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I am currently in the process in claiming over £13K in charges the Woolwich has taken from me over the last 6 years. they have been holding back for over 4 weeks now. I have just receiveda letter stating that as my claim is over £2K it has been sent to head office who just happen to be Barclays Bank. I want to go to court by using the internet, could someone please tell me where I need to go and do you think I will win. Quite scared as I have heard that banks are closing down accounts etc.
I am currently in the process in claiming over £13K in charges the Woolwich has taken from me over the last 6 years. they have been holding back for over 4 weeks now. I have just receiveda letter stating that as my claim is over £2K it has been sent to head office who just happen to be Barclays Bank. I want to go to court by using the internet, could someone please tell me where I need to go and do you think I will win. Quite scared as I have heard that banks are closing down accounts etc.
I am 100% confident you will win. You need to start a thread in your bank forum and post your questions there. Also spend some time reading the FAQS and step by step instructions. This will explain the whole process to you.
I have just been fobbed of by Barclays yet again. We have received the standard letter of £1000.00 for Full and final settlement. I telephoned barclays to state that this was not exceptable as the total of charges for the last 6 years is £13K. I was told that they would ring me back within 48 hours. Over a week passed so I telephoned again, only to be told that no one would be calling me back and that there would be no negotiation in upping their offer of £1000.00.
So my next step is the Small Claims court, bit scary, could anone give me a brief step by step guide on how to proceed, I want to do it this week. not only that but do I go for the full amount of £13,000.00 or do I apportion it and how do I do that.
Woolwich (Barclays)
Prelim sent 05/09/06, various correspondance sent/recieved, LBA sent 09/10/06, Goodwill gesture of £xxx offered 21/10/06 (rejected!), MCOL filed 11/12/06, Defence & Court AQ recieved 11/01/07 returned 29/01/07.
30/01/07 Transferred to District Judge for directions. 05/04/07 Case Management Conference due at Southend County Court.
Hi Warrentuff
I filed for court last night for 13k but with interesr it has taken it to over 18 . I too am very worried as it will have to go to fast track ( whatever that means! ) but don't think we have a choice . I just hope they settle before the court date ! Also does anyone know how far ahead we are looking at for court date ?
i think it depends on what court it gets allocated too as they could be busy with all these claims going on, but dont quote me on that, i would say a few months at least thats what im looking at anyway.
could anyone let me know what is the maximum amount you can claim. my charges total £13K without any interest added on. Im surely not the only one with a llarge amount. really worried know as I want to lodge my claim tomorrow at the local county court.
Have a good read throught the forum Warren, plenty of people the same as you. Dont lodge your claim until you are 100% sure you know what you are doing.
Woolwich (Barclays)
Prelim sent 05/09/06, various correspondance sent/recieved, LBA sent 09/10/06, Goodwill gesture of £xxx offered 21/10/06 (rejected!), MCOL filed 11/12/06, Defence & Court AQ recieved 11/01/07 returned 29/01/07.
30/01/07 Transferred to District Judge for directions. 05/04/07 Case Management Conference due at Southend County Court.
I would not split the claim. The courts can combine two claims if they overlap (putting you back where you didn't want to be) or do other nasty things if they think you're abusing the system. Please also note that in Scotland people who do this get their second claim struck out, although courts in England and Wales don't do this yet they may get in on the act at some time.
Going to the fast track has its advantages and disadvantages. The primary disadvantages are that if it has to go to trial you're looking at around 30 weeks from allocation to the track to trial window and also if you lose you've got higher costs to pay.
However it has one huge advantage for bank charge cases. Fast track cases use a process called standard disclosure. This means that the bank would have to disclose how much it really costs them to bounce a cheque or a DD. This information has to be disclosed relatively early on and it appears that the threat of this disclosure forces banks into making a settlement of your claim for the full amount.
It is also possible to attempt to argue your case into the small claims track even if it is for more than £5000. Usually the bigger the claim the more complex the legal issues involved, hence the reason for putting larger claims onto the 'grown up' tracks. Bank charge claims involve only extremely simple legal issues but because of their repetative nature the amounts of money involved can be extremely large, so it is possible to put forward a case for a large claim like this to go to the small claims track (though I'd say with figures this large it's far from a certainty).
Ultimately the decision is up to you but I'd not split a claim.
When you say take off 2006 do you mean not claim it back at all or claim it at a later date? If you're worried about this claim being multi-tracked I think it could be argued that it's suitable to the fast track due to the simplicity of the legal issues and that there's no need for expert evidence.
Tomorrow is D-Day, going to court to lodge my claim. Wish me Luck ??. really scared, have lived and breathed this for the last couple of months.
One question- As Barclays now own The Woolwich and my last correspondence has been directly from them. Do I put Barclays address or the Woolwich. Or urgent reply would be greatly appreciated.
Well folks - went and done it - I was shaking at the knees:o. the total amount was just under 15K and the court costs £250.00. I asked if it would need to be fast tracked, the Lady behind the counter stated NO!!. I asked what happens next I was told the following:
"it would be logged onto their computer today, but won't get sent for a couple of days. She then added that Barclays have 14 days to put in their defence, I would then need to pay another £100.00 for the QA. She then went on that further on this this I might have to pay £275.00 ?? for what I cannot remember as I was still in a state of shock of handing over £250.00. She did however state that I could take her word for it that it would not get that far, I asked if they had recieved other claims! with this she smiled and stated "quite a few!!!.
Anyway I had a very overwelming feeling ucumplishment after I left the Court.
I do however have a couple of queries:
(1) I named the defendant as Barclays - As my last 2 letters were from them, and the Woolwich did inform me that claims over £1000.00 were forwarded on to their head office - PLEASE TELL ME THAT THIS IS CORRECT.
(2) Does the 14 days start when the Claim is recieved by Barclays or from todays date.
(3) can someone tell me in laymans terms what is QA, and when would I have to pay the £100.00.
A very happy bunny - let the Fun begin!!!!!!!!!!!!
(2) - they have 14 days from when the claim is deemed served to acknowledge the claim or defend, if they acknowledge they've 28 days from the date of service to submit a defence. The date of service is when the claim reaches Barclays.
(3) - aq is allocation questionnaire. This gives the court the information to decide whether the claim is small claims, fast track or multi track. You pay your £100 when you return this to the court.
One word of warning. The court officer you dealt with can not tell you whether it will be small claims or fast track. That decision is normally down to a judge and is made after allocation questionnaires are returned. I think possibly some wires got crossed.
The £275 is a trial fee that would be payable if your claim went on the fast track.
Given the value of the claim I suspect it's unlikely to be allocated to the small claims track, but there are definite benefits to the fast track.
Good Luck with your upcoming court procedures, just to let you know that I am willing you all the way, and watching for your fast approaching success! I am a few weeks behind you in paper, but with you all the same, every step of the way! Fingers crossed for a really speedy result.
thanks for your support, some of the procedures are very daunting, but it's nice to know that you are not alone and are fighting for the same cause. As they say "justice will pervail". or knowing my luck I would be the case Barclays will defend in court and turn up!!!!! Scary stuff.
thanks Advoc8 - your answers to my questions are very much appreciated. It nice to have someone on my side who fully understands the Legal side of it all. Do you have any idea how long in general this will take from start to finish, hopefully weeks and not months. When is it likely the courts will let me know if my claim is to fast tracked, and what is the time frame to pay the £275.00.
your expert advice is invaluable.
WARRENTUFF v BARCLAYS ***16k Win***
. they have been holding back for over 4 weeks now. I have just receiveda letter stating that as my claim is over £2K it has been sent to head office who just happen to be Barclays
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Re: reclaiming bank charges
Originally Posted by warrentuff
??. really scared, have lived and breathed this for the last couple of months.
- I was shaking at the knees:o. the total amount was just under 15K and the court costs £250.00. I asked if it would need to be fast tracked, the Lady behind the counter stated NO!!. I asked what happens next I was told the following:
