Stop Press - View On Oft/bank Announcement

Wraith_Rover

kevinc1 wrote: »

Dear All,

i went to court today and as expected the bank (Abbey) turned up and requested a stay which was granted. However I just wanted to let everyone who is due to go to court know, that the judge was very sympathetic to the consumers, said he thought the banks had "acted deplorabley" and that "reluctantly" he agreed to the stay.

Yes it is nerve racking but it is definatetely worth going unless you have heard FROM THE COURT (Not the bank!!!) that your case has been stayed.
<SNIP>
KEV
X

I have a hearing date set for 10 Sep in Winchester. Last week I wrote to SC&M to see if there was any likelihood of a pre-Court settlement (nothing ventured, nothing gained as it were) and all that prompted them to do was to write to the judge asking for a stay. I submitted by own counter request to the Court the day after I received a copy of their request. I've now had direction from the judge stating that, after considering my response, either the stay will be ordered or the hearing date will be used to allow SC&M to explain why there should be a stay.

Either way it does seem as if the case is being considered on it's own merits, and at least I've been given an opportunity to put my side to the judge. So folks with claims already in the pipeline should not assume that a stay will automatically be granted just because the Banks' solicitors ask for one.

One point I tried to highlight was that if the stay is granted, my Bank will then be able to continue to charge me interest at 19% on my overdraft until my claim is settled one way or the other. Assuming we, the consumers, ARE successful, all I can claim back will be 8%, so the Bank will still have profited to the tune of 11% on the balance in the interim, which seems patently unfair to me. Accordingly I asked the Court to make any stay conditional on the Bank being prevented from charging me any more penalties in the interim or charging me more than 8% on my outstanding overdraft. Even if the stay is granted I hope there might be some concessions made in this regard.

I'll keep you posted as things develop.

Keep the faith!

~ WR ~

katie001

I wounder if someone could tell me if it's still worth putting a claim in for Mortgage arrears charges in light of the stays concerning bank charges.
GE Money charged me approx £700 in arrears fees over the last 4 years, I'm at the court stage, need to pay £80 for this, is it still worth going ahead?
Katie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:smileyhea

cat_matt

hi i apologise if any has posted this before i was sent it in an email by uswitch...

Customers are stuck in limbo as claims against current account default charges are on hold until January 2008’s test case between the leading banks and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). However the banks are not out of pocket!

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Our research reveals that the ‘big freeze’ could mean almost one million claims, worth a staggering £713 million[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif], being put on hold. By keeping this money from consumers, we estimate these frozen claims could net the banks an extra £20.5 million in interest over the next six months while the OFT prepares its case.[/FONT]

lindilou39

katie001 wrote: »

I wounder if someone could tell me if it's still worth putting a claim in for Mortgage arrears charges in light of the stays concerning bank charges.
GE Money charged me approx £700 in arrears fees over the last 4 years, I'm at the court stage, need to pay £80 for this, is it still worth going ahead?
Katie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:smileyhea

yes katie go for it...the OFT/FSA/Banks test case is purely for bank charges.

katie001

lindilou39 wrote: »

yes katie go for it...the OFT/FSA/Banks test case is purely for bank charges.

Thanks Lindiloo, I will go ahead and keep my fingers crossed.
Katie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:smileyhea

tiamai_d

Oh I am so angry! Last night I transfered money that usually goes out via Standing Order to my husbands account (for bills) it hadn't went out as it was £10 short. Now I have a letter saying they are charging me £35.00!!! I thought you were not charged for SO? Actually it was the debt adviser last year who told me SO did not carry a charge if missed. hmm... when did that change?

Wonder if its worth calling the bank or just call the FO?

ganonman

If it's just a one off then call the bank. A lot of them will give you a free strike. So if you haven't reclaimed any charges recently then just call the and ask them if them can refund it. Be persistant but not rude as it is at their discretion.

esmerellda

Stay overturned without hearing in Torquay and Newton Abbot Court http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/showthread.php?t=570

Stay overturned with hearing at Eastbourne Court
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/cases-stayed-pending-oft/111313-stay-lifted-eastbourne-county.html

Both claims are hardship/benefits cases

Jester

esmerellda wrote: »

Stay overturned without hearing in Torquay and Newton Abbot Court http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/showthread.php?t=570

Stay overturned with hearing at Eastbourne Court
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/cases-stayed-pending-oft/111313-stay-lifted-eastbourne-county.html

Both claims are hardship/benefits cases

Unfortunately, it is purely down to the court involved. I claimed financial hardship as I am currently unemployed and on benefits.

My case was one of the 500 claims that was supposed to have been heard at Cardiff County Court on the 14th August, but all the claims were stayed. I put in my objection to the Stay and asked the judge to overturn it on the basis of my financial hardship. Cardiff County Court did not even give me the courtesy of a reply one way or the other.

For anyone who is having financial hardship (like I am), then it is certainly worth trying to get the Stay overturned. However, if you are in that position and one of those that is being dealt with by Cardiff County Court then don't bother. Judge Hickinbottom is simply NOT INTERESTED !!

esmerellda

Did you submit a formal application to vary the order for the stay ?

They are a court and they do have to consider applications made to them. So dont chuck in the towell.

Let us know what you have done, what letters/applications you have used and we'll see if there is another step you can still take.

Also timescales on this are important.

Thanks

Esme
xx