Urgent legal advice, have been given 20 days to respond

michaeldavis00

Have on going issue with yorkshire bank,
I am being taken to court for money i owe them. Basics is they cancelled my O/D then charged me a shed load for being over my limit which they had reset to £0.
Had the usaul letters from bank then debt recovery then bank so on, i agreed to repay them less the charges but they refused and have started county court procedings.
So far the events are as follows...

Letter from court to me saying claim made aggainst me how do i plead,
I replied with "disputing part of the claim" on the basis the charges were unlawfull.
Letter from court sayin the claimant showed insufficant details of the claim and had 20 days to file more specific details with the court.
Details filed On the final day, my coppy arrives the day after! (Trying to give me false hope me thinks)
Letter from court saying and i quote...
"The defence is struck out on the grounds that it fails to disclose adequate particulars of the defence. Unless by 4.00pm on the 6 May 2008 the defendant files and serves a further defence, that discloses full particulars af the deffence, the claimant may enter judgement."

So what the hell do i send back ??????????????????

Templates- Legal president- What info i need to submit - Im clutching at straws here folks and were talking a large sum of money that i dont have if i lose this so please help me here, i will check back repeatedly every day for hope of replys.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

dmg24

Bank charges are not unlawful per se.

Have a read of all the extremely helpful information on this board, and then ask about anything that you need clarifying.

michaeldavis00

I've been scouring these forums for hours and come up blank, What i want to do is repay my debt to the bank less the charges for unautherised overdraft etc. now i do not understand the legal basis for the recliming of bank charges though i do no that most claims are stayed due to the oft test case. The bank has taken me to court for an outstanding debt, my defence is that not all of the debt is fair, ie made of charges and im trying to have the court rule in my favour to remove the charges from the debt leaving me the ballance to settle. ive made the offer direct to the bank but had it thrown back in my face. i have untill may 6th to file a defence or have my orriginal defence struck out.

Orford

Can you post up exactly what your defence said.

How much is the bank claiming and how much do the last 6 years bank charges total

weebubbles

why did they cancel your overdraft and were they legally allowed to?

Tozer

OK - basic position is you need to counterclaim iin respect of the bank charges. You cannot simply say that part of the claim is disputed for the very reasons that DMG puts forward - the charges are (at least at the moment) lawful.

There should be a provision for a counterclaim (in which case follow the 'usual' procedure for bank charges reclamation).

michaeldavis00

surely this means that i must go to court for the full amount which i have no defence for, The overdraft and charges do add up to what the bank is asking for, £1200+ but the charges over the last 6 years are £850+. i have all ready answered the court summons with the option of admitting part of the claim giving the reasons stated above. there was an option to counterclaim but as i've all ready selected to admit part of the claim are my hands now tied?
I must submit the details of the defence so would it be worth following the usual claim procedure and outlining the disputed amount and using the "extravagant amount" charged as my defence with regards the charges?
As i now have a copy of the charter i am currently thinking that sending a coppy of all statements- copy of charter- letter sumerising total charges made and outlining that each charge is extravagant and as i understand there for illegal i.e charged £35 for unpaid dd which would cost the bank £0 as it is an automated action and no man hours are spent, it also costs the bank nothing as no monies change hands? its got to the point now where my total lac of legal knowledge has put me in a corner.
There must be something i can do because as it stands im tempted to go in say "My bad, I hold my hands up to it all! How will i repay them? Oh thats simple IM BANKRUPT! i no it sounds a drastic course but unless i can find a way through this i have no choice my disposable income is 0 i quite simply cannot afford to lose.
So please if anyone can help

michaeldavis00

im steadilly running out of time here folks, surely someone must have some idea what information i need to send??

HennyPenny

My initial reaction would be to counter claim, stating the money they are claiming is made up of charges which are yet to be decided in OFT case. You have tried to make amends by offering to pay off amount minus charges which must go in your favour in your defence.
Start the reclaiming process-put your figures into a spreadsheet to find out the exact amount they charged you with interest. Look at other forums to widen your resources.

HennyPenny

Ring the court to see if you can change your plea?

Tozer

you have to counterclaim rather than simply defending. Currently the charges are NOT unlawful. However, if when you counterclaim, you should say that as the test case has resulted in a stay of all charges claims then the action as a whole (i.e. the claim against you AND the counterclaim) should be stayed.