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.
Sent my inital letter 1/9/06.
I got a 'sorry you're unhappy' letter shortly afterwards.
Been working a way for a while so not been able to follow up.
Got a phone call last week apologising for the letter they'd just sent and saying that they were prepared to offer me £500 without any admission of liability.
next day I got two letters - one saying 'no chance', the other offering the £500.
As I hadn't had a chance to send a letter before action, I've had to weld that and the Rejection of Offer letters together.
Does this look right:
LETTER BEFORE ACTION
Dear Mr McCoombs,
ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxx
Thank you for your letter dated 3 October 2006.
I respectfully decline your offer of settlement and request, once again, that you return to me all charges imposed on this account, totalling £1020.00.
I will accept the sum offered only as part settlement and on the clear understanding that I will pursue recovery of the remainder, with a county court claim if necessary.
I now understand that the regime of 'fees' which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations.
I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law.
I am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary.
I calculate that you have taken £1020.00 .
I am enclosing a copy of the schedule of the charges which I am claiming. I have already sent you a copy of this in my original letter of the 1 September 2006.
I require repayment in full of this money. If you do not comply fully within 14 days then I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount plus interest plus my costs and without further notice.
Just remember stick to your guns when the 14 days is up and do your moneyclaim.
Good Luck.
Argyle.
Story So Far:
Pre letter sent 14th August.
Barclays Reply 18th August.
Barclays Reply 5th Sept.
Lba sent 30th August.
Rejection letter sent 9th Sept.
Barclays reply 13th Sept.
Mcol submitted 15/09/2006.
AQ received 21/10/2006.
AQ returned 23 /10/2006.
Court Date:25/01/07 10.30am
Phoned Barclays 08/01/07 Said they would contact me shortly.
15/01/07 Received letter offering a full settlement however figure was short.
22/01/07 Received telephone call from Barclays asking for a settlement figure.
CLAIM SETTLED IN FULL!!!!!!!!!
Bit of an update.
Entered my MCOL claim at the end of October.
Now, did I miss a trick here - I didn't keep an eye on the MCOL site? Should I have requested a judgement when the time was up which would have defaulted the judgement in my favour?
I didn't and the claim has now been transferred to the local county court.
Ah well, too late now...
I've got my N149 to fill in now. Looks like I might have a wait right through into the new year now - didn't reckon on it going on this long! I suppose its the attrition principle - the longer it goes on, the more who will drop out.
I got the full defense from Mr Ruffhead about how they think their charges are fair and how I must have known about them from the start of my dealings with them. They restate their charges (it even looks as though some of them have gone up, not down recently!!)
They also say that the 'Particulars of the Claim do not provide details of particulars of the precise charges alleged to be unlawful, or the date thereof'.
Now I sent a schedule of charges and dates to them initially. I didn't include the list of charges in the MCOL claim - there wasn't enough space. I suppose I didn't say what they'd described each charge as, but surely they can't claim I didn't tell them enough details?
Does anyone know if Barclays have got as far as going to court anywhere yet? If so, what were the outcomes?
Received my letter from the county court the other day.
It has two dates on it that I can see:
1) I need to send a list of disputed charges to the Court and Barclays by next Tuesday. I guess this is just my schedule of charges that I'm claiming back, including interest to date?
2) I then need to send all the documents I intend to use for the case to the Court and Barclays by another date a few weeks later (can't be more specific cos the letter is at home!). I assume this is the full court bundle which I intend to base on the one from this site (thanks! )
The one date I can't see is the actual hearing date. Does this come separately?
My Notice of allocation from the court read "The hearing of the claim will take place on a date to be fixed at XXX county court and should take no longer than an hour and then went on to list directions.
So it is possible that the judge is waiting for you to respond to directions before he fixes a date.
You were spot on. I have to send both sets of documents as part of the judges directions, then the date will be allocated.
One quick question.
I sent off my list of disputed charges, including interest upto that date.
I'm just about to compile my court bundle, which of course will include a copy of this list.
Do I keep the interest rolling up?
i.e. is my claim frozen when I sent the list last week, or can I claim interest up to the date of the court hearing/settlement (fingers crossed)?
Hi - Thanks - With my bundle I sent two schedules one just showing the charges and another showing charges + 8% and clearly marked the second one "Schedule of charges plus 8% interest claimed under s69 Country Courts Act -interested calculated 21/01/07" - date I put together my bundle
This 'Statements' item on the suggested contents...
Is this a copy of all my bank statements which feature charges?
Or is it some other kind of statements? e.g. what I said in my particulars of claim on MCOL, what Barclays said in their defence statement & what I said in my allocation questionnaire??
Sent my court bundle off back in January and have only just got a court date for July. Thought for a while that I must have made some kind of mistake and it had been thrown out. I guess the courts are just bogged down with these types of claims now.
Anyway, as the date approaches, I've started to get worried again (after months of putting it out of my mind). All the usual stuff about 'what if they choose my case to be the first to take to court?', 'what if I have made a mistake and they can pick holes in my case in court?'... all that kind of stuff.
I keep reminding myself that their defence boils down to 'well we think the charges are fair, but we can't or won't explain how'.
I haven't been on here for a while. What's the general situation at the moment? Have they been to court yet or are they still settling at the last minute?
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.
Good to hear that they still settle. Does this mean they haven't let one go to court yet?
Just wondering, especially after the Lloyds judgement today. Not sure yet, but some posters on the Lloyds thread seem to imply that that case was lost because the claimant hadn't prepared properly (e.g. included statements to support the claim).
Did this go to court because Lloyd don't settle before the hearings, but Barclays do?
Oh, by the way, how does this Court Buddy thing work?
I was going to post this on the Successful claims thread, where I originally asked the question, but thought it better to put it under my own thread.
I'm due in court early next month.
I haven't heard anything from Barclays (or the court) since I got my date. In fact I don't think I've heard anything from Barclays direct since last year! (Apart from their 'defence' in the court papers.)
The question is, should I have received a copy of their court bundle, just as I had to send a copy of mine to them?
28/2/07 Sent request for repayment of charges totalling £2,800 (I want it ALL back!). 8/3/07 Barclays send sorry your not happy letter 14/3/07 Letter before action sent 25/4/07 Barclays offer £1,790 27/4/07 Thanks but no thanks to the offer sent 28/4/07 Filed with mcol, now looking at a figure of £3,500, they should of paid up when i asked nicely 11/5/07 Barclays acknowledge claim 30/5/07 Barclays defend claim 19/6/07 Received notice of transfer to Northampton County Court and barclays excuse for a defence!!!
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.
Yes .. they should send to you anything that they are going to rely upon in court to defend their claim ....... phone the lit team http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...team-good.html several contacts on their . you might be advised to email Dino to find out who is dealing with your claim
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.