Written by John Kruse, one of the leading experts on Bailiff Law, this consumer friendly guide is essential reading for anyone who comes into contact with a bailiff.
The book is easy to understand and clearly explains the rights
a bailiff has, and also what they cannot do when collecting debts and repossessing goods etc.
I am in the process of taking Barclays Bank to court over charges made to my account. I have a court date of 9th January 2007.
My problems began in July 2003 when I was assaulted by a large gang of people, this left me with brain damage and several physical disabilities.
I am now unable to work and struggle to manage my finances because of my reduced mental capacity. I have an ongoing claim with the CICA.
Prior to this I worked in IT and had done so at a fairly high standard, I have lived and worked in several countries.
I informed Barclays of the injury at the time and only began claiming incapacity benefit and DLA once I had exhausted my savings and sold non essential items (2nd cars etc).
We were also made homeless due to the assault and spent some months in a hostel before being offered a home in an area we didn't want to live in. We felt compelled to do so since anything was better than the hostel
I started to incur charges very soon after this, my income had been reduced from some £3,000 to £5,000 a month to around £500, clearly this transformed my life and lifestyle.
Barclays charged me the maximum amount fairly consistently over the period from then to the present in total £935 to date. I had to pay someone to go through the statements and calculate it for me for the court case.
I have reduced short term memory and concentration and my mathematical skills are now pretty basic, complex problems are now beyond my mental reach. Barclays are aware of this.
Having written and complained to Barclays many times over this period they have remained obstinate, unhelpful and sometimes downright rude particularly on the phone.
I read about people taking their banks to court over unfair and hugely inflated bank charges and decided I would do the same.
Barclays have offered a defence and so far have not expressed an interest in settling out of court. I believe they intend to take it to court as my diminished abilities will make their court case easier to win as I cannot afford representation and am pretty slow at processing things now.
Please feel free to contact me as I'm sure I will have left things out or forgotten to include relevant information.
I will cut and paste my letter below:
My name and address
Barclays Bank
118 High Street
Bromsgrove
Worcestershire
B61 8ET
NOTICE OF INTENDED COURT PROCEEDINGS
TAKE NOTICE that according to my bank statements the sum of £655 has been charged to my account covering the period 8th September 2004 to 21st February 2006 contravening the Consumer Contract Regulations of 1999 I therefore request that this sum and an additional amount of £1345 for time and costs to resolve this matter be credited to my account.
Unless payment is made to the above address within seven days Legal Action to recover the debt will be taken against you without further notice.
I have throughout this period stated several times that due to a brain injury I am finding it difficult to maintain any order to my banking and have put myself at your mercy. I feel that any court will look favourably at my case and indeed believe media involvement will not paint a very merciful picture of Barclays preying on those unable to cope with the simplest of tasks.
Copies of the dates and charges in question are attached.
Signed ......................... ......................... ....
Actually, I'm impressed at how you seem to have things remarkably well covered.
If you've had time to read around on this forum you'll see that the guiding "principle" for Barclays simply comes down to BULLYING. That means they'll be as awkward as possible. They'll bluster away with an arrogance beggaring belief, trying to give the impression that you can't possibly win. Then, at the last moment if their past form is anything to go by, like all bullys, they'll give in - just before the court appearence.
I feel for you. Though not as bad as you, I've been through some pretty hard times myself in the last few years - and throughout it all Barclays have been right there beside me - KICKING ME WHEN I'M DOWN.
Victimnomore
By day, quiet unassuming bank customer - but, by night, .. .. .. .. .. Barclays Case1 14/03/07 **WON** FULL settlement £3358.39 Barclays Case2 08/09/08 Prelim: please give me my £187.91 back. Halifax Case1 14/03/07 **WON** Refunded £728 (including £54 costs) Halifax Case2 08/09/08 Prelim: please give me my £268.24 back.
First of all, are you sure about the amounts? They seem very small for such a drop in income over such a period of time.
Secondly, I assume you have received the court's direction since you have a hearing date. Can you copy exactly what it says? (likely to be something on the lines of "copies of evidence required in court, etc...) and we'll take it from there to support you.
Third, can you confirm how much is your claim and what for? Did you actually enter a sum for time and costs as indicated in your letter?
Do not worry, Barclays are one of the worse for holding out to the last minute before paying out, but so far, have always stopped shy of actually making it into the courtroom.
I am pretty sure that if need be, there'll be people on this site happy to go in the court with you. But so far, the odds are not in favour of that happening.
Any question, or clarification, just ask.
Apologies to people who I was in the process of helping, I may be gone some time.
The amount I claimed was £655 plus costs of £1345 total £2,000. It took an inordinate amount of time to prepare as I could only concentrate for short bursts while filling in forms and calculating things.
I used my savings for a while and then had two small interim payments from the CICA which helped with the finances. I was usually ok with managing the account it just spiralled out of control occasionally when I forgot things.
Since filing the claim the charges have increased to £935 from subsequent fees. I was hoping to claim those as well on the day if possible, I also didn't add on interest which I read on here is possible.
The hearing paperwork just says where and when and gives the judges name. It also asks that documents that will be relied upon in court be delivered to every other party and the court office before the 26th December 2006.
Thanks for your kind comments and help, I wish I had found the forum earlier as I've really struggled to get this far.
I would just like to wish all the best in your struggle with Barclays.
This forum is here to help you and we will do our best
Spotty
Statement request 4th May
Prelim Letter sent 24th May
LBA 7th June
Thanks but no thanks letter sent 22 June
MCOL 22nd June
Claim acknowledged 26 June
AQ sent 2nd August
17 Nov Court Date Set for 29 Jan 2007
Settled in full 12/12/06
Good luck!
It does help to trawl through the forums and read the FAQ's and look at the tempates in the library-it takes time but is well worth it,people are helpful and supportive.
Best of luck; have you contacted the Disability Rights COmmission to see if there's any help they can offer you with regard to bullying from institutions like this?
As Bookworm said, if it comes to it, I'm sure someone will go with you.
Barclays coughed up all of the claim minus the bill for time, which I was expecting. As with most of the other claims on here all at the 11th hour.
I am still trying to get the rest from when I filed the claim until now, they have offered me it but since they made the offer I have been hit with another £95 worth....
Is there anything in law that states they cannot take money from your account without leaving enough to live on? I thought I might have read that on here somewhere. The way I see it is that since I am on incapacity benefit due to physical and mental disability, this amount is the ABSOLUTE minimum the government allow to live/subsist on by their calculations. How then can the bank still tale money from your account in charges when clearly it is the bare minimum already?
I'm not sure if this makes sense.
Really I was just wondering if it's another angle I can get them from.
I am truely unable to remember what I spend and when etc.. so I have opened a cash only account and what's left after bills driect debits then go into that account for food, travel etc.. The only problem is that I still haven't gotten the other account straight enough to use this as they keep charging me still.
I just can't see a way out of this hole and they are no help at all.
Would I be right in saying this is a disabillity discrimination thing as I informed them from day 1 what had happened to me with the head injury and all.
Yes, the link posted above is what you need, but with your memory loss is going to make it difficult to remember to do this over and over again, which is what the system requires. You will need to set up an alarm on your PC or something to remind you to post it every time. Still, it's do-able. And once you have your finances straightened out a bit, hopefully, the charges will stop. Meanwhile, of course, you have to reclaim the new ones.
Apologies to people who I was in the process of helping, I may be gone some time.
Stowe v Barclays - **WON**... now more charges.
Bank to court over charges made to my account. I have a court date of 9th January 2007.
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Statement request 4th May
xx
