Half way to getting a stay removed?

Elise1309

Quick update on my claim status in case it's of assistance to others.

My online claim had been defended by Lloyds, and then a stay applied for at, and granted by, Northampton County Court (who handle online claims).

I wrote a letter to the court manager asking for my stay to be lifted on the grounds that

a) the delay was causing me serious financial hardship due to have been unemployed for a long period and only just having started back at work recently.

b) The fact that IMHO Lloyds had contributed to the state of my current account and subsequent fee levies by mismanaging my account, providing poor advice/service and delaying the payment of benefits/insurance by not cooperating with the DWP ie my case is not just about charges being 'punitive' - it's also about whether they ever should have been levied in the first place.

I also phoned a week or two later to chase the matter up

Yesterday I received a letter from Northampton CC saying that my case would now be referred onto a local court for the judge there to make a decision on whether the stay should be lifted or not. The letter also ordered that I did not have to fill in an application form for the stay to be lifted - my letter was sufficient to enter for consideration, and that no further court fees were to be levied.

I am really pleased with this as it shows that some effort to consider cases on an individual basis is being made. Of course the local court may not necessarily be sympathetic to lifting the stay and nothing may change, but it's a step in the right direction.

Stokey125

Elise1309 wrote: »

Quick update on my claim status in case it's of assistance to others.

My online claim had been defended by Lloyds, and then a stay applied for at, and granted by, Northampton County Court (who handle online claims).

I wrote a letter to the court manager asking for my stay to be lifted on the grounds that

a) the delay was causing me serious financial hardship due to have been unemployed for a long period and only just having started back at work recently.

b) The fact that IMHO Lloyds had contributed to the state of my current account and subsequent fee levies by mismanaging my account, providing poor advice/service and delaying the payment of benefits/insurance by not cooperating with the DWP ie my case is not just about charges being 'punitive' - it's also about whether they ever should have been levied in the first place.

I also phoned a week or two later to chase the matter up

Yesterday I received a letter from Northampton CC saying that my case would now be referred onto a local court for the judge there to make a decision on whether the stay should be lifted or not. The letter also ordered that I did not have to fill in an application form for the stay to be lifted - my letter was sufficient to enter for consideration, and that no further court fees were to be levied.

I am really pleased with this as it shows that some effort to consider cases on an individual basis is being made. Of course the local court may not necessarily be sympathetic to lifting the stay and nothing may change, but it's a step in the right direction.

When you hear back form your local court you might want ot ask if you can add to the grounds for the stay being lifted. If they say yes add as ana dditional ground that it would appear that the test case will only deal with the limited question of whether the UTCCR applies. Accordingly other issues like whether the charges are actually unfair and also whether in any event they are a penalty charge will not be decided by the test case and a trial on these points would be needed so there is no need for a stay as no time would be saved by waiting for the test case.