Hi

Iv'e been hanging around the PPI forum for a couple of weeks and thought it was time to pay y'all a visit!

After a SAR to B/C and kicking up a little bit of a stink I have finally rec'd statements back to 2001 - they still owe me 3 years but i'm still deciding what to do about that!

Anyway I originally sent for them to claim back the PPI but have noticed £235 worth of late and over credit fees. I have read some posts here and realise that some have been successful in claiming back the fees - even over 6 years which is what mine would be.

My problem is that they seem to go the court route and i'm not sure i've got the nerve - or the knowledge! Just wondered if the FOS take this on or will BC only pay when threatened with court?

In anticipation I have prepared a SOC - does this look ok? Should I just fire it off to BC with a letter? Or would the letter need to state I am prepare to go to court.......which I'm not sure I am

Any help as always gratefully received.

As you can tell .....VERY confused

Regards

ericar

BC Fees.pdf

Hi Ericar,

You're not alone in feeling daunted at the prospect of taking a global bank to court but many others have done this and won.

If you decide to proceed, we will guide you through the process and point you to all the resources you should need.

The FOS is a waste of time as they tend to side with the banks. They would not agree that you can reclaim charges beyond the normal 6 years, nor would they agree that interest in restitution at a nominal rate should apply. Also, they'll take many months to conclude their investigation and you'll end up with a paltry refund.

Court action is the route that many have followed recently but you don't need to threaten it at this stage. Use the template letter below. BC will only take you seriously once you have filed a court claim.

I've looked at your spreadsheet and you are claiming far less than you could. Take the first charge on your list for example, which shows compound interest of £63.44 using 17.9%.

You should consider claiming interest in restitution using a nominal rate of 24.9%. This will give you an interest figure of £192.42. A considerable difference in your favour.

Use this spreadsheet from the Tutorial - http://www.shweb.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/interestcalcs.xls

Use this template for your Prelim Claim letter, which can also be used as your LBA 14 days later - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/content.php?605-Credit-Store-Card-Letter-Template

Read the Interest Tutorial linked in my signature below to learn more about interest in restitution.

Read through some of the **WON** cases here, to see how it's done - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?97-Barclays-BCard-and-Woolwich-successes

Do plenty of reading and you should find all that you need. Feel free to ask Q's when you need.

By the way, can you confirm what steps you took to get the data going back to 2001.

This is routinely denied by BC on the basis that the data is no longer available although there have been several cases where CAGgers got the info by starting court action for disclosure.

Hi slick

Thanks so much for your reply.

First things to answer your question regarding the statements dating back further than 6 years.

Firstly they replied to my SAR with just the basic 6 years.... which for me was just 2months worth of statements.

I replied to that stating that they had not complied blah blah and I would take to court and inform the ICO...... they then sent another years worth.

I then emailed the boss man (david chan?!?) and using that email address format I also emailed the data processor. That then got me another 3 years worth dating back to 2001.

They still owe me 3 more years and I have emailed again today.....I think they are getting the hump now as they have replied saying that they are investigating my complaint and allegations and will get back to me by 21st Dec........I have replied and stated that the time scale is not good enough as they are outside the 40days they originally had for SAR and if they don't reply in 7 days I will be informing the ICO of their non compliance.

Considering I have no clue what I am talking about I don't think I have done too badly!

BC Fees(2).pdfThanks again for your help!!!

I just have a couple of Q's (you will regret offering!)

I updated the spread sheet as you said......but I get different figures - (attached!) Do I have a different spready?

Also I wondered how the court route works exactly? Is it just small claims court? Do you know how much it costs to file the claim? I ask as although I can't afford not to claim..... I also (with a new baby!) can't afford to be majorly out of pocket either!

Are there many who have had to go all the way to court? I have read around here and for the ones I have read BC seemed to have caved just before having to go to court?

Sorry - it's all about the basics at the moment for me and the actual logistics of court/costs and how it would work.

I am actually posting for my hubby as it's his card.......but dealing with paper work/money etc is not for him - so if I am gonna convince him that court is worth it I need to tell him what it's all about...... after all at then end of the day if it did go to court it would have to be him I guess rather than me.......not sure how he would go?!?!?!

Thanks for your help!

regards

ericar

Hi Ericar,

My apologies, my figure of £192.42 was wrong as I used the default rate on the spready of 29.9%. Using 24.9%, I get £124.94 on the spready now which is virtually the same as your figure.

There is a minor anomaly with the "days elapsed" figure of between 2 and 6 days comparing your spready with the one I linked you to. However, this is a very minor point.

Based on your claim figures, the court fee should be £85 and the AQ fee £35. If BC didn't agree to settle and you had to pay the Hearing Fee, that would be £150.

All these are recoverable from BC if you win. If you qualify for Fee Remission, you would not have to pay the court fees.

Based on recent cases that our users have won against BC, they tend to settle before you have to pay the Hearing Fee. Another bonus for claimants has been that, recently, BC have been settling before users have had to file their Court Bundles which saves a great deal of time, a few trees of paper and a small lake of ink !!

However, you cannot necessarily rely on this. It's not happened with any BC cases recently but you should assume that any court claim may end with you representing yourself at a court hearing on the day.

Like I said before, we'll help you when needed but, ultimately, it's your decision.

Hi

Ok so I have decided I will take the plunge......what have I got to lose (apart from £270 court fees and complete humiliation in court.......but I will deal with that if and when it happens!) My question now is this. I managaged as you know to get statements back to 2001 from BC. I then gave them another week to produce the rest and I guess I just pushed them too far as nothing has appreared. I told them I would report this to the ICO so I will keep my word and do that this weekend!

Back to my question....... those statements likely contain more charges. Do I wait to see if I can get them or put my claim in for what I already have...... can I add to it later?

Many Thanks

ericar

Hi Ericar,

Based on my experience with BC cases, I would suggest you settle for the data that you already have.

Even if you involve the ICO, I think they'll be impressed that BC produced data as far back as they have and I think they'll accept BC's word that nothing earlier is available.

Your other option is to take court action to force disclosure of earlier data but there's no certainty that you'll get it. If BC send a barrister to confirm the data is routinely destroyed, you have no proof to the contrary.

So I suggest you work using the data you have.

Hi

Ok as per the advice given (which is what I thought and makes sense!!!) I am preparing to send in my letter and spready to BC.

I just had a couple of questions about the letter if that's ok?

Do I just copy and paste without changing anything (apart from personal details obviously?)

It makes mention of the terms of contract.......which I don't have, do I still include that bit?

It also makes mention of a default notice against the account. How do I know that they did that and that it is in fact still in place?

Sorry I hope they are not silly questions I just thought I ought to know what on earth i'm writing about!!!!

Many Thanks

ericar

Hi Ericar,

Your Q's are not silly and you're right to try and get everything correct from the start.

All template letters should be adapted to reflect your own case. So, if there is no issue about a default notice, don't include that paragraph.

Otherwise, you can copy the letter exactly or re-word it to make it your own. Whatever you're most comfortable with.......

Hi

It's been a while since I posted regarding this, however I have FINALLY managed to get round to sending both my preliminary letter and the letter before action!!! (I hope I did it right, just used the template supplied)

The LBA was sent over 3 weeks ago and we have recieved a letter back from BARCLAYCARD stating that they are still looking into the matter and we will hear from them on or before 25th April 2012.

My question is this....... should I go ahead with issuing court paper so they know we are serious - or should we wait to hear what they say on 25th April?

Many thanks in advance!

Hi Ericar,

Don't wait for BC to respond. Go ahead and issue the court proceedings.

I hope you've been through the **WON** cases as I suggested in post #2 above. If so, you should by now have a good idea on how to proceed.

You should use the BC POC's in the BC forum Stickies. Also see this thread - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?309037-Charges-older-than-6-years-***WON***-Compound-Int-t-and-**NO-SET-OFF**&p=3497229&viewfull=1#post3497229 Read through the whole thread to glean all you can from it. Particularly the posts about getting the POC wording right about compound interest.

Once you have the POC sorted and ready, open your spreadsheet and it should give you interest figures bang up to date.

Print off 3 copies of everything - The Form N1, POC's and SOC.

Do the necessary research so you get the Claim right. If you're stuck and can't find the answers, just shout.

Hi Slick

Thank you so much for your contiued help.

So before I could even get my head round doing my reading and filling in a N1 for BC replied and stated that they would not be paying up (no surprise there then). They stated mainly that the £12 charges were fair, could have been avioded on my part and that there were none in the past 6 months any how!

So I have done some research (as I am petrified to take it to court - but know I must). The first thread I have read was the one you linked in your last post and I already have my first question.

I think from reading the first few pages of the post that I used a very old prelim and LBA letter. In it I made no mention of the limitation arguement which some say it is important to have done this at this early stage. Although BC have know stated case closed should I go back to them which another letter stating the limitation law?

Many Thanks

ericar

Hi Ericar,

There's no need to go back to BC to mention the Limitation Act or Interest in Restitution . It will be an unnecessary delay.

Press on with preparing your POC and you can mention these matters in there.