Finn v Barclays **WON**

[StevieFinn]

Hi All,

 

Sent my inital letter 1/9/06.

I got a 'sorry you're unhappy' letter shortly afterwards.

Been working a way for a while so not been able to follow up.

Got a phone call last week apologising for the letter they'd just sent and saying that they were prepared to offer me £500 without any admission of liability.

next day I got two letters - one saying 'no chance', the other offering the £500.

 

As I hadn't had a chance to send a Letter Before Action, I've had to weld that and the Rejection of Offer letters together.

Does this look right:

 

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

 

Dear Mr McCoombs,

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxx

 

Thank you for your letter dated 3 October 2006.

I respectfully decline your offer of settlement and request, once again, that you return to me all charges imposed on this account, totalling £1020.00.

I will accept the sum offered only as part settlement and on the clear understanding that I will pursue recovery of the remainder, with a County Court claim if necessary.

 

I now understand that the regime of 'fees' which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations.

 

I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law.

 

I am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary.

 

I calculate that you have taken £1020.00 .

I am enclosing a copy of the schedule of the charges which I am claiming. I have already sent you a copy of this in my original letter of the 1 September 2006.

I require repayment in full of this money. If you do not comply fully within 14 days then I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount plus interest plus my costs and without further notice.

 

I trust this clarifies my position.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

Thanks for any comments in advance.

[argyle]

Looks good to me StevieFinn.

 

Just remember stick to your guns when the 14 days is up and do your moneyclaim.

Good Luck.

 

Argyle.

[StevieFinn]

Hey Guys,

 

Bit of an update.

Entered my MCOL claim at the end of October.

 

Now, did I miss a trick here - I didn't keep an eye on the MCOL site? Should I have requested a judgement when the time was up which would have defaulted the judgement in my favour?

I didn't and the claim has now been transferred to the local county court.

Ah well, too late now...

 

I've got my N149 to fill in now. Looks like I might have a wait right through into the new year now - didn't reckon on it going on this long! I suppose its the attrition principle - the longer it goes on, the more who will drop out.

 

I got the full defense from Mr Ruffhead about how they think their charges are fair and how I must have known about them from the start of my dealings with them. They restate their charges (it even looks as though some of them have gone up, not down recently!!)

 

They also say that the 'Particulars of the Claim do not provide details of particulars of the precise charges alleged to be unlawful, or the date thereof'.

Now I sent a schedule of charges and dates to them initially. I didn't include the list of charges in the MCOL claim - there wasn't enough space. I suppose I didn't say what they'd described each charge as, but surely they can't claim I didn't tell them enough details?

 

Does anyone know if Barclays have got as far as going to court anywhere yet? If so, what were the outcomes?

[StevieFinn]

Oh, and another question.

 

Since I've started this process with them, they've stiffed me for another ninety quid.

 

What's the best way of getting this back?

[StevieFinn]

Received my letter from the county court the other day.

 

It has two dates on it that I can see:

 

1) I need to send a list of disputed charges to the Court and Barclays by next Tuesday. I guess this is just my schedule of charges that I'm claiming back, including interest to date?

 

2) I then need to send all the documents I intend to use for the case to the Court and Barclays by another date a few weeks later (can't be more specific cos the letter is at home!). I assume this is the full court bundle which I intend to base on the one from this site (thanks! )

 

The one date I can't see is the actual hearing date. Does this come separately?

[Falcom]

My Notice of allocation from the court read "The hearing of the claim will take place on a date to be fixed at XXX County Court and should take no longer than an hour and then went on to list directions.

 

So it is possible that the judge is waiting for you to respond to directions before he fixes a date.

 

I would double check the letter again.

 

Peter

[StevieFinn]

Thanks Peter,

 

You were spot on. I have to send both sets of documents as part of the judges directions, then the date will be allocated.

 

One quick question.

I sent off my list of disputed charges, including interest upto that date.

I'm just about to compile my court bundle, which of course will include a copy of this list.

Do I keep the interest rolling up?

i.e. is my claim frozen when I sent the list last week, or can I claim interest up to the date of the court hearing/settlement (fingers crossed)?

[Falcom]

Hi - Thanks - With my bundle I sent two schedules one just showing the charges and another showing charges + 8% and clearly marked the second one "Schedule of charges plus 8% interest claimed under s69 Country Courts Act -interested calculated 21/01/07" - date I put together my bundle

 

Peter

[StevieFinn]

Thanks again.

 

Final - I hope! - question.

 

On the proposed contents list for the court bundle, it has 'statements'.

Am I supposed to find all my statements with charges on and include these?

[StevieFinn]

Just putting my court bundle together.

 

This 'Statements' item on the suggested contents...

 

Is this a copy of all my bank statements which feature charges?

 

Or is it some other kind of statements? e.g. what I said in my particulars of claim on MCOL, what barclays said in their defence statement & what I said in my Allocation Questionnaire??

[dickeggsy]

these are the copies of your bank statements.

i have completed my bundle and highlighted each charge on the relevent statements.

good luck.

[StevieFinn]

Thanks - all sorted now.

[StevieFinn]

Whoah, that took a long time.

 

Sent my court bundle off back in January and have only just got a court date for July. Thought for a while that I must have made some kind of mistake and it had been thrown out. I guess the courts are just bogged down with these types of claims now.

 

Anyway, as the date approaches, I've started to get worried again (after months of putting it out of my mind). All the usual stuff about 'what if they choose my case to be the first to take to court?', 'what if I have made a mistake and they can pick holes in my case in court?'... all that kind of stuff.

 

I keep reminding myself that their defence boils down to 'well we think the charges are fair, but we can't or won't explain how'.

 

I haven't been on here for a while. What's the general situation at the moment? Have they been to court yet or are they still settling at the last minute?

[oneofakind]

which court are you at, Stevie? It must be REALLY busy!

 

You haven't missed any real changes: they still leave the settlement till the last minute...

 

But they're still settling.

 

don't know if you know about the recent BBC 'whistleblower' programme about banks, but I think it's really done them some harm.

 

Shame!

 

[StevieFinn]

My case is being heard in Manchester.

 

Good to hear that they still settle. Does this mean they haven't let one go to court yet?

 

Just wondering, especially after the Lloyds judgement today. Not sure yet, but some posters on the Lloyds thread seem to imply that that case was lost because the claimant hadn't prepared properly (e.g. included statements to support the claim).

Did this go to court because Lloyd don't settle before the hearings, but Barclays do?

 

Oh, by the way, how does this Court Buddy thing work?

[StevieFinn]

I was going to post this on the Successful claims thread, where I originally asked the question, but thought it better to put it under my own thread.

 

I'm due in court early next month.

I haven't heard anything from Barclays (or the court) since I got my date. In fact I don't think I've heard anything from Barclays direct since last year! (Apart from their 'defence' in the court papers.)

 

The question is, should I have received a copy of their court bundle, just as I had to send a copy of mine to them?

[Tipsy0nBacardi]

Might be time to give the litigation team a ring

Barclays Litigation Team Good or Evil? You Decide.. - Consumer Action Group

[oneofakind]

Has anyone EVER actually SEEN a Barclays court bundle???

 

[StevieFinn]

Has anyone EVER actually SEEN a Barclays court bundle???

 

 

 

Well, that's kinda what I meant.

No-ones seen them in court either, have they?

 

Are they supposed to send me a court bundle, though, as part of the process?

 

Just asking, cos I'd like to use it as an excuse for getting in touch with the litigation mob.

[saintly_1]

Yes .. they should send to you anything that they are going to rely upon in court to defend their claim ....... phone the lit team http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/barclays-bank/94602-barclays-litigation-team-good.html several contacts on their . you might be advised to email Dino to find out who is dealing with your claim

[StevieFinn]

Mods: Please add **WON** to thread title.

 

Settled in full a day before court date.

 

Litigation staff (Sharon and especially Krysta) were great.

Friendly and professional.

 

 

 

 

Oh, and a massive THANK YOU to the CAG guys. Brilliant website and a superb, warm and helpful community.

[saintly_1]

CONGRATULATIONS

 

 

please can you complete the survey ... and has your litigation details been submitted to a mod or site helper . if not pm me with them thanx

[nickyc]

Congratulations! Patience pays off!

 

nickyc

[livelylad]

Thread moved to success forum.