my mum against woolwich

[jssandy01]

I now operate a joint account with my mum who is 74 years old. The account is purely used for direct debits and to pay her regular bills. Maximum amount in it at any one time is £200.
She used to look after her own accounts some time back but there was some problems with my dad's pension not being paid in which resulted in a number of DD's being bounced.
Having come accross this site I am now taking steps to claim back £234 in charges all for bounced DD's. The only income to this account is her widows pension of £262 so the charges virtually wipe out one months pension!action so far:
14/4Sent nice letter requesting refund pointing our my mum's situation giving 14 days.
20/4 Letter on Barclays headed paper received confirming receipt and that 'one of my team will contact you again as soon as possible'.No further correspondence received to-date.
2/5 My letter following up pointing out time table and refund required by 5/5/06
Have received nothing further from woolwich/Barclays
As 28 days now passed since original request I suppose next step is Moneyclaim.
Plan to issue today.

[jonni2bad]

Great stuff - good luck too

We will keep an eye out for future updates, or if you need any other help with this

[jssandy01]

Cannot believe it Barclays have issued defence over £257. They are claiming particulars of claim do not provide details of the account in question/ or precise charges alleged to have been unlawful or the date. I am amazed! I sent letters to them quoting account no. as well as excell spreadsheet with each charge shown with the dates? However their defence also states 'it is admitted that the claimant has an account (gives the number and sort code0) What!
They then go on to say it is entitled to charge for unauthorised borrowings and quotes terms & conditions.They also deny the legal principles relating to liquidated damages causes and penalty charges. Finaly they round it all up stating it was my fault for not agreeing overdraft facilities.
This was my mums account as advised to them originally,her being elderly she did not manage it well.
My first letter to them was polite but firm requesting return of fees under the circumstances. They never replied only got holding letters hence the legal action.
Does this sound normal Woolwich/Barclays. I have until 4/7 to submit allocation questionnaire.

	County Court guidebook by Judge Patricia Pearl Follow this link to read the review of this excellent Small Claims Guidebook. This comprehensive and very accessible guide will take you through the process of suing or defending a claim. This guide will help you take control of your litigation and make you more confident about doing it yourself. Applies to England and Wales

	Are you letting your bank keep your money Are you giving away thousands of pounds?? Many people aren't claiming all of the money they are entitled to when they make their bank charges claims. You have been forced to pay unfair bank charges. Have you forgotten that your bank has charged you inteest on those charges? If you are overdrawn and the bank owes you charges - then your overdraft is made up of charges - money which you bank owes you. Yet you are paying interest to the bank - on your own money!!! Follow this link to see the discussions on this. You might even double th size of your claim.

[jonni2bad]

This is quite typical. For help with the Allocation Questionnaire, see below. Although you have already clearly sent in a breakdown of charges previously, we would advise sending another one to the department / solicitors acting on their behalf, and including details of this on the AQ. Send in a copy to the court too, attached to the AQ.

************************* ************************* *****

Notes for completing a small claims track allocation questionnaire - Form N149
An online PDF version of the form is HERE

Section A - Settlement
Do you wish any further action in this claim to be postponed for one month so that you and the other party can attempt to settle the claim either by informal discussion or by alternative dispute resolution?

You have given ample opportunity to resolve this matter with your bank / credit card company etc. so there is no need to allow further time. TICK NO

Section B - Location of Hearing
The claim will be heard in the court to which this form must be returned. Is there any
reason why it should be transferred to another court to be heard?

If the reply address is your local court, then TICK NO. If the reply address has changed to another location, then TICK YES and state that since you, as a private individual, are claiming against a company who carries on business in this location, then the case should be heard locally to you.

Section C - Track
Do you agree that the small claims track is the most suitable track for this claim?

TICK Yes

Section D - Witnesses
So far as you know at this stage, how many witnesses (other than yourself) do you intend to call to give evidence at the hearing?

Enter the number of witnesses you intend to call to give evidence not including yourself or any expert witness - Typically this would be 0

Section E - Experts
Do you want permission to use an expert’s report at the hearing?

Unless you know otherwise, TICK NO

Section F - Hearing
Are there any days within the next four months when you, an expert or a witness will
not be able to attend court for the hearing?

Unless you know of specific date that you cannot attend court (holidays etc) then TICK NO.

Section G - Other Information
In the space below, set out any other information you consider will help the judge to manage or clarify the claim, including any other information you consider should be supplied by the other party.

Give details of any other information that you consider will help the judge to manage the claim,
referring as necessary to any documents you might have attached. Bear in mind however that at this stage you need not attach all other documents which you wish the court to consider at the hearing. This is something you will later be asked to provide.
You may wish to add reasons why the case is more suitable for Small Claims Track if your claim value exceeds £5,000 or provide reasoning why the other side should provide evidence of their costs!

(State here that you have sent a copy of charges breakdown to the bank)

Section H - Fee
Have you attached the fee for filing this allocation questionnaire?

You should note that if you do not pay this fee it might lead to your claim being struck out.
If you are the claimant, depending on the value of your claim, you may have to pay a court fee. If you have not applied for fee exemption or remission, the fee must be sent to the court at the same time as your completed questionnaire - in other words, you could get help from the court.
If you are in receipt of certain benefits, or if this fee would cause you undue hardship, it may be possible to pay nothing, a reduced fee, or even have the payment deferred until a later time.
Contact the Court directly if you think this applies to you.

Section H - Signature

This questionnaire must be signed by only the party to the claim, or litigation friend, or legal representative.

	County Court guidebook by Judge Patricia Pearl Follow this link to read the review of this excellent Small Claims Guidebook. This comprehensive and very accessible guide will take you through the process of suing or defending a claim. This guide will help you take control of your litigation and make you more confident about doing it yourself. Applies to England and Wales

	Hardship By and large the "harship" provision in the FSA waiver is a myth which is intended to create a sense that the banking industry is sufficiently well-intentioned to act fairly towards its customers even though their right of access to the courts has been blocked. In fact there are very few guidelines as to procedure and very little definition of "hardship". One unfortunate spin off is that many people in difficulty get their hopes up and go to considerable lengths to plead hardship to their bank in order to get a refund or partial refund of their bank charges only to be refused. Neither the courts nor the FOS have the power to order a bank to make a charges refund on the basis of hardship. We hear of some people obtaining a partial refund quite easily. Others have obtained money by being very persistent - but mostly we hear that people are refused. Even benefits claimants do not automatically receive hardship refunds. By all means try to get a bank charges refund on the basis of hardship - but don't bank on it!

[jssandy01]

Help!!! ...Filled in allocation documentation and court has allocated to fast track but they the court has also ordered that the claim be on hold to await outcome of test case in Southend to be heared by the end of the year which could stop the need for litigation in these cases!!!
Anyone heared anything about that before and is there anything I can do? What impact could this have on future and existing claims. This notice came from Tunbridge Wells County Court

	County Court guidebook by Judge Patricia Pearl Follow this link to read the review of this excellent Small Claims Guidebook. This comprehensive and very accessible guide will take you through the process of suing or defending a claim. This guide will help you take control of your litigation and make you more confident about doing it yourself. Applies to England and Wales

	Bank Charges You should have started your claim for your bank charges by now. Don't wait. You should send your bank a Subject Acess Request asking for all personal data they hold on you - not just statements. You should calculate all of your bank charges and related interest as far back as 1995. You should send your bank a demand for a refund giving them 7 days. You should commence your legal action adding 8% statutory interest. If you wait for the outcome of the test case, you may not be able to claim like this. you may not be able to claim interest. You may only be offered the difference between the charge and the OFT "fair charge". The repayment scheme will try to limit you to refinds from 2001 only. A repayment scheme will not deal with any bank charges related defaults on the credit register whereas in a court action you can ask for these to be removed and to be compensated for the damage caused to you and your family by them. You should also write to the bank and to the CRA and put all charges related credit entries in disupte and warn them that you will want them removed from the Register when the test case is over. Warn them also that you are likely to be seeking compensation for these wrongful data entries. Full and final settlement Have you previously accepted a partial repayment of your bank charges in full settlement? You will still be able to claim the rest of your money back after the Test case is decided. Get all your information back to 1995 and put in your claim now.

[paddym]

check with one of the moderaters !

[jonni2bad]

As far as fast track is concerned, you might take this as a positive move by a Judge. The amount you are claiming would normally guarantee a small claims track case, but Judges are aware of the number of cases and the bank's refusal to appear.

Awarding this a fast-track status would give you Standard Disclosure (not words a bank likes to hear) but would also very likely limit your liability to costs (since the Judge moved it even though the value was low)

As for the Stay - please try to contact BankFodder if you would like to challenge this decision. He can help you just like he has helped others...

So what's happened now? Please keep us updated.

[jssandy01]

I am using Bankfodders guides to have the stay removed and the case retained in the small claims court. I have also written to woolwich to let them know my intentions and to give them an opportinity to settlebefore I do that. Thought it would look good to a judge that I have made the attempt.
Will keep you posted.

[jssandy01]

Does anyone know of the case in Southend reffered to by the judge who stayed my case?

I have writted to Barclays legal bod today advising I will apply to have stay removed in 7 days giving them one week to cough up and save the court time.

[jssandy01]

I have today applied for the stay to be lifted. i a not going to give. there has been no test case
Used template from sticky to apply.
Here we go again.

	Bank Charges You should have started your claim for your bank charges by now. Don't wait. You should send your bank a Subject Acess Request asking for all personal data they hold on you - not just statements. You should calculate all of your bank charges and related interest as far back as 1995. You should send your bank a demand for a refund giving them 7 days. You should commence your legal action adding 8% statutory interest. If you wait for the outcome of the test case, you may not be able to claim like this. you may not be able to claim interest. You may only be offered the difference between the charge and the OFT "fair charge". The repayment scheme will try to limit you to refinds from 2001 only. A repayment scheme will not deal with any bank charges related defaults on the credit register whereas in a court action you can ask for these to be removed and to be compensated for the damage caused to you and your family by them. You should also write to the bank and to the CRA and put all charges related credit entries in disupte and warn them that you will want them removed from the Register when the test case is over. Warn them also that you are likely to be seeking compensation for these wrongful data entries. Full and final settlement Have you previously accepted a partial repayment of your bank charges in full settlement? You will still be able to claim the rest of your money back after the Test case is decided. Get all your information back to 1995 and put in your claim now.