Stay removal costs, recoverable?

[rhig123]

Hi All,

Does anyone know if the £35 cost can be added to the court fees when making a claim? I will be starting my second court claim against NatWest on Wednesday, I have fees back up to February this year so the wait for a test case wont affect what I can claim for but I am hoping to have the stay removed due to financial hardship. I would assume I will ba able to add the £35 to my claim if I need to apply for the removal of a stay but have not found the subject mentioned on the forum.

	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.

	Hardship By and large the "harship" provision in the FSA waiver is a myth which is intended to create a sense that the banking industry is sufficiently well-intentioned to act fairly towards its customers even though their right of access to the courts has been blocked. In fact there are very few guidelines as to procedure and very little definition of "hardship". One unfortunate spin off is that many people in difficulty get their hopes up and go to considerable lengths to plead hardship to their bank in order to get a refund or partial refund of their bank charges only to be refused. Neither the courts nor the FOS have the power to order a bank to make a charges refund on the basis of hardship. We hear of some people obtaining a partial refund quite easily. Others have obtained money by being very persistent - but mostly we hear that people are refused. Even benefits claimants do not automatically receive hardship refunds. By all means try to get a bank charges refund on the basis of hardship - but don't bank on it!

[monkeyboy65]

Hi rhig

I've been trying to find out about this over in the A&L section but haven't found anyone who can answer so far. Also, I had my N244 returned by the court yesterday saying the fee is £65 not £35 so it's even more important to know if I'm throwing my money away for good on this.

Anyone over here know the score?

MB

[hedgey06]

As far as I'm aware, the costs for submitting an N244 are non-returnable - but please check with the appropriate court. If you need to pay £65 as opposed to £35, this is generally due to a 'hearing' being held to discuss the amendment.

HTH - best of luck to both of you

[feistycow]

I am new to posting but have been following progress / advice all year....

When I submitted my N1 POC I also submitted an EX160 to claim for exemption or deferment of court charges.

Then when submitting AQ was asked by the court (Sheffield) to fill in a separate EX160 to go with it (as they don't 'carry over' the exemption/deferment for subsequent sumissions).

I'm now about to hand in my request to set aside the stay (imposed by court on their own initiative) on form N244 and have completed yet another EX160 in case it is needed.
(You can get the EX160 off the court-service website, or direct from the court)
Hope this helps someone.....

	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