Trybius vs Barclays

[Trybius]

Thus far I have only got as far as requesting bank statements, but intend to go all the way chasing my fee's.

 

While the prospect of going to court doesn't worry me, the chance of Barclays simply closing my account and demanding the OD back in full straight away slightly worries me. Are there any figures on how often banks (or specifically Barclays) do this?

[Welshman]

They don't as a general rule close accounts and the banking code stipulates that it should not be done while an account is in dispute which your is. As this site mentions, you should still open a parachute account just in case.

[Trybius]

Ok, I have received my statements and gone through all of them for the past 6 years. All in all, I have been charged just shy of a £1000 in fines.

 

Now, I'm about to write my first letter but I'm a little confused about claiming interest back on the amount. I've filled in the form with all the charges (the one that adds 8% interest).

 

Now as I understand it, the full amount (with this 8% interest) is used for the court claim. When I claim to my bank I shouldn't include this 8% interest.

 

But then from what I read I should be including the interest that I've been charged on the fee's. How do I do this?

I saw one of the templates had a section for a interest rate, but what happens if my interest rate has changed over the course of the 6 years? Do I use the lowest one?

 

Or should I simply claim from the bank the basic amount and then add the 8% interest to the court claim?

[Welshman]

Hi. basically, I claimed "Unpaid Out" and "Paid Referral" charges only. The reason for this is that, because my work is spread around the UK and beyond, my ex Mrs used to "manage" the finances and on several occasions had to go to the bank to arrange to increase the overdraft. I don't have details of rates or dates. It gets a little complicated then.

 

I used the England Simple Excel spreadsheet from this site which is found here.

 

When you fill the spreadsheet in, you overtype what's already there until you've covered all your charges. Dependant on how many entries you have then you may have to add some rows or delete surplus example entries below.

 

All entries you make are in three columns. These being:

 

"In Respect of" – this is where you put the charge description e.g. ‘Paid Referral’ or ‘Unpaids out’, "Amount" and "Date Incurred" – the actual date taken from the statement. At the bottom of the "Amount" column you will see a total. That's the one without interest, and that's the one you use at Prelim Letter and LBA stage.

 

The spreadsheet will have done its own calculations in the other two columns which are entitled "Days since Offence" and "Interest 8% APR". You don't touch those at all. The days since offence column calculates the number of days since the bank made the charge and which appears on your statements up to the day you are viewing the spreadsheet. If you look at one column on two consecutive days, you'll see the totals have gone up by a day. So will the interest.

 

Now at the bottom of the interest column, you will see two totals. The top one is the total Interest @ 8% which is re-calculated automatically by the spreadsheet each day and the larger total below it is the total sum at the bottom of the "Amount" column plus the subtotal at the base of the "Interest" column.

 

When the spreadsheet is produced for the Prelim and LBA stage, it is printed out excluding the last two columns and totals. There are several ways to do this, the easiest being to go to "File" at the top of the page and go across to "Print Area" in the drop down menu then "Set Print Area". Set the area making sure that you include the Total under the "Amount" column but exclude the last two columns. When you need to include the 8% interest in the future, you obviously set the print area to include everything.

It will look something like this:

 

Welshman- Claim Number: 00000000

Barclays Bank PLC

Sort Code

Account Number

SCHEDULE OF CLAIM FOR CHARGES PERIOD: 1st September 2001 TO 1st September 2006

In Respect of: Amount Date Incurred Days since offence Interest 8% APR

Paid Referral______£20.00____19/09/2001 ____1854 ___________£8.16

Paid Referral______£20.00____ 20/09/2001____1853___________ £8.15

Unpaid Out _______£30.00____ 24/09/2001___ 1849____________£8.14

Paid Referral______£20.00_____19/10/2000___ 1824___________ £8.03

 

Does this help you?

[Trybius]

Thanks for that Welshman, that was perfect.

 

I sent off the form and have today recieved a letter back from a Mr Mike Brophy. Looks like the usual delay tactics "May I take this opportunity to explain to you that whilst we endeavour to respond to you within timescale outlined in your letter, we cannot guarantee that we will do so. Sometimes it does take longer to fully investigate a complaint. However we do aim to find a solution within four weeks".

 

I do look forward sending my next letter in 11 days time

[Trybius]

Right, I sent my LBA right on time, and I've had no response to that whatsoever.

 

So I'm ready to fill in my MCOL, but I have one (stupid) question - what address do I use for Barclays? The same as the one I've been sending letters too?

[Welshman]

Once you've filed at MCOL, you need to print out two copies of the schedule which include the 8% interest and send one to:

 

The Court Manager

Money Claim Online

Northampton County Court

21-27 St. Katharine's Street

Northampton

NN1 2LH

 

quoting your Claim Reference number on the schedule.

 

and the other to:

 

Barclays Legal and Compliance

Level 29

1 Churchill Place

London

E14 5HP

 

with the reference number on the letters they have been sending to you.

 

With each Schedule,enclose a covering letter asking that they attach it to your file and also mention that you've sent a copy to the other party.

 

 

[Trybius]

Thanks Welshman, but when I'm filling in the MCOL, which address do I enter for Barclays bank? The one I've been sending letters to, or the one you've listed above?

[Welshman]

Barclays Bank PLC Customer Relations

Barclays Bank PLC

1, Churchill Place

London

E14 5HP

[Trybius]

Thanks again Welshman, you're a star!

[Trybius]

Well today when I got home I had a letter from Barclays with the usual "We don't agree with anything you are saying, but we are willing to offer you £450 as a settlement".

[Trybius]

Well just an update - Barclays acknowledged my claim with 2 days to go on the 8th Jan, which gave them until today to submit a defense.

 

I have requested a claim by default on the MCOL website, and it current says "Judgment : Requested". I did this at around 8:30am this morning.

 

If my understanding is correct Barclays still have until 4pm today to submit a defense? Does anyone know what will happen if they do (I.e what will change on MCOL to reflect that). More positively - what happens when you have won and Barclays no longer can submit a defense?

 

And one last question - from the point of winning the case, how long does it take to get the payment? Do I have to do something myself like write a letter to them, or is it all automated?

[Trybius]

Gah - a couple of hours later they submit a defense. Oh well.

[Trybius]

I have a quick question. I received my AQ around the 5th February, and I replied the next day.

 

I had until around the 14th to reply, but I wandered if I should have received anything back yet (some sort of confirmation).

I posted the letter just first class but I should have really posted it with some sort of proof of posting.

[Trybius]

Hi

 

Does anyone have any idea what happens after you send your AQ? Should I expect some sort of reply by now? I'm slightly worried that they haven't received it and it has been lost in the post

[dickeggsy]

give the court manager a ring first thing tomorrow,he/she should let you know.

[Trybius]

Ok, on the 14th I called to confirm that the courts had my received my AQ (which they had).

 

Since then I have had no contact from either the bank nor the courts, and it has been around 5 weeks. Is this normal? What sort of time frame should I expect?

 

I tried calling the courts (shoreditch), but I get placed on hold for 15 minutes and then cutoff each time (I have tried 6-7 times now).

[Trybius]

Anyone have any ideas if this is a normal sort of time to wait? I'm a little worried that I've missed something.

[Welshman]

The matter is out of your hands now. Take the time waiting for a date to compile you bundles. Always assume that you will have to attend court - please don't take it for granted that just because they always settle, that they'll do the same with you.