CAG court buddy system = http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/buddy.php

Hi SBSP Quite a few on here including myself have this date so it is yet another en mass hearing. I've put in a written offer to BLT asking if they want to settle however I would be astounded if they were interested at this point. The main reason I did so was so that I could include in my bundle (if required) a demonstration that I have initiated negotiations and that Barclays (as I am sure they will) rebuked such. When, at a later date they do want to settle pre-hearing, it will strengthen my case for a further Wasted Costs Order as it will show that the bank deliberately ignored an early opportunity to negotiate which would have lessened time and effort for both the Claimant and the court.

On the positive side of things, I doubt very much that Barclays has devised a Defence for arguing against the lucidity of applying the Limitation Act 1980 to charges that have been concealed until recent years. They will potentially enter a claim arena less informed than Claimants from this site. I can however see them adopting one of two possible stances when facing a determined claim such as yours, namely that they will either negotiate generously BUT insist on a Confidentiality Clause or where this is rebjected, put up a reasonable fight and invest a fair amount into utilising solicitors to fight it in court. To back down on pre-6 yr claims would be to open the floodgates.

Awaiting a response from the court as are many of us New Strategists!

Barclays Head Office Address: Barclays Bank PLC 1 Churchill Place London E14 5HP Send all your correspondence registered mail

Well done burdock - make sure you fill in the Survey as well!

Hi Lee Did you send through copies of your Schedule of Charges to both the bank and MCOL once you filed online? If yes, then you have nothing more to do at this point. You willlikely either now get Notice of a court date or further instruction to submit paperwork from Rhyl court including whether or not they require an Allocation Quetsionnaire to be submitted.

Hi Jo Definitely push forward with getting all the paperwork you need to get in with the courts before any deadlines. You are spot on to be cynical about Barclays coming through on their verbal word. If a written offer to settle does come through you can show the letter to the court.

Hi dessco 1) It is not mandatory to include overdraft interest especially if it's difficult to calculate and wouldn't be very much anyway. So yes, in this case, you just remove the line about overdarft interest. 2) In your claim this would be "Plus interest pursuant to S.69 County Courts Act 1984 from date of issue to date of judgement/settlement at £xx.xx per day [(enter daily rate here - CHARGES x 0.00022 = pence per day)] OR at such rate and for such periods as the court deems just.". Say your charges are £427.50, you multiply this by 0.00022 = £0.09 and this is the figure you put in as your daily rate. 3) Put in the earliest charge incurred date shown on your Schedule of Charges. The date of issuing is the date when you actually file your claim with the court. The daily rate is the figure you arrived at in 2) eg £0.09. It's not stupid deesco, so don't put yourself down. Remember to take 3 copies of your claim and 3 copies of your Schedule of Charges down to the court. 1 copy is for the court to send onto Barclays, 1 is for them to keep on file and the ast one they will return to you through the post with a court stamp on it.

Northampton (MCOL) UNLESS you have had a Notice of Transfer to your local county court, in which case, it will be your local court who need the SOC. For the Defendants, it'll be their registered head office - 1 Churchill Place, London (Barlcays) - this is where their Legal & Litigation Department (BLT) works. It will be BLT who deal with your case from now on as you have filed a court claim.

Hi Jack After you filed MCOL, you should have sent an updated SOC bothe to MCOL and to the bank with a covering letter quoting your claim number. If you didn't, send them off now registered and you should be okay. It will be up to the court to decide whether or not your Particulars of Claim need to be expanded (MCOL only gives room for a brief version). The court will write ordering you to provide more details if they want them so. You may want to use the spreadsheet from this site from now on - it self updates the 8% interest. It's okay that you send your figures using CAG's spreadsheet from this point on.

Hi Volks Here is my suggestion of what to include in a written response you can give, using it as a final opportunity for them to act before you file at court: It is clear by your letter to me that you feel that any charges that date back more than six years are statute-barred by the Limitation Act 1980. I must inform you this view is incorrect. It is clear you have continued your charges regime after the date of the first OFT report and you have continued to conceal the true nature of your costs and therefore have lost the protection of the Limitation Act. In particular, I would like to draw your attention to s32. (1) (b) of the Limitation Act 1980: 32.-- (1) .... where in the case of any action for which a period of limitation is prescribed by this Act, either- (a) the action is based upon the fraud of the defendant; or (b) any fact relevant to the plaintiff's right of action has been deliberately concealed from him by the defendant; or © the action is for relief from the consequences of a mistake; [*]the period of limitation shall not begin to run until the plaintiff has discovered the fraud, concealment or mistake (as the case may be) or could with reasonable diligence have discovered it. .... Prior to [date of your first ever S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) ie on your previous claim] I had believed that the charges were lawful and that you had a right to levy them. I now know that these charges are unlawful and the true costs have been and continue to be concealed by Barclays. Barclays has been well aware of the charges campaign for over 12 months and more recently with the OFT report highlighting the law and your obligations. I am in possession of information concerning financial settlements made by Barclays relating to county court claims for the refund of unlawful penalties. I contend that your charges are not intended to represent or are related to any alleged actual loss, but instead unduly enrich you which exercises the contractual term in respect of such charges with a view to profit. If you assert the charges are not a penalty, they are unreasonable under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 s.15. The contractual provision that permits you to levy such charges is unenforceable by virtue of the Unfair Contract Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations (1999), the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and the common law. The charges debited to the Account are punitive in nature, they are not a genuine pre-estimate of costs incurred by you. The charges exceed any alleged actual loss to you in respect of any breaches of contract my part. You have held on to and benefited from my money for a number of years. As a banking organisation, it is obvious that this money has been lent by you to your customers at commercial rates and has assisted you to increase your annual profits. Based on the limited information in my possession, I calculate that you have taken £xxxxxxby way of unlawful penalties. See attached schedule. At times, I was overdrawn and you charged me interest on these charges. Where you do not respond positively to this instruction and do not subsequently repay the full amount taken from my account, I reserve the right to further ask for you to pay compounded contractual interest at the rate of 29.9% which is the rate you charged me for unauthorised borrowing. This is the rate we agreed to when I opened the account with you. I believe I am entitled to this interest rate due to the implied term in our contract based on the principle of "mutuality" or "reciprocity" however I am prepared to forego this element where an offer to settle in full is received within the next 14 days. I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me about this matter and I am writing this letter to you on the assumption that you will prefer to do this than merely respond with standard letters and leaflets. I have provided enough information in this letter and pre-empted your possible arguments and reasons for not refunding the owed to me. I have the necessary evidence, financial backing and previous case history to support my request for a refund should it be necessary to bring the matter before a judge in court. I sincerely hope this course of action will not be necessary. I will give you 14 days to reply to me accepting, unconditionally, my request in principle and letting me know a date by which I will receive the payment of £xxxxxx. Please make your cheque payable to xxxxxx. Alternatively, you can transfer funds by BACS to the following account: [name of bank] Account Number xxxxxx Account Name: xxxxxxx Sort Code: xxxx If you do not respond, or you do not respond positively, within 14 days, I commence legal action. I believe that these targets are more than sufficient for a large company such as yours with dedicated staff and departments. I am expecting this matter to be resolved by [date]. Furthermore, I shall submit a Consumer Credit Act 1974 complaint to the OFT upon the basis that you have failed to comply with the OFT's direction of 5 April 2006 and are therefore not a 'fit and proper person' to hold a consumer credit license under the 1974 Act. If you do not understand what this means then seek advice from your legal department. Yours sincerely [name] Enc: Schedule of Charges as of xxxxxx

Hi CD I presume that you didn't quote any interest in your Prelim and LBA letters either? If you did, then it's the same charges + interest figures you used then. It isn't essential to calculate the Overdraft Interest or to include it in your claim espscially if it's only a small amount and is causing you headaches. If you're not going to include it, just remove the line Interest Overdraft from your claim. Remeber that if you've had more charges against your bank account since sending your letters to bank, you can include these fresh charges in this one claim.

Hi Hedge Did you use the New Strategy with your AQ that includes a Draft Directions?

Hi Hawksie Shouldn't slow it down however it is a requirement. I recommend that asap, you print off two up to date SOC copiers and put them qith quick covering letters INCLUDING your Claim number to MCOL and to the Bank - both registered.

Hi zbeukers I've just notice what you've done and yes, it will be because of your typo. Name should be : Barclays Bank Plc t/a (trading as) The Woolwich Address : 1 Churchill Place, LONDON E14 5HP The Defendant is Barclays and is therefore a public limited company. A (PLC) is a company having a share capital whose memorandum of association states it to be a public company. The shares of a PLC can be offered for sale to the general public as has been with Barclays. I think the court need you to clarify as it's your claim and they can't make decisions for you. I would personally go fo option D) because, despite it having publically owned shares, Barclays is a LIMITED company. If in doubt, ring the court and see if they agree that D) is most appropriate.

Hi Hawksie As 1ofaK says, bit of a waiting game now but nicely on it's way. Did you furnish both Barclays and MCOL with a copy of your Schedule of Charges after you filed? ... if you did, happy days. With MCOL claims, B's is putting in this standard tosh as they have with you implying that the POC is abdriged and did not contain a breakdown of the charges (ie SOC).

that's the spirit! and don't forget, since you haven't filed your claim yet, you can add on any more charges that arise up to the date of taking your application into court - Barclays won't argue that they didn't appear on the intial Prel or LBA, it's more cost effective for them to give you one payout than double their admin and legal costs doing it all over again later in the year. I know it seems daunting however read through all the essentials such as the step by step guide and follow the sit'e tried and tested method exactly. You will get your money back and any worries or hiccups along the way, you just post on your thread and you'll get plenty of answers/advise in less than 24 hours.

Hi Shooter Sorry that your post hasn't received any attention, perhaps this is because many of us were bowled over with your letter! I personally don't have experience of CCAs however my reply will at the very least *bump* you up the line to first page where hopefully you will get constructive feedback.

Hi Jo You ask for interest up tomorrow. You need to let them know it's the full trial, not a Directions. Also, ring up the court and query the dates - once they spot the problem they will put a note on fill and you just need to get your full court bundle in. Hopefully, your call to Barclays will get a settlement offer. If you get this confirmed in writing, you can take this to the court and ask the judge if they would consider either putting a Stay or making an Order to allow for say 14 days to allow settlement funds to clear.

Hi Peeps Just thought I'd let Woolwich claimers know that I have received an email from a legal Executive staff member working in Barclays Legal & Litigation Department confirming that even if your Woolwich account has been closed for years, Barclays can still access and provide S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) data for you account. This is contrary to Barclays consistently telling claimers over the phone, via email and in their letter correspondence, that they are unable to supply statememts/transactions lists for Woolwich accounts for any further back than 6 yrs from the date of making your request. If you are seeking a complete list of transactions for your banking history a Woolwich customer (as is you right under the Data Protection Act), do not be fobbed off with Barclay's adamnant claims that they don't hold the data anymore. It is not true. Up to 12 years worth (as far as I know) of copy statements can be sent to you by: Woolwich Openplan Customer Contact Centre The Woolwich Jackson House Jackson Road Clacton on Sea ESSEX CO15 1WH Tel 0845 0700 360 Threaten them with action and when the time comes, take it. This is what I have had to do to get them to release the last 7yrs worth of Woolwich statements on a current account I closed in 2003.

DELIGHTED FOR YOU TIAPOSY

Absolutely, it can't be emphasised enough - A settlement is only settled once the payent has cleared. If you get an offer just before a court date, go to court and advise the judge that whilst the Defendants have agreed to settle, as yet you have not received any money. If you have it in writing, take a copy along for the judge to stick in the case notes. Make sure the settlement is for the right UP TO DATE amount. With 8% Interest accruing on a daily basis, an agreed settlement made weeks ago that still hasn't be paid out should be updated to see whether there is a significant increse due to the ongoing interest accruing. If it mean an extra £50 to me, you can be sure I'd be emiling Barclay's Litigation with the updated Schedule - don't let them withhold any money that is rightfully yours!

Added Contact Details: ADRIAN RUFFHEAD Adrian Ruffhead Litigation & Disputes Team, 020 7116 7532 Fax: 01452 638 425 C/W 7 6006 7532 [email protected]

Hi forries Claimants who've had offers for over 50% often ask this question of the forum users and always the same reply comes back that only you are in the position to know whether it's worth it for you to grab and run -v- hanging on a few months and getting every penny due to you (plus 8% interest on top). I always say download the spreadsheet, stick in your figures and see what the true value of the claim is with the 8% added (ie what you'll be owed at the point of filing a claim). For charges going back a few years, the 8% adds a heck of a lot so you may well be surrendering a lot more than you realise. Sounds like you have children so I appreciate that making a fast deal can be tempting especially with summer hols on us however if you can manage without the money til after Autumn perhaps, just think what a Christmas present getting ALL of it back will be.