freddie vs. lloyds

[freddieireland]

morning all, i am at the stage where lloyds have acknowledged my case against them and have until nov. 22nd to issue their defence. It seems they are drawing it out more and more, demanding stays from the court to give them more time etc. Am I right in thinking sometimes they dont actually give you a court date due to them having such a back log?? i'm not in too much of a hurry but don't want this to go on endlessly! And are there any recorded incidents that anyone knows of of lloyds issuing counter claims? though i read that somewhere on this site.

[GaryH]

No, they have never issued a counter-claim as far as I am aware. Its hard to imagion what they could counterclaim for, unless they were going to reveal their true costs and counterclaim for their liquidated damages - in other words, it ain't gonna happen!

 

Their is a backlog in the court system, and yes, some cases have been stayed. There are two reasons for this; a) The 1 month postponement to 'negotiate settlement' that Lloyds sols ask for in their allocation questionnaire gets granted, or b) the courts order a stay to await the outcome of a test case (which incidently, will probably never even be heard)

 

In the case of a) their is'nt much you can do, apart from send Lloyds a letter saying 'well go on then..... negotiate!! Its only a month anyway, so thats not too bad, the real bummer is if you get stayed as per b), which is unlikely, but if it did happen you can apply to get the stay removed.

 

The main thing is just to be patient, and be prepared for each next stage by reading up as much as you can, particularly the 'won' threads in the Lloyds successes forum. The stage you're at now your probably looking at another couple of months in all, but just think of all the interest mounting up!

[freddieireland]

thanks gary that's very helpful. The only trouble with reading the 'won' threads is that there are fewer recent ones, it seems that the criteria has changed since the glorious victories of 'reload', 'mjanet' et al. Those could be termed the golden years in comparison to the current bureaucratic nightmare! I think you're right, patience is the key. Thanks again

[GaryH]

Yes, to be fair the whole process is being streched further nowadays. They still pay every single claim though remember, its just that now they leave it as late as they can - presumably in the hope that people will drop out. They used to pay up around the time of the AQ return date, now its likely not to be untill a few weeks before the court date, after compliance with the courts directions.

[freddieireland]

thanks again Gary. Also, what is the standard time frame to get a court date once lloyds have issued their defence and its got to the AQ stage? its probably area dependent I would presume but an approximation would be great. And if it does go to court (or they draw it out until the day of court) will I have to furnish their solicitors SC&M and the court with all the details of my case (that I intend to use in court) or is it only the defence that has to do this? Sorry to keep pestering

[GaryH]

Not at all - its what we're here for.

 

Once they file a defence, you'll then get the AQ which you will fill in and hand back within 2 weeks. It will then go before a district judge who will allocate a track (small claims), a date, and issue directions. The date is dependant on individual courts as you say, but on average at the moment I'd say its about 2-3 months.

 

The specific directions will depend on the judge, but typically you will be ordered to file and serve your shedule of charges, your statements, any evidance you wish to rely on (ie the McNamara interview) and the relevant cases and statutes. Typically you would have to furnish this up to 14 days before the hearing, but in most cases its sooner that this, sometimes within a couple of weeks of the directions being ordered. It seems daunting, but Bookworm has put together a court bundle with pretty much everything you need, and this makes it pretty straightforward really. You'll find this in the templates library.

 

Its around the deadline for compliance with the directions that Lloyds will pay up.

[freddieireland]

Morning all

 

I recieved a copy of lloyds' defence yesterday and I have just filled in my allocation questionairre, typically how long can I expect to wait before receiving a copy of their allocation questionairre? Or should it have arrived with their Defence(it didn't)? And lastly, is it worth starting a dialogue with their solicitors (Sechiari, Mitchell and Clarke) at this stage to attempt settlement or should I just hand in the AQ, sit back and wait for a hearing?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Freddie

[livelylad]

Morning all

 

I recieved a copy of lloyds' defence yesterday and I have just filled in my allocation questionairre, typically how long can I expect to wait before receiving a copy of their allocation questionairre? Or should it have arrived with their Defence(it didn't)? And lastly, is it worth starting a dialogue with their solicitors (Sechiari, Mitchell and Clarke) at this stage to attempt settlement or should I just hand in the AQ, sit back and wait for a hearing?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Freddie

 

 

 

Please stick to one thread for this claim it makes it easier for us to answer your questions.

[Number6]

Morning all

 

I recieved a copy of lloyds' defence yesterday and I have just filled in my allocation questionairre, typically how long can I expect to wait before receiving a copy of their allocation questionairre? Or should it have arrived with their Defence(it didn't)? And lastly, is it worth starting a dialogue with their solicitors (Sechiari, Mitchell and Clarke) at this stage to attempt settlement or should I just hand in the AQ, sit back and wait for a hearing?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Freddie

 

Hi Freddie

 

I think SCM usually send a copy of the AQ with the defence. However they are not obliged to send it, it's only a "courtesy" if they do. You can ask them for a copy.

 

It's certainly worth starting a (written) dialogue. They will ignore you completely but at least you can then write to the court and prove that SCM are not negotiating, just wasting time

 

Pete

[GaryH]

The deadline for SC&M to file their AQ to the court will be the same date you have to submit yours. You will receive a copy of theirs after they've filed it. I'd wait untill you get their AQ back before starting dialogue, but thats entirely up to you.

[GaryH]

What was the defence by the way? Did you get the standard 9 point 'service charges' one, or the 14 point 'claim too vague'?

[freddieireland]

Hi all, I got the 9 pointer, guessing the only send the 'claim too vague' one if you dont send them the charges list? the court is in the street parallel to mine too which is a result. From your experience, does it look like lloyds are still asking for the 1 month stay?

[freddieireland]

Good morning, I've been a bit busy lately and today is my AQ deadline date so off to the court in a bit to hand it in. I still havent received a copy of Lloyds', would this be because I havent handed it in yet? Also just reading around a bit this morning, would it be fair to say that Lloyds appear to be settling quicker at last? Just reading Adamski's thread I thought I may have deteced this.

[BARTY]

Hi

You will probably get a copy of LTSB's AQ in the next few days; did you send a copy of yours to the Solicitors?

Yes some cases have been settled slightly quicker recently, fingers crossed yours is too!

Good luck!

Barty:)

[GaryH]

I agree, a couple of months ago they were'nt settling untill around the date set for document exchange, lately quite alot of claims are being settled around AQ return time again.

[freddieireland]

Thanks for this guys, I didnt send a copy of my AQ to their solicitors (gulp) is that likely to cause further delays?? In the documentation I received it never said to but now you mention it I remember reading on this site that it was a prudent thing to do.............drat!

[Number6]

Thanks for this guys, I didnt send a copy of my AQ to their solicitors (gulp) is that likely to cause further delays?? In the documentation I received it never said to but now you mention it I remember reading on this site that it was a prudent thing to do.............drat!

 

Don't worry.

 

It's a "polite" thing to do but it shouldn't cause any problems if you didn't.

 

Pete

[freddieireland]

Hi all, I just 'phoned the court to see if they had received Lloyds' AQ and was informed that they had but that I would not be receiving a copy, is this correct? Reading around I was sure that I would. The lady then said that the case has been referred to a Judge and I would be hearing from them which I guess is standard. Is there any time frame for the Judge's reply do you know? Given that my AQ deadline was the 6th Dec.

[Deller]

You should automatically receive a copy of Lloyd's AQ, I'd advise you to phone the court back and check this again, if they say the same then you should insist on a copy as it is your entitlement to see this.

 

As for it being refered to the judge, this is normal, the judge will then decide on what will happen next with regards to your claim, you will then be notified by the court.

[BARTY]

Hi

I might be wrong here, but I'm sure I received a copy of their AQ from SC&M not the court.

Barty:)

[freddieireland]

Thanks guys, having spoken to the court again they're adamant they wont send me one so I guess i'll just have to wait for SCM's one.

 

Thanks again

[GaryH]

Hi

I might be wrong here, but I'm sure I received a copy of their AQ from SC&M not the court.

Barty:)

 

Thats right.

 

Freddie,

 

You should receive a copy from SC&M, although they don't have to send you one, as you don't have to send them a copy of yours.

 

You should receive a court date and directions within the next couple of weeks.

[freddieireland]

Morning all and a belated Happy new year, haven't been on for a while. I handed in my AQ on 5th Dec and still havent heard anything, I called the court again today and they advised me that they had a massive backlog (again, yawn) and thats why it was taking so long. I know i've asked before but now that more time has elapsed does anyone think its a good idea to call SC & M direct? And if so how's best to handle it? I dont want to go in all guns ablazing, saying how I know they've paid out before, its just I've read other threads where when they phone up SC&M they are told sometimes that a settlement letter is in the post. Thanks in advance.

[GaryH]

No, don't ring them. You'll only get the run around. I used to advise people to call them if they missed a deadline for providing documents, but even in those circumstances its not a good idea. Let them do the chasing.

[freddieireland]

cool so i guess its just a waiting game now, waiting for the courts to allocate my case........grr grrr........really want them to hurry up now!