Reclaim Unfair Bank Charges article discussion Part II

cyberman_3

LozBingley wrote: »

Be clear to state in your covering letter that you want "a detailed breakdown of the cost of administering the charges made to my account. I will also be asking the court to consider these costs when they rule in my favour, and as such failure to provide this detailed information to me will result in my asking the court to apply for the information as any charge should not exceed the cost of the breach of the contract

Thank you for the above. As many of us say, ask them the question they simply don't want to answer.

The banks got themselves in this position over many years

Jackswan_2

Jester wrote: »

I wonder if anyone can help/advise on the unusual development that has occurred today on my Small Claims Court proceedings.

Background

15th February - Wrote to First Direct asking for statements/charges for the last 6 years

13th March 2007 - Received statements back from First Direct. Totalled up charges - £6767.12 + £1420.34 interest. Sent letter to First Direct asking them to refund these xharges

21st March 2007 - Received letter back from First Direct refusing to pay back charges claiming they do not agree that the charges are unfair blah, blah, blah

23rd March 2007 - Wrote again to First Direct asking for a second time for them to repay the charges back to me. Gave a 'without' prejudice' statement that I would accept £7K if they paid up immediately and told them that if I did not hear back from them within 14 days that I would start court proceedings against them

11th April 2007 - No reply whatsoever from First Direct. Issued claim against them through MCOL

17th April 2007 - MCOL confirms that claim has been deemed served

20th April 2007 - First Direct file acknowledgement and intention to defend all of claim

11th May 2007 - Informed by MCOL that claim has been transferred to my local county court (Swansea)

01st June 2007 - Informed by court that 'as the result of an order made on 24th May 2007, this claim has been transferred to Cardiff County Court'.

I have absolutely no idea what 'order' was made on 24th May. But I am a little mystified as to why the proceedings have now been transferred to Cardiff County Court.

Has this happened to anyone else ?

If so, does anyone know what the next step is ?

I am still none-the-wiser as to when the actual court date is to be.

I'm getting really pee'ed off with First Direct as they have settled many claims long before MCOL stage. Yet they are really trying to play hardball with me. We all know that they are not going to turn up in court to defend this claim but it seems they are being really bloody minded about all this. I'm getting concerned at how long this is all dragging on - especially as I am going out of the country on holiday on 6th July for two weeks and suspect it would be just my luck for the court date to be set for a day when I am sunning myself in the South Of France.

Any advice/pointers that anyone might be able to provide would be gratefully received.

Thanks in advance

Apparently all cases in South Wales are being transferred to Cardiff County Court as a Circuit Judge has been appointed to deal with the cases. For those of us who have been given dates for a hearing it has been prolonged as the Judge in question is sitting at the Royal Courts Of Justice until the
end of July. In fact the first hearings will be from the 16th August onwards.

Jackswan_2

Edinburghlass wrote: »

To expect a reply in 7 days is a bit optimistic. I'm assuming you have all of your statements and proof of the claim you have put in? You can certainly call them and ask if they will settle on an amount but you'll not find it a quick process I'm afraid and if they say no you then have to send the next letter giving them 14 days before taking court action.

Having dealt with Barclays I feel that you are being overly optimistic in trying to settle with them for £2500. You will find that they will offer slightly less than half of your original claim at the outset, argue with them, they will raise it marginally at the same time telling you that they cannot increase their offer. Regrettably it will then be CC action. They will defend, you will get a hearing date, suggest then that you contact the Disputes & Litigation Department at Barclays HO to discuss settlement, you could be informed that they try to settle three weeks before a hearing. This is how it all worked out for me. Good luck, keep at it.

harryharp

Hmm...I claimed £535 from Nationwide, plus £114.43 interest and the £80 court fee. Nationwide decided to defend the claim, but today (with one day to go before the 28 days is up from the date they were served with the claim), the sum of £535 has quietly slipped into my bank account! - No letter explanation, anything. Now I'm not sure whether to pursue them for the interest and court fee as well, or just be grateful for the £535.....what do folks think??

Stephen_Leak

harryharp wrote: »

Hmm...I claimed £535 from Nationwide, plus £114.43 interest and the £80 court fee. Nationwide decided to defend the claim, but today (with one day to go before the 28 days is up from the date they were served with the claim), the sum of £535 has quietly slipped into my bank account! - No letter explanation, anything. Now I'm not sure whether to pursue them for the interest and court fee as well, or just be grateful for the £535.....what do folks think??

They still owe you the court fees, but you aren’t legally entitled to the 8% “statutory” interest on the charges, unless it is awarded by the judge. Contact them about the fees. If they don't pay up, just let the hearing go ahead. Keep the court informed of what's happening.

Jester

Edinburghlass wrote: »

Presumably because Swansea court is busy, you need to phone the court and find out, they are the ones who will know.

Thanks EdinburghLass.

I have now called Swansea County Court for clarification.

As soon as I gave the claim number to Swansea County Court, the reaction was 'ah, its another one of these bank charge reclaims'. He then went on to explain that due to the number of such claims going through the courts, it has been decided that a Judge in Cardiff County Court has been charged in dealing with them all. He is apparently making investigations in regard to all of the claims going through the system and deciding what to do with 'all the claims' so that things can be expediated through the courts more quickly. However, it does seem that 'some' bank charge reclaims are still going through the court at Swansea. The registrar was unable to confirm why this was the case or on what basis it is decided to deal with them in Swansea or Cardiff. He assured me I should hear 'soon' from the judge in Cardiff as to what he intends to do.

Given that I have recently heard of one Judge in Rhyl and another (I think who was in Birmingham if I recall correctly) has ordered an investigation into everything that is happening with such claims (i.e. because the banks never turn up in court and are deemed to be wasting the courts time), then maybe this is a development for the good - especially if the courts do decide that the banks are simply wasting court time,

I am now wondering if this is gathering momentum and that all the Judges are starting to compare notes about the 'waste of court time' that these banks are exercising.

Of course, this is just my view on what is happening, but if I am correct in my observations then surely this may make everything a lot more straightforward and easier to deal with ?

harryharp

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

They still owe you the court fees, but you aren’t legally entitled to the 8% “statutory” interest on the charges, unless it is awarded by the judge. Contact them about the fees. If they don't pay up, just let the hearing go ahead. Keep the court informed of what's happening.

Many thanks for the advice Stephen.

Jackswan_2

I would like to share my experiences with Lloyds TSB and my credit card charges claim. I was originally a Scottish Widows card holder as I would never dream of being involved with Lloyds Bank.
It all began late December 2006 requesting my statements, in fairness they arrived well within the 40 day period.
9th January I requested repayment of £401.
19th January acknowledgement. Policy is fair etc.,.
23rd January having not received a reply I threatened CC action within 7 days.
6th February claimed on MCOL.
14th February - Acknowledgement of Service.
26th February - Defence filed.
26th February - Allocation Questionnaire requested back by 17th March.
5th March - letter from Lloyds offering to reduce the 22 charges in my claim
to the OFT suggested charge of £12 reducing my claim from £401
to £139 plus interest. They politely forgot my CC fee !!
I must add that there had been no attempt prior to the start of
Court proceedings to make an offer. They gave me 28 days to
accept their offer. I declined within two days.
7th March - as suggested by Courts, tried to deal with Card Concerns, spoke
to a human being who offered to place my claim for the full
amount before her Manager.
13th March - Allocation Questionnaire returned to Court.
28th March - Case transferred to Cardiff County Court.
23rd April - tried once again to get this resolved by writing to Team Leader
Card Concerns. To date there has been no response.

This is the part that really annoyed me. In their letter of the 19th January they quote the OFT statement of the 6th April 2006 where recommendations
were made to reduce the charges to £12, they have decided to effect these
changes even though they do not agree with the OFT's interpretation of the
law. That the OFT made no recommendation about charges prior to the 5th April 2006 and that there are no plans to make any alterations to these charges, as a result we are not in a position to offer any refund.
After the CC action had begun, they made the offer of the £12 against all 22
default charges even though their opinion over their charging policy has not changed. It is their final decision on the matter.
My total claim is £508.77, I did suggest in my letter of the 23rd April that it has probably cost them that amount in time/administration and legal charges to defend such a small amount.

Sorry to be so longwinded in this posting, but, Lloyds TSB Bank Plc are very much in the news recently.
The hearing is due to be heard beofre a Circuit Judge during August 2007.

Jester

Jackswan wrote: »

Apparently all cases in South Wales are being transferred to Cardiff County Court as a Circuit Judge has been appointed to deal with the cases. For those of us who have been given dates for a hearing it has been prolonged as the Judge in question is sitting at the Royal Courts Of Justice until the
end of July. In fact the first hearings will be from the 16th August onwards.

Hi Jack,

It looks like my last post and your post crossed. We were more than likely composing our messages at the same time, but you finished yours first. Thanks for the reply.

You might want to read my last post on this subject as the news I got from Swansea County Court was that the Judge in Cardiff was looking into all such claims with a view to making a decision that expediate these claims far more quickly.

Because I have not yet heard from Cardiff County Court, I didn't have the information that you had in that none of these claims are likely to be heard before August. Seems a long time away to me, but at least it means that I can go on hols next month knowing that I won't have a court date during the time I am away. Would like all this to be resolved before I go on holiday as the cash would come in handy for my hols. But nothing I can do about that for now.

LozBingley

Jasper83 wrote: »

I have just won my claim against Halifax. I applied with Money Claim Online to take them to court but they paid up before the 28 days was up.

I was just wondering if I need to do anything with the claim on the Money Claim website? Do I need to delete it or do I just leave it sitting there?

I'm worried I may get charged or that it may still proceed to court even though they have paid me my money.

Please help.

Thank You

There is a section on the MCOL to fill in. Sign in and on the claim menu select the last link against the claim in question and fill in the details. It's very straight forward. You need to do this especially if they have accepted but not paid out as the court can chase payment for you.