reclaiming charges court claim - The "Claim Too vague" defence and guide to amending a claim

[GaryH]

Ok, don't worry then - everyone's allowed a typo now and again! its not worth panicing over and you certainly don't need to consider an amendment. As long as the paragraph was there in full with all the amounts entered correctly, then it'll be fine.

[millymollymoo]

Thanks Gary

 

Milly x

[BobbyDazzler1]

I sent a claim via the internet on 30/01/2007, I think it may be too vague I also failed to add my account number, I'm blonde sorry!! my particulars state:

 

I am claiming the last six years of unfair bank charges, I was being charged upto a maximum of £137.50 in a month. My claim is for £3,632.50. This is based on the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations and I beleive that these charges are unfair and not proportionate in their costs. I also claim interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% a year from 03/09/2001 to 30/01/2007 of £854.73 and also interest at the same rate up to the date of Judgement or earlier payments at the daily rate of 8%.

 

Should I do an amendment, also the court is Northampton, could I send it through the post!!! if I need to do one. HELP

[sharman24]

hi, i'm a little confused?, you have sent a claim, via internet, i assume with money claim online,(mcol), have you done this because you have exhausted the proceedures, and the bank have refused to pay up?

 

have you done the following ?

1. Subject access request,

2. prelim letter, with bank charges spreadsheet

3. letter before action, with bank charges spreadsheet

4. issue claim through mcol

[GaryH]

I sent a claim via the internet on 30/01/2007, I think it may be too vague I also failed to add my account number, I'm blonde sorry!! my particulars state:

 

I am claiming the last six years of unfair bank charges, I was being charged upto a maximum of £137.50 in a month. My claim is for £3,632.50. This is based on the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations and I beleive that these charges are unfair and not proportionate in their costs. I also claim interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% a year from 03/09/2001 to 30/01/2007 of £854.73 and also interest at the same rate up to the date of Judgement or earlier payments at the daily rate of 8%.

 

Should I do an amendment, also the court is Northampton, could I send it through the post!!! if I need to do one. HELP

 

You'll almost certainly get the "claim too vague" defence for those POC. They would probably also be deemed inadequate by the court. Don't panic just yet, wait untill you recieve the defence and AQ and file an amendment at the same time you file the AQ, following the procedure on the first post of this thread.

 

If you get stuck, let us know and we'll help you.

[BobbyDazzler1]

hi, i'm a little confused?, you have sent a claim, via internet, i assume with money claim online,(mcol), have you done this because you have exhausted the proceedures, and the bank have refused to pay up?

 

have you done the following ?

1. Subject access request,

2. prelim letter, with bank charges spreadsheet

3. letter before action, with bank charges spreadsheet

4. issue claim through mcol

 

Yes I have done all of the above, and yes I sent the claim via mcol. Thanks for everyone advise, I will wait now until I receive the defence and AQ and file my amendment then.

[GaryH]

Do you mind me asking where you found the template for those POC?

[BobbyDazzler1]

Mcol

[BobbyDazzler1]

Sorry mean Money Saving Expert. dahhhhhhhhh

[photoman]

Sorry mean Money Saving Expert. dahhhhhhhhh

 

..........I don't wish to knock the well intentioned efforts of others on other sites, but I find it hard to believe that those POC's could have come from anyone other than just another general public member of the site (ie, not from a site moderator or senior member)..........they're about as much use as a chocolate toothbrush !

[GaryH]

..........they're about as much use as a chocolate toothbrush !

 

My thoughts entirely, PM!

[frazer85]

hi i have just started to try and claim agaist lloyds tsb for charges to my bank accounts i am only at the early stages and have just sent my letter req bank statements off i am kinda worried about it all as reading through as much of this as i can while at work is getting rather confusing. pm

[sharman24]

look at the sticky guide in the lloyds main page.

follow the procedures step by step.

i have just had a settlement from lloyds, yet to receive the money, but they will push you upto even the last day of appearing in the court.

there is plenty of help here on the site, if you have any worries PM a mod,you'll find it most helpful.

you will get your money back, its a question of brinkmanship with them

Please Note

Advice & opinions of sharman24 are offered informally, without prejudice and without liability. Please use your own judgment. Seek advice of a qualified insured professional if you have any doubts

[frazer85]

thanks for that just a little worried about the word 'court' work for the police so that word is normally said in a different term:D i dont actually no how much it will be i think it will be around about 2k so i will just keep my fingers crossed and stick with it.

[GaryH]

hi i have just started to try and claim agaist lloyds tsb for charges to my bank accounts i am only at the early stages and have just sent my letter req bank statements off i am kinda worried about it all as reading through as much of this as i can while at work is getting rather confusing. pm

 

A good place to start is the step by step instructions and the FAQ's, which are linked below in my signiture. Also have a good read of the LTSB successes forum - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/lloydstsb-successes/, particularly the longer threads - it'll give you a good idea of what to expect.

 

When you're ready to start your claim, start a thread of your own and you can then document your progress and you'll get help at every stage.

 

Good luck.

[frazer85]

yeah thanks alot for that i have been trying to find how i start a thread of my own , wondering if you could please assit:confused:

 

many thanks in advance

[BARTY]

Hi

If you click on link below, scoll about a quarter of the way down, there is a biggish grey/blue button saying "NEW POST" click on there, and away you go!

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/lloyds-bank/

 

Good luck!

Barty:)

[catwomen4]

Hi there i have made a mistake with my poc part when i made a claim with mcol. I didn't give any account numbers and really gave a vague description of what has happened i only said that im claiming money from Lloyds TSB for charges since 2002 and the total it has reached.

I haven't even included any intrest i know its to late now to do that.

Also do i need to send in all my bank statments to Northampton court now or after the 14 days are up to see what happens after the order has been issued.

[sjmg]

Hi, I got a 'claim too vague' thing too, which allowed them to have the case set aside (alonside them claiming they had no knowledge of the claim after a default judgement was passed- some idiot in the branch left it on the shelf) So I amended my claim using one of the templates on this site, and added the 8% interest- however, I calculated the interest wrongly, maths is not my strong point, and only realised this the other day. BUT, and here is where I am confused, I just called the Court, as my hearing is next week, and they said they had no defence from the defendant after the set aside was granted (although there was one submitted beforehand- but the order given after the set-aside states clearly the defendant has to submit a defence by december) and suggested I write to the court ASAP to ask what happens next. Also, I have not been given or recieved an AQ either.

 

So, my questions are:

 

Is my calculating the interest too low going to jeopradise my claim?

 

Does them not having submitted a second defence mean I win by default?

 

Should I amend my claim re the interest?

 

Does the fact that they issued a defence initially cover the new case date, after the set aside was granted?

 

Am totally stumped by all this. Bleuagh. Help.

[sharman24]

i,m not sure how you stand with this, i think you really need to pm a mod, i know you dont just send of statements to nothampton court.

did you use the spreadsheet to enter all your charges, as this will automatically sort out the standard 8% when the time comes to issues a MCOL.

for filling in MCOL you do have to be clear in the regulations your are claiming on, and these need to be entered correctly.

there is a guide to filling out MCOL on the forum lin lloyds.

you can of course submit a new claim, i i believe the cost is £35 but i would as i said PM a MOD and seek advice.

[hagenuk]

Hi, I got a 'claim too vague' thing too, which allowed them to have the case set aside (alonside them claiming they had no knowledge of the claim after a default judgement was passed- some idiot in the branch left it on the shelf) So I amended my claim using one of the templates on this site, and added the 8% interest- however, I calculated the interest wrongly, maths is not my strong point, and only realised this the other day. BUT, and here is where I am confused, I just called the Court, as my hearing is next week, and they said they had no defence from the defendant after the set aside was granted (although there was one submitted beforehand- but the order given after the set-aside states clearly the defendant has to submit a defence by december) and suggested I write to the court ASAP to ask what happens next. Also, I have not been given or recieved an AQ either.

 

So, my questions are:

 

Is my calculating the interest too low going to jeopradise my claim?

Highly unlikely, don't worry about this.

 

Does them not having submitted a second defence mean I win by default?

 

It may, but did you re-serve your amended claim on the Defendant and file an N215 Certificate of Service at the court?

 

Should I amend my claim re the interest?

 

I would not do this right now, see above.

 

Does the fact that they issued a defence initially cover the new case date, after the set aside was granted?

 

No as they were defending your initial POC, which you have since amended, however, if you amend your claim by filing an N244 Application Notice it is your responsibility to re-serve the amended claim on the defendant, the court will not do it for you - you must also file an N215 certificate of service at the court along with a copy of the new N1 so the court will know when the Defendant is supposed to reply.

 

Am totally stumped by all this. Bleuagh. Help.

 

Please confirm what you did with your amended claim and I can advise further.

[sjmg]

Many thanks for the response.

 

"Does them not having submitted a second defence mean I win by default?

 

"It may, but did you re-serve your amended claim on the Defendant and file an N215 Certificate of Service at the court?"

 

No, I was advised by the judge to amend my claim, when I asked the court how to go about this they advised to only fill in a N244 and a new N1, which I did. To quote the general form of order: "By Xpm on the XX the Claimant do file and serve an amended Particulars of Claim to comply with CPR16,4, particularly to set out details of the charges which the claimant seeks to be returned" When I handed it in I asked if that was all I needed to do, and was told it was. The court told me that the defendant would receive relevant docs two weeks from that time. I assumed that meant I was conforming to the Judge's order, I guess I was poorly advised on that point, and confused about the meaning of 'serve'. I assume if this is the case the defendant can request another set aside? Although the lawyer representing them was present at the hearing, and therefore would have known they were required to file a defence, but not sure if that matters in this case.

 

 

"No as they were defending your initial POC, which you have since amended, however, if you amend your claim by filing an N244 Application Notice it is your responsibility to re-serve the amended claim on the defendant, the court will not do it for you - you must also file an N215 certificate of service at the court along with a copy of the new N1 so the court will know when the Defendant is supposed to reply."

 

I guess that answers some of my qestions, so what do I do next? I assume I have to contact the court and the defendant?

[sjmg]

Okay, so the court told me that I should send copies of the claim to the defendant, but didn't seem to think it was a huge deal, and I'm assuming it's not too serious as their lawyer (or an appointed freelancer) was there at the set aside, so I'm guessing that I'm still okay, and the law being what it is, I should win? I will fax them copies of the docs I sent to court tomorrow morning, unless anyone tells me this is a bad idea, it may give them an opportunity to postpone the hearing again, which is tedious. Any suggestions, anyone?

[hagenuk]

It is a huge deal and you should do it, the fact that their solicitor was present does not make any difference, they are not exactly going to help to give their client's money away are they?

 

The only thing that would postpone the hearing is their assertion that they have not seen your amended claim, which, until you serve it on them, would be true.

[sjmg]

Yoinks, okay. I will. Thanks hagenuk.