Soulfish v Woolwich

[Soulfish]

After spending the last 6 months reading up on the unlawful bank charges, I'm going after the Woolwich on behalf of my mum for any and all bank charges they've claimed against her.

I'm also severely tempted to go after contractual interest at their unauthorised overdraft rate of 27.5%.

Sent the Data Protection Act request on 5th Jan 2007 and have just received a statement of charges in the post this morning (Sat 27th Jan 2007). The statement only shows charges from Apr 2001 - Dec 2006, so I'm going to send a letter later asking for any other information that they may be holding (and like others have done, if they say they don't have it ask them when and how it was destroyed) as I'd also like to reclaim anything prior to 2001 (I've read a lot about the statute of limitations and as many others feel that it doesn't apply in this case).

Woolwich handily totaled the amount and from April 2001 - Dec 2006 the charges come to £8,337.33!

Adding on contractual interest pushes this claim up to around £16k-£17k, which pushes it into the multitrack, and of course more risk. Then there's the pre-2001 bank charges that we're going to reclaim, which if they're at a similar level to the post-2001 charges would equate to approx. £14000, and once again adding contractual interest onto that would put it at over £100k!

I need to decide how I want to proceed with reclaiming the charges. I'm almost certainly going to split it into pre and post 2001 charges, but I'm unsure if I should keep each of those claims as one big lump, split them into smaller claims or possibly just limit each claim. Anyone have any suggestions, comments or advice?

If anyone out there has anything that could possibly help (regarding the statue of limitations, contractual interest etc) then it would also be greatly appreciated .

John

[Soulfish]

Having finally managed to get some time free to calculate the charges properly turns out that the total for the last 6 years with contractual interest is actually £13,549.66. Less then I'd originally estimated as the charges weren't as spread out as I was expecting.

Sending the prelim letter tomorrow with the schedule of charges

[Gezmc1606]

Hi Soulfish

I'm pretty much at the same level as yourself but stuck!! I would love to help you and maybe someday down the line i can. I have read alot on this site but am so stuck and because you do really seem to understand the charge element on this, guess what???, i'm lookin for your help!!!!!

Going by what i received from the Woolwich i'm just so confused about the interest. If you have a look on my thread you'll understand.

Hope you can help and sorry to interrupt your thread!!!

[Soulfish]

Unfortunately I've been very busy recently with family members going into hospital so didn't have time to prepare and send the LBA on the 14th February.
However just got an offer of £1,000 from Barclay's, so will be sending the rejection letter and the LBA out early next week .

Total claim with compound interest now stands at £13,860.50.

[Soulfish]

Forgot to add that I'm going to be sending off a Data Protection Act non-compliance LBA. Woolwich have only released the last 6 years worth of bank statements, and haven't responded to my request for the rest of the statements (and a copy of the signed contract) made more than 40 days ago.

[Soulfish]

Filed the court claim on the 23rd April, and have just received Barclays/Woolwich defense. Its a 15 point defense, and I've uploaded it to some webspace and linked to it below.

Not too sure if its there standard defense for contractual interest - it certainly makes reference to things that aren't in my claim (I didn't use the terms mutuality and reciprocity for instance).

Getting very close now!

Court Doc 1
Court Doc 2
Court Doc 3

[Soulfish]

Right - just got a letter from the Court this morning. The claim has been allocated to the Fast Track and I have a directions hearing on 15th August 2007

Just uploading what the Judge has ordered so you can all have a read

[welshcakes]

Hi Soulfish

The Defence is pretty standard. I take it you went the MCOL route which may be why the first Defence point mentions the lack of detail in your POC. Did you definitely send on your Schedule of Charges to the court and to Barclays following your online claim? If not, send a copy to the court that's now dealing with it plus one to Barc's Litigat Team at H/O... even if you've already done so, it wouldn't harm to re-send registered to Barcs with a covering letter quoting the Claim Number.

You may also want to write to or ring Lit Team to ask if they want to agree an out of court settlement now that you have a court date (unless they ask, don't specify it's only a directions/prelim).

[Soulfish]

I actually filled at the court since the claim is for around £14,000. Had about 50 pages including the PoC and 9 different appendices(!)

I've uploaded the order from the judge to here. From reading it appears that the Judge has ordered that Barclays have to disclose their costs before the hearing - am I reading it correctly?

John

[welshcakes]

Oh Blimey John, bet the court staff loved you lol! Well in that case, it is quite clear that Barclay's have not provided a specific Defence to your claim and provided just one of several standard responses.

Great News on the Order - so okay it mean you have to send a copy bundle to B's (and to court) by 24th July.

It's well worth calling B's Lit now and seeking settlement. There is no way they will comply with the Order - yes, you've read it correctly that B's are required to justify their charges by way of a costs breakdown ie Disclosure.

They are basically stuffed thanks to this Order.

Ring them and let us know who said what

[Soulfish]

Spoken to both Krysta and Kate on the litigation team and apparently my case has been allocated to Paul Quinn. Trying to get hold of him at the moment but it seems like an impossible task!

[welshcakes]

To save on the cost of unfruitful telephone calls, it might be a good idea to start bugging him by email as well

[saintly_1]

court bundles for dummies a nice walkthrough of your court bundle

Peter Rabbit V Barclays**success** post #34 for statement of evidence

[Soulfish]

Thanks for that saintly_1 . Just putting together my court bundle at the moment. Aiming to get it sent off quickly to force Barclays to settle sooner since the Judge has given them 3 weeks from the date they recieve my court bundle.

One quick question does anyone have any good threads for what extra to include in the court bundle when claiming for contractual interest? Haven't had time to have a good look just yet

Thanks,

John

[Soulfish]

OK - I've found some stuff that Barclays sent through that I'd forgotten about and hadn't opened. Just looked today and want some peoples second opinions on it. Have a look here for more details.

Thanks,

John

[Soulfish]

Just had an intresting letter from the court regarding the stay.

It appears that the Judge has ordered the case to be stayed BUT also ordered Barclays to pay £2,000 a month to us until the claim is repaid?!?

Have a read of this and see if you reach the same conclusion

[Soulfish]

Hi Everyone,

I've just received news about my Stay, and wanted to see what people made of it.

It appears that the Judge has ordered the case to be stayed (as I expected), but he also appears to have ordered the bank to pay £2,000/mo until the case is resolved or the full ammount being claimed is paid back.

Have a read of this letter to see what I mean.

Is my interpretation correct? Anything I should/shouldn't do?

Thanks,

John

[gni03349]

Well... without knowing any of the details, it is saying that you took them to court, and you are £2,000 per month better off, but you have to pay your own costs (mind you, I'm sure it's nowhere near 2 grand.. or I would hope not).

Only thing I suggest is to check your balance carefully up to and including the 31st July to make sure they pay, and in subsequent months, and if not... back to the court.

Nice result.. whatever the original problem was.