Leeds Mercantile Hearing, 29 August 2007

[Entitled]

Roll up, roll up.. take your positions for the next round of that increasingly popular show "wait for the cheque".

Or to give it the more legally appropriate title "Starter for Leeds Mercantile Court Hearing 29th August:

Anybody requiring information regarding the form and procedures should see the sticky thread entitled 'Mercantile Court Guide' Mercantile Court Guide at the top of this forum. Ignore the piece about Commercial and Admiralty (CPR58 & CPR61), but see post no.3 which deals with CPR59 Mercantile Court.

Also see the threads entitled 'Mercantile Hearing Leeds 26th April 2007' Mercantile Hearing, Leeds, 26th April 2007 and 'Directions Hearing Leeds' Directions Hearing Leeds (held on 7th Feb), Leeds Mercantile Court Hearing(28 June 2007), which is enlightening as to what went on before and at those directions hearing.



Apologies to Calculator for so blatantly stealing his opening post from the previous Hearing Thread, but in this game, it is all about borrowing the text that gets the job done. That's what the Banks and their solicitors do, and now, thanks to CAG and the other internet forums, finally we the public can get the benefit of the same techniques. If it wasn't for the sharing of stories and experiences that goes on here, we'd all be the scared little lambs and innocents that the banks have been bullying for years. At last we get to see their little mind games and scare tactics revealed for the sham that they always have been. We stand tall now, as we stand on the shoulders of giants. Read the previous threads and see what a stout heart and a shared cameraderie can achieve.

Once more unto the breach my friends, once more... Cry God, for Harry, England and St George!!!!

[Calculator]

Entitled,

No need to apologise at all. I am more than pleased to see your new thread.
Good luck to everybody listed for the 29th August.

[Entitled]

Calculator

Thank you.

If you get any time later, do you think you could cast an eye over the last one and see if there is any advice given early on that should be ignored. In other words, was anything learned during the course of that thread which we can put at the beginning of this one? Links to particular posts within threads for example, that might carry the optimum wording, etc.

I'm hoping that my fawning and obsequious praise for your previous posts might encourage you to offer similar help to those of us approaching the arena for the next round...

[Calculator]

The other important link is posts 15 and 19 on the thread Case Management Info Sheet. (By all means read all posts on that thread). It is referred to in the thread 'Mercantile Court Guide', so most people would in any case come across it there.

One question that seems to get asked a lot is 'what do I need to take to the case management conference / directions hearing?' and it seems to lead to a lot of confusion. I suggest claimants read posts 109 to 123 on the thread 'Leeds Mercantile Court Hearing 28th June 2007', but pay particular attention to post 115. (Update: see updated information at posts 7 to 10 on this 29th August thread).

The other thing that often happens is that people jump in with their own question without reading the previous posts and they are often repeating questions that have already been asked and answered. Therefore if you are a newcomer, take the time to read previous posts.

Also if you are posting a question / asking for advice, give as much background information as you can about your claim relative to the question that you are asking. You will only get a satisfactory answer if the person answering the question fully understands the facts behind your question.

One last point, the various CAG forums cover the full court system - ie County Court (Small Claims Track and occasionally Multi-Track) and Mercantile Court (Multi-track, not usually Small Claims Track). (The Mercantile Court is the High Court). If you are using/copying documents from other forums/threads make sure they are appropriate for the particular Court that you are in.

I hope the above helps.

	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

[Entitled]

Thanks Calculator, those pearls of wisdom are gratefully acknowledged and understood. We shall prepare to follow...

[Calculator]

Anybody reading this who attended the 28th June Leeds hearing, while it is still fresh in your minds, can you please give an update on this new thread as to the documents you actually used at hearing and whether you feel any other documents should be taken.

Thanks.

[angiew]

The only information useful that I took was all copies of correspondence between myself and the bank and their solicitors as well as copy statements with the charges on. They were handy to be able to give to the rep of the bank who had no paperwork on my case at all!!!
Good luck to everybody attending. Hopefully your cases will be settled before you get to the court date, like most for 28 June.
Another thing, although it's easy to say now, don't be nervous - it's not as bad as you think it's going to be. I was so nervous I felt sick, but meeting Jenny Barton et al and talking to the others in the same position really helped to alleviate the nerves.
Good luck everybody for 29 August.
Angie

[j.barton1]

I agree, get together a "mini bundle" i took..
Paticulars of claim,
Up to date charges interest and costs breakdown,
OFT Press release,
A few case laws
All correspondance
copy of cmi sheet.
Take 2 of everything just incase the banks rep has "mislaid" your details.
Funnily enough, no one was arguing the lawfulness of charges, the arguments which were going on were on wether the figures matched their's. But incase you have to put your case to the judge/bank take what you see fit.
Jenny

	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.

[donbracho]

here here i second third and fourth all that others have said !

After much much sweating and fretting about what to take photocopying reading and rereading and reading again all you really needed was your CMI sheet, schedule of charges x3 and bank statements to back them up.

It is best i think to bring like Jenny said, your correspondence with Bank as if they "mislay" your claim details again you have solid evidence that you have sent them the stuff they need !

But in depth knowledge of the issues etc wasnt really required as it was and is just a Directions hearings, the lawyers there representing the Banks said repeatedly we arent under instruction to argue the questions posed they just either sorted out a settlement or in some cases agree further directions and also make rather pathetic excuses for their clients APPARENT INABILITY to keep hold of claim details till the necessary time !
I would say it would be a good idea to read Gary H thread here
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...ate-guide.html
to understand the process a bit better as some of the lawyers seemed to try to chat @@@@ to imtimidate people blinding them with big words etc well you know what will happen next etc....

[donbracho]

oh just to add that gary h thread is useful but like calculator pointed out the witness statement etc is arguing for allocation to small claims track and Judge wont let that happen once its in mercantile its staying there till they get a test case.
It is useful to understand the process though

	Bank Charges You should have started your claim for your bank charges by now. Don't wait. You should send your bank a Subject Acess Request asking for all personal data they hold on you - not just statements. You should calculate all of your bank charges and related interest as far back as 1995. You should send your bank a demand for a refund giving them 7 days. You should commence your legal action adding 8% statutory interest. If you wait for the outcome of the test case, you may not be able to claim like this. you may not be able to claim interest. You may only be offered the difference between the charge and the OFT "fair charge". The repayment scheme will try to limit you to refinds from 2001 only. A repayment scheme will not deal with any bank charges related defaults on the credit register whereas in a court action you can ask for these to be removed and to be compensated for the damage caused to you and your family by them. You should also write to the bank and to the CRA and put all charges related credit entries in disupte and warn them that you will want them removed from the Register when the test case is over. Warn them also that you are likely to be seeking compensation for these wrongful data entries. Full and final settlement Have you previously accepted a partial repayment of your bank charges in full settlement? You will still be able to claim the rest of your money back after the Test case is decided. Get all your information back to 1995 and put in your claim now.

[Calculator]

Thanks all for posts 7 to 10. That really sets the scene and will be most useful to those coming on board for the 29th August.

[seen the light]

hi there

i received an order dated 30/05/07 telling me my case had been transferred to leeds mercantile court and heard nothing since so am assuming my date will be august as well. I will ring court in the morning to check.

your posts above have been very useful and i think i will get my bundles done within the next 2 weeks so i don't have a last minute panic.

How do i go about adding my court costs to my claim and can you tell me as Northampton court had dispensed with the AQ when they transferred my case to leeds mercantile , is there some sort of £100 fee i have to pay and when am i told i am to pay it as apart from the order dates 30/05/07 i have received sweet nothing since.

thanks again

regards

stl

	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

[j.barton1]

Hi STL, You only have to pay the aq fee if they ask for it, if they dont ask dont worry about it. Out of my claims i have only done the AQ once.

Jenny

	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

[Entitled]

Spoke to the Clerk who looked after the June 28th hearing (Case Management Conference) and she said that 80 cases went forward. This seems to have been just the Alliance and Leicester cases (ie, the ones where the A&L representative did not show up, therefore cases got a 28 day stay).

She couldn't access the file to confirm the total number of cases that had been scheduled but we know it was close to 300. All, repeat ALL, apart from the A&L, were settled by the nice men in suits. This is not guaranteed to be the same outcome for the future cases, of course, yet we can all see how history is repeating itself...

The number of cases scheduled for August will continue to rise, until a cut-off point two weeks before the hearing.

[seen the light]

i spoke to a very helpful lady in Leeds Mercantile Court today as apart from an order dated 30/05/07 saying my case had been transfered there i have heard nothing since. My case is in the "work to be done " file which means they have yet to look at it ( she kindly explained they had been inundated ) and she said she thought it was probable that i would be listed for 29th August

I would advise anyone wondering as a result of not hearing anything to maybe ring the court on 0113-306-2460; they answered the phone quickly and were friendly and helpful

regards

stl

[scoobz]

Re: Scoobz v Alliance & Leicester...

Well I've booked my seat at Leeds on 29th August 2007. Received my confirmation today that the hearing will take place at 10.30am before His Honour Judge Kaye QC.

I'm taking bets that A&L don't show as per June hearing and also yesterday in Hull! I really do hope that the Judges take some action with them.

Bring it on....

Scoobz

[Donna C]

I also received my confirmation yesterday - i'll see you there scoobz!

I don't understand why A&L just don't settle, surely this is costing them a bit,

Scoobz have you done your CMI?

[scoobz]

Hi Donna

Nice to know you're going to be in court on same day... more the merrier .. Can't believe A&L's attitude towards these claims, like you said don't know why they don't just pay up and shut up!!!!

I haven't done my CMI yet but I've printed off the links from the CMI thread as to what to put on it as some of the questions are beyond me.... Calculator and j.barton1 have been really helpful on these links... if you need any help just shout up...

I've just filed my next claim with Halifax Credit Card so I'm hoping they will be a little easier to deal with...

Scoobz

[j.barton1]

Good luck to both of you, My claim still has not got directions from the judge yet. All we want is our money...come on Scragge and co....
LOL...

Jennyxx

[scoobz]

Thanks Jenny

Hope you hear something soon from scraggey wraggey and from Judge...A&L are really taking the mickey with these claims... surely they know that they will have to pay up in the end so why not just do it now and save all this messing about and the bad publicity it's bringing them. It must be costing them a fortune with the solicitors bills (they would be better using this money to pay us).

I'm sure they are going to do the same thing with the next hearing and just 'no show' and drag it on and on and on... I think we're in for a long wait!

Scoobz