mackerel vs barclaycard! ***WON***

[slick132]

But have you contacted BLT (Barclays Litigation Team) to tell them you have a CCJ against them.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/barclays-bank/94602-barclays-litigation-team-good.html

 

I'm sure many of the contacts will need to be amended but you should still be able to get through to someone. Let us know if you have problems.

[mackerel]

I emailed them just now. Thanks for that, otherwise i'd still be on the phone to bangalore. Ended up emailing about 15 people, as a lot of them got sent back to me telling me to email someone else. Sharon Daboul then emailed me within a couple of minutes:

We do not appear to have received your Claim Form or a copy of the Judgment and are therefore looking into what has happened.

We are also waiting to hear back from the Court, and should be in touch again on Wednesday.

?

 

lets see what they'll say on wednesday...

 

edit - of all the ones i emailed, the only two who still seem to remain at barclays are sue brock and sharon daboul. All the others repy with messages that they no longer work there.

[slick132]

Hi Mack,

 

They'll have been sent it by the court and it'll be sitting unnoticed on someone's desk, until they realise you have a CCJ against them.

 

Let me have a word with the Site Team to see what you should do next - ITV News, Daily Mail, etc.

 

Could you put the useable Contact Details in the BLT thread for others to see. Include email addy, tel or fax nos., thanks.

[mackerel]

Well she said she'd get back to me on wednesday, but didn't, so i emailed her thursday and got this reply:

 

Dear Mackerel

I am sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

We are still in contact with the Court with regard to the outstanding documents and will be in touch with you again in due course.

Kind regards,

Sharon Daboul

 

outstanding documents???

Not sure if i should let them make me wait, or if i should head off to the court and enforce judgement? Due course could be weeks...

[slick132]

Hi Mack,

 

I asked the Site Team and Steven4064 said,

 

" sit tight and wait for opportunity to get enforcement order? "

 

In my opinion, you could run around like a headless chicken trying to hurry BC's response, but to no avail. Let them get on with whatever they're doing and, when you've had enough, go for enforcement.

 

Also, you could talk to the court and see if they can tell you if BC were sent a copy of the Judgement and on what date. They may also tell you if BC are trying to get it Set Aside.

[mackerel]

 

Got a letter from barclaycard today along with a copy of an Application Notice that they sent to my local county court.

 

They intend for "the default judgement in this claim be set aside and re-instated"

becase...

"the default judgement has been entered in error as the address for service on the claim form was incorrect which resulted in the defendant never receiving the claim form".

 

The address they sent this from is level 29, 1 churchill place.

 

Attached is a sheet:

1. Under CPR 6.5(6) it states the acceptable places for service on a registered company are either the principal office of the company, or any place of business within the jurisdiction which has a real connection with the claim.

2. The address on which the claim was served is a Po Box address which is not the principal office of Barclays Bank PLC, and / or has no real connection to the claim.

3. No details of this claim had previously been brought to the attention of the defendant. The first knowledge of this claim and it's default arose from email communication from the claimant dated 15/09/08 (copy attached), which was sent directly to the Banks Legal department, at the principal office.

4. Further to the above, the Claimant has issued a separate claim for the return of charges applied to a different account, which was correctly served on the principal office.

5. For the reasons above the defendant respectfully requests that this matter be put before the District Judge for consideration, that the judgement be set-aside, and the claim be reinstated and allowed to proceed.

 

A bit confused. Now they say their principal office is churchill place, london, yet all my correspondance with barclaycard has been sent to (and i stress) received from northampton. This makes points 1 and 2 confusing - isn't that connected to the claim - that they have replied to my letters, that barclaycard is one of their companies? So how can this be the first time the matter has been brought to their attention, where they have replied to letters including initial request for repayment, lba, etc???

 

I'm not sure what to do next- do i write a reply to the courts?

[slick132]

Hi Mack,

 

Fire a letter into court over the w/e and deliver by hand if poss so Judge can read it alongside BC's Appl'n for Set Aside.

 

Point out that you have used the same address from the outset, as can be shown from all your copy letters, and this was the address you used when filing your claim. They have replied to correspondance and you have letters confirming this too.

 

Accordingly, you do not believe the Defendant has any grounds to request the Judgement be Set Aside.

 

You could add that BC have failed on virtually every occassion to defend such cases in court. They wait until the 11th hour and then settle - accordingly, their Appl'n for Set Aside is an abuse of the court process.

 

Just my 2p's worth:cool:

[mackerel]

Got a letter this morning. The judge agreed with the defendant and has set-aside the judgement. It reads:

Upon reading the Defendants application dated 18th September 2008

 

And upon noting that the claim form was not served in accordance with CPR Part 6.5

 

And without notice

 

It is ordered that

 

The judgement be set-aside.

The defendant do file it's defence by 4pm on 24th October

 

Really not happy that i can follow the entire process through, and then get sent back to the beginning on a technicality. I mean, is everyone issuing claims against barclaycard sending their correspondance to the london address, or the northampton one? And i'm sure barclaycard is a subsidary of barclays, therefore any legal action would be forwarded to the relevant department? I don't know, obviously. But i'm not sure what to make of the judgement - is he saying i need to reapply the whole order, or just that barclaycard (barclays?) need to address the claim and prepare a decent defence? Or does it mean i need to resubmit my claim before the 24th?

[slick132]

Hi Mack and sorry to hear of this.

 

With the Judgement set aside, BC now have to submit their defence in response to your claim. You don't need to do anything until you get their defence.

 

You could always contact BLT and see if they want to settle now that they know of your claim.

 

We'll have to sort this so other CAGers don't fall foul of this. We'll establish what address BC consider should be used.

[slick132]

Hi Mack,

 

As a consequence of their success here, we must ensure that future claims issued against BC go to the correct address.

 

Can you please confirm the address they say is wrong, and the one they say is supposed to be used. Wecan then make this known to future claimants.

[banker_rhymes_with]

Hello Slick132!

 

I think Barclays are playing silly games and, on this occasion, they managed to fool a Judge.

 

However, the bottom line is that Barclaycard is just Barclays Bank plc Trading As.

 

The 1 Churchill Place London Address is their Primary Registered Company Office, and so it is the valid Address for all Documents to be served:

 

Barclays Bank plc

1 Churchill Place

London

E14 5HP

 

I send everything relating to Disputes with Barclays or Barclaycard to 1 Churchill Place addressed to The Company Secretary. Even when they fail to respond, I have Signed Proof of Delivery at their Registered Office, addressed to the correct Official for Serving Letters and Documents. This then makes them look very silly if they ever claim non-receipt.

 

My advice for anyone involved with any Claim or Dispute with any banker, is to always address all correspondence to The Company Secretary at their Registered Company Office.

 

Even when they write to me from other departments, all of my replies go to The Company Secretary at the Registered Office. I make reference to the last Letter received on X Date and written by X banker, but my Letters all go to The Company Secretary.

 

I feel that should be the message to give out to all CAGGERS, as I have seen Posts and Stickies saying where Letters, CCA Requests and SARs should be sent which are often just Departments within the organisation concerned. I think that is unwise, as it could mean a banker using the incorrect Address trick above to duck the issue.

 

If everything is sent to The Company Secretary/Registered Office, I do not feel you can go wrong. Likewise, they can never argue a Letter or Document was mis-Served if you also have Signed Proof of Delivery.

 

As an added bonus, this often means it is inconvenient for them too, as they have to then route the Documents to the right Department. Indeed, they may even lose them in-house.

 

Tough. Once delivered, it's their problem to look after it and route it to the correct Department.

 

After all, they are big sophisticated financial organisations, and so it is not unreasonable to assume they are well geared to routing Letters and important Documents when Served at their Registered Office.

 

If in any doubt where to send, just go to the Companies House Web Site:

 

Companies House

 

[This Site is off-line at the moment for some reason, but the Link is correct and will be live again soon]

 

When there, do a Search on the Company Name or Company Registration Number that must be on all Letters sent from a Company. If those details are not on their Letters to you, then report them to Companies House.

 

I hope this helps, sorry it was not in time to help so far.

 

Cheers,

BRW

Edited October 5, 2008 by banker_rhymes_with
banker does not deserve a Capital B!

[slick132]

BC have been very lucky to to get away with this.

 

They've gone to this trouble because the claim includes interest at the contractual rate.

 

It will be interesting (no pun intended) to see how far they are prepared to go to to defend. They won't want to actually take the case into court, so they'll have to settle.

 

I wonder if Mack needs to seek costs from BC as part of the settlement.

[mackerel]

Sorry for the absence. Got a little disheartened, until i got a letter from the courts yesterday.

 

Not yet ready to give up the fight!

 

The letter from the courts included a copy of their defence (the courts recieved their defence on the 20th of October, and i got it on the 8th November?!) and an allocation questionnaire. Barclaycard's defence is a bit too long to write out (it's over 3 pages) but it is photocopied from a source document (it's wonky on one page). Considering how slippery they've been, i'll write out their whole defence if anyone wants to scrutinise it?

 

However, the bottom line is that Barclaycard is just Barclays Bank plc Trading As.

Funny you say that... the first point on their defence:

Barclaycard is a trading division of Barclays Bank PLC and not a legal entity in it's own right.

 

And the title of the defence:

mackerel vs Barclays Bank PLC T/A Barclaycard

 

I did serve the papers to the Northampton address (pavillion drive), and they argued their registered address, as pointed out already, is Churchill Place, London. Really annoying, especially since all their correspondance came from the northampton address too, on barclaycard headed letters! Anyway, i would definitely advise a notice being made that any papers or even initial requests for repayment are made to the london address, so they know that this was the last time they were able to use this primary address excuse successfully.

 

The covering letter of the papers returned by the courts state something i don't really understand:

In your allocation questionnaire please state whether or not you consider the issues or any of them are covered by the case that has been brought by the office of fair trading against a number of banks and give brief reasons.

 

What does that mean? Are they already planning on staying my case? Also is there a different protocol for filling out the AQ for credit cards?

 

I have until 24th November to return the AQ.

[slick132]

Hi Mack and good to see you back and ready to carry on this fight.

 

The answer is that, "Because this is a claim for repayment of Credit Card charges, it is not concerned with or affected by the issues raised in the commercial case being considered in the High Court between the OFT and several banks."

 

Your AQ should include the Draft Directions as before.

Edited November 10, 2008 by slick132
amended for exact use

[mackerel]

Thanks slick. Will hand in the AQ with that little statement tomorrow

 

ps. Should that little statement go in the draft directions, or just in a cover letter?

[slick132]

Hi Mack,

 

You didn't mention the Draft Directions but I assume you've included those.

 

So in box G of the N149, put the statement which I've now amended above for use, plus the mention of the Draft Directions which which are attached.

[mackerel]

Just to double check - should i use the AQ specifically for credit cards (by pt2537) or the one for bank charges (by jonni2bad)?

[slick132]

Hi Mack,

 

Pt's example is for cases where bank or DCA has filed a claim against you and the Credit Agreement is missing or not complete.

 

Jonni2Bad's is the example you should be using.

[mackerel]

thanks slick. Will get that done handed in to the courts by tomorrow

[slick132]

Hey Mack,

 

Better luck with this case on your 2nd run - they shouldn't be able to wriggle out again, so I hope you have a Wasted Costs Order ready to present which will include both sets of litigation.

[mackerel]

wow, 3 months to the day!

 

Things were held up at the courts for a while as they were waiting for some paperwork from me without telling me (grr) but after that was sorted... i was emailed by someone from barclays legal department. In the meantime, i've moved house (not sure how that will affect my claim - do i tell the courts, and barclaycard? Or just the courts?). The email, sent 4 days ago:

 

My name is Sandy Dewolfe from Barclays Bank. I am working on your Barclaycard Claim. I have tried to contact you on your mobile and the landline number we have listed for you. Yet, have been unable to reach you to discuss the Claim. Could you give me a call on the number listed below.

 

Now, to be honest, i don't really want to be flooded with legal jargon or agree to something i can't post on here first for advice. So how can i say that i do not want to talk over the phone, but only by email - will things progress with that sort of attitude, or will it just makes things stagger along even more?

[slick132]

Hi Mack,

 

Write to the court and to BLT, confirming your new address. Use Rec'd Del'y for the letter to the bank, which will go to Churchill Place.

 

I'd be inclined to send an email back saying you are confident that your case, and the basis for claiming interest, are strong. You are therefore happy to let the case be heard in court, unless they agree to refund in full according to your latest updated SOC, a copy of which is enclosed.

 

Add to the SOC all court fees paid to give an updated settlement figure.

 

Confirm there is nothing you feel the need to discuss by telephone but they are welcome to confirm their agreement to settle in full by email, to avoid the further expense which will be incurred when the case is heard in court.

 

Confirm that you will be happy to discontinue the court proceedings once they have credited your a/c.

 

If this settl't will clear the a/c balance, you'll require the remainder to be credited to your bank a/c no. xxxx xxxx.

Edited February 11, 2009 by slick132
typo

[mackerel]

thanks slick! Fired that off in an email, and will print out and send directly to him (or her?) an updated SOC.

[angel_1]

Good luck mack

 

been following your thread

 

keep positive

 

laters angel x

[mackerel]

Thanks!

 

Still haven't heard back from them, either by letter or email. Seems like its gone back to the old waiting game. Do you think i should email ol' sandy, asking if they recieved my new address and updated SOC, or would that look too desperate?

Edited February 23, 2009 by mackerel