MODERATOR - BUMP!

Thanks - no not clear at all, I think the court will be the only one to be able to clear this one up. I'm hoping since I've been away and that the court office is closed today if they did want the statement sooner rather than later they'll give me a few more days to get sorted.

In the quote above from my first post is word for word what my N157 said and the defence I received from HSBC. Thanks Lateralus, I'll wait to hear back again before doing anything else. Thanks Oi - My court date is 30th July, you'll note the second paragraph in the directions on my N157 which I've quoted above says about a Statement of Evidence within 2 weeks. I interpret that to mean within 2 weeks of this notice. Currently trying to double check with the court but the court office is closed today. Will let you know.

This thread is excellent, unfortunately I don't have any previous T&C's to help with it but a thought occurred. Is it worth collecting price lists too? Forgive me if this has already been thought of.... Thanks Mandy

Thanks Lateralus - Yes my interpretation of the second direction on my N157 form is that they want a statement of evidence from each party within 2 weeks of the date of the notice. I popped into the court today (its just next door to my work) to see if I could speak to someone but I was told the Court Office was closed until tomorrow. I've tried phoning too and there is no answer. I've copied and pasted the statement of evidence you provided in your next post into a word doc, thanks for that and I'll fill that in tonight. I'll send it with a letter explaining that I've been on holiday and apologising for the delay in getting it to them, I'm guessing I won't have received anything in the post from the bank when I get home so I've calmed down a bit now. Do I need to actually provide copies of the evidence being relied on with the statement now or can that wait until the court bundle is due 14 days before the hearing? Also should I include in the list of documents in the Statement of Evidence, my charges summary, statements etc. Should I send the Statement of Evidence at the same time as I send the Draft directions and letters to D&G regarding the dispensation of the allocation questionnaire? I'm guessing the answer is yes, I want them to know I'm not going to take any **** and I'm serious about getting my money back and if all this preparation gives them a nudge in the right direction that's got to be a good thing right? Thanks for all your help, I have to admit to probably being a little niave about how much work there might be with this, I just kept pinning my hopes on the fact that they'd settle since they have done twice before. On that note, should I include copies of the letters HSBC have sent offering to settle my previous claims in my court bundle? My thinking is these provide good evidence that they have settled in the past so why not now? Ta again Mandy

Hi sorry to post again but Rob The Viking or Lateralus you may have read my previous post. In it the directions on the N157 requested a statement from either party within 2 weeks. The date of the notice is 14 May 2007 and by my calculations that 2 weeks runs out tomorrow! Have I interpreted that wrong? I know its very late to be worrying about it but I've only just got back from a 2 week holiday in Greece and so haven't seen my post until now. Any further advice?

Thanks guys, my other half binned the one and only response I had from HSBC to my latest claim, it was the standard denial and copy of the terms and conditions which also went in the bin. I have copies of all the letters I sent them though. I've seen the thread re T&C's which is really helpful, the ones relevant to me are from 2004 so I've saved a copy ready. My worry is that the court directions as set out in my previous post ask for a statement by each of the parties (within 2 weeks) the N157 is dated 14 May 2007 2 weeks by my calculations runs out tomorrow if this includes weekends, I'm trying to get something ready at the mo which I can hand in to the court tomorrow but theres so much to take in. Unfortunately I only got back from a holiday in Greece late yesterday and I've just got round to opening my post. For info the AQ was dispensed with in the notice of Transfer of Proceedings. I'll follow the advice and send the draft to the court and letters to D & G but what worries me is this statement supposedly due tomorrow. I don't want to get it wrong and its getting late.

Sorry this is a bit long! I've received my N157 Notice of Allocation to the Small Claims Track (Hearing) form. The hearing is at the end of July at my local County Court. The directions are as follows: "Each party shall deliver to every other party and to the court office copies of all documents (inlcuding any experts report) on which he intends to rely at the hearing no later than 14 days before the hearing. A Statement by each of the parties and any person who is to give evidence must be filed at the court and served on the other party (within 2 weeks). The statement must be set out in detail the evidence the party or witness will give at the hearing." The banks defence is as follows: "1. The claimants account is governed by the defendants personal and/or business banking terms and conditions. 2. Pursuant to the defendants terms and conditions the defendant is entitled to makea charge for its services as set out in the defendants price list, including an overdraft review fee for considering whether to provide and providing an overdraft. 3. The defendant denies that the charges applied to the claimants account amount to penalties at common law and/or unfair contract terms for the purposes of the unfair terms in consumer contracts regulations 1999. 4. The charges applied to the claimants account are reasonable and are properly and fully disclosed in the defendants terms and conditions and published price list. The charges represent the contractually agreed price for the services provided and the UTCCRs are not applicable to them, alternatively they are not unfair contrary to the UTCCRs. Further the charges are not default charges and, accordingly cannot amount to a penalty. 5. Save as set out above each and every allegation made by the claimant is denied. For the reasons set out above, it is denied that the claimant is entitled to the relief claimed or any relief." Does anyone have any advice as to what I should include in my statement and court bundle. I no longer have a copy of the terms and conditions that were in force at the time the account was opened, does this matter, will up to date terms and conditions be sufficient? I don't have copies of all correspondence, my partner very helpfully binned some of it but I have the majority of it, is this going to cause me problems. I'm really nervous about this now and could do with some help. Many thanks Mandy

I'm a little confused. I filed my claim with MCOL on 02/04/2007 (claim deemed served 5 days after so that would make it 09/04/2007) and HSBC acknowledged the claim on 10/4/2007. Do they have 28 days to issue their defence from the date the claim was deemed originally served (09/04/2007) or from the date they acknowledged the claim (10/04/2007)? This is what it says on MCOL and unless I'm being completely thick its not clear. "The Defendant is allowed a total of 28 days from the date from when they are served with the claim to reply." I don't want to go making any mistakes with this and as yet I haven't received notification of any defence, despite the fact the acknowledgment said they would be defending the full claim. Help!

I've just received a Notice of Acknowledgement for my claim against HSBC. I'm only claiming £300 and I sent both the preliminary letter and the letter before action (with copies of the spreadsheet) before filing my claim on MCOL. The Notice says they intend to defend all of the claim! Should I be worried? What will happen if I loose the claim?

I have just filled in the MCOL forms online and went to make a payment for the court fees. I only have a Visa Electron card with The Cooperative Bank and the site only accepts Visa Delta. What do I do? I do have a Maestro card but that is for the bank account which is now over my o/d limit because the bank took another load of charges (it was within the o/d limit before that). Can I print the forms off and take them to the court with my fee in cash?

I hope you're right. Just checked my account online and HSBC are due to take £50 on 1st September from the joint account for unauthorised overdraught. I have just sent an email saying: "I note you are due to take £50 in charges from this account on 1st September 2006. Since I am currently making a claim against your organisation (LBA served 16/08/2006) for unlawful charges and I am due to issue proceedings to the court. Can I suggest you remove these charges from this account before I have the opportunity to add them to my claim along with the Court fees and the interest under Section 69 of the County Courts Act?" When I clicked send I felt really empowered. I'll let you know how I get on, no too worried though, if they still take them, I will just claim them too! Mandy ___________________________________________________________________ Total claim £583 and rising! Prelim sent - 2nd August 2006 LBA sent - 16th August 2006 Offer received - £502 18th August 2006 Offer rejected - £502 21st August 2006

Thanks Dinahjl - Much appreciated, I'll let you know how I get on!

Thanks again guys, so whats the best way to do this? Send the signed letter back but make it clear that I am accepting the offer as partial settlement or send them a letter rejecting the offer flat and making it clear that when the 14 days is up I will be filing my MCOL (obviously enclosing a new schedule of charges)? Is there a template for a letter back to the bank in response to an offer. If not does anyone have any suggested/successful wording for a letter? Thanks Mandy

Hello again guys Just got home from work after posting earlier to find a letter from HSBC on my door mat. They are offering £502 in full and final settlement. I have to say its tempting. They have now taken the £100 charge from my graduate account today which I had asked them to reconsider in both my prelim and my LBA. This has sent me over my o/d limit which they will probably charge me for again. I want to reject the offer on the basis that I'm about to incur more charges as a result of their actions. Can anyone suggest how I might best handle this? I'm worried this could just turn into a vicious cycle of them taking charges sending me over my o/d, then me claiming, them taking charges etc etc. HOW DO I MAKE IT STOP!!!! HELP!! ___________________________________________________________________ Total claim £583 and rising! Prelim sent - 2nd August 2006 LBA sent - 16th August 2006 Offer received - £502 18th August 2006

Thanks guys - I've opened a new account so I'll be saving my £120 there. Well a quick update, before starting this process I was aware that another £100 of charges were due to be taken from my account on 18/08/06. So in both my prelim and my LBA I requested that they refund the £483 already taken and reconsider the £100 due to be applied to my account or I would claim that back too. Are these people completely stupid or what, yes, I've checked my account this morning and they have taken the £100 sending me over my o/d limit for which they will charge me and which I can claim back. My claim is gradually getting bigger by the day now! Be interesting to see how much it is by the time I get to MCOL! ___________________________________________________________________ Total Claim £583 and rising! Prelim sent - 2nd August 2006 - No response LBA sent - 16th August 2006

Well I hand delivered my LBA yesterday, printed off a little receipt thing for the lady at the bank to sign so they can't say they didn't get it. Have heard nothing after my prelim so I'm not holding out much hope. Just saving that £120 so that I can go to the next step! Thanks Mandy ___________________________________________________________________ Total Claim £483 Prelim sent - 2nd August 2006 - No response LBA sent - 16th August 2006

I delivered my preliminary letter by hand to my local branch last wednesday, is this ok? I've read on here people are tending to send letters to contacts within customer services/head office. Would I have been better to do this? I haven't heard anything yet, although from posts don't really expect to but I wonder if only giving the letter to my branch may have hindered things. Any thoughts greatly appreciated, should I send a copy of my letter to head office for good measure? Thanks Mandy

I hand delivered my preliminary letter to my local HSBC branch yesterday. I'm a little nervous because last month they refunded two charges totalling £60 for unpaid direct debits as a "goodwill gesture" but confirmed any future misuse of my account would attract the standard charges. Well to cut a long story short, I misused my account again last month to buy things like food etc and went over my o/d limit. They've never charged me before for going over my o/d limit but I have just changed from a Graduate to a Standard Current Account. In my last year of the Graduate account I was entitled to a £500 o/d but when times were good I asked that this be reduced to £250. In past months I've been happily able to go over the £250 limit taking out cash and using my switch card with no charges made against me. I figured this was because the t&c of my Graduate account was for £500 o/d. Now its changed to a Standard Current Account though its all "lets come down on her like a ton of bricks". I discovered they are due to take £100 from my account in o/d charges on 18 August. Has anyone else come across this kind of situation before? This prompted me into action although I do feel a little cheeky. The letter I sent is to claim £483 worth of charges to my joint account with my other half and to request that they reconsider the £100 due to come out on 18 August. I'll let you know how I get on! If they do take those £100 charges (which will take me over my o/d again and no doubt attract more charges) I'll go all the way to claimit all back. Thanks Mandy ____________________________________________________________________ HSBC - Prelim sent 2/8/2006

Just thought I'd say a quick hello to all! I've been directed here by the DWD on The Fool. I hand delivered my first letter to HSBC to reclaim bank charges yesterday and I'm waiting for the fall out. Hopefully it'll all go ok but just in case I'm getting another account set up with Co-op and I've taken out all my savings in my other HSBC account so they can't close my account, insist I pay back the £250 o/d and then take it out of my savings. It's all a bit scary but hopefully I'll get some of my money back.