Curtis V Barclays - Court Action

[Helen Curtis]

Hi
Story so far:
Sent first letter asking for money back on 5 July, received standard letter on 11 July saying they are looking into the matter and will respond no later than 7 August.
4 August received offer for half my bank charges amounting to £550 (I don't think so!).
Letter before Action was sent on 9 August to which I received a reply on 18 August saying this was their final offer.
21 September issued Moneyclaim against Barclays, and I am at moment waiting for them to defend which no doubt they will as 14 days up this Thursday (5 Oct).

I have a question, since I filled in the Monyclaim form I have had more charges from Barclays (over £120), can I add these to my original claim?

Also want to say what a fantastic site this is and would not have gone this far without the support and advice here.


Helen

[Madam Ra]

I rang the courts about this - no you can't.

But when they offer you the full amount, write a letter accepting it, but only if they include the additional charges too. add the charge details (see my post underneath).

I'll let you know what happens as I'm due to go to court next week. if they don't pay up including the extra few hundred they owe me (by the end of this week), I'm not stopping court action!

MWAHAHAHAHAHA

GOOD LUCK - you'll get your money

Ra*

[Helen Curtis]

Thanks for that Madam Ra and good luck next week!

Bring it on Barclays

[victimnomore]

I think you need to be careful! I think if the defendant offers the full amount of the claim WITHOUT CONDITIONS then the claimant is obliged to accept it. It's only when they want something more from you, for example confidentiality, that you're entitled to ask for more from them.

Whatever the case however, once you've successfully claimed once - they should be less likely to argue themselves straight into a new case.

[Helen Curtis]

Update:
Barclays have finally defended my claim and I have until 11 Nov to complete Allocation Questionnaire.

I am confused as to what to put in section G other information. Do I have to ask for my claim to go to the small claims track here? I have read the help on filling in the AC form from jonni2bad and it says 'You may wish to add reasons why the case is more suitable for Small Claims Track if your claim value exceeds £5,000 or provide reasoning why the other side should provide evidence of their costs! You could include similar text to this....'
However my claim does not exceed £5000.

As my claim is £1456.01 I do not have to pay the court fee as this is under £1500 I am assuming.

Do I have to send my list of charges to the court and to Barclays as on the defence they have put '1. The Particulars of Claim do not provide details or particulars of the account in question and / or the precise charges alleged to have been unlawful, or on the date thereof' even though I have sent this twice with first two letters.

Any help appreciated, thanks in advance

[Michael Browne]

This will need amending, depending on Barclay's defence:

SECTION G OTHER INFORMATION
The defendant in its defence contends that this claim is not suitably particularised and the statement of claim is “embarrassing” and shows no reasonable grounds for the claim to be brought. The Claimant disagrees with this contention entirely. The claims particulars clearly state the statutory and common law provisions on which this claim relies, and the claimant will of course elaborate upon the claim particulars at such time as is required upon the direction of the court. Further, contrary to the contention of the defendant, the relevant numbers of the account in question were clearly identified in the claimant’s particulars of claim, and a full schedule of the charges which form the sum claimed from the defendant was sent to Northampton bulk court on the day of issue for inclusion alongside the claims particulars. Additionally, the defendant was served with this information on two occasions previously within a 28 day period allowed by the claimant to attempt to resolve the issue prior to the commencement of this litigation. For the sake of expediency, I have attached another copy of the schedule to this allocation questionnaire.
As is known to the defendant, I am a litigant in person in this case. It is respectfully submitted that the contentions of the defendant are highly likely to be an attempt to distress and intimidate, rather than presenting any valid or reasonable objections to the clarity of the Particulars of claim.


Plus you can request Standard Disclosure:

SECTION G STANDARD DISCLOSURE
I am respectfully requesting that my claim be allocated to the small claims track. This issue is not a complicated one; it is an issue of fact and not of law. The issue is only whether the money levied by the Defendant in respect of its customer’s contractual breaches exceed their actual costs incurred. I am happy to pay their actual costs and I am surprised the Defendant did not counterclaim for these, because I would have paid them without argument.
However, the continuing problem is, (in common with the 100s of other cases currently being brought by other bank customers), that the banks refuse to reveal the details of their penalty-charging regime. As the banks have a fiduciary duty towards their customers, they have a duty to deal straightforwardly and in utmost good faith.
Accordingly, I would respectfully ask that the court in this case, not withstanding allocation to the small claims track, order standard disclosure. I understand that it is in the courts discretion to do so. This would bring a rapid end, not only to this litigation, but would also likely bring an end to much of the litigation in progress against other high-street banks

	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

[Helen Curtis]

Thanks Michael, so I do need to request allocation to small claims track.

I will fill in now so I can post in the morning, and send a copy of the charges as I read in another thread the case may get stayed.

Thanks again
Helen

[Michael Browne]

Small claims track should be automatic, but you're asking for Standard Disclosure which is normally part of the fast track procedure.

Send a copy of your AQ + schedule to Barclays solicitors as well

[Helen Curtis]

Update:
I sent off the AQ by the date specified, I then got a letter from the court saying that Barclays must send their completed AQ by 22 Nov 06 or defence will be struck out.
Next I got another letter from court on 29 Nov 06 with the following, I am not sure if this is standard, when checking other threads I could not find one with this response from a court.

ON 16 November 2006

District Judge XXXXX sitting at Falkland House, 25 Southway, Colchester, Essex considered the papers in the case and ordered that:

(1)The Claim is allocated to the Small Claims Track

(2)The action is stayed until 2 January 2007 during which period the parties shall try to settle the matter or narrow the issues. The Parties shall negotiate expeditiously, openly and purposefully without pre-conditions, to include at least, if necessary, one face to face meeting at an agreed time and location, to be attended by persons on behalf of both Parties who are fully authorized to negotiate and agree a final settlement.

(3)By 4pm on 16 January 2007 the Parties shall file at Court EITHER a Consent Order finally determining the Case OR an agreed report in writing of the outcome of negotiations including all the steps taken by both Parties towards achieving a settlement (without disclosing any matters which remain subject to ‘without prejudice’ terms); an explanation of what has been agreed, what remains in dispute, and the reason for failure to reach settlement; and an agreed draft Order for further Directions.

(4)Failure to comply constructively and fully with this Order or to engage properly in negotiations may be penalized in costs or by sanctions (including, if appropriate, strikingout a Party’s Statement of Case).

(5)Because this Order has been made by the Court without considering representations from the Parties, the Parties have the right to apply to have the Order set aside, varied or stayed. A party wishing to make an application must send or deliver the application to the Court (together with any appropriate fee) to arrive within seven days of the service of this Order.

I guess the next thing to do would be to write to Barclays to see if they will settle in full? Any suggestions on what to do next would be appreciated.
Helen

[Helen Curtis]

Hi again

Well I have drafted a letter to Barclays to try and negotiate a settlement, as it seems to me the Judge wants me to do this before a court date will be set.
Please, if anyone has time can they review this before I send it?
From reading other Barclay threads it seems most people have got a Court date at this point and start to gather the Court bundle. I suppose it depends on the Court.
I plan on calling Barclays next week to start a verbal negotiation

Thanks in advance....

Helen


Adrian Ruffhead
Litigation and Disputes
Level 29

One Churchill Place
London

E14 5HP


Without prejudice

Re: ACCOUNT NUMBER: XXXXX

Claim Number: 6QZ65664

Dear Mr Ruffhead


Please find enclosed copy of Allocation Questionnaire in relation to the above claim.
I have also enclosed a copy of the charges in question, to comply with point 1 of the defence. I would like to advise you that copies of the charges were sent to Head Office, Customer Relations, London, E14 5HP on 05/07/06 and 09/08/06.

Since completion of the Allocation Questionnaire the following has been ordered by Judge XXXXX sitting at Colchester County Court paragraph 2:
"The action is stayed until 2 January 2007 during which period the Parties shall try to settle the matter or narrow the issues. The Parties shall negotiate expeditously. openly and purposefully without pre-conditions, to include at least, if necessary, one face to face meeting at an agreed time and location, to be attended by persons on behalf of both Parties who are fully authorised to negotiate and agree a finial settlement."

I believe the issue here is the actual costs incurred in levying these charges and I would be happy to pay the actual costs providing you are prepared to reveal a breakdown in costs of the penalties charged.

I am writing this letter to once again request a full refund of the charges levied on my account over the last four years.

I am willing to attend a face to face meeting providing this is at my local branch due to the fact I am a full time working mother and I can not afford time off work to attend meetings elsewhere.

I will be sending this letter by recorded delivery in compliance of the order and will call your office next week to ensure this letter has been received to discuss a final settlement.

Yours faithfully,

[Michael Browne]

Please find enclosed copy of Allocation Questionnaire in relation to the above claim.
I have also enclosed a copy of the charges in question, in answer to point 1 of the defence. I would like to advise you that copies of the charges were sent to Head Office, Customer Relations, London, E14 5HP on 05/07/06 and 09/08/06

.
You don't want to comply with their defence!!!

I am writing this letter to once again request a full refund of the charges levied on my account over the last four years, which with s69 8% interest and court fees now total £xxx.

Just so the full amount is in black and white

	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

[Helen Curtis]

Thanks Michael
I will send off this letter and keep you all posted on what happens next..
Helen

[Helen Curtis]

Hi everyone
First update and what’s been happening-
Sent letter recorded delivery to Barclays in response to the court order on Friday 15th December, checked on the Monday that letter had been received.
On the Tuesday I then tried calling the number on the defence form and found this was a invalid number, I eventually worked out what the number should be and was put through Adrian Ruffhead, however he was not there so I left a voice mail for him to call me, called again the next day and again left a voice mail, called again on the third day and was able to speak to Mr Ruffhead, he was aware of my messages and quickly gave me a member of staff's name who would be dealing with my claim. I called this person and he advised me the charges I was claiming would have to be verified and this would not happen before Christmas so he said he would call me after Christmas.
Spoke to this person after Christmas and he said they would be paying me in full!
I then asked him about the additional £450 of charges I have had since Moneyclaim, I was advised to repeat the process again for these charges, I told him this means their defence would now be weak when they have already paid me in full. However if that’s what they want then I will start the process again.

[Fullyskinted]

Nice one!

Barclays are gonna default in about 1 minute on not issuing a defence on MCOL.

So Ill no doubt be hearing from them soon. I was wondering. Just cos of the holidays, and if it were anyone esle, we'd have to comply to the courts timescales - will they allow them any grace? They have had adequate chance to settle this before it went to MCOL, so why should the holidays be used as a reason (if they tried that one). Thoguhts anyone???

[dickeggsy]

just one.
IDIOTS!!!!!

[TANZARELLI]

You'll prob find they slap one in, and it will be accepted by the courts. Good luck however they shouldn't be allowed to do this but they do and seem to get away with it.

Tanz

[Fullyskinted]

Default on claim submitted. Ill let you know what they come back with...

[TANZARELLI]

Originally Posted by Fullyskinted

Default on claim submitted. Ill let you know what they come back with...

Good luck with this I hope you get them to pay you via this route, as it will show their incompetence.

Fingers crossed eh!

Tanz

[Fullyskinted]

Originally Posted by TANZARELLI

Good luck with this I hope you get them to pay you via this route, as it will show their incompetence.

Fingers crossed eh!

Tanz

Bugger. I just logged into MCOL again... It was fine earlier. Now it says

"You are unable to take any further action online on this claim.

The Defendant disputes the whole amount you have claimed. Your claim cannot proceed online and will be transferred to the appropriate court for continuation. You will receive confirmation to where the claim has been transferred to shortly."

So I take it I have to go the same route as everyone else has now - i.e. AQ, more money etc...

[TANZARELLI]

Originally Posted by Fullyskinted

Bugger. I just logged into MCOL again... It was fine earlier. Now it says

"You are unable to take any further action online on this claim.

The Defendant disputes the whole amount you have claimed. Your claim cannot proceed online and will be transferred to the appropriate court for continuation. You will receive confirmation to where the claim has been transferred to shortly."

So I take it I have to go the same route as everyone else has now - i.e. AQ, more money etc...

Yes, it will be transferred to your local court and the AQ will be sent to youy which you will need to complete and return with £100 fee.

Prob for the best now thinking about it as others are suggesting that it is better to send a letter to the defendant giving them 7 days to enter defence rather than applying to default as this will prob mean the defendant applying for a stay which could lengthen your claim considerably.

Still wont be long now.

Tanz

	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