avlasc v Lloyds **WON**

[avlasc]

Been thinking about this - does it really matter if these are delayed for a month? it means more interest for me .. and I wouldn’t want Lloyds thinking I am desperate ;o)

[GaryH]

As always, its your call. By sending that it just puts a bit of extra pressure on them to settle within the month they've asked for, plus it draws the courts attention to their delaying tactics.

 

Its at the judges discretion whether or not they actually get a months stay or not anyway, they won't get it automatically.

[avlasc]

Good points - I have posted the letters today... will keep you informed.

 

Thanks

 

Ken.

[avlasc]

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

Thank you for providing me with a copy of your completed N149 Allocation Questionnaire, which I received on **/**/**.

 

Referring to the Allocation Questionnaire, I must admit to being somewhat surprised by your response to Section A (Settlement). You have ticked ‘yes’, thereby requesting a one month postponement in proceedings in order that a settlement may be reached by way of negotiation.

 

Please note that throughout the process of this claim, neither yourselves nor your client have ever given any indication whatsoever that you wish to settle this matter without the need for litigation. In fact, all my previous attempts at dialogue with your client have been met with outright refusals to negotiate this matter, and on **/**/** I received a letter from Lloyds TSB’s service recovery centre which explicitly stated that the bank had issued its final response and therefore would not enter into any further correspondence. It is for this reason that I felt I had no alternative but to seek redress by way of Court action.

 

Having said the above, I do believe that litigation should always be a last resort and would of course be happy to settle this matter without the need for a court hearing. Please be advised though, that I am completely confidant in the strength of my claim and believe that your clients charges could indeed be proved to be unlawful penalty’s which you are trying to cloak as contractual service charges. For this reason, I will only settle for the full amount of the claim, namely £***.

 

In light of your indication of your intention to negotiate settlement, I will await your communication informing me of how you wish to proceed. I trust this will come before **/**/**, as this is final day of the month you requested to reach a settlement in your allocation questionnaire.

 

A copy of this letter will also be sent to the court.

 

 

 

Yours faithfully

 

Its been a couple of weeks since I have written the above letter to SCM and copied to the court and I still havent heardn anything. I have called them twice asking them when I will be contacted, they say they havent been instructed by Lloyds yet so are unable to do anything. Is there anyting else I can do to either get them to talk to me or get the judge to intervene - I just see this is time wasting.... other threads talk about the law society - is that an option?

[GaryH]

The law society is'nt an option unfortunately, Sagaloo tried it and they will only act on complaints from clients of firms, not 3rd paties.

 

You can try writing again. Change the content slightly, to say something like -

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

Two weeks have now elapsed since I received your clients allocation questionnaire, which indicated your intention to resolve the matters detailed above by way of negotiation. You did in fact request that the court order a stay for this purpose.

 

To date, you or your client have made no attempt whatsoever to engage in dialogue and my last letter to you of **/**/** has not even been afforded the courtosy of an acknowledgement. As it were you who requested a stay be ordered to negotiate, I must say I find your intransigent attitude both surprising and unacceptable.

 

I am writing on the assumption that your request to the court was made in utmost good faith and with the genuine intention of resolving the matter in hand, rather than merely an attempt to further delay proceedings in this case. I trust that as the representative of a reputable and esteemed organisation, you would not hold the court in such contempt as to abuse the system in the manner to which a false indication such as this would equate.

 

As such, I will await your proposals for the resolution of this matter and I trust this will come within the next two weeks.

 

A copy of this letter has also been sent to the court.

 

Yours faithfully

 

That should do the trick, and even if it does'nt, it will be on your file for the judge to see. So, as ever, make sure you remember to send a copy to the court.

[avlasc]

Well I never - I have an offer of payment but with conditions - basically there are 5 points I have to agree to

 

The offered amount is full and final settlement (which it is) includes fees and interest. (Good news)

· The amount will be credited to my existing account. (Which is fine by me as means I can almost pay off my overdraft) More good news.

· The terms of this agreement are confidential. Dont care about that. Makes no difference to me.

· I must agree to maintain my accounts (which is fine)

· If I don’t I will be again incur these fees. then I have to sign it - Not much chance of going over again as I have moved everything away from Lloyds. So the account can just sit there as far as I am concerned. If I do get charged again, it probably wont be by Lloyds ...

 

..... I have to say I am ok with it all except the last bit ... I am ok to be charged a reasonable amount but not excessive amounts.

 

I will accept their offer ... I will let you all know when the money is in my account...

[rickderris]

good man, well done

[BARTY]

Congratulations!!! :D

Barty

[GaryH]

Excellant, congratulations!!

 

Just one teeny little thing though - You do not have to agree to any conditions. In fact, they have absolutely no bloomin right to try to impose them. Its your money!!!!!!!!!!

 

Whether you choose to accept them or not is entirely your decision, but don't think for one minute that you have to. Its your decision, but heres what I think (for what its worth!);

 

1. Fair enough, thats ok so long as its the full and correct amount of the claim including interest and fees,

 

2. Fine

 

3. No chance. Confidentiality? Why? Have we something to hide, Mr Lloyds? Personally, I beleive in free speach and if it were me, the settlement would have to be open and transparent and allow me to tell whoever I choose. Bear in mind that if you did agree to this, its legally binding.

 

4. I'll agree to run my account in accordance with its terms and conditions when those terms and conditions comply with UK law, and not before.

 

5. Any future fee's I may or may not incur will still be unlawful and so I reserve the right to reclaim them should they be applied in the future.

 

As I said, thats just my opinion. If you were to refuse, you would still get your money - many claimants (me included) refuse the conditions with no effect on their claim. Having said that, it may cause some further delay.

[avlasc]

Thanks Gary - to be honest getting the money was my aim - so I will probably accept the conditions. Just one question though IF I do accept does that mean I cant update this site with anymore progress reports or help others claim?

[midge61]

Hi avlasc

Congratulations. I got my settlement today as well with all the conditions but as I no longer have an account with them I'm not bothered.

WELL DONE

[avlasc]

Same here - I moved all my stuff ages ago .... I might reserve the right to claim again if they charge me though.

[GaryH]

Thanks Gary - to be honest getting the money was my aim - so I will probably accept the conditions. Just one question though IF I do accept does that mean I cant update this site with anymore progress reports or help others claim?

 

You would not be able to refer specifically to your settlement or any of the details of it. You could still post here about other peoples claims or any other general stuff, just not specifically about the terms of your settlement.

[avlasc]

O well I guess there is enough information on here - which was posted before I agreed to the terms and conditions .. that should be ok shouldnt it?

[avlasc]

Reading back over this post - I have just checked the figures in the settlement offer, they are £40 quid short. It was Gary that suggested checking them (cheers gary) I am going to give SCM a call tomorrow (Monday). I will ask how thay came to that sum as it falls short of the original claim - I have also thought about the conditions and decided not to accept the ones about confidentiality or the one about incuring more charges if I go OD again. Will keep you posted.

[avlasc]

I would suggest you post the same question here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/halifax-bank/

[BARTY]

Have just sent first letter toHalifax plc requesting details of charges. Have received a reply requesting £5 for this information. Have any of you had dealings with Halifax

 

Thanks

P

Hi

This is the Lloyds TSB forum, you're better off going on to the Halifax one:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/halifax-bank/

 

Barty

[leamarie]

Omigod! The crafty buggers, trying to short change you like that!

 

I find the conditions very interesting, so if you refuse the conditions and go for a full unconditional settlement does that mean if you were to have a D/D returned for example you would never be charged ever again? I find that very hard to beleive! If thats right though surely we should all try to hold out for an unconditional settlement? We could change the way high street banking is conducted! Make history!! Am I right in thinking this or am I just getting carried away now?

 

Leamarie

[avlasc]

I think what it means is that if I do have a DD returned (for example) they will still charge me but I will have the right to claim it back again - If I agree to the conditions I wont....which is quite scary.

[Michael Browne]

Dear Whoever

 

Ref: Your Offer of Settlement

 

Account: xxxxxxxx

Sort Code xx-xx-xx

 

I acknowledge receipt of your letter date xx/xx/xx and your settlement offer of £XXX

 

I accept your offer as full and final settlement for the claim of bank charges I notifed you of in my claim no.XXX in XXX County Court

 

I accept this offer without predjudice and I reserve the right to make any further claims should you apply future charges that may be considered unlawful under common law or in violation of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 or Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.

 

I am also not prepared to agree to any confidentially clauses you try to impose, unless of course your client wishes to make an offer of due consideration in addition to the amount of £xxxxx, in order to be afforded this privilege by myself.

 

 

I trust that you will find this arrangement acceptable.

 

Yours Sincerely

[avlasc]

Thanks for the letter - I am going to call them tomorrow to discuss .. if need be I will fax this to them ...

[GaryH]

I think what it means is that if I do have a DD returned (for example) they will still charge me but I will have the right to claim it back again - If I agree to the conditions I wont....which is quite scary.

 

Yep, thats pretty much the crux of it.

[avlasc]

Called them ref conditions - they told me to cross out the ones I didnt agree with - thats what I have done .. also enclosed a letter which I will post on here later ...

[leamarie]

Hi

 

Any news/payout yet?

 

Leamarie

[avlasc]

Money in the bank - I will be writing to the court informing them that the claim has been settled - yippee!

 

Now I dont know whether to keep the money there to pay off my OD or draw it out in case they change their mind! has anyone heard of banks taking the money back after depositing it in the bank?

 

Thanks to all of you that helped....I have PMd Bankfodder asking for my thread to be moved to Lloyds success - hopefully that will be done soon .. one last thing, for whats its worth - I bought the small claims kit but never used it which I guess shows that if you read, read and read the posts on here you will succeed...perhaps the money would be better spent helping out this site .. just a thought...