Examples of Witness Statements / Disclosure by List / Draft Directions / Case Summary

[Karnevil]

THESE ARE NOT TEMPLATES

They are to give you a starting point from which to work from, should you be asked to submit any of these to the court. YOU WILL NOT NEED TO SUBMIT ALL OF THESE TO COURT. If you are having difficulties preparing for court please type out your court order IN FULL (exclude your name/court etc) on your thread.

Case Summary
Disclosure by List
Witness Statement - sometimes requested in addition to the bundle
Draft Order for Directions
STRIKE OUT DEFENCE DUE TO NON COMPLIANCE OF BUNDLES

[Karnevil]

CASE SUMMARY

(The case summary should include a chronological list of events (ie letters sent & received etc, date of claim, amendments etc - excluding without prejudice)

CLAIM NO: xxxxxxxx

In the [insert court name] County Court

[insert name]

Claimant

-AND-

[insert name]

Defendant

CASE SUMMARY
_________________________ _________________________ ___

1. I am the Claimant in this case.

2. On 23 March 2006 I wrote to the Defendant requesting a refund of charges.

3. On 08 April 2006 I wrote again to the Defendant requesting a refund of charges and advising I would file a claim should I not receive a satisfactory response.

4. On 27 April 2006 I wrote again to the Defendant advising I would be filing a claim should I not receive a satisfactory response.

5. On 08 May 2006 I filed with Northampton County Court a claim against the Defendant for the return of excessive penalty charges as outlined in my Particulars of Claim.

6. On 26 July 2006 I submitted amended claim to Northampton County Court as requested in General Form of Judgement or Order dated 18 July 2006.

7: Amended claim sealed by Court and returned to myself and served on the Defendant on 04 August 2006.

8. During the period in which the Account has been operating the Defendant debited numerous charges to the Account in respect of purported breaches of contract on the part of the Claimant and also charged interest on the charges once applied. The Claimant understands that the Defendant contends that the charges were debited in accordance with the terms of the Contract between itself and the Claimant.

9. A list of charges applied is attached to this Case Summary.

10. The Claimant contends that:-

a. The charges debited to the Account are punitive in nature; are not a genuine pre-estimate of cost incurred by the Defendant; exceed any alleged actual loss to the Defendant in respect of any breaches of contract on the part of the Claimant and are not intended to represent or related to any alleged actual loss but instead unduly enrich the Defendant which exercises the contractual term in respect of such charges with a view to profit.

b. The contractual provision that permits the Defendant to levy such charges is unenforceable by virtue of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, Paragraph 8, Schedule 2(1)(e); The Unfair (Contracts) Terms Act 1977 Section 4; and the Common Law.
11. Accordingly the Claimant claims:
i. The return of the amounts debited in respect of charges in the sum of £xxxxxxxxx which includes overdraft interest charged;

ii. Court costs (court fee of £120.00, Allocation Questionnaire fee of £100.00).

iii. Interest of £xxxxxxxx (as at 26.06.06) under Section 69 of the County Courts Act as set out on the attached list of charges.

12. I would respectfully ask that the Court, in this case, notwithstanding allocation to the small claims track, order standard disclosure.
a. The Defendant to file at the Court office and serve me with a list setting out how charges have been calculated.
b. I understand that it is in the Courts discretion to do so.


Statement of Truth
I believe the facts stated within this Case Summary to be true comprising of xx pages.

Dated this day of 2006

Signed
[type name]

	County Court guidebook by Judge Patricia Pearl Follow this link to read the review of this excellent Small Claims Guidebook. This comprehensive and very accessible guide will take you through the process of suing or defending a claim. This guide will help you take control of your litigation and make you more confident about doing it yourself. Applies to England and Wales

	Are you letting your bank keep your money Are you giving away thousands of pounds?? Many people aren't claiming all of the money they are entitled to when they make their bank charges claims. You have been forced to pay unfair bank charges. Have you forgotten that your bank has charged you inteest on those charges? If you are overdrawn and the bank owes you charges - then your overdraft is made up of charges - money which you bank owes you. Yet you are paying interest to the bank - on your own money!!! Follow this link to see the discussions on this. You might even double th size of your claim.

[Karnevil]

DISCLOSURE BY LIST

recommended to do this in a spreadsheet to enable sorting and layout

Basically a list of everything you intend to include in your bundles.

case/claim No: [cLAim number]

In the [insert court name] County Court

[insert name]

CLAIMANT

-AND-

[insert name]

DEFENDANT

DISCLOSURE BY LIST

OF [insert name] CLAIMANT

I, [insert name]of [insert home address] Intend to rely on the following documents in court -
1. Correspondences


File Ref .....Date .......Description ......................... ......................... No. of pages

(A) 20/04/06 Letter: Request for repayment of charges to Abbey from NAME to NAME- 1
(B) 02-05-06 Letter: Abbey acknowledgment of (A) from NAME to NAME - 1
(C) 08-05-06 Letter: Letter Before Action to Abbey from NAME to NAME - 1
(D) 11-05-06 Letter: Abbey response to (C) from NAME to NAME - 1
(E) 11-05-06 Letter: 2nd Abbey response to (C) from NAME to NAME- 2
(F) 15-05-06 Copy of County Court Claim form issued by Claimant - 1
(G) Court Document: Notification of claim issued - 1
(H) 22-05-06: Letter: Letter from Solicitors from NAME to NAME - 1
(J) 22-05-06 Court Document: Notification of Acknowledgment of Service - 1
(K) Copy of Abbey Acknowledgment of Service - 1
(L) 23-05-06 Letter: Claimants Response to (H) from NAME to NAME-1
(M) 23-05-06 Letter: Schedule of Charges in response to (H) from NAME to NAME- 2
(N) 14-06-06 Letter: Abbey Fax copy of defence from NAME to NAME - 4
(O) 15-06-06 Letter: Letter confirming defence entered from Court - 1
(P) 15-06-06 Letter: from Solicitor confirming account details from NAME to NAME– 1
(Q) 15-6-06 Court Document: Notification of Defence Filed by Abbey - 1
(R) ----------------------------------------------------------------
(S) 21-06-06 Letter: Claimant to Solicitors – confirming return of Allocation Questionnaire from NAME to NAME- 1
(T) 20-07-06 Court Document: Notification of Allocation and Hearing – 2
(U) 20-08-06 Letter: Claimant to District Judge from NAME to NAME– 1
(V) 30-8-06 Court Document – General Form of Judgement or Order -1
(W) 30-08-06 Court Document – Notice of Case Management Conference -1

2. Authorities


...........Description ......................... ......................... .............No. of pages
(AA) -- Copy of bank statements printed from online banking provided by Abbey
(BB) -- Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations (1999) - 10
(CC) -- The Supply of Goods and Services Act (1982) - 13
(DD) -- Unfair Contract Terms Act (1977) - 9
(EE) -- Office of Fair Trading Report April 2006 (OFT842) - 35
( FF) -- House of Commons Early Day Motion (EDM 2227) - 1
(GG) -- House of Commons Select Committee on Treasury
Second Report: ‘Transparency in charging’ - 10
(HH) -- Report by Kendall Freeman on Liquidated Damages (May 2005) - 3
(II) -- Case Law Reference: Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co Ltd
v New Garage & Motor Co Ltd [1915] AC 79 - 2
(JJ) -- Case Law Reference: Alfred McAlpine Capital Projects Ltd
v Tilebox Ltd [2005] EWHC 281 (TCC) - 2


The Claimant will also make reference to the following case laws;
1. Murray v Leisureplay [2005] EWCA Civ 963
2. Wilson v Love [1898]
3. Lordsvale Finance PLC v Bank of Zambia (1996) QB 752
4. Bridge v Campbell Discount Co. Ltd. (1962)

Statement of Truth
I believe the facts stated within this xxxxxxxxxx to be true and comprises of xx pages.


Dated this day of 2006

Signed

[Karnevil]

Other things I would like to include in this section.

Time Estimates
Pre Trial Check List
Costs Summary

[Karnevil]

DRAFT ORDER FOR DIRECTIONS EXAMPLE

In the XXXXXX County Court
Claim number XXXXXX

Between

XXXXXXXX - Claimant

and

XXXXX - Defendant

Draft Order for Directions

The Claimant shall within 14 days of service of this order send to the Defendant and to the Court:

• a) A schedule setting out each charge repayment of which is sought, showing the date, amount, and reason given (if any) for that charge being made;

• b) Copies of any statement or other document relied upon as showing that each and every charge has been made;

• c) A statement of evidence of all matters relied upon as tending to show that the charges are irrecoverable as penalties or otherwise;

• d) Copies of decided cases and other legal materials to be relied upon.

If the Claimant fails to comply with this order, the claim will be struck out without further order.



2. The Defendant shall within 14 days thereafter file and serve a response to the Claimant's schedule, stating in respect of each item claimed;

• a) Pursuant to what contractual provision such charge was made, producing a copy of the contractual document relied upon;

• b) Whether such charge is accepted to be a penalty, and if not why not;

• c) If such charge is alleged to be a pre-estimate of the Defendant's loss incurred by the Claimant's actions (whether or not such action is treated as a breach of contract between the parties), all facts and matters intended to be relied upon as showing that such was a proper estimate of such loss, and all evidence to be adduced at trial as to what the true cost of dealing with the matter was;

• d) If such charge is not alleged to be a pre-estimate of the Defendant's loss incurred by the Claimant's actions then facts and matters intended to be relied upon showing the basis upon which the charge was calculated and all evidence to be adduced at trial as to show that the charge was fair and reasonable.

• f) Any witness statements.

• g) Copies of decided cases and other legal materials to be relied upon.

If the Defendant fails to comply with this order, the Defence will be struck out without further order.

	County Court guidebook by Judge Patricia Pearl Follow this link to read the review of this excellent Small Claims Guidebook. This comprehensive and very accessible guide will take you through the process of suing or defending a claim. This guide will help you take control of your litigation and make you more confident about doing it yourself. Applies to England and Wales

[GaryH]

ABBEY, are getting very sloppy lately and are missing deadlines left right and centre, particularly orders to submit their court documents.

It has become clear that ringing to chase them up is fairly pointless and perhaps even counter-productive - in most cases they'll just give you the run-around.

Instead, if they breach an order to submit documents, it is suggested that a better way of chasing them is by letter.

Firstly, on (or as soon as possible after) their deadline expires, send Abbey the following letter enclosing a copy of the courts order. If possible, send a copy by fax as well as post.

[You]

[date]

Dear Sir/Madam,

[You] –v- Abbey Plc
Claim No: ********

I write in relation to the claim as detailed above, and specifically the order made by District Judge ******* dated [date].

You were ordered by the court to by [date] file and serve the documents upon which your client intends to rely at the forthcoming hearing. For your reference, a copy of the order to which I refer is enclosed with this letter.

I have, to date, received no such documents and accordingly I hereby request that you do serve upon me these documents at your earliest convenience.

I consider your non-compliance to be particularly unacceptable in view of the fact that you are specialist solicitors representing a large financial institution with vast resources, and feel that your litigation should be conducted in a professional mannor befitting of such a prestigious organisation.

Please note that the evidence upon which I intend to rely was both filed and served pursuant to the order of the court on [date].

Should you not comply with the order within 7 days of this letter, I shall write representations directly to the district judge dealing with this claim, to inform the court of your continued non-compliance and invite further order to be made as it sees fit.

I look forward to your prompt response.

Yours Faithfully

Its very unlikely that you'll get a response to this, so after the 7 days have elapsed send the following letter to the court, also enclosing a copy of the above.

[you]

District Judge ******
C/O The Court Manager
****** County Court
Court Address
Postcode

[date]

Dear Sir/Madam,

[You] -v- Abbey Plc
Claim No:********

I, the Claimant, refer to the claim as detailed above and specifically the order made by district judge ***** dated [date]

I wish to inform the court that the defendant has not complied with the order in that it has not served upon me the evidence, or any such documents, upon which it intends to rely at the forthcoming hearing.

I wrote to the defendants solicitor on [date] to request that it serve the Defendents documents at its earliest conveniance. I have received no response to this correspondance.

I can confirm that my documents were filed on [date] and served to the Defendant on [date]

It is submitted that the Defendants non-compliance creates a significant imbalance between the parties in light of the forthcoming hearing, which I believe to be contrary to the overriding objective. This imbalance is particularly exacerbated by the fact that the Defendant is represented by specialist solicitors, whereas I am a litigant in person.

Accordingly, it is respectfully suggested that the court may be minded to make an order pursuant to Rule 3.4(2)(c) of the Civil Procedure Rules, or other such order as the court deems just.

Yours faithfully

Going on the response so far, it seems quite unlikely that the court would go as far as ordering a strike out, but would probably issue another order that they submit the documents by a certain date or else they won't be able to rely on them at the hearing.

In any case, it will give Abbey a good kick up the bum and more importantly, it demonstrates to the court that they are not conducting themselves professionally, which in light of the recent orders made in Lincoln can only be a good thing.

Also, if/when they settle, its very important that claimants write to inform the court and drop the claim. We need to do all we can to act properly and keep the courts on our side!

	County Court guidebook by Judge Patricia Pearl Follow this link to read the review of this excellent Small Claims Guidebook. This comprehensive and very accessible guide will take you through the process of suing or defending a claim. This guide will help you take control of your litigation and make you more confident about doing it yourself. Applies to England and Wales

[Glenn UK]

FWIW

Abbey failed to submit their AQ, I wrote directly to the court copying in the defendant, the judge ordered submissions within 7 days or risk the defence being struck out.

I would suggest that all correspondence between parties, once the claim has been submitted, should be copied to the court unless it deals with WOP matters.

Just a suggestion.

Glenn

[Karnevil]

SETTLED CLAIM NUMBERS FOR ABBEY from Litigation concluded ( cheers mcuth)

These may come in useful when negotiating settlement / witness statements anything else really.

4QZ2810928 5QZ30938 6CK02117 6CL01687 6DE02959 6DE04574 6HG03992 6PE02904 6PE04231 6QZ08692 6QZ09627 6QZ18498 6QZ19764 6QZ21137 6QZ23148 6QZ30791 6QZ32624 6QZ39038 6QZ41854 6QZ43864 6QZ48201 6QZ67803 6QZ71927 6SL00583 6SO05338