Ok, it's not an actual offer per se, but imo its as good as one. I wrote to shabbey on 6th June (court proceedings commenced on 4th June) with an offer of acceptance for £8750.00, the offer was time sensitive, as I gave them seven days to reply. Today, I recieve a letter from them basically saying that if I submitted the same offer, they would seriously consider it. Stuff them, the total of the claim currently stands at £10,100.00, and the least mum has said she is willing to accept is £9500.00, which I think is fair enough. Thing is, I sent them a request for information under part 18 of the Civil Proceedures Rules last week (27th June), so I'm fairly sure they will settle rather than have to answer my request. Here's the letter I'm going to fire off to shabbey today... Your thoughts as ever would be greatly appreciated.

Couple of questions. 1) Has Shabbey ever responded to a part 18 CPR request, with the appropriate information (is it possible for them to)?, as I am sure they won't be able to. 2) Could my mum expect an offer off of the back of this request?

Mum has recently (yesterday) recieved Shabbey's stock defence they issue in all court cases like this, you know the one, what is laughable is that they refer to my mum as 'he' in it ...lol, so very shabbey of them. As the claim is for over ten grand, I am sending a request to Shabbey today under part 18 of the Civil Proceedure Rules, that should set the cat amongst the Triton House pidgeons Any advice is always welcome.

bumpity bump.

Well, I sent the offer letter off, and was promptly ignored (you were right Lula). I have now recieved the acknowlegement of service from the court, with Abbey intending to contest the whole of the claim, more stalling tactics from Shabbey no doubt, as they now have 28 days to file a defence. I assume it's just a case of awaiting the details of Shabbey's defence now, and if they do not enter a defence, moving to suggest a strike out against them, and in the event that they DO file some sort of sham defence, using the CPR part 18 request against them? With the claim amounting to over ten grand, would it not be prudent to use the CPR part 18 against them now?

*bump*

Now that the N.I. has been issued and the claim served, might it be prudent to send Abbey a little nudge letter offering to settle for a little less than the filed for 10k ? Mum has said she'll take £8750, which is all the charges and interest the bank deducted, plus costs, and a little extra on top. I was going to word the letter (which I will copy to the court) like this.. With a claim against you now served, I'm sure you can understand how serious I am regarding this matter. That being the case, I now make an offer for acceptance from Abbey Plc, of the sum of £8750.00 (eight thousand seven hundred and fifty pounds), in an effort to bring a swift and timely end to this dispute. I am sure both parties are in full agreement that, to waste any more of the courts time regarding this matter, would be disrespectful to the case appointed District Judge and to Her Majesty's Court Service. In view of my aims for a swift resolution, the offer of acceptance of the above mentioned sum, is valid for seven days only, with the offer expiring on 12th June 2007. If the offer is made by Abbey, I will accept the offer in full and final settlement of this case, and this case only. It is for Abbey to note that I am prepared to go all the way to a court hearing in this case, as I believe it will set a bad precedent for banks such as yourselves, and if the case does go to court, please be aware that I will have the full support and backing of the Consumer Action Group. Thoughts please.

Mum did MCOL, and as there isn't much room for information on the online N1, I took a covering letter, copy of the N1, a schedule of charges, spreadsheets detailing the statutory 8% added interest, and an invoice for solicitors fees from a solicitor mum used (in vain) earlier in the case. It's mum's cover letter with the charges that she didn't sign, just typed her full name.

Mum's done it before yes, but if its not legally binding then shabbey may play dirty and use it against her. Mum had already recieved her N.I. before I took her charges schedule and copy of the online N1. Mum did her N1 on the Moneyclaim website, and her N1 was signed with a typed signature, as you obviously cannot ink sign an online form can you? I suppose if her typed sig is good enough for her online N1 then its good enough full stop. I think

Approachable lot aren't ya.

The reason I ask is because I took my mum's N1 copy, cover letter, schedule of charges ..etc, into the county court, and the clerk opened them in front of me and I noticed that mum hadn't actually put a signature on the bottom, she'd just typed her full name. Is this ok? Mum says she does it all the time, and it's perfectly acceptable, you don't have to provide a written signature as such, just a basic typed signing of your name.

Please ...anyone ..I know this question might be a whopper, but does typing your name in full count as a signature on a document?

Charley, is that the N1 or the N.I.? My mum's just recieved the notice of issue from the court today (31/05), proceedings were issued on 25/05, was that the N1 I issued proceedings with? If so, I did it with MCOL, so I'd have to send the list of charges by post anyway. Should I have sent them straight after issuing proceedings, or can i get away with sending them with a copy of all my court docs now (not forgetting a copy of all of it to shabbey of course ) ? S'ok Charley, I've just found out my claim form was the N1, I'm not too late sending my list of charges etc off am I?, N1 issued 25/05, sending charges list 01/06???

Thanks Bonnie The link was helpful, although there is some sort of early motion to strike thingumybobs I can set in motion at certain stages of the court proceedings. I've just recieved the N.I. from the court, so do I send a list of the charges I am reclaiming to the court manager now, or at a later stage?

Just got the N.I. today, I know it might be a little tedious but could one of you kind wise souls let me know what stages i can expect now, and how best to deal with them. There's loads of templates on this site, so many it make the ol' noggin spin , so just describe the steps and I will find the relevant template on here . Is there anything i can do to speed things up, and do I need to send in a list of charges etc to the court manager yet ? Any help or advice will be gratefully recieved, and mum has already pledged to make a donation to the site, on my recommendation of course The claim is for over £10,000 including court costs, so it's a whopper.