how to take legal action against hsbc?

[Old Cogger]

Yes I just noticed! (Not been paying attention). So he got compensation for damage to credit worthiness? Also when issuing my claim my word wasn't that great but I mentioned the key points: admitting fault, giving an offer of settlement then negligence, harrassment via DCAs and so on.

 

@ Mike770 - it wasnt DG solicitors but the actual court themselves! Lol they got away again..

 

 

Dam pity, D.G. passed other persons details to court it seems (not that I saw them) which would mean my details went to the wrong court, pity not to me personally, the DJ stated that the errors had no harm as only courts would of seen details.

[noddy997]

No the details I got was a case between a person v person rather than a solicitor v person or organisation if that makes sense!

 

I thought someone else have started to counter claim until I checked the case numbers phew!

[Durkin]

Hi Noddy,

 

In answer to your latest PM, it will depend on the judge if they insist it goes to a higher court.

 

The reason for £5K is general damage to creditworthiness restricted by the small claims limit. I expect you'll have an opportunity to correct that verbally in court.

 

Have a chat with your "in-court advisor". They seem very helpful.

 

Try and explain it to the judge and report back.

 

You should certainly refuse anything less. You're effectively "saving" them £3K by only claiming £5K. However, they know that the higher courts intimidate claimants and may try and force it there.

 

They'll usually "defend the claim". With what? is the interesting question! Not bad news at all. It's just part of the "stress" they try and put on you.

 

Cheers for now,

 

Richard.

[noddy997]

Richard,

 

what do you mean by "correct that verbally in court"? Do you mean I should ask for more, or do you mean the reasoning behind the claim/amount?

 

How do I get an "in court advisor"? And are they free? Is legal aid available for such a case as am currently unemployed?

 

Also when will the judge/court be in touch? As HSBC are still within the 28 day period to reply and I have received nothing yet apart from DG saying they will talk with their client and come back to me.

 

Cheers.

[Durkin]

 

do you mean the reasoning behind the claim/amount?

 

Yes.

 

 

How do I get an "in court advisor"? And are they free? Is legal aid available for such a case as am currently unemployed?

 

Ask at the court. They're free, often connected to CAB. Legal Aid is difficult against a bank. Solicitors have conflicts of interest and the bank likely has "The board" covered!

 

 

Also when will the judge/court be in touch?

 

 

You should hear from the court say a week after the closing date when they set a date for the hearing.

 

Richard

[noddy997]

Right cheers for that.

 

Will I have to go the hearing (on my own as well)? Aint it sometimes decided by the judge themselves of the outcome?

 

The closing date the deadline HSBC has to say what it wants to do, and the hearing is set after that? Will I not need to provide the judge with information before this? And with the provided information can they not over rule HSBC's decision on to defend? Bearing in mind the court dont favour them..

 

Cheers

[Durkin]

You should lodge documents before the hearing to try and avoid a trial. All documents that prove there's no defense will be useful.

 

Just hand them in at the court.

 

Definitely ensure you show up.

[noddy997]

But some cases dont have hearing do they and the judge makes the decision?

 

Will the court request them or do I have to post them myself? I only have the one letter from the manager admitting fault.

[Durkin]

I imagine the cases that don't have hearings are the ones that are settled beforehand. Most folk are happy just to have the default removed and a few beer chits to boot.

 

I think that with just a little more effort, they'd have an easy £5K (or £8K less irrecoverable expenses in the higher court)

 

The hearing is straightforward. In Aberdeen, you'd be one of say 50 cases to deal with in a 3 hour time slot. It will be over very quickly. 10 minutes max I'd say and most of the time the solicitor for the bank will be the one that's being questioned.

 

If the judge has the letter in front of them on the day, they're more likely to rule in your favour and so avoiding a trial.

 

Try and get the letter to the court now. If not the judge will give you 4 weeks say after the hearing until the next hearing to produce it. That is wasting your life unnecessarily.

 

It sounds like you'd benefit from speaking to your in court advisor but the court is a long way from you. Perhaps try phoning them (possibly you'll need to leave a message for them to phone you back) first.

 

The small claim is a simple process relative to the higher courts. Nothing to be worried about provided you are comfortable speaking in public. You'll soon get used to that.

 

Enjoy.

[noddy997]

Lol, thank you for that Richard you making it sound easy!

 

I dont have the details of the judge should they be on the acknowledgement letter I received from them?

 

Yes I am a distance away, am in Nottingham whilst its the Northampton Court.

[Durkin]

Next time lodge the small claim in your local court at Nottingham. Much easier when you can pop in and ask questions or lodge papers.

 

Generally, I understand that you'll not know who the judge is until the day. You could phone the court and ask but knowing who the judge is probably won't make any difference?

 

So, you might be the first to be called or the last. If you're not the first you'll get a good idea of how the small claims court works.

 

Yes, it's quite easy. The in-court advisor (in Aberdeen anyway, I assume the same elsewhere) is usually present at the small claims hearings and usually represents one or two of us unfortunates.

[supasta1]

All online claims go through Northampton county court but if the other side decide to defend then it will be transferred to your local court for the hearing

[noddy997]

Well I thought the online system would automatically allocate it to Nottingham Court, but I read others who have been assigned to Northampton so I assumed Northampton Court was the main one that dealt with small claims cases.

 

Can I not ring/speak with the in court advisor prior to a hearing, so like on Monday?

 

I am thinking of sending in the HSBC letter to the court on Monday, hoping it can go on file?

[supasta1]

I would just wait until the other side reply, see what they put in the defence if they decide to defend.

 

You have plenty of time to get things sorted yet so don't stress...

 

I would not send anything to the court until it has been transferred to your local court.

 

Just sit back and see what they decide to do first

[noddy997]

But transfer to local court means it wont be small claims and this involves costs which I dont have the money for...

[supasta1]

It will be small claims, any claim less than £5000 goes through small claims court... This is the same at all courts

[noddy997]

Yes but I thought the small claims court is in Northampton only. So it can be transferred if needs be? lol

 

2 weeks left for HSBC/DG to reply...am not getting my hopes high as they may want to be iffy... boo!

[supasta1]

No, Northampton is used for all cases issued online whether they are for small claims or not... If the otherside decide to defend then it will be transferred to your local court as a matter of procedure.

 

That is how it works

 

All courts can hear small claims hearings

[noddy997]

Ok guys I have got correspondance from DG as follows:

 

1) In the defence they have mentioned that I have not kept my part of the student account contract t&c's and I was overdrawn (as a student most people are)

2) There is "no record" of the 25% discount offer made yet the defendant admits to it

3) When the defendant asked the claimaint why he is seeking £10,000 compensation the reasons of costs weren't provided/high enough

4) They are offering me £500 for compensation (see scanned letter i uploaded lol) its funny how they to pressurise me - they say I have up to 03/09/12 to reply but the writer will be away from the 20/08 til 03/09 so meaning tell us by the end of this week practically!

 

In the initial claim to the court I mentioned they offered me £200 but went cold on me and did not write to me or anything. Now they have added a letter on the back of the defence dated 17/05/12 with an acceptance slip WHICH I NEVER RECEIVED! Because on the 28/05/12 I wrote to them saying I have not received this acceptance letter WE SPOKE ABOUT ON THE PHONE ON FRIDAY 18TH MAY NOT 17!!! and if I dont get this by June 8th I will take further action! Also in that letter it says "thank you for your recent telephone call" I never had a direct number (well I did but it would only ask for an extension number which I didnt have) it was he who called me!!!

 

I think they are trying to pull a fast one!!

 

What do I do now? Do I submit my side to the court as well now? It's funny how they didnt add the credit rating sheets which I provided HSBC showing the default. I think that will go on my submission to the court?

dg letter2.pdf

Edited August 14, 2012 by noddy997
scanned letter upload

[ims21]

 

The letter is small cant make it original size on this site!

 

Use this method

 

 

Dx100 – Instructions on uploading pdfs

 

scan the required letters/agreements/sheets

as a picture file

remove all pers info inc barcodes etc using paint

but leave all figures and dates.

goto one of the many free online pdf converter websites

convert the image to pdf format.

or ir you have PDF as an installed printer drive use that

open a new msg box here

hit go advanced below the msg box

hit manage attachments below that box

hit the add files button on the top right

hit select files, navigate to your file on your pc

hit upload files

NB:you can set where it goes in the post by hitting insert inline.

the hit reply button

[noddy997]

hope this works, thanks ims21.

dg letter2.pdf

[citizenB]

Hmm, yes..doesnt give the time offered does it.

 

Will try and find someone who can advise what you need to do.

[citizenB]

Noddy, it is a little difficult to really advise as you have given us very little information to go on.

 

You have not provided the particulars of claim or your witness statement.

 

Only you know the strengths and weakness of your claim.

 

You have been advised to keep this in the small claims court and your claim under £5,000 in order to mitigate any losses.. should you lose.

 

Have you provided a proper breakdown of your costs to date?

 

I rather get the feeling that you want HSBC to make an offer and keep this out of court.. in which case you might want to add up all your genuine costs and decide on a reasonable sum to go on top of that.

Then put in a counter offer to the one HSBC have sent you.

 

Only you know if your case and you are strong enough to go head to head with HSBC in court. .. some information below for you.

 

 

 

Damage claims fall into to catagories :-

 

Contractual damages

 

The aim of contractual damages is to put the claimant in the position they would have been had the contract been upheld properly. In addition to this, in a contractual claim for compensation damages can be awarded for consequential loss (see the case of Hadley v Baxendale). Consequential loss is all losses that the claimant has incurred which have naturally arisen out of the defendant’s breach of contract. In contractual claims for compensation, damages for consequential loss can be notoriously difficult to quantify. It is recommended that you instruct a specialist legal expert to help assess the level of compensation you may be entitled to in a breach of contract claim.

 

Tortious damages

 

In a tortious claim for compensation, damages are assessed on the following basis:

 

The aim of damages is to put the claimant, so far as is possible, in the position they would have been had the damage not occurred. As in a contractual claim, damages can be awarded for consequential loss.

 

It should be noted that in all claims for damages, the claimant is under a duty to mitigate their losses. This means that claimants are obliged to minimise the damage/loss they suffer. If a claimant fails to mitigate their loss, the compensation or damages awarded by a court may be reduced.

 

x

[noddy997]

Is particulars of claim the information I provide when I submitted the claim to the court? The first statement?

 

My total costs are under £200 - as the costs arent the issue. The real issue was not being able to get credit because of this. And with £500 it seems very little for damaging someone's credit file... and it still would have been on there if I wasn't going to buy a house last year, and I would have not known about it...

 

Yes I have provided them with a proper breakdown and it was £76 with receipts, but I had lost some receipts etc. However, that does not include about 5+ letters I sent to HSBC which was about £6 royail mail special delivery. So yeah its under £200.

 

I had a student account with HSBC from September 2009, and was in the overdraft within the limit. In september 2010 they demanded the full -£896. However, also in september 2010 they wrote to me saying if you pay 75% of that which was £670 the remaining 25% will be covered (£216). However, they only went and put that on my credit file as a default surely that is wrong...

 

I want to keep this in the small courts, but dont want £500. I went through stress and was sickened by the ordeal. Durkin got £8000 for a smilar situation and I was running around like a headless chicken trying to get a mortgage but noone wanted to know me!!

[citizenB]

Just to clarify, you were inside your o/d limit at all times, yet at some point they demanded the full amount to be repaid ?

 

Did they give you a reason for this?

 

They accepted 75% of the outstanding amount as a Full and Final settlement - then put a default on your records for the 25% ?