information and clarification.
They say
'You are asked to provide a response to this request in accordance with CPR Part 18 by 17th May 2007' it goes on 'in the event that you do not provide an adequate response to this request by this date then the Defendant can apply to the court for an order you to provide the information requested or an order striking out your claim.
They ask for the following information:
in relation to each charge identify a the date when the charge was charged b the amount of the same and c the reason given for the charging of the same.

There is also lots of other legal questions, which I do not understand ie

'specify the clause pursuant to which the charges where applied'

I received a couple of helpful replies on this thread saying I should send them a letter to this effect:

Dear Sir or Madam:
Claim No:

I Acknowledge the receipt of the defence posted on behalf of rbs.
I am not prepared at this stage to answer the CPR Part 18 Request. I anticipate that the claim will be allocated to the small claims track and would not then expect to have to deal with a Part 18 request since these are specifically excluded under Part 27 unless the court specifically orders me to do so of its own initiative
Furthermore I consider that the CPR part 18 request is intimidatory and I intend to bring the intimidation to the notice of the court. However, for clarity, I confirm the charges I am claiming were applied to the following account:
Account Name:
Account number:
Sort Code:

Please also find enclosed a breakdown of all charges I am claiming.

I also asked them to explain
'specify the clause pursuant to which the charges where applied' because This is a highly ambiguous statement meaning that it is open to or having several possible meanings or interpretations. And asked them for a full explanation stating that the paragraph was ambiguous.
Yours Faithfully"


I included a breakdown of charges with the letter and I did send it recorded delivery (have got the slip to prove it) in good time.

I have now received a copy of the solicitors Allocation questionnaire (the day after the deadline) and in the section for other information they have stated:

Case management directions cannot be proposed until the Claimant serves a Reply to the Request for Further Information which was due on 17th May 2007. In light of this, the Defendant may amend its defence or apply to strike out.

I had already sent my AQ back to court with my court fee.

I telephoned the Court this morning and they said I cannot do anything about it now because it has been referred to the Judge and we will hear something shortly.

Should I write to the court with a copy of the letter I sent to Cobbetts along with a copy of the recorded delivery slip.

I am very worried now that I may not even get to court with them asking for it to be struck out.

dk67

I claimed via MCOL against Barclays abd they aknowledged the claim 2 hours before the 14 day deadline :mad:

I have today received a paper copy from Northampton Court saying the defendant now has 28 days to file a defence .....but.....this is the bit I am confused about...on the enclosed Acknowledge of Service the Solicitor has ticked the box 'i intend ti defend all of this claim'

Is this what I think it is --- a defence??

Please could anybody help asap ...this process and the situation that drove me to it is causing us untold stress.

Thankyou

COPPERHEADJACK_2

has anyone successfully claimed back a portion of the interest that the banks charged them?
as they will have been charged interest on the charges????

Time_goes_by

tracepppp wrote: »

No, carrier pigeon is what they use to contact us about our charges!! :rotfl:

Brilliant, Very well put.

Time_goes_by

Hungryhippo wrote: »

I am at the latter stage of proceedings in my attempts to reclaim my charges from the Halifax and should now be taking them to court. Trouble is when I sent the letter telling them that if they didn't pay up in 14 days I would begin my claim (16/05/2007) I neglected to send it by recorded delivery and since they haven't acknowledged receipt I'm concerned that they will say that they didn't receive it.

The 14 days have now long since elapsed even though I have no idea of what date they would have received the letter but I still haven't proceeded with the claim. I have been debating, in view of recent developments, whether to make my claim via the court or the ombudsman and quite frankly I really can't afford the court fees at the moment.

Have I left it too long? Should I just go ahead even though they ignored the last crucial letter? And do the courts charge everyone or is there free claims for peopole on low wages or benefits?

Sorry about all the questions but I'm getting panicky about it all now.

Go ahead. Halifax seem to settle even though they acknowledge and then don't follow it through.

Jayneo_2

Hiya Agnes - have had the same performance with Newport & found out it was being transferred to Cardiff. Then I had a court date sent through for 14th August. You sound organised in getting your stuff together for court. We should give each other moral support as we're 'neighbours'!
Jayneo

Twinkly

nwuser wrote: »

....

I have now received a copy of the solicitors Allocation questionnaire (the day after the deadline) and in the section for other information they have stated:

Case management directions cannot be proposed until the Claimant serves a Reply to the Request for Further Information which was due on 17th May 2007. In light of this, the Defendant may amend its defence or apply to strike out.

I had already sent my AQ back to court with my court fee.

I telephoned the Court this morning and they said I cannot do anything about it now because it has been referred to the Judge and we will hear something shortly.

Should I write to the court with a copy of the letter I sent to Cobbetts along with a copy of the recorded delivery slip.

I am very worried now that I may not even get to court with them asking for it to be struck out.

I've cropped your post to answer it I hope you dont mind. The part I have highlighted and italicised you can treat with a very big pinch of salt. It says they may amend its defence or apply to strike out, the operative word being may. They have no intention of defending the action in a court and we all know that.

By all means send a copy of the letter received from Cobbetts that asked for further information and your reply. Show the judge so that he can see for himself the belligerent, arguementative and intimidatory tactics the banks is employing when it should simply be settling your claim and saving the courts time and expense.

I shouldnt worry your claim will not be thrown out, the bank will not ask for it, they are just threatening to to see if you cave in and drop it. You should be getting a settlement offer soon despite all this ridiculous posturing by the solicitors. Good luck

Twinkly

COPPERHEADJACK wrote: »

has anyone successfully claimed back a portion of the interest that the banks charged them?
as they will have been charged interest on the charges????

Where I have had a single charge that put me into overdraft and incurred interest I have received the charge and the interest back as a refund. Therefore I advise anyone who has an overdraft caused by and consisting entirely of charges to claim the interest charged too. If the overdraft consists of charges and 'own spending' however I dont generally advise to do it because the interest would be such a nightmare to work out on each individual charge and seperate

SarahApples

Hi - Am currently in the middle of claiming 3 different accounts with Barclays & Lloyds....
All been transferred to my local court.
Been sent the Allocation Questionaires to be filled in - BUT they have asked to send the Questionaires back with £100 cheque attached to each one!

I shall do - but NO WHERE have I read that I was to do this - as I had already paid over £ 300 in Online Claim Fees...

ANyone else had to do this?

Twinkly

SarahApples wrote: »

Hi - Am currently in the middle of claiming 3 different accounts with Barclays & Lloyds....
All been transferred to my local court.
Been sent the Allocation Questionaires to be filled in - BUT they have asked to send the Questionaires back with £100 cheque attached to each one!

I shall do - but NO WHERE have I read that I was to do this - as I had already paid over £ 300 in Online Claim Fees...

ANyone else had to do this?

In the Reclaim Bank Charges Help Thread (a stickied thread which never moves off the first page of the forum) this post clearly directs you to the costs that may be incurred when issuing a court claim from the HM Courts service site:
Costs Of Going To Court

The fee of £100 is sometimes waived, there have been a few cases reported on this particular discussion thread but it would seem to be dependant on the judge dealing with the case.

To answer your question, yes, others have had to pay it and it is unfortunate that you didnt know this fee existed and that you have have had to pay it.