Update 9.8.06 (just over 3 weeks to go till court date)
About 3 weeks ago i had a letter from Keith Jeramiah offering me £1600.00 as
full and final settlement even tho we now have a court date! Cheeky b****r!
Anyway, I phoned him and told him how I felt about the offer and he appeared to cave and said that he would check the figures claimed and, if it all checked out, he would pass it thro for settlement.
Anyway, a few days ago I had a letter from him asking why I hadn't responded to his offer and whether there was still the chance to negotiate! He also stated that 'Barclays Bank "expect" a compromise on my part'
So................I sent him the following!
Dear Mr Jeramiah,
I refer to your letter dated 4th August 2006.
You may, or may not, recall our telephone conversation in response to your settlement offer of £1600 in respect of my claim number 6 SB 00449 where I made my feelings clear to you. But, In case this has slipped your memory, I will briefly outline the conversation for you.
I stated that I found your offer totally unacceptable as it was not even close to the figure that I am claiming in unlawful Penalty Charges. The conversation ended with you verbally agreeing to check the figures claimed and, if the figures tallied, you would put the claim forward for full settlement.
Unfortunately, I was a little niave and actually believed you. I should of followed this up in writing but felt that you had made a genuine offer and that you would be good for your word.
I now know that verbal offers of any kind cannot be relied upon and now require all future correspondence in writing so that they can, if need be, be referred to at a later date should the need arise.
With regard to any further negotiations; of course I am keen to conclude this action before the hearing date of 1st September 2006.
But be aware that I am not willing to compromise on the settlement figure in any way. I feel aggrieved that you would even suggest that Barclays Bank would ‘expect’ a compromise on my part. If you had made efforts to conclude this action earlier then the settlement figure would have been significantly lower that it currently is.
I am, therefore, ready to accept your offer of
full and final settlement of my claim as it stands at todays figure which is £2,368.48 and continuing to rise by .37p per day until settled.
Furthermore, I now require that the additional Penalty Fees that have been charged to my account since the start of this claim are re-paid at this stage if an out of court settlement is to be reached. These fees have been wholly caused by your constant delaying tactics in reaching a settlement of my court claim and I feel justified in insisting that these are dealt with now, rather than facing another 6 months of further delays that you would undoubtedly cause.
I have again included a breakdown of these unlawful charges which amount to £435.00 for you to check authenticity. This figure does not include
interest pursuant to section 69 County Courts Act of 8%.
This will bring the overall settlement figure that I require to £2,803.48.
Of course it should be noted that the Court hearing is only a matter of weeks away and I am more than happy to allow the District Judge to make the final decision. Should it reach the stage where settlement is not reached before the hearing date I will be asking the Judge to consider the additional fees that I have incurred, plus additional costs, and seek to obtain a judgement that includes these.
In closing, I would like to summarise the terms that I am willing to settle this court action prior to the hearing date-
A. The settlement of the Court Claim no. 6 SB 00430 for £2,368.48
B. Additional fees added to my account after Court action was instigated £435.00
C. The combined figure of £2,803.48 being deposited into my account prior to 1st September 2006
If you agree to the above terms, please sign and return the duplicate copy to me by return. You will also need to ensure that the monies are paid into my Woolwich account as cleared funds. As soon as I confirm that the monies are in my account I will send a letter to Salisbury
County Court to discontinue my claim and I will send you a duplicate for your records.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Yours Sincerely,
barry031261
I agree to the above terms of settlement
Signed _________________________ ______
Keith Jeramiah (Legal Executive)
Dated: August 2006