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 had not lost my nerve until yesterday's published ruling on the recent "first round" win to banks.
On receipt of the above I called to negotiate on the offer made; I was willing to waive interest, but claim court fees and charges back (£6139.00). I was bluntly advised that the offer was non-negotiable, a final offer.
What's a girl to do? Stick it out and risk losing everything, or accept their final offer?
The recent win by Lloyds TSB had nothing to do with the law on unfairness etc, it had everything to do with poor case management and insufficient evidence, and in all likelihood will be overturned at appeal.
The best thing to do would be to carry on regardless, it's not likely to affect anything that happens after it.
Ultimately it's your call though, but please don't feel that your case is weaker because of the recent judgement, it isn't. The only thing that has changed is that one needs to pay more attention to one's bundle.
My main concern is that I do not know the first thing about preparing my "bundle". How does one learn?
As a aside, I was privvy to a conversation a bank manager was having in public today with regard to bank charges; he was firmly of the opinion that the tides were turning and that the folk who had received pay-outs already were the lucky ones.
hi the same thing has happen to me the bank has offered me the charges minus interest and i am due in court. i tthink as i may take it as i feel that it guareeted.
I really like your thread - as I am in a very similar position having just filed my N1 and I reckon they are very likely to make me an offer very soon now.
I haven't yet got as far as preparing the bundle - which is where I think Mr Berwick slipped up in terms of preparation. If you haven't seen Judge Cooks 16 page conclusion document, then I did post a link to the BBC news article that has a built in link to it (atlantic vs RBS). It does make good reading.
I have been scouring around looking for stuff advising on preparation of bundles etc..... and I have a feeling that the bundle pack (something like £10 or £15 advertised through this CAG website) and the book by Judge Patricia Pearl (advertised on left hand side of this CAG page) could be useful. I am going to purchase both for sure and spend serious time reading through them.
There's one other piece of worthwhile advice I picked up..... and that is to ask the county court staff to obtain permission from a judge sitting on a case to allow you to silently witness the proceedings. I believe that if agreed you will sit in an adjacent room to the room where the proceedings are taking place and simply listen to what is going on. I know it's not much help in terms of initial bundle preparation - but i'm thinking of doing this as a confidence building measure - so I can be completely sure of whats going on and how to handle myself should things finally come to a court appearance.
There is one other thing I picked up from having read the Berwick transcript a couple of times, and I am not sure how "relevant" it would be but..... Judge Cook did mention a few times about Mr Berwick having used the standard templates available from internet sites. He also mentioned that the claim was submitted through the online Moneyclaim website. Lloyds TSB on other hand sought legal advice and submitted a very well researched case. I am thinking that Judge Cooks "thinking" and decision might boil down to him being annoyed by what he might see as almost an "abuse" of legal system whereby people are submitting claims with no obvious evidence of thought, preparation and novelty of evidence/ approach and just doing something that can be done in 10 minutes in front of a home PC. The bundle preparation could be "seen" in same way as the submission of a paper or a very good project/ essay/ report.
I'm sorry to write so much - but i'm in same position as you, albeit you're just a couple of weeks ahead of me, and I'm getting nervous too!
I don't want to sound arrogant at all...... but having worked in a branch 8 years ago and spent the rest of the time in city (non high street banks) I have found that retail bank branch staff are rarely more than reasonably well read respectable folk in a relatively swish office. Branch staff have a lot of loyalty to their employer (justifiably) but their knowledge of industry, regulation and issues (like bank charges stuff) is limited to what they hear amongst themselves and what they are "told" by the managers, who themselves only know what they know from reading the same sources as us (newspapers etc) and the occasional internal memo. Most branches are lucky if they have one email address for the entire branch!
Atlantic, you certainly have done your homework! Thanks for the jump start, which is much needed. I will look into your suggested routes and let you know how I fare.
Still wavering between fight or flight, I am going to await a response from RBS; they have until 30 May. That said, I fully expect the obligatory Cobbett's response.
What I don't understand is this....if so many people are fighting back - with the help of these sites - and it is costing RBS in excess of £8000 to pay for Cobbett's services for each individual case, why have they not learned their lesson and started paying out as soon as the N1 is filed?
I think the reality is that the banks themselves are in a very difficult position...as for that matter are we (the consumers). If the banks were to either lose in court or just simply pay up as soon as an N1 is filed then with the huge amount of media interest the floodgates would open and where they're losing millions now, that figure would turn into billions.
I've got 2 admit.... when I started reading your thread I really found myself empathising with you.... as it's almost a carbon copy of my situation..... and I'm pretty certain some sort of offer is going to be made which will be lower than what I requested in first place: so I reckon I'll be in your position very soon figuring out "fight or flight".
...as for doing my homework.... 'tis just a case of 8 years work experience, phd, and most of all this website (CAG). The Consumer Action Group has been a real education: everything is on here, and if not then there's links to it!!
oh......I was following a thread started by "mcuth" (mcuth vs RBS) who was eventually successful. He was given a "realistic" offer, decided to reject it and pursue things through the courts, and then he was given maybe another 3 or 4 subsequent offers verging on really silly amounts until through simply sticking at it (and being absolutely prepared to go to court) they finally caved in a few days short of the court date and settled with him.
'Tis very tempting to take it and run, especially when you have a family to support. On the flip side, who would throw away £2600 without putting up a fight?
I do intend to respond to Cobbett's as/when it falls on the mat. We shall see whether CR increase their final offer then.
the thing that really scares me at the moment is that I just don't know how long everyone (banks, regulators, courts, consumers etc) will put up with this big problem with recovering banks charges. I can't see the banks going on cashing out forever........ At the moment the banks definately don't have a foot to stand on in respect of the Berwick case.
the thing that really scares me at the moment is that I just don't know how long everyone (banks, regulators, courts, consumers etc) will put up with this big problem with recovering banks charges. I can't see the banks going on cashing out forever........ At the moment the banks definately don't have a foot to stand on in respect of the Berwick case.
They will most likely keep paying out whilst the claiming stays at a level which is considerably lower than the profit they are making on the charges.
as you're going to need "hard" evidence of bank charges being more tha actual costs ......resulting in them being "penalties" as opposed to being cost recovery.
To bring you up to speed, RBS had until 30 May to acknowledge/defend N1 claim.
Last night I dutifully sat and re-calculated an additional £40 interest in the past 28 days, ready to hand in my request for judgment today.
This morning, Cobbetts sent me an Acknowledgement of Service, stating that they "intend to defend all of this claim". This has given them a further 28 days to delay paying out further.
Need I do anything in the meantime, or do I sit tight for the time being?
nope - your definately not incompetant behind the computer - it's just you really can't upload documents onto this website unless they're a link - so like all of us it's a long slog typing all the letters sent to you out in one of these little "Quick Reply" boxes.....
As for a relaibly good indicator about defenses and the wording of them - why not have a look at Mcuth vs RBoS. You'll find his long-ish thread in the settled section of RBS and he's got a lot on this as it really is confusing and the legal terminology makes it seem all the more baffling.....
My honest guess is that as long as you do do a serious job at the defense stuff and bundles then at this point now you're probably no more than 4 weeks from a final total payout from Cobbetts which will come in the form of a phone call to you from them offering everything in order to keep you out of the court house....as they really don't like sitting in front of judges!!
Cheers, Atlantic. Makes me feel better knowing that I'm not as stupid as first thought!
To be honest, I didn't expect the document that arrived today. What I expected was the bog-standard delaying tactic i.e. in part 2a the claimant must list what each specific charge relates to... What arrived was just a defence, a statement. And there is no indiciation of what I need to do next.!
Do I now await a response from the Court, in view of Cobbetts submission, or am I supposed to submit something else now?
Haven't got time, right this minute, but will do my best to type up four-pager on the morrow. Joy.
i think i know how you feel........... i lost quite a bit of time scouting around trying to figure out an easier way of getting documents up on the threads.....only to find that you simply have a long hard typing task ahead of you!!!
Nell v RBS - deal or no deal?
(£1702.96) be refunded
Reply With Quote
Re: Nell v RBS - deal or no deal?
Originally Posted by Atlantic
Re: Nell v RBS - deal or no deal?
