Ollyq V A&l

[Ollyq]

Hi everyone, I'm a newby & this is my first thread in the right place - I hope!
I have been following the advice on money saving expert and found the link to CAG, after I have sent off my claim via MCOL, from the info I've found it looks as though I have missed some vital bits, so fingers crossed I am not too late to salvage my claim!!

Actions so far:
Jan requested bank charges over past 3 years, A&L supplied no problem
27 Feb letter to A&L requesting refund of 1,582 (excluding interest) received response 2 days later, usual blurb.. charges not unfair etc.
12 Mar sent further letter advising legal action if refund not given - response 2 days later, same tac, charges not unfair.
26 Apr filed MCOL for 1,889 including interest & court costs - used template on money saving expert- slightly different to CAG template and doesnt include all legal refs. - ( also didnt realise I needed to follow this up with schedule in hardcopy until now.)
3 May received letter & cheque for £255 in full & final (without predjudice), sent this back cancelled with letter explaining I wanted the full amount.
4 May received acknowledgement of service from Wragge, and copy from MCOL
21 May received defence from Wragge- the 23 points look similar to many off those listed on CAG, including insufficient particulars of claim and a request for the case to be "struck out pursuant to the Civil Procedure rules part 24.2 as the claimant has no real prospect of suceeding,... and no other compelling reason why the case/ issue ought to be disposed of at trial"- no copy of defence from MCOL yet
Rang MCOL this morning - my case has been transferred to my local court, and I should receive the transfer papers with instructions shortly.
The lady I spoke to was really helpful- she told me to send the schedule to the banks solicitor ASAP, and wait until I get the transfer papers before sending to local court. She did not know if I would be able to ammend the claim via my local court at this stage though - has anyone else found themselves in a similar situation? Its all a bit scary at this stage!

[MimiJane]

Hi there,

I may have missed something, but why do you want to amend your claim? You've done what I did and used your initial templates, etc. from moneysavingexpert.com which are not incorrect, but do not include as much detail as the ones on here.

You appear to have done everything correctly ... not asking for interest initially, sending your schedule to the solicitors, refusing partial payment, etc. Have you also sent your charges shedule to the court? If not, I'd do that soon, then just wait for your court date and the judge's directions.

[Ollyq]

Tks for advice MimiJane,I found this info in the templates section which made me think I should ammend the claim, as the banks are now defending most cases claimed via MCOL due to shortend particulars of claim, there is a list of essential info to be included and I know my claim didnt include all of this.

I've sent off my schedule of charges this afternoon to Wragges, will wait for transfer papers from local court before doing anything else

5. Money Claim On-Line (MCOL) Particulars of Claim

[MimiJane]

Originally Posted by Ollyq

Tks for advice MimiJane,I found this info in the templates section which made me think I should ammend the claim, as the banks are now defending most cases claimed via MCOL due to shortend particulars of claim, there is a list of essential info to be included and I know my claim didnt include all of this.

I've sent off my schedule of charges this afternoon to Wragges, will wait for transfer papers from local court before doing anything else

5. Money Claim On-Line (MCOL) Particulars of Claim

The clause in the defence paper from Wragge that you quote looks standard to me, so I wouldn't worry.

[Ollyq]

Tks for the advice, I'll sit tight and wait for the transfer papers, seems there are quite a few at the same stage, just waiting for a date.

[Ollyq]

Rang local county court today, as have still not received official notice that my case has transferred to York county Court- York County court advised me I am not too late to put in an ammendment to my claim (form N244) if I want to ammend my POC's.

Reading through all the info on CAG, I know I missed off a lot of the recommended POC's on the template, so I really think I should stick in an ammendment. I have listed the POC's that I originally sent.

1. Between the 10th May 2004 and the 9th February 2007, the defendant debited numerous charges from the claimants account.
2. The charges are an unfair penalty under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, because they are a disproportionately high sum in compensation compared to the cost of the purported breach.
3. Under the law of penalties, the charges are an unlawful extravagent penalty.
4. The claimant claims interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 from 10.05.04. This totals 187.48 accruing at the daily rate of 0.021 percent until judgement or payment.
5. The claimant asks the court to enter judgement in their favour for 1,582.00 plus interest, totalling 1,769.42.

I know I may sound paranoid - because I am ( Just a little), but if another £35 and a short delay ensures sucess I think its worth it - Hey I've waited 3 years after all...

As always grateful for any advice anyone can give me, and thanks for all the support so far

Olly

[Michael Browne]

Admittedly your POC's are 'thin'. You could either wait until the court issues Directions, which may include filing and serving fuller particulars (which would cost nothing) or submit an amended claim using N244 with these POC's:
Abbey National V Me & the Defence

[Ollyq]

Wow!!!- yours are certainly a lot fatter than mine!! Thanks for the advice and the link, I am going to re-submit the claim for peace of mind.

Olly

[Michael Browne]

See here for advice filling in the N244:
The "Claim Too vague" defence and guide to amending a claim

[Ollyq]

Thanks again, for really helpful info - feeling a lot more confident now, I think your POC's just about covered every point in Wragges defence - will be interesting to see what they come back with after I submit new POC's tomorow!!!!

[Ollyq]

Had a wicked but funny idea
trauling through A&L corporate responsibility site I notice that they donate to organisations and charities, which include quote "Supporting organisations who help those who are experiencing financial difficulties".

Do you think they would make a donation to CAG??

[Ollyq]

:oHave just heard that a hearing has been arranged for 10 Aug, by the District Judge, to decide whether he will accept my ammended POC's. Any one else been in this situation? I'm wondering what the chances are of him rejecting it.

[jansus]

is it just for POC - or is it a directions hearing - can you post (without personal details/court details etc) what exactly you have received?

jan

[Ollyq]

Hi Jan

there were 2 letters,both arrived today - I think they have been caught up in the postal strike. The first reads " Your application to amend the claim has been referred to the judge who has said it is to be listed for a hearing. Your application will be given a hearing date and you will receive a copy hearing notice in due course".

The 2nd is attached to the front of my amended POC's and is headed Notice of Hearing of Application. It reads" The hearing of the claimant's application for (see attached copy) will take place at xx on the 8th August 2007 at xxx."

I rang the court this morning and they said the judge will decide at the hearing whether to accept my ammended POC's.

[jansus]

bumping your thread to the top

hope Michael Browne is about - as I have not heard of this before or you could pm him if you dont get a reply


Jan

Bumpety Bump

[Ollyq]

Just got back from the Court , was feeling V nervous as I didnt know what to expect.
The Judge just heard the grounds for ammending my POC's, said that he had received a letter from Wragges stating they had no objection, and therefore granted permission to change them- phew.
What he did say, which made me feel a whole lot better, was that he was re-serving the papers on Wragges, and they had to respond in 14 days, he was then recommending that the case is listed for a hearing at the next available date, and that I should prepare my docs so that I can serve to the court and to Wragges 14 days before that date - I took that to mean that my case wasnt being stayed!!

Whoopee looks like judgement day is finally coming

[MimiJane]

Well done Olly Hopefully the judge will "order" A&L/Wragge to declare how they reach their charges and to justify why they're not penalties, etc. If he does this, they won't/can't submit anything (they haven't yet), so should be plain sailing.

Obviously make sure you submit your documents in time, then if/when Wragge submit nothing, you can apply for judgement by default.

See link below for judgement form :-

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/c.../n225_0406.pdf

Good luck!

Mimi