WillowB v RBS*****another WINNER ****

[davidhannam]

i got a copy of exactly the same letter, word for word apart from amount and date!...

 

Hi Peeps:)

 

Well, I got another letter today making me an offer. This time it was through Cobblers as opposed to RBS directly. I'm going to type out the whole letter as some of it seems very intimidatory.....but I know that's nothing new! what do you think?

 

Our client considers that your challenge would fail in Court. Our client believes that its charges are fair, reasonable and transparent. It considers that the amounts debited to your account have been applied strictly in accordance with your agreement with it and its published tariff, which it is satisfied complies with all applicable laws and regulations. Our client is also committed to ensuring the transparency of the information that it gives to its customers about the operation of its products. As such, our client does not believe that your claim has any prospect of succeeding.

However, as a gesture of goodwill and strictly on the basis that our client rejects any liability to you, it is willing to offer you a goodwill payment of £1,600.

Acceptance by you of this goodwill payment will be in full and final settlement of your claim against our client and strictly on the basis that:-

1 you agree not to disclose to any third party the fact of, or any details relating to this payment:

2 You write to the Court withdrawing your claim.

Whilst this letter is written without prejudice save as to costs, in the event you decline this offer, we will draw this letter to the Court's attention on the basis that we hold the firm view that this offer is entirely reasonable in the circumstances. This offer will remain open for 7 days until thurs 21st sept 2006.

blah blah

Oh I'm so fed up with this! will the Court hold a dim view if I decline the offers? this offer is only half of my claim so I'm not accepting it, actually I'm not accepting anything other than the full amount but I feel really worn out by it all....please tell me it'll be ok!

 

Wxx

[Guest willowb]

Hi David :>) Yes we're all getting them aren't we? did I just read that BC had just got one through the door?

 

Bloomin' eck......how long do you think it'll be now?

 

Wxx

[Guest willowb]

Do you think they'll string it out until just before the due Court dates?

[davidhannam]

thats wot im guessing...hav u got a court date yet? mines 20th of Nov....we'll see!

[Guest willowb]

No not yet, I'll call the Courts next week for an update.

 

Wxx

[Guest willowb]

Got this off Tommy Mclean just now....(remember, not Cobblers!)

 

I am sorry that you remain dissatified with our earlier offer and as a consquence have reconsidered your claim.

As mentioned previously, we prefer to resolve matters with you direct and as an exceptional matter, have agreed to meet your claim of £2,216 in full.

Payment is to be made on the basis of a full and final settlement of your complaint. It is offered as a gesture of goodwill and without admission of liability or error. Also, our terms and conditions will continue etc etc.

 

I've emailed him back ([email protected]) ....

 

Dear Mr Mclean,

I have just received your letter offering a final settlement, thank you.

I am very appreciative of the fact that RBS would like to meet our claim but there has been some confusion as to the amount.

In your letter, you offered £2,216. The total claim amount to date stands at £3,256.24.

I have sent spreadsheets to Cobbetts detailing the summary of charges and interest.

I do hope that we can resolve this matter out of Court and if you send an offer for the full amount of the claim then hoprfully this will be the case.

 

 

I'm over the moon about the fact that they want to 'meet my claim' but it's like being given the keys to a new car but then no car!! Oh hum, let's see if he gets back to me.

 

Can someone tell me, can I choose how I'm to be paid? Only, he mentions 'crediting our account' with the refund but that account is closed and is with Capquest. We're going to use the money to settle the balance but would prefer them not to put it straight into the account as the claim total is more than we owe. (only £150 but still...) does anyone know where I stand on this?

 

Wxx

[Guest willowb]

Just received this email.......

 

Thanks for your note. Sorry, I don't agree that a full refund should be

offered. I believe that customers have some responsibility to operate their

accounts in such a way as to avoid excess situations. Even the OFT, when

investigating credit card charges accepted that the banks had a right to

charge something in such situations, hence our compromise offer.

 

If you have already started the ball rolling with Cobbetts, I'll let our

litigation team progress it. I don't know if they will increase my offer.

 

How very disppointing:(

 

here's my response to that....

 

Dear Mr Mclean,

Thank you for your response but I am disappointed that you are unwilling to meet our claim as expressed in your letter.

A claim was filed on the 11th July 2006 so I have been corresponding with Cobbetts LLp for quite some time. I still hope that this matter can be resolved out of Court but I am prepared to go if needs be.

Thank you for your time.

 

Bugger!

 

Wxx

[Guest willowb]

I phoned the Court yesterday but there's still no sign of a hearing date......dum de dum de dum....from the date I started my claim on MCOL, it's been 3 months!!! groan groan.....

 

Wxx

[stacymason]

must be a very busy court willow!!! wonder why that could be???

 

Stacy xx

[Guest willowb]

lol:p

 

Wxx

[BigCol]

It would seem that several of the County Courts are quite busy, for some reason. I din't realise that some Courts only have a Judge for a limited time per month, like one week per month!! My Court date is 6 Nov and I've been allocated a whole 15 minutes. I wonder if there's going to be anything on the door mat tonight, Cobblers seem to have gone very quiet lately, stringing things out methinks.....ho hum:rolleyes:

 

Mange tout!

 

BC:cool:

[sueg]

Keep going Willo, I have just recieved my statements but by the looks of things I am in for a long hard slog x

[Guest willowb]

Thanks Sueg. You may be suprised, someone was paid out before the MCOL stage lately, either that or just after.

 

I hope that RBS are realsing that in the long run this strategy is only costing them more. I put a MCOL for my hubbies Nationwide a/c on friday.....today, a week later, money is just magically appearing in our account!!! (Ican't tell you how much we needed that today! ) Surely, that beats spending thousands on sols and extra costs etc?

 

Your right Col.....things are spookily quiet!!! Cobblers have retreated and are either fighting to keep hoodwinking RBS out of their money or they're formulating yet another costly delaying tactic......we shall see:cool:

 

Wxx

[stacymason]

yeah willow there are a couple being paid out before they even file moneyclaim at the minute, wonder if RBS are reconsidering tactics and deciding to pay up instead of paying legal fees and interest?

[Guest willowb]

Hi Stacey, I hope that we're right!

 

I may just contact them again with an updated spreadsheet including the daily interest figure to date, just to keep them informed;) what do you think? is it worth a try?

 

Wxx

[stacymason]

can't do any harm willow, just gently remind them that the interest is adding up!!!

[Susie Q]

Hi Guys

 

I have calculated, roughly, my charges come to over £7000 can i staill clalim for this amount

[Guest willowb]

Hi Susie, where are you from for a start?

 

Wxx

[BigCol]

Suzy,

 

the quick answer is yes, however (why is there always an however?!) [and assuming that you reside in England or Wales] this means that you will be above the limit for the Small Claims Court (£5K before interest + Costs) so you may wish to package things up into amounts of £4.9k and £2.1K and either do them both at the same time or one after another. Both options have their advantages and disadvantages but at some point you may be able to negotiate with Cobblers (cos I guess it will go that far) to clump the claims together. Alternatively you could go for the full amount, but this may cost more and give you more grief. The one thing to remember about these amount is the Court Costs (can't remember off the top of my head, but >£100).

 

Whatever, don't let that put you off. Things are 'quiet' on the western front at the moment but Cobblers/RBS may (think that they) have some breathing room with most of our Court dates not being until Nov, but they have to address the cases at some point.

 

BC:cool:

[MARTIN3030]

It may be worth seriously going down the N1 route and going for contractual interest here.

The benefits are fairly obvious.

Whilst moneyclaim online is great for fairly simple claims up to the 5k ceiling open court over the counter can add up to double your claim.

A lot of people are frightened of the open court route but it is not as daunting as some people would believe.

 

I have done 3 of my claims on micol but am saving the other for an N1 where I hope to get the benefits as I speak of above.

[BigCol]

Martin,

 

how right you are, the trouble beijng that people get overfaced by the literature, which is not always the easiest to read or understand. All I can say is that it has got to be worth reading through both routes and deciding after the LBA. That gives you a significant amount of time to ask questions here or through CAB or a free legal-clinic. I think people panic early on (I know I had a couple of wobbles) and opt for the easy route, mainly due to the effect that the amounts being owed make so much difference to people. All you have to do is read people's threads to gauge just how much difference the £2k or whatever will make to them. People get themselves into debt, no arguement, but the banks don't discourage us once we get into debt. How many people have been offered loans to cover O/Ds and more and then increased O/Ds and Credit Cards. The way people get dealt with is atrocious, it's no wonder the UK has higher level of debt per person than across the rest of Europe.

 

BC:cool:

[MARTIN3030]

Spot on.

I understand what you say,and think the way forward is to make available a thread to properly explain the process and have the temp stuff available to do it.I can tell you that it is something that we have debated but overall there is a feeling that the decision should be left with the claimant and there has to be more information to those that want to go down this road.

I have seen that once people become more informed of the process they are happy to think about it....and I have seen a few members take the micol first then go onto the N1 for the second claim.On the other hand there have been quite a few mistakes made.

It is important that lessons are learned from that as with all claims its down to good preparation and an informed judgement as to what the process entails.

[Susie Q]

Hi Susie, where are you from for a start?

 

Wxx

 

Hi Willowb

 

I am from Liverpool x:p

[MARTIN3030]

Hi Willowb

 

I am from Liverpool x:p

 

 

A Red.......or Blue.......??????????????

[Susie Q]

Why RED of course what other team can do it 5 times.