Bank Charges OFT Test Case Discussion

nickmack

lizzimint wrote: »

can anyone help please , i have just received my second letter from banks solicitor to say that some of the items im claiming are not fees but charges and if it goes yo court they have to go to court they will add court costs to me .should i accept the offer they made please help anyone

They are probably saying they are 'Service Charges' and not penalty 'Fees'. I deem them exactly the same thing, except the name has changed.

If the charges were from before they changed their T&C's, obtain a copy and this will show they were charged under the old regime. If they are newer charges, it doesn't really matter, the claim can still be brought.

In Small Claims, even if you lost the case, you would still not be liable to pay any court costs for the other party unless there were exceptional circumstances. Are the bank saying they will add their solicitors costs to money owed?

meandkandy

Halifax have just charged me £390 for 10 unpaid DD, I misjudged the date and put the money in the account 2 days later, my problem is that Halifax have said they are taking the money (£390) out on the 20th of this month and when i go into the branch, the ignorant people I speak with and explain what happened just refuse all reasons and say I owe the money and it will come out of my account. Any advice would be grateful

kfer_kaz

meandkandy wrote: »

Halifax have just charged me £390 for 10 unpaid DD, I misjudged the date and put the money in the account 2 days later, my problem is that Halifax have said they are taking the money (£390) out on the 20th of this month and when i go into the branch, the ignorant people I speak with and explain what happened just refuse all reasons and say I owe the money and it will come out of my account. Any advice would be grateful

This is what I would do, prolly the totally wrong thing to do but I would do it anyway. I would clear out that account and open an account with a different bank, I would ring all the people I owe the money to and explain about setting up a new account and could they please be patient, most companies will allow you to pay 2 months of DD's if you miss one. it's a pain in the harris but worth it if it saves you having to find an extra £390 to pay the DD's.

david75

I had got to the stage of applying to the small claims court, which i did on 2nd August, and the bank put in a defence against it. Then came the ruling that the courts could hold these cases till after the test case.
Now my question is that this was only supposed to apply to cases that went online after 13th August, as mine was before this date can i appeal against the stay?

andrewman

i would change the bank you use, once a claim goes in the bank will close your account, they did to me, but i opened an account with the co-op instead, that way they could not take money out of the account to pay their charges. I have contacted the financial ombudsman due to the bank i am claiming charges back from ahve sent my details to a debt collection agency, the ombudsman informed me of the fact that, as no legal precident has been set with regards to the court case now going on, banks are allowed to chase you forthe outstanding debt. I am totally amazed at this, but it is out of my hands.

Tozer

david75 wrote: »

I had got to the stage of applying to the small claims court, which i did on 2nd August, and the bank put in a defence against it. Then came the ruling that the courts could hold these cases till after the test case.
Now my question is that this was only supposed to apply to cases that went online after 13th August, as mine was before this date can i appeal against the stay?

No just read all of the other posts on this site. It is a stay pending a test case. What makes you think you case is different?

david75

Tozer wrote: »

No just read all of the other posts on this site. It is a stay pending a test case. What makes you think you case is different?

Just wanted to check, from what i can gather stays pending the test case could only be applied to cases after the 13th August, and as i put my claim into the court on the 2nd i thought i might be able to appeal against the stay, due to mine falling before the 13th Aug. Is this not the case?

Tozer

david75 wrote: »

Just wanted to check, from what i can gather stays pending the test case could only be applied to cases after the 13th August, and as i put my claim into the court on the 2nd i thought i might be able to appeal against the stay, due to mine falling before the 13th Aug. Is this not the case?

No. And you cannot appeal as there is no judgment to appeal against. Besides, it would cost a huge amount. I think you will have to wait until the stay is lifted.

marcus79_2

ok, so as i mentioned previously some time ago, I was on the stage where I was just waiting to here from the bank, and they sent a letter nothing going to be sorted until test case heard blah blah.

just basicly want a simple explanation of what the score is so far, for those people like me who get lost in all the jargon thats said...

Xzane

Hi, i put in a claim for £1,400 in july 07 with Natwest, but was sent the letter about the test case, can we pursue with the claim now, or are we still waiting? What shud i do?