Jump to content


Halifax charges reclaiming & Court Case


style="text-align: center;">  

Thread Locked

because no one has posted on it for the last 4262 days.

If you need to add something to this thread then

 

Please click the "Report " link

 

at the bottom of one of the posts.

 

If you want to post a new story then

Please

Start your own new thread

That way you will attract more attention to your story and get more visitors and more help 

 

Thanks

Recommended Posts

Battyman

The same thing happened to me almost as soon as the case was stayed they sent the debt to Lowells, who then started to try to reclaim the money from me. I wrote to them informing them that the account was in dispute and was subject to a court case i had taken against halifax. I also explained to them about the test case. Their answer was "fine we'll put the whole thing on hold until my court case was finished, and could i inform them of any developments". Not heard a thing from them since. so sending your debt collectors the letter that the account is in in dispute certainly can't hurt and will even delay them a bit, allowing for the new POC, guidance to turn up in the meantime.

 

Actually didn't the OFT produce guidance to debt collectors that if the account is in dispute they can't take any action?

Edited by pmahonc
Line 5 should have read can't not can
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • Replies 78
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

The Consumer Action Group is a free help site.

Should you be offered help that requires payment please report it to site team.

Advice & opinions given by Caro are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 10 months later...

Hello

I have received a letter from Ashurst Solicitors bascially telling me if I do not contact the court within 6 weeks and submit new Particulars of Claim with properly verified statement of truth which disclose reasonable grounds for continuing the claim then the case will be struck out without further notice.

 

Not sure what I should do next.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello

I have received a letter from Ashurst Solicitors bascially telling me if I do not contact the court within 6 weeks and submit new Particulars of Claim with properly verified statement of truth which disclose reasonable grounds for continuing the claim then the case will be struck out without further notice.

 

Not sure what I should do next

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hiya, I received the same kind of letter today. The court had already made a judgement on our case and found in our favour, then it was 'staid'. From what I can gather, my bank have sent out an 'unless order' to most of the County Courts, this stops them from having to look at each case individually......those people who dont resubmit their claims will automatically have the claim struck out. Those who do will be looked at and judgement made. The crux is that the argument used at the time of first going to court is now not one which is very valid, i.e. charges being unlawful etc......I am going to resubmit my claim, with a covering letter which says that I believed the original statement of charges being unlawful to be valid enough without having to go into personal circumstances, however I have now realised that a statement with more of my personal hardship details would be more useful for a reconsidering judgement.

 

Just not worked out how to word it all yet!!

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

I too received the same ashurst letter, I'm fed up, I shall write a letter to the Court demanding they show some balls and stand up to financial bullying barstewards!!

I want MY case looked at again with a copy of the pages here showing how many people HAVE received payouts from A&L, why not me? That's descrimination in my book, that and thee fact they offered me a pittance to go away... surely an act of guilt.

Damn them all, they nearly bankrupted this country and get £billion bonuses... pffft

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...

Halifax have sold my debt off. It was originally made up of an overdraft and bank charges. I took them to court but I have never heard from the court about the case. Halifax have sent me letters over the last couple of years but now they have sold it off the dc is getting very nasty. Could they actually take me to court if I have taken Halifax but never heard anything back? Not sure if I can do anything. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Are you saying that you issued a claim against HBoS for the return of bank charges ?

 

You are aware of the Supreme Court ruling that found in the Banks' favour and that charges on current accounts are no longer reclaimable ?

 

Your claim would have been stayed along with 1,000's of others. A lot of courts have written to claimants advising that the cases wont be heard and have been discontinued by the courts.

 

And yes, HBoS are busily dumping loads of accounts onto DCAs.. which one has yours been passed on to.

Have we helped you ...?         Please Donate button to the Consumer Action Group

Uploading documents to CAG ** Instructions **

Looking for a draft letter? Use the CAG Library

Dealing with Customer Service Departments? - read the CAG Guide first

1: Making a PPI claim ? - Q & A's and spreadsheets for single premium policy - HERE

2: Take back control of your finances - Debt Diaries

3: Feel Bullied by Creditors or Debt Collectors? Read Here

4: Staying Calm About Debt  Read Here

5: Forum rules - These have been updated - Please Read

BCOBS

1: How can BCOBS protect you from your Banks unfair treatment

2: Does your Bank play fair - You can force your Bank to play Fair with you

3: Banking Conduct of Business Regulations - The Hidden Rules

4: BCOBS and Unfair Treatment - Common Examples of Banks Behaving Badly

5: Fair Treatment for Credit Card Holders and Borrowers - COBS

Advice & opinions given by citizenb are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME TO GIVE ADVICE BY PM - IF YOU PROVIDE A LINK TO YOUR THREAD THEN I WILL BE HAPPY TO OFFER ADVICE THERE:D

Link to post
Share on other sites

Yes that about sums it up Citizen. 1st Credit are ringing me on mobile and home phone all of the time, plus letters. I was stayed with the rest of us but not sure if they can now come after the debt and if its worth making an offer or ignoring them?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Righto. Yes, 1st credit have purchased quite a lot of HBoS "debt" and are being quite aggressive in their pursuing.

 

This was a straightforward current account o/d that attracted charges, yes ?

Have we helped you ...?         Please Donate button to the Consumer Action Group

Uploading documents to CAG ** Instructions **

Looking for a draft letter? Use the CAG Library

Dealing with Customer Service Departments? - read the CAG Guide first

1: Making a PPI claim ? - Q & A's and spreadsheets for single premium policy - HERE

2: Take back control of your finances - Debt Diaries

3: Feel Bullied by Creditors or Debt Collectors? Read Here

4: Staying Calm About Debt  Read Here

5: Forum rules - These have been updated - Please Read

BCOBS

1: How can BCOBS protect you from your Banks unfair treatment

2: Does your Bank play fair - You can force your Bank to play Fair with you

3: Banking Conduct of Business Regulations - The Hidden Rules

4: BCOBS and Unfair Treatment - Common Examples of Banks Behaving Badly

5: Fair Treatment for Credit Card Holders and Borrowers - COBS

Advice & opinions given by citizenb are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME TO GIVE ADVICE BY PM - IF YOU PROVIDE A LINK TO YOUR THREAD THEN I WILL BE HAPPY TO OFFER ADVICE THERE:D

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Batman,

I would check with the court exactly what the status of your claim is first.

Are you in a position to offer a F&F to the DCA, starting low at 10%?

Another avenue which has just occurred to me is to check whether you can utilise the Banking Conduct of Business Regulations.

Have a read here and follow all the links:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/announcement.php?f=9&a=228

 

 

Elsa

Edited by Undercover-Elsa
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
Are you saying that you issued a claim against HBoS for the return of bank charges ?

 

You are aware of the Supreme Court ruling that found in the Banks' favour and that charges on current accounts are no longer reclaimable ?

 

Your claim would have been stayed along with 1,000's of others. A lot of courts have written to claimants advising that the cases wont be heard and have been discontinued by the courts.

 

And yes, HBoS are busily dumping loads of accounts onto DCAs.. which one has yours been passed on to.

 

Bank Charges are still reclaimable in court although it is a little more complicated. The Supreme Court case only ruled that the OFT could not carry out an investigation as to whether the charges were fair or not. A Judge in the Supreme Court case even confirmed that in a televison interview.

 

Any person with a case that is stayed only has to apply to the court to amend their statement of claim (Particulars of claim). They can find useful information on this site or other helpful sites that are mentioned in these threads. eg Govan Law Center.

 

I am about to take 2 banks to court soon once I receive a reply from the CEO's of both banks who have been given Final Notices of Letter Before Action.

 

My Claim is 70 pages in length and using nearly every piece of Legslation and Statutory Instrument I can think of as well as case law.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

Well 1st Credit have finally issued the court papers. Is there anything I can do or do I just pay them £1 month? I have to reply within a couple of weeks to the court but just thought I would check if its best to just admit it and pay up over the next 100 years and get another ccj

Link to post
Share on other sites

You should issue a counter-claim against them for the charges applied to your account. They do not have the money to pay for the High Priced Legal Advisors like the banks. Below are snippets from my Claim which I have not yet submitted as it would cost alot of money to pursue as it would either be held in the Ordinary Procedure due to the length of the claim or possibly through the Outer House of the Court o Session in Scotland.

 

In 2005, they (The Banks) told the House of Commons Treasury Committee bank charges were "going to pay for all the people we have who pursue debt, collect debt, speak to customers and chase payments". That wasn't true.

 

Nor was it true when the British Bankers Association told us in 2006 that every time a transaction was declined there was a bank employee sitting in an office looking through a customer's file and deciding what to do.

 

In 2007, the banks then claimed overdraft charges were a fee for an informal overdraft.

 

The truth only came out in the OFT's case, and most banks have still failed to communicate this. They admitted the charges are indeed used to subsidise other customers.

 

The Banks have a duty under Section 221 of the Companies Act 1985 to keep accounting records:

 

Sub-Section 1 of the Act provides that, "Every company shall keep accounting records which are sufficient to show and explain the company's transactions."

 

Sub-Section 2 provides that the accounting records shall in particular contain-

 

(a) entries from day to day of all sums of money received and expended by the company , and the matters in respect of which the receipt and expenditure takes place.."

 

You can argue that the defenders should have all of this information to hand which would prove your case.

 

Section 222, Sub-Section 5 of the Act provides that "in the case of a Public Company, these records should be kept for a period of at least 6 years."

 

As these charges levied occurred within the last six years, you can crave the court to order the banks (debt collection agency in your case) to submit these detailed accounts into court showing the actual cost charges in reflection to the charges levied against you.

 

 

Section 450 Companies Act 1985.

 

(1) An officer of a company who

(a) destroys, mutilates or falsifies or is privy to the destruction, mutilation or falsification of a document affecting or relating to the company's property or affairs, or

(b) makes, or is privy to the making of a false entry in such a document,

is guilty of an offence, unless he proves that he had no intention to conceal the state of affairs of the company or to defeat the law.

(2) Such a person as above mentioned who fraudulently either parts with, alters or makes an omission in any such document or is privy to fraudulent parting with, fraudulent making of an omission in any such document, is guilty of an offence.

(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable to imprisonment or a fine, or both.

 

In the Supreme Court case; The OFT v Abbey and 7 others,

 

Early in his argument Mr Sumption said:

 

"[T]here is.room for argument about whether the insufficient fund charges are part of the price for the package of services or just the particular service which

occasions their being charged, but we will submit that it is unrealistic to say, as the judge did, that insufficient fund charges are not payable in exchange for any service at all and are, therefore, not a price at all."

 

 

Mr Justice Andrew Smith said:

 

I therefore accept the OFT's submission that if a Bank declines to pay upon a Relevant Instruction, it supplies no, or no relevant, services by way of considering, processing or otherwise dealing with it.

 

 

Effect of unfair term

 

8.-(1) An unfair term in a contract concluded with a consumer by a seller or supplier shall not be binding on the consumer.

 

(2) The contract shall continue to bind the parties if it is capable of continuing in existence without the unfair term.

 

5.5

 

Therefore, since the terms and conditions of the Bank Account Facility were not individually negotiated, and unfair under the themes listed above, the "Relevant Charges" levied by the defender are not binding upon on the pursuer, the terms of the agreement are unfair to the pursuer and the Pursuer is entitled to be reimbursed accordingly.

 

 

5.6

 

The pursuer craves the court to allow the defenders the opportunity to provide documentation, transcripts from customers showing that they were allowed to open bank accounts without the "Relevant Charges" being part of the contract an or any of the other themes the pursuer has mentioned in his claim above.

 

 

 

If you require anymore snippets or legislation, guidelines, case law, just post a message or PM me and I will see what I can do for you.

 

Whatever you do, I think you should fight it and counterclaim. If you lose that, all you stand to lose is your fee for serving the counterclaim. If you require help in doing this let me know and I can help you through the claim process. I am not legally qualified, I just know quite a bit about Consumer Law and have spent over 30 hours researching information for one claim.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 Caggers

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Have we helped you ...?


×
×
  • Create New...