GaryH v Lloyds TSB - WON !! UNCONDITIONALLY !!!!

[GaryH]

First of all, well done on a great site! It's so good to see greedy banks get some of their own back.

 

Anyway, I sent the prelim. on 15th May and received my first 'sod off' letter (including vague threats to withdraw facilities) this morning. Before I procede with the LBA, i have a question to ask if i may:

 

I am claiming £231, but another £105 worth of charges is due to be debited from my account on the 1st of June. Should I include this in the claim?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Gary

[commando]

Hi Gary,

I would send LBA on the 1/6 with the new charge added on. Some posters are sending LBA as soon as they get a reply from prelim letter, which they can do.

 

You can add any charges on to your claim right up to money claim (court).

[GaryH]

Thanks for the reply. That makes sense, i think thats what i'll do. I was eager to hit them with the LBA ASAP, but probably best to wait the full 14 days as it says on the prelim.

 

Cheers

[GaryH]

Hi everyone,

 

I have'nt posted for a while, so here's an update of my claim timeline:

 

Prelim sent 15th May, standard sod off received 19th May.

 

LBA sent 1st June, standard sod off received 4th June.

 

Moneyclaim filed 16th, claim issued 19th June and acknowledged 21st June.

 

I think its also worth noting that on 24th May, I rang Lloyds to complain about a new, and particularly ruthless, round of charges. I asked to be put through to customer care, and spoke to an employee whom I informed of my claim and I asked for the new lot of charges to be suspended pending the result of the forthcoming legal action. The employee then stated that my request could not be granted as "The charges are automated and unless applied in error cannot be over-ridden." I asked the employee to repeat this, which he did, and took his name. As soon as I put the phone down I recorded the exact time and a transcript of the conversation.

 

Could this be significant if the case goes to court?

 

Also, on Tuesday I had another DD returned. Had they paid it, my account would have been overdrawn by the grand sum of ONE POUND AND NINETEEN PENCE!!! Then yesterday, predictably and regular as clockwork, I received the usual computer generated letter informing me of another £35 charge. This is yet another perfect example off the grossly disproportionate and unreasonable charging policy of Lloyds TSB. Im still absolutley fuming about this and although the claim is now at moneyclaim stage, I've drafted a letter which I'm going to send to Just and Horton at Customer 'care', and the chief exec. I'll post it here perhaps when I've finished / edited it.

 

entered in litigation in progress

[Janet-M]

Tell them you want them refunded as you already have a claim against them and will not hesitate to start another one if need be .

Your transcript is no good as its your word against theres what was said unless you want to make a DPAR for it , even then don't be suprised if its lost , accidentally damaged etc .

[reload]

As mjanet says Gary - tell them you want the extra charges refunded

 

As your claim is already at the Moneyclaim stage, you may want to hold off until you recieve an offer from Lloyd's solicitors - chances are if you request they refund the additional charges as part of your settlement they may well do so.

[GaryH]

Just checked on the money claim site and Lloyds have submitted a defence at last. Predictabily last-minute as ever, the deadline would have been up tommorrow!

 

How long is the wait for the allocation questionnaire usually?

 

Im not worried about court in the slightest, in fact I'm considering rejecting any offers and letting it go all the way. Its about time these slimey parasites faced some consiquences for their blatant abuse of the legal system, not to mention the deceitful way they treat their customers. For all the good work of this forum (and others) and the slowly increasing public awareness, these banks are still allowed to carry on looting peoples accounts day in, day out, driving hard-up families into financial ruin as a direct result of charges they have no legal right to take. How the hell is this allowed to go on?

 

Are their any issues to be aware of in rejecting the (presumably forthcoming) offers and taking it all the way to court? Could the fact that I will have refused a settlement go against me in court?

 

I'd be interested to hear any views and opinions on this.

 

Cheers,

 

Gary

[Janet-M]

There are many people on here who would love to get the banks into a court but sadly if they offer you full settlement you have to accept it.You do not have to accept any conditions attatched though and they really push for them ,but then they back down each time.

 

As for the AQ sometime the solicitors put it in in time sometimes they don't , in my case the judge gave them an extra 14 days ( solicitors still couldn't get it right ).

[GaryH]

Boo! Thats a great shame.

 

As for conditions - no chance! Especially after seeing the outcome of your case.

[GaryH]

Received defence today. Usual rubbish by the looks of it. Ligitamate charge for a service, not a penalty so no pre-estimate of loss is required, etc,etc. Is that what everyone gets?

[GaryH]

Ooops! Looking back over my particulars of claim on MCOL, it appears I have left out the paragraph about the 8% interest. Is this anything to worry about?

[Ihatebanks]

There are many people on here who would love to get the banks into a court but sadly if they offer you full settlement you have to accept it.You do not have to accept any conditions attatched though and they really push for them ,but then they back down each time.

 

Just a thought do the Full and Final Settlement Offers come with

"Without Prejudice" so surely this cannot be used in court

[GaryH]

Anyone? I'd appreciate an opinion on wether or not omitting the 8% interest paragraph is anything to panic about, is it advisable to get the claim amended? I've added the interest onto the total (only about £13) but for some reason did'nt include the paragraph:? . Any advice would be much appreciated - is this the sort of cock up they could exploit in any way do you think?

[GaryH]

Bump!

[GaryH]

Hi all,

 

I received two letters from SC&M on Tuesday morning. One with a copy of their allocation questionnaire and the other containing , yep you guessed it, a settlement offer - seemingly the usual letter with 4 conditions as per Bean's, et al. After a bit of consideration (and with inspiration drawn from cases such as mjanet's), I have decided to decline the offer. Here's my letter of response, any constructive critisism or comments / suggestions would be most welcome.

 

 

-----------------------------------

 

 

 

 

 

** ******* Street

Swindon

Wiltshire

SN* ***

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sechiari, Clark and Mitchell

Department SO

PO Box 499

Upper Ground Floor

1 – 5 Queens Road Quadrant

Brighton

BN1 3XJ

 

 

 

18th August 2006

 

 

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

Account Number: ****** ********

GaryH-v-Lloyds Bank PLC

Claim Number: ********

 

Thank you for your letter dated 14th August 2006, in which you offer settlement in relation to my claim against your client, Lloyds TSB Bank PLC.

 

Regretfully, I am unable to agree to settle upon the terms to which you request. In previous correspondence with your client, I have made absolutely clear on numerous occasions that this matter will not be resolved until such time as I receive a full and unconditional re-imbursement of the money taken from me by way of unlawful charges. Whilst I realise that I must mitigate my loss, I am under no obligation to accept any conditions and furthermore, you have no right to attempt to impose them. I am prepared to settle this matter for the amount of the claim, namely £364.03 as per your offer, but this amount should be offered unconditionally. Please note that my position on the matter of conditions is final and that no further correspondence or negotiation will be entered into in this regard.

 

I feel I must also comment upon how disappointed I am at the manner in which both you and your client have conducted yourselves throughout the process of this claim. You have displayed brinksmanship at every single stage of the process which I find to be most distasteful. Also, as these seem to be the tactics deployed by you and your client in every other case similar to this one, these tactics are seemingly an attempt at intimidation which, in my view, constitutes a cynical abuse of the court system.

 

Furthermore, I find the tone of your recent letter to be inappropriate and the content to be, in part, deceptive. I particularly refer to the first paragraph in which you state the letter to be “confidential between yourself, ourselves and the bank.” However, you must surely be aware that there can be no unilateral imposition of confidentiality in these circumstances and for you to state otherwise is an untruth. Should this disingenuous representation continue in future correspondence, I may be minded to make a formal complaint to the Law Society.

 

 

 

 

Yours Faithfully,

 

 

 

-----------------------------------

 

 

 

 

The balls in their court now, it'll be interesting to see how they respond.

 

 

 

 

Gary

[GaryH]

The above was sent on the 19th August, no response as yet.

 

BTW, did anyone else get a copy of the defendants A/Q at the same time as their settlement? I did, and in the 'witnesses' section they say they are to call 1 witness. Is this the same as everyone elses?

[GaryH]

Still no reply from SC&M, so I sent this by fax a couple of days ago:

 

-------------------------

(ME)

Sechiari, Clark & Mitchell

Department SO

PO Box 499

Upper Ground Floor

1 – 5 Queens Road Quadrant

Brighton

BN1 3JX

 

5th September 2006

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

 

Account Number: ****** ********

Me -v- Lloyds TSB

Claim Number: 6QZ39292

 

I write further to our recent correspondence regarding the matters as detailed above.

 

To date I have not received a reply to, or even an acknowledgement of, my letter to you dated 18th August 2006. Contained within this letter in was my response to your client’s offer of a conditional settlement to these matters.

 

I respectfully request that you would kindly afford me a response to this letter informing me of how you and your client intend to proceed. Or, in the alternative, please at least provide an acknowledgement of the safe receipt

of the letter, along with an assurance that the matter in question is receiving your prompt attention.

 

For your convenience, please find attached copies of the correspondence to which I refer.

 

 

 

Yours Faithfully

 

 

 

 

Me

-------------------------

 

Still no response (predictabily) so I rang them half hour ago. Mr Thomas was in a meeting apparantly so I got to speak to a miserable sounding git by the name of Harry (Barry? one of the two) Alan. He said yes, they'd received my letters but there was not alot he could tell me as they were awaiting instruction from their client. I did'nt say anything specific with regards to the case, but I told him it would have been courtious to at least acknowledge my correspondance, as they requested of me in there letter (settlement offer). 'Not alot of point if theres nothing to tell you' he said. 'We will be in touch when our client instructs us further'.

 

I can wait. All the sweeter when they finally fold. Or..... maybe, just maybe, I'll get to have my day in court. Service Charge?!?! Bring it on!

 

 

edited ;please dont use this word !!

[GaryH]

BUGGER!!! A stay has been ordered!

 

Not really a surprise though, I had quite a revealing conversation with one of my local County Court staff (getting a bit of a regular now:rolleyes: ), and most of what he said, although he could'nt give specific details, seems to have come true over the last few days. I'm going to apply this afternoon to get it removed, plus send (another!) letter to the OFT and my MP.

 

Also, I closed all my Lloyds accounts yesturday. Well rid of that 'orrible lot.

[lucid]

Also, I closed all my Lloyds accounts yesturday. Well rid of that 'orrible lot.

I know the feeling Gary. We can't wait to get rid of them ourselves - although we don't have the luxury of being in a position to do so until our claims come to an end.

 

Hopefully you won't have to wait too much longer now before they agree to your settlement terms.

 

Good luck. Lucid

[GaryH]

Thanks for your support Lucid, its appreciated.

 

Thing is, now that a stay has been ordered I can't see that SC&M are going to be in much of a rush to settle on my terms. I'm gona try to get it lifted but I'm not holding out much hope. You can see why the courts want to go down this road, but I think they'll find in the end that its totally misguided. It just plays into the banks hands at the end of the day, and I just can't see a test case actually going ahead - they're just not going to disclose are they? Grrrrrrr... :mad:

[cathrionas]

Darn it!

C

[Mindzai]

What is the reason for the stay? Have the courts imposed it or did SC&M apply for it?

[GaryH]

Stayed till March the 1st next year to await the outcome of the test cases that have been transferred to the Mercentile Court. From what I've heard, there could well be stays ordered on quite a large scale.

[saj]

Sorry to hear that GaryH... Was this ordered by the court though, or can SCM ask for it themselves on those grounds? Which court was it out of interest?

Saj x

[GaryH]

It was the courts own motion. Nothing to do with SC&M, although I bet they're pretty chuffed about it. Swindon CC.