£5000 limit and interest question

[barcingmad]

Just a quick one that I couldn't find a clear answer to in the FAQs... Please feel free to shoot me if I've missed it.

 

I have one claim that I am about to pursue that tallies around £4,500 before 8% allowable interest is added. After the 8% is tapped on (if it got to Court filing stage) this would carry me over the £5k threshold.

 

Is the £5k limit for Small Claims considered before or after the 8% interest and/or costs are added?

 

*hides behind flame retardant blanket*

[monkey_uk]

Your claim would include the interest and [if you're feeling lucky] the interest on the charges and the court fee, so the answer is yes, it would take you over hte 5k limit.

 

Consider instead, of filing for, say, the overlimit charges, and then a seperate one for, say, DD failure charges, do ya get my drift?

[BankFodder]

barcingmad

 

Read the forum material. It has been asked and answered many times.

[monkey_uk]

Hey BF, I'm learning mate, I'm learning!

[barcingmad]

Thought for a moment it was all going to be too easy, when I spoke to a Customer Service rep at the start of March about something else, and then asked for a complete list of charges from the last six years.

 

She said she'd fax the request to the relevant department while I waited, then came back on the line and asked if I wanted the refund paid into my account or by personal cheque...

 

Of course, no such luck, and in spite of their assurances that someone would get back to me within 48 hours, the silence has been deafening. My claim will (I believe) be well into the thousands.

 

Further call this afternoon quoting my ref no - which it turns out is for complaints (but I haven't complained yet?!? :? ) - and they tell me it is still ongoing, and that they hadn't actually got anything on record about me requesting a detailed list of charges. Hmmm, we'll see about that.

 

Ah well. :twisted: DPA letter in the post this afternoon.

 

It could have been so much simpler.

[barcingmad]

Well, there's a thing. Called Customer Relations again and referred them to my request for a list of charges. Got a letter in the post saying that they were refunding some of the charges (ie. several months' worth of monthly fee) for my Additions account which I have recently cancelled.

 

Not what I was after, but a bonus anyway. It'll help as an advance for the impending court costs.

 

DPA letter sent with cheque for £10 27/03/06.

[barcingmad]

DPA letter was signed for 1st or 3rd April, and 8 April a complete set of statements arrived with my returned DPA cheque. Apparently, according to a handwritten compliments slip included with the standard letter, 'there is no charge for this service'.

 

Have now calculated charges - total 2,315 squids ex interest, mainly accrued during three bad two-month periods in the last four years.

 

Letter requesting payment going out Mon 10 April.

[barcingmad]

Finally got around to sending out my prelim letter 18 April. To date have only received the 'looking into it and will get back to you by 17 May' letter.

 

Now sending out LBA letter 04/05/06. Only fourteen more days to go! I feel a fight coming on.

[Guest Lueeze]

Good Luck!

 

Lou xx

[Ombler]

Yes Good luck indeed let us know how you got on i'm getting ever closer with my barclays deadline and not a whisper.

[barcingmad]

Well, there's a big note in my diary for today saying that it's time to file the claim...

 

Apart from the usual 'we are looking into your complaint' blah, with a rolling 'you will receive a reply by' date, have not heard a sausage from them.

 

Been briefing my other half to prepare herself - she's a legal eagle who has recently been focusing on contract case law and the unfair terms bits and pieces, as well as CCA 74 and 06. Which is kinda handy.

 

So. Will inform BF of claim details later on today, and will keep posting as and when I hear anything...

[barcingmad]

Got a letter in the post today, offering me 980 squids as a full and final. Shame I filed for 2,700 squids earlier this week.

 

That'll be a no then.

 

Out of interest, with the claim lodged through MCOL is there anything I should do - ie do I reject the whoole thing out of hand, or can I accept the 980 as part payment - but if I do, how will this affect my claim through the courts?

[Rooster-UK]

If it says "in full and final settlement" you can either accept the offer with the proviso that you WILL pursue the balance in court as per your timetable, the outcome of which will be the withdrawal of the offer, or just continue your action.

 

Good luck.

[barcingmad]

Just been talking with my other half about my case, as the acknowledgement and intend to defend has come back from Barclays. She tells me that you can object to the defendant's request to an extension to 28 days to prepare a defence - not least, in this case, because it is evident the bank has already compiled a defence.

 

Is it worth pushing the point to get the 28-day limit revoked, and make them stick to the 14-day timetable? Any one else tried this?

[barcingmad]

Well, our trainee solicitor at Barclays is getting very busy - and they have acknowledged the claim and intend to defend.

 

They've also requested the full 28 days, although I'm currently considering, on the advice of the other half, putting in an objection with the Court to get it back to 14 days.

 

Have politely declined the full and final part of their offer. I don't believe they will agree to it as part payment

[barracad]

bump

[natalie]

Sorry I havent heard this before, not really sure it wouldbe worth the hassle though,

 

Natalie

[alanfromderby]

CPR 15.5 seems very clear that any extension requires the agreement of both parties. In a case such as this I cannot see any justification for the bank being allowed extra time to prepare their defence. The case is not complicated, and the issues are clear cut.

 

I would give the court a ring and ask if they require you to send a letter refusing to grant them the extra time. If they do then I would base your reason on the above points.

 

Keep us posted.

[CrispDust]

My understanding is that 28 days from serving of notice to submission of defense is usual and automatic.

Court might possibly look unfavourably if you push to shorten time lapsed.

[alanfromderby]

The normal time for a defence to be submiitted is 28 days from date of issue of the claim. However, the defendant can ask for an extension of up to 28 days with the agreement of the claimant.

[barcingmad]

Well, just about to send my AQ off...

 

Herewith a full and faithful transcript of Barclays' defence. It seems slightly more fleshed out than some of the ones I've seen on here, but I can't get the search tool to work at the moment, so I don't know if this is the new standard defence they are offering... All comments welcome:

 

 

1. It is admitted that the Claimant had two accounts, numbers xxxxxxx and xxxxxxxx, both of sort code xxxxxx, and that both were closed on 30 June 2006. To the extent that it is alleged that the Claimant incurred bank charges on his accounts for unauthorised borrowings (whether unpaid fees for returned cheques, ?Paid Referral fees? Or any other such fees), it is admitted that such charges were debited from the Claimant?s accounts; however, the Defendant puts the Claimant to strict proof of each charge and the date thereof.

2. The Defendant was entitled to charge the Claimant for unauthorised borrowings by reason of its standard terms and conditions. The Claimant accepted the same when the accounts were opened, including (in particular but without limitation) the following terms and conditions (which are summarised):

a. The Defendant?s right to charge a ?Paid Referral Fee? where the Defendant pays an amount (either by compulsion or election) which causes the accounts to become overdrawn - £30 per item (previously £25).

b. The Defendant?s right to charge an administrative fee if any cheque, standing order or direct debit cannot be paid because of insufficient cleared funds in the accounts - £35 per item (previously £30)

c. The Defendant’s entitlement, if the Claimant becomes overdrawn without an overdraft limit, to charge interest at the unauthorised borrowing rate on the excess balance.

3. The Defendant?s standard terms and conditions gave the Claimant a fair and transparent view of those terms and the charges applicable for unauthorised borrowings (including where the accounts are overdrawn without an overdraft limit or where the Claimant exceeds his authorised overdraft limit).

4. If and to the extent that it is the Claimant?s case that the failure to make necessary payments and / or failure to remain within authorised overdraft limits constituted a breach of the terms applying to the accounts and that the contractual entitlement to debit charges from the Claimant?s accounts constituted a liquidated damages clause, the same is denied. The charges constitute payments the Claimant agreed to make by reason of the terms and conditions of his accounts and were consideration for the Defendant advancing credit to the Claimant, which the Defendant was under no obligation to advance. The Defendant was entitled to impose such charges and interest when the Claimant incurred the overdraft.

5. Accordingly, it is denied that the legal principles relating to liquidated damages clauses and penalty charges are relevant or applicable to the facts set out above. Further or alternatively it is denied that any such charges constitute unlawful penalty charges or are in breach of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (particularly but without limitation to, paragraph 1(e) of Schedule 2), or are in breach of s.4 of the Unfair (Contracts) Terms Act 1977 (or any other provision), or are unreasonable within the meaning of s.15 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 (or indeed any other provision).

6. Therefore, it is denied that the charges were unlawfully debited from the accounts.

7. If and to the extent the Claimant incurred charges on his accounts, this was caused by the Claimant having gone into overdraft without having agreed with the Defendant to increase the overdraft facility and / or his failure to make payments to bring the balance of the accounts back into credit.

[Bookworm]

Well, that's an easy one.

 

In short: you signed T&Cs, so there. Oh, and the charges are not unlawful. So there again.

 

I wouldn't lose too much sleep over that one if I were you.

[Bookworm]

Hey, guess what? I got exactly the same one 1/2 hour after I'd answered you!

 

Well, when I say "exactly", mine is actually missing the last part, but anyway...

[barcingmad]

Well, long time no visit (working hard, got married, usual excuses), but things are still chugging along...

 

My court date is set 31 October at Edmonton CC, north London, so I've just finalised my court bundles to send out. There have been some great additions in terms of resources and court formatting stuff since I last got on here!! Thanks to everyone for sharing their bits so far.

 

Heavy weekend of reading in store...

[barcingmad]

Ok - so, one week to go before my supposed court appearance.

 

Quick question - has anybody got close to their court date with Barclays and tried to make contact with them, ostensibly to remind their litigation department of the impending court case, but also to try and coax a settlement out of them? Or do I have to sit it out and wait for them not to turn up in court?