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After panicking when Barclays put in a defence I signed up to CAG and received some very helpful advice, so thanks everyone who contacted me.
My story
I sent the letters requesting charges back for two accounts, to receive standard letters delaying a decision, so after another delaying letter asking me to wait another month I filed my claims online.
After my claims were defended by barclays (standard defense) they were transferred to my local court.
In the mean time I received a reply offering me a really low sum which was for both accounts. (obviously refused this offer!)
I then received a letter from the court informing me the allocation questionnaire was dispensed with, (this is when I started panicking). So after reading advice from some very nice people on this site I set to preparing my court bundle. I also wrote to Barclays with a settlement figure which was minimally lower than that being claimed (to show the court I was making an effort). I was still awaiting a reply from them when on saturday a letter from the court came as follows:
Without a hearing
of the courts own initiative
1. The court of its own motion is considering striking out the defence as an abuse of process on the basis that the defendant has settled all previous claims of this nature.
2. If the defendant objects to this course of action, it is to file at court by 4pm on 09 jul 2007 a schedule setting out a list of all claims it has pursued to trial and all the claims it has settled.
Well my reaction to this was of great joy as you can imagine, I rang the court asking if I would need to send anything for this date. I just had to wait until July 12th when I would be sent a letter depending on what Barclays reply was to the courts, was also told this is how the court is dealing with all of this type of claims.
Anyway my saga is nearing its end cos Barclays have decided to settle my claim for charges (the amount I offered to settle at) to avoid wasting the courts time and it is strictly without any admission of liability on their part!
However, if I accept their offer it is on the condition I agree to the offer as Full and final settlement and I agree to keep the existence and the terms of the offer confidential between us. It also says payment will be made to my Barclays account but don't see how cos its been closed for the last two years.
Any advice on how I should deal with this final hurdle would be much appreciated
Certainly you are accepting that it is Full and final settlement of this claim but it is not offered or accepted with conditions that Barclays want to attach!! When will they work out that they can't dictate anymore?
Also, B's are idiots as far as allocating settlement payments. They advised me recently that they were arranging to pay a settlement into my Classic Current Account - that'd be the one I closed in January of this year?
They just don't bother checking which indicates to me that they are using template response letters and not aware of individual cases at all. Just advise that it must be by cheque. It's your money, your call and you tell them how you'll accept payment, not the other way round!
3 Active Claims:
Barclays Refund of Bank Charges (Sole account) - Applied to lift court ordered Stay
Barclays Refund of Bank Charges (Joint account) - Awaiting court date
Barclays Refund of Bank Charges (Joint account) Pre-6 yrs- LBA sent.
3 Wins : Barclays t/a The Woolwich (Data Protection Act breach costs & compliance) HSBC (on behalf of brother)
Settled Out of Court - £3,874.76 Alliance & Leicester (on behalf of friend)
Settled Out of Court - £723.41
Crossing out the terms I don't agree with and signing sounds ok. Maybe I should also cross out and amend the (I agree to the above terms of settlement) with I accept this offer as Full and final settlement ONLY.
Its hard to send back with a rejection letter when it seems to be the last hurdle!
What do you think
Dont send a rejection letter if you are happy with the figure offered. If you phone the litigation team and tell them you are not happy with the terms i am sure they will confirm what i said above. The thing to remember is that they want to settle, but it is your claim and you dictate the terms. Them asking for confidentiality is standard but if you read through some of the **won** threads you will see that everyone is removing that clause. Like i say phone the lit team and tell them
Just spoke to a Sharon Daboul in litigation & disputes. They are happy to accept the letter back with anything I don't agree with crossed out and signed. Also they will send payment by cheque as I no longer have accounts with them.
Cohen's: WON (discontinued) DLC: Given up, gone away. Eversheds: Trying! Equidebt: In default Intrum J: Return to OC iQor: Stopped paying. Link: In default. ScotCall: Return to OC Thames: Stopped paying.
I am NOT a legal or financial expert. There are many CAG members and staff who are better qualified. Please do not make major decisions based on my advice alone.
Cohen's: WON (discontinued) DLC: Given up, gone away. Eversheds: Trying! Equidebt: In default Intrum J: Return to OC iQor: Stopped paying. Link: In default. ScotCall: Return to OC Thames: Stopped paying.
I am NOT a legal or financial expert. There are many CAG members and staff who are better qualified. Please do not make major decisions based on my advice alone.
I offer help and advice in good faith, based on my knowledge and experience. I am NOT a legal or financial expert. There are many CAG members and site team who are better qualified. Please do not make major decisions based on my advice alone.I do not give advice via P.M's. If anyone can correct my mistakes or improve on my advice, please do.
Thanks to everyone for the support but I will hold off having a drink until the cheques arrive
To Livelylad - I will scan the court order as soon as poss (son been messing with computer again and lost printer drivers) I don't know how he does it???? Order was from Rhyl county court - District Judge Thomas hope this helps
hi, we've gone through exactly the same as yourself, i issued a judgment last nite at 12.05am (03-07-07) and as far as i was concerned that was it!! as i understood Barclays had until 12pm last nite to enter a defence? ive been checking the progress on line for most of the day today and it wasnt until this afternoon i saw that they'd put in a defence? is this right do you think? so mcol has now said that i can no longer continue with the claim online and that i will be hearing from the court shortly! quite scary, but im determind to carry on. we are claiming charges for 3 current accounts and was made an offer for half the amount about 7wks ago? sent 1st letter asking for statements on march 3rd? what will i need 2 go to court? statements? letters? ps, we live in south wales!
joshua can you please start your own thread as you have hi-jacked someone elses thread . You will now receive Notice of transfer in the next couple of weeks to your local court along with a copy of B's defence
Any typos spelling mistakes are due to leprechauns in my keyboard they move the letters around sometimes (amended just for Bookie)
I offer help and advice in good faith, based on my knowledge and experience. I am NOT a legal or financial expert. There are many CAG members and site team who are better qualified. Please do not make major decisions based on my advice alone.I do not give advice via P.M's. If anyone can correct my mistakes or improve on my advice, please do.