Hi all

Been reading this site for a while but only just decided to take action. After paying my inital £5 for copy statements I received the last 2.5 years immediately (all that they had on the current system). Have just totalled the charges up on this and it is over £3700. I knew it was bad but nothing could have made me believe it was quite this horrific.

I intend to go through the remainder of the 6 years this evening before sending off my letter. Unfortunately although I am based in England my account is still held at the Paisley branch of the BOS. A relative works for the Scottish Court system and after investigating this it looks as though I will have to go through the Scottish Courts which is dissapointing due to the small claims limit. Am still awaiting advice on whether I am able to process multiple claims but will keep you up to date on my progress.

Seems like a lot of effort but small fry for the amount of money I have been charged!

read up on Summary Cause claims. These are still heard in the sherriffs' court, with or without representation (as far as I understand !), for claims upto the value of £5000 http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/sheriff/summary_cause/guidance_notes.asp

hope this helps

sorry that should be £1500 for summary cause claims.

I think you are liable for costs in a Summary Clause case if you lose. Not sure if there's a limit but it's worth finding out as some people may not be willing to persue this route if that's the case.

I spoke to somone at Glasgow Sheriff court yesterday and they suggested I could try and lodge a cliam in England against a Head Office. He said if it came under 'Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982' then there shouldn't be a problem.

After googling this act and reading various things I was none the wisaer, perhaps one of our more legal minded bods could take a look ?

Their is an explanation of Summary Clause costs in part 4 of the guide in the link provided about bu fruitcar or her http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/sheriff/summary_cause/docs/guidance_04.pdf[/url]

Your profile says you're in London, is this right? If so, then as a consumer you can sue them in the court nearest you - and if that happens to be an English one, then the limit is £5k

I have started a claim using the Summary Cause Summons option...will keep you posted on its progress for your reference.

The total is for £900 + 8%apr + costs.

I have additonal claims however that are over the £1,500 threshold.....anyone know the prodedure in Scotland for claiming above this amount??

Kaiser

Yes. Get a lawyer.

Seriously though, the Sheriff will be very helpful and understanding if you are in Small Claims, but if you want to raise an Ordinary Action you will need to have everything right, which is very difficult if you're not a lawyer. This has been a bug bear of mine for a long time. I spend a lot of my spare time in court making sure I don't get screwed over by big companies, and I feel that the way the Scottish courts system is set up, with their highly technical jargon and archaic expressions, is simply intended as a barrier to entry for anyone who isn't a lawyer or an Advocate.

In a nutshell, if you want justice outwith the Small Claims track, you are going to have to pay for it. As a guide, any lawyer will probably want between £700 and £1,000 up front just to prepare the papers and start the ball rolling. If the bank defends it, and you have to go to court (unlikely, but definitly possible), you can probably add another £2,000 - £3,000 to the bill.

In the event that you win, you will be awarded costs, which are laid down in a tariff set by The Law Society Of Scotland (i.e £xxx for preparing for hearing yyyy, £xxxx for attending court, and so on). In practice this means that you are only likely to recover about 66% of your costs in the event that you win. As a rule, I've noticed that when claims are settled out of court, they tend to be done so on the basis of 'with no costs due by or to either party', which means exactly what it says, so if your claim was for £4,000 and the bank settled, you would still have to pay your lawyer the initial fee.

Perhaps a better approach is to start with the earliest charge, and work your way forward adding up charges until you reach £750. You then claim these from thr bank, and in the event that you win, you then go on to the next £750 worth of charges, and so on. It is likely that by this point the bank will get the idea, and offer you a settlement in full. The banana skin to watch for here is that if they offer to settle the first lot, they will probably try get you to agree that it is 'full and final for all disputes ever' (or words to that effect), which you obviously won't agree to.

Hi folks

Sat down last night with 6 years worth of statements and finally added them all up - grim reading at over £10,700 in 6 years!

I have read all the FAQ's and am quietly confident but one or two things I would love clarification on if anyone has been in a similar circumstance. Firstly I live in England and acount is in Scotland but as I am the consumer I believe it is my right to go to my local court?

Secondly as I am talking of reclaiming such a large sum of money I am so concious of the small claims limit so I will initally be putting in a claim for £5000 (with interest on top obviously) and am imagining the prudent thing to do is go back to the furthest statements that I can and work my way up?

Am sending the letter to the bank today requesting repayment and I presume I should ask for the full amount and then drop it to £5000 should it come to formal court proceedings!

Sorry if these things have already been answered -I have been looking for solutions but don't want to get it wrong as we are talking serious amounts of money!!

Wish me luck - god knows I will need it!

A

x

Thanks for the messages so far and apologies - forgot I had started another thread!

I intend to go to Court in London which is where I am based and to stay within the small claims track.

Will post off my initial request for payment over the weekend and keep you up to date.

Thanks again

x

How do you intend to split your claim ?

IMHO doing it by date is probably not the best of ways...

Try splitting it according to the different types of charge (ie excess od / bounced dd / bounced cheque etc...)

does anyone have a template for ordinary cause writs? I have just had mine returned by the coourt for not completing it properly.

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