Hi Smutley No, I would most definitely furnish B's with a correct copy. If you do so prior to any hearing then the error cannot be used to damage or delay your claim. All you have to do is send B's BLT a copy with a covering letter referring to it as an update copy of your SOC for their records. Even if they do bother to look at it before adding it to their file on your claim, they have no redress as it hasn't affected the validity of or case on which your claim has been brought. It will also avoid an embarassing moment if, further down the line, you had to explain to the court why you have provided them with different figures to those you've given the other party; keep everything up front and on the level, just don't draw attention to it by mentioning "incorrect" or "error" in your covering letter, instead use the word "updated".

Try http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/n244_0400.pdf

Smutley, As long as your N1 figures are correct, and there is evidently a significant difference with the SOC figure, you should be fine as it will be classed as an unwitting error-come typo (you wouldn't believe the amount of them made by solicitors in Statements and POCs). I would suggest you send in updated SOCs to both court and bank - as your POC doesn't change, you won't be charged. At the end of the day, the Prelim and LBA requests you made were for the correct amount and it has entered into court correctly with you confirming these figures correctly on your POC. The SOC is a secondary document and has not yet been relied upon by either party as the basis for Claim or Defence argument. Was theer anything in B's Defence that made particular reference to your Schedule of Charges figure? If not, my guess is they havn't done anymore than glance at it before printing out their standard Defence.

The OFT is a non-ministerial government department. "The OFT is the UK's consumer and competition authority. Our mission is to make markets work well for consumers." "If the OFT takes the lead in taking action now to clarify the law, this should help achieve an orderly and expeditious resolution of all of the relevant issues."

Hi Smutley Unless your Order is different, the GFJO states: IT IS ORDERED THAT 1. Directions will be given in this case by the Designated Civil Judge, His HOnour Judge G Hickinbottom, on the 14th August 2007 at 10.30 am at Cardiff Civil Justice Centre, 2 Parkk Street, Cardiff CF10 1ET. 2. The parties may appear in person or make written representation as to how the case should proceed provided a copy of the representations is sent to the Court and the other side at least 7 working days prior to the hearing. Dated 26 June 2007 The New Strategy Draft Directions is your representation as to how it should proceed. In view of recent events, and if you feel concerned about the claim perhaps being placed fast-track or Stayed for High Court, you can take along a copy of http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/welcome-our-forum/82729-allocation-hearing-test-case.html#post742607 which prompts your verbal case for it to be kept Small Claims.

I suspect it is in response to the first step taking by some county courts (especially during last few weeks) mass hearing claims. It seemed inevitable with the growing bottle neck being caused at county level that the judges would start herding cases into one hearing, and then (likely on recommendations/instructions from a higher authority), electing to dispose of the issue to the Higher Courts in an attempt to bring some sort of curtain conclusion ie the setting of a legal precedent. Barclays I feel have jumped on this as an excellent opportunity to delay further payouts possibly for the next six months - try doing the maths on how much money they will save ... enough to warrant sending juniors to Preliminary hearings. If they didn't represent at the Prelims/Directions. they risk being Defaulted and payouts would be much sooner than 6 months+. So in my mind, it's all a question of payout delaying.

Hi Simon a) I ring the litigation team to sound them out? A waste of your valuable time and not worth the cost of the phone call IMO. THey will likely give you the standard response that they are only settling claims due for trial July and Aug; b) I wait and see what happens in due course.. hoping that the draft order (so kindly prepared by CAG) does the business... Yes, wait for a response from the court - that will determine what your next move is and how you can expect the claim to pan out; c) What the court case announced in the news means to me and others in this position? I can only refer you to http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/barclays-bank/107576-oft-test-case-what.html from zootscoot (Moderator)

Link hasn't been updated, Bookworm is aware. For now use: http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/reports/financial_products/oft842a.pdf

Hi Dylon The T&Cs have undoubtedly been re-worded so I would cover yourself by including them as "CURRENT T&Cs in absence of original T&Cs". That way, any reference that B's makes to their T&Cs in support of their case is technically negated as they are referring to a document that was authored after the account had been opened.

Although I am pleased that the courts are beginning to address the farcical nature of the banks' Defences which ultimately result in an abuse of the system when they settle pre-hearing, I am still uncomfortable with the principle of resetting the scene for smaller claims. My intial feelings are that a private claimant files in Small Claims for a relatively small amount and with the intention to exercise their civil right to present a case without the worry of corporate sized costs potentially being awarded against them; this is one of the founding safety nets provisions afforded by the Small Claims Court. I do not find that it is reasonable for a judge to remove the provisions of such safety by significantly altering the implications of a judgement outcome, that is to say, forcing a claimant to either withdraw or face the possibility of bancruptcy that a negative costs award would bring. I believe to have allocated to Small Claims (by way of both parties having already agreed and/or allocation by the county court itself) based on the suitability of the claim in nature and size, and then retracted that allocation without consultation (of any note or worth) to the parties, is an abuse of power by the judge.

Hi starz When you say they took the cheque, did they actually cash it - to date, it has always been returned as Barclays provide SaR data free of charge. Send LETTER No 3 from http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/6986-data-protection-act-non.html

Hi saracen It's irrelevant that she is now colouring the offer by intimating that it'll only be forthcoming after a Preliminary hearing but before a trial hearing!! MY goodness, if a judge knew that (and I would let him know if you get the opportunity), he would basically be spitting feathers as it's a clear admission that Barclays intend to abuse the court system by forcing an uneccessary preliminary hearing when settlement has already been agreed! Take the emails that catergorically prove that Barclays have agreed settlement - there is absolutely no excuse for the bank to waste the courts time or yours. Hopefully you will also be able to use this as grounds for a Wasted Costs Order. I wonder if Emma Thompson will be as cocky if she realised she could get called as a Witness?

lol, darren, I did think my pointing it out was a bit harsh but you know I luv ya! Been thinking about the panic that is hitting a minority of posters getting cold feet from this seemingly brave step by Barclays/the Courts. I honestly feel that if Barclays legal team believe that they have a reasonable chance of success, then they would not be continuing in their offers of Goodwill Gestures (averaging about 60 - 70% of the claim value requested), surely they would be saying no more pay outs, not even a penny cos we're onto a winner. No, for me this seems to be Barclays grabbing the opportunity afforded by the courts (referral to Higher Court) to buy re-grouping time and of course a delay in pay outs.

Kim I can only give my personla opinion based on the research I have done and the limited legal knowledge possessed. I will be ploughing ahead with my claims BUT in tandem to them, I will be bringing my cases to the attention of FOS. As I believe the case for refunding to have merit, I think even a long wait is more than worth the 8% APR accruing until settlement

"actually im a little concerned how someone is managing to get everyones email addresses from their rival site.." Possibly people are actually registered on both sites? And, not sure if any site advocating the validity of reclaiming bank charges is a 'rival', thought the banks were our rival in this?

... and emails are perfectlt acceptable doceumentary evidence in a court case so take the email 'paper' trail. Most judges who get offered an angle to get rid of a case out of their court room, will take it

Hi pugg My personal advice is to save yourself the price of the phone call/stamp. Until it gets close to hearing, the response you get will be robot-mode, not negotiation-mode

hi alanaphone And welcome to CAG I presume you have already sent a Preliminary request followed by a Letter Before Action prior to filing your claim? These are pre-requisite steps to taking action against a debtor so it's important not to miss them out. Have a good read up of everything on the site especially getting your Particulars of Claim correctly worded.

Hi Jog Shame on you for even considering hanging about waiting for Barclays to send their next Standard response - get that N1 & updated SOC (3 copies of each) down to your local county court asap

Hi Entitiled I think this is a wise move. B's may be willing to settle pre-hearing with a 6-yr claim whereas the same claim that includes earlier charges could run into opposition and delay repayment. Pre-6yr is still quite new so the bank's reaction is still difficult to gauge in respect of legal fees they're prepareed to incur to seriously defend.

Makes no difference that you didn't SaR - that's just to get the data in first place, just send the LBA and wait 14 days. Re chocolate: I am a mother, we know these things.

That's fine. Just get that LBA sent off registered and buy some chocolate on the way home! I suggest keeping all correspondence in a file out of the kids' reach - even putting it in a large envelope whilst the pile is still small. It's important that you can see at a glance exactly where you are. I recommend that you also write on front of file or envelope a tick list eg Sent SaR dd/dd/dd (tick) Got Statements dd/dd/dd (tick) Sent Prelim Letter dd/dd/dd (tick) etc so you see exactly what you should be doing/expecting back

Hi HPA If you haven't claimed any overdraft interest, just delete that bit iso you only need to put : I calculate that you have taken £XXX [TOTAL OF ALL THE CHARGES ON YOUR LIST] and I am enclosing a copy of the schedule of the charges which I am claiming. I have already sent you a copy of this in my original letter of the [XXDATE OF FIRST LETTERXX] The 8% Interest doesn't come in to it at this stage, you add that once you file a claim at court.

Hi Fellowes You can do either. If you scan it and attach (using the little picture symbol in the message bar above, make sure you have blanked out personal detail such as your name and the case number. Most people just type it in