Up, up and away! Against the RBoS

[Wardle32]

Yep, me too. I got the same letter today from Sandy Watt, re my LBA dated 6 Dec 06. Am concerned that this is part of the RBS' senior management directive to 'hold' all these cases, pending their taking a global policy view about what to do!

 

 

I think Sandy Watt has just been 'promoted' to this position- I've had 3 letters from her in the last week acknowledging all my correspondence and it seems everyone else has as well- she's either been brought in to come up with a solution or she's just having to wade through all the repsonses so that they can try and stem the flow.

 

Having logged my MCOL (woo-hoo!) they now have 28 days to log a reponse- my guess is, since the recent media, people will be swamping them with claims that aren't neccesarily correct- especially with the way RBoS hide a lot of their charges by lumping them in with (legit) Royalties charges.

 

If they don't get a defence in within 28 days- people can move for judgement and I guess this is happening before they've had a chance to check legitimacy.

 

Either way- I wouldn't want her job! What targets does she have to meet? Try and give away less than a million???

 

Has anyone spoken to her or got anything more detailed than the standard 'Thank you for your letter, please bear with us' response?

[Wardle32]

Just faxed off the full list of charges including the 8% interest and tried to ring Sandy Watt to confirm receipt.

 

I got an answerphone message for the Cust Relation team saying, 'Sorry no-one is available to answer your call' blah blah blah.

 

But then it went on to say that if it was regarding charges we assure you we will be in touch by 31st January.

 

A few thought son this:

 

1)

[Wardle32]

Just faxed off the full list of charges including the 8% interest and tried to ring Sandy Watt to confirm receipt.

 

I got an answerphone message for the Cust Relation team saying, 'Sorry no-one is available to answer your call' blah blah blah.

 

But then it went on to say that if it was regarding charges we assure you we will be in touch by 31st January.

 

The banks are obviously going to be trying to stop these claims going through- is this the deadline they've set themselves?

 

If so, what will the outcome be? A blanket 'Here's your money back' or a standard defence that they're going to start going to court with to get a test case through?

 

Am I being overly worried? Anybody with any further info?

 

My concern is that they need to lodge a response to my MCOL by the 28th- so I'm either going to get through just before or I might be the case they go to court with.

 

Sprint to the finish!

[isidore]

I bet there are hundreds of people with LBAs expiring before the 31st.

 

Bet they've closed this phone off because they can't get any work done the amount of phonecalls they're getting

[Wardle32]

Just read Chezts latest response to the letters we've all been receiving

 

Feel fine now

 

Just a momentary panic that it's going to come crashing around my ears!

 

They've got to the 28th to respond- which is a Sunday so really the 26th.

 

Do you literally just write to the court with your claim ref and ask for judgment?

 

It all seems so simple, almost too simple...

[Wardle32]

Woo-Hoo!!!

 

Got home to find an offer for my full amount - but not including the Interest added since filing MCOL!

 

So just got to get that added but battle won!

 

One slightly amusing aspect of this- it's quite clearly a standard letter that they send (the 'Our charges are clearly laid out and we dont think they're wrong.' letter)

 

When it got to the part about the offer it reads:

 

However, having reviewed your case and as a gesture of goodwill and without admission of liability or error, in this instance we are prepared to offer the amount of £x [direct quote] paid direct to your account.

 

It wasn't till I got to the part that I need to return that an amount was actually put in!

 

Brilliant.

[Wardle32]

I've replied to the offer with the standard, 'I will be pursuing the rest but please feel free to give me that for now'

 

I've had a letter to say that it isn't their policy to pay Interest and Court charges (I wish I could say the same to them!) but that the offer still stands.

 

They have filed an acknowledgment of my court claim and stated they will be filing a defence with Cobbetts solicitors. They've got another 2 weeks to file this defence.

 

Anyone got any experience of how long this part takes? Do RBoS generally file the defence and if so how long do they drag it out for before offering full settlement?

 

Thanks

[furzle]

I could be wrong here - and I know someone else will spring to your aid if so - but what will your case be in court?? They have offered to give you all your money back. Surely there is no need to proceed to court in this case?

 

From what I have read on here you only get the 8% if it goes as far as the court and they have settled out of court, haven't they?

 

Can someone else let me know if this is true or not?

 

I have actually filed my claim asking for my money back plus contractual interest on it at their unauthorised rate. I fully expect them to refuse that and perhaps offer to pay without interest - or at 8% as they seem to have done a few times on here...

[icklepeach]

Hi Furzle,

 

From what I understand, Wardle had already filed with MCOL 2 weeks before the offer was made, so is not obliged to accept it, especially since additional costs have been incurred.

 

A wee update on our 2 cases. We've asked for interest on both claims before proceeding to court. Both of which we've asked for at the 29.85%. They settled my husbands (quite small) one fully after the second letter. They've offered me part, which we've refused, and we've made it more than clear that we are looking for the full amount plus compound contractual interest to stop us filing at court.

[furzle]

Thanks ickle peach - I knew someone wuld be more on the ball than me!

 

That's v interesting too - hearing of others who have gone for contractual (compounded or otherwise). Mine is a relatively small claim going by some on here (may later go after older amounts as was a student over 6 years ago and that's when I rally suffered). However, adding the interest nearly doubles it so is well worth doing to atempt to redress some of the pain and financial stress this has cost over the years.

 

I left a job and house in 2001 because I couldn't pay transport costs to work or rent for 2 months due entirely to overdraft charges. I want it BACK.

 

Good luck with the rest of yours - I'll watch your progress.

[Wardle32]

Hi Furzle,

 

icklePeach is spot on- I'd filed the claim before they made an offer- this now puts them under the jurisdiction of the courts- whose rules are- you charge them 8% interest from the date that the cost was incurred. If it was to go to court and I was to win then the court would include this in the total amount owed.

 

Also- I had to pay £120 to log it with MCOL- this is the court costs that the losing side pays for.

 

(Have you seen those ads: 'Have you had an accident at work?...It wont cost you a penny'- they make their money by building up huge costs that the other side have to pay!)

[furzle]

Well - since I'm pretty sure mine will go as far as court (because of asking for contractual interest) I'm quite pleased to hear that!

 

Another 8% on top will suit me fine. Drag it out as long as you want, bank. I've waited long enough - I can wait some more...

[isidore]

I'm pretty sure you can't claim both.......either contractual or statuatory, not both.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm sure that's right.

[Guest willowb]

No you can't. But you can have the two ready in your claim, i.e., claim for contractual interest but if it goes to Court and the Judge doesn't allow it then have a claim ready showing the 8%....ok?

 

Wxxx

[Wardle32]

Damn- they've lodged a defence!

 

I'm sure other people have the same letter- asking whether I think that I shouldn't have been charged and if not, how much should I have been charged.

 

Also asking me to be more spcific about the laws I'm claiming under.

 

I'm just about to go and check the FAQs for respnse to these but if anyone knows where they fell free to let me know!

 

Looks like this is going to drag out :o(

[Guest willowb]

Wardle, if you don't mind me saying....you have been a member since July 2006....please read the threads here, you don't have to post but you should have been prepared for this.

 

Just keep reading, like we have all had to do, your understanding of RBS will be much clearer and you will gain confidence:) .

 

Wxxx

[Wardle32]

Ummm... Thanks Willow.

 

I have been posting fairly solidly (granted not 1,500 like yourself) since I started my action against RBoS- keeping this log updated with what stage I'm at and adding to other logs. I have read and do read the FAQs quite a lot and did know that this was likely to happen. I just hoped that they would settle rather than fight it!

 

If you search for 'Cobbetts' there are a lot of threads and many of them give different avenues to respond to the defence logged. I've been trawling through them trying to find a definitive response (which is why I didn't type the whole letter in- it's been logged on this site many times)- which I'm then going to post a link to on this thread- I was merely asking if anyone else had done this already.

 

My last post is quite clear that I'm doing this for myself- not just posting the odd thread here and there expecting everyone to tell me exactly what to do.

 

If you read through the whole thread, hopefully this will be clear

 

For everyone who is in the same position- this is the best I've found so far. There's a post by Pezza01 on 7th December that gives a full letter to send:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/natwest-bank/51279-cobbetts-defence.html

 

Thanks

[isidore]

Wardle, there are 2 RBS cases going through from mods at the moment - mcuth and livelylad. They might be worth trying to find as I'd hazard a guess that they would probably be two of the better ones to follow I'd think. Along with them is HydraUK, his threads are pretty detailed.

 

 

Haven't reviewed them myself as I've never needed (all settled out of court)....

[Wardle32]

Been a while since I posted but quite a lot occurred!

 

I've had a reply from the court saying that there will be a mediation hearing in June to try and settle this- has anyone had similar?

 

I've decided, through one thing and another, to accept their offer of the full amount without interest as I'm in the process of moving house and finances are a bit thin.

 

Would I send the original offer acceptance letter back (Which I received just after logging on MCOL) or would I send this leeter / a different letter to the solicitors- Cobbetts and Co.

 

Do people think they would accept this? My guess is that they would as it's saved them about a grand and a drawn out legal case.

 

Is there any chqance that they wouldn't honour their offer from January???

 

I'd appreciate any commebnts from people who've done this as I don't want to mess up this far down the line!

 

Thanks

[isidore]

I don't know what you should do there wardle, but don't do anything without some advice from the mods first!!