New strategy for Allocation Questionnaires

[GaryH]

No probs.

 

No, the next ones a valid question as its not entirely obvious from Natwests defence what basis they defend on - most of it just refutes the POC. The service charge statement of evidence is most suitable though, due to the section of the defence you posted above.

[granovsky]

Thank you for that. So I now know which statement to use, the only other thing thats left now is regarding terms and conditions, I've been reading a lot of threads about these and have heard a few conflicting opinions(some people here have been advised not to bother but I'm sure this can't be right?!)

 

i've been going through old bank papers and I've found a couple of things;

 

4 different letters relating to increses of Credit Zone overdraft facility which have Overdraft Limit T and C's attached, they are dated;

 

may 03

april 04

july 04

mar 05

jun 05

 

the only problem is all of these letters refer to 'enclosed terms and conditions ' leaflets........which I don't have(at least not the ones that relate to that specific time)

 

I've also found a couple of letters from mar 02 and feb 02 informing me that DD's have not been paid and that I'm going to incurr charges.

 

Regarding old bank paperwork thats all i have, should I chuck it all in? Or do i just go on the N west website and download current T and C's and leave it at that.

 

This is I think the issue I'm most confused about as I'm claiming for two N/W accounts in the same claim and over the last 6 years there have been periods when they have been Advantage Gold Accounts and periods where they haven't. I suppose in a nutshell I'm asking whether I need to include T and C's for both types of account that cover every year that I'm claiming for.......if so I don't know how the hell I'm gonna get em!!!

[GaryH]

Well the bank have to provide the recent ones as per one of their clauses of the order.

 

Ideally you'd have T&C's covering the whole time, but just as many sets as you can get really.

 

In your case its not going to matter much anyway tbh. The bank won't comply with the directions.

 

Which court is it by the way?

[granovsky]

Thts great, so just get hold of as many as poss and put them in, is it worth stickin in those two old letters i mentioned regarding returned DD's dya think? Just out of interest why does it not matter much in my case?! (not that I'm paranoid or anything!!!)

 

Oh yeah, Its Woolwich County Court, London

 

G.

[GaryH]

Yeah, stick them in.

 

Becouse you have had the draft directions ordered - if they wanted to defend in court they would have to comply with their part of the order first!! Which is almost impossible for them to do. They simply won't disclose their costs.

 

Get your part submitted in full and on time and your more or less home and dry.

[photoman]

Got a small dilemma here guys,

 

Got to file my AQ by Monday,

On their defence they did manage to find one single small error on my spreadsheet of charges.

The charge itself is still legit, however I had somehow manage to put the date of it down as being one month earlier than it actually was.

Now,this does not affect the total of charges claimed... however it does have a small effect upon the interest charged thereon by myself.

 

Now, can I just put an amended schedule of charges in with my AQ, and bearing in mind that this would actually be bringing my claim total down slightly, I cannot see how they or court could object?

 

Am I right here?

 

How could I go about this?

 

Where on the AQ should I mention it?

 

and any suggestions anyone on how to phrase it?

 

Should I also send the amended schedule by fax to the Solicitors Monday, and state on AQ that they recieved it same day?

 

Should I also send an amended schedule of my own interest charged thereon, bearing in mind that although the amendment will have brought the total claim down a tiny amount, this will be countermanded by the fact that time has passed since, and so interest will have risen again?

 

 

Any help anyone ?

PM

[photoman]

Bump....

 

or should I just not bother?

 

Will it just cause unnecessary complications.

 

It's a trifling sum, in their favour, and I don't see it as being a cause for a call for strikeout.

 

anyone ??

 

(ps; anyone means GaryH mostly)

[GuidoT]

PM - Do not amend we must be talking pence here. You do not get struck out for such a trivial mistake, in any event you would get a warning in the event of a strike out.

 

The courts would look dimly upon the other side making an issue of this, on the basis of cost proportionality.

[GaryH]

PM - Do not amend we must be talking pence here. You do not get struck out for such a trivial mistake, in any event you would get a warning in the event of a strike out.

 

The courts would look dimly upon the other side making an issue of this, on the basis of cost proportionality.

Totally agree. I can't believe they've even attempted to make an issue out of it. The court certainly wouldn't IMHO - its trivial.

[photoman]

Thanks guys.

 

Good sense, well spoken once again !!

 

After some of the tactics and tricks we see and hear of, it does make us all a little edgy about even the smallest details.

 

What's the concensus of opinion also regards submitting a defence response with an AQ?

 

Gut instinct (and a desire to actually have soem time to myself, rather than being chained to a computer all weekend), makes me think, that as it's not a requirement, then avoid exposing your reasonings and arguments too early on. ie; don't submit a defence response.

 

I do have some objections to some of the things they have written in the defence, and have tightened up some of my arguments, but would it just be a project of vanity to submit a defence response, only to regret having shown my hand too soon.

 

If, I choose not to file a complete response, then does this mean that some of what I wish to say by way of a retort to their defence may not get the airing I would like?

Or do I geta chance to properly raise these issues in my statement/ court bundle later?

In any case, do the judges even take much notice of defence responses anyhow ?

 

Thoughts anyone ?

[sitcom123]

I have been reading through Lloyds defence paper once more before i send off my AQ

[sitcom123]

i have been reading through lloyds deence paper once more before i send off my AQ, on point 9 of the defence it states

The claimant's claim is denied in its entirety. it is further denied that the claimant is entitled to the sum claimed or to any sum from the bank

 

Is this what they normally put or do i have reason to be worried on that point. They seem to be pretty certain on it. I am having a bit of a wobble on it

[joe1969]

Hi Sitcom,

 

I am claiming against A&L and they have put that in their defence. I think all the banks have put this in their defence.

 

Joe

[photoman]

Yep,

Standard denial. appears on all of them.

 

Don't let it phase you, and file your AQ as normal.

Remember, that there is also no need to file a defence, or do anything contesting such claims made on their defence, as not doing so does not at all mean that you admit or agree with anything they have said in their defence.

 

PM

[iceman1]

Hi, firstly 'd like to thank all of you for your invaluable advice and comments/expieriences.

My wife and I have 3 claims ongoing against Natwest. If it's ok with you I will talk about my wifes claim.

Up to now things have gone exactly the same as everyone else (including Cobbets). on 5/6/07 she recieved a letter from the court stating that the allocation questionnaires had been dispenced with, and that the court had done this on their own initiative (which we could apply to set aside within 7 days). I have copied the letter under this question to save refering back to it.

My questions are:

1) why have they 'Block listed' the hearing? and what does this mean?

2) As we have alsready paid the court £120.00 for this action, why are they now asking for another £100.00? and what is this for, and can we reclaim this if the case is won/defaulted in our favour?

 

Many thanks again for all your hard work.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Notice of Allocation to the small

Claims Track (Hearing)

To the Claimant’s Solicitor

Court

Seal

 

 

 

(My Wife’s name and address)

( )

( )

DEPUTY DISTRICT JUDGE (judges name) has considered the statements of case and allocation questionnaires dispensed with and allocated the claim to the small claims track.

The Court has made this order on its own initiative pursuant to Rule 3.3 of the civil procedure Rules 1998. Any party

Affected by this order has the right to apply to set it aside, vary or stay it, by application made not more than 7 days after this order was served on the party making the application.

Parties to file in court and serve on the other party 14 days before the hearing copy documents relied upon and bring the original documents to the hearing.

The parties must file in court and serve on the other party written statements of all witnesses (including themselves) at least 14 days before the hearing and any witness whose statement is not agreed by the other party must attend

The Claimants witness statement must state the exact amount claimed and how calculated unless already set out in the particulars of claim

The Defendant should file and serve a short skeleton argument no less than 14 days before the hearing

The hearing of the claim will take place at 10.30 on the 17 August 2007 at (……..) County Court, (..court address) and should take no longer than 15 minutes

The court must be informed immediately if the case is settled by agreement before the hearing date.

NOTE: The hearing has been block listed. If the claim will be seriously contested at the hearing, it may be adjourned and further directions given.

(Other court notes about attending or not)

 

 

NOTE TO CLAIMANT

Pursuant to the County Court Fees Order Part 2.1, a fee of £100.00 is payable by the claimant upon allocation to track.

This sum must be paid to the Court by 4.00pm on 28 June 2007

Date: 04 June 2007

[Nikki1234]

Hi All,

 

Just a quick note on our quest to get directions ordered. The District Judge in my area is quite 'directions friendly' and has taken on the directions in a couple of my cases now.

 

This time, he has ordered his own, this time just asking the only defendant to serve his documents - "full details of any facts or matters to be relied upon to show that each and every charge is reasonable and proportionate". Excellent - I think he must be getting fed up with them messing around as much as we are!

 

It has been very good timing, as this is the case most likely to actually get to court as the defendant involved is known for it (no names as they read this forum)

 

I suppose they could still try to set aside though...

 

Iceman1 - to your questions:

 

1. They've probably block-listed your hearings with others to save time and group 'like' cases together - nothing to worry about as far as I know. I'm sure someone will correct me if there's anything to worry about.

 

2. The £100 fee is for the Allocation Questionnaire (if your claim is over £1,500). Although the DJ has dispensed with the AQ itself, the fee is still payable. If your claim is over £1,500 you must still pay it or risk having your case thrown out. And yes you can reclaim it it you win as it comes under court costs.

[tezturtle]

got my court date on the 16th this month `june` a bit nervous trying to think have i covered everything still not sure just hope all goes well. Just to say thanks for all those that helped an hopefully after the 16th all is well and my donation is on its way. If you think there might be something that i`ve missed or any extra that you want me to know please feel free.

[Destinyofsouls]

Tez

 

have you got your date right? The 16th Is a saturday

[pjdavies2000]

I have been given a prelim hearing for late June - does this mean directions have not been ordered, and are pending this date, or that they have not been accepted at all?

 

Peter

[GuidoT]

You will have the opportunity to request again that the New Strategy directions are ordered at the hearing, in case you have not seen it before have a look here:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/guidance-notes/64911-got-court-date-guide.html

[pjdavies2000]

brilliant!

Hadn't seen this thread before!

 

Cheers!

 

Peter

[photoman]

got my court date on the 16th this month `june` a bit nervous trying to think have i covered everything still not sure just hope all goes well. Just to say thanks for all those that helped an hopefully after the 16th all is well and my donation is on its way. If you think there might be something that i`ve missed or any extra that you want me to know please feel free.

 

tez

did you recieve any directions ?

 

Do you need to submitanything befoehand?

 

PM

[georgieboy]

Good luck tezturtle - will be thinking of you on the 16th, sure it will go well for you.

[thebloodster]

On behalf of my ex I've been doin her claim v Nat West and she has now received a Notice of Allocation to the Small Claims Track (Hearing)

 

It states that the parties shall exchange the following not later than 4pm on the 15th June 2007.

 

(a) The written statements of evidence of any witness whose evidence is relied on in support of or in defence of the claim.

 

(b) Copies of any documents which a party proposes to rely on.

 

 

So what do I do now?! I've been through the court bundle section and found the majority I think I need

 

 

The small claims track 'standard directions' -

Typically in small claims track cases, the directions will be these -

 

Each party must file and serve copies of all documents on which that party intends to rely at the hearing, no later than fourteen days before the hearing.

 

The original documents must be brought to the hearing

 

To comply with these directions, you will need to submit copies of all the evidence and other documents upon which you would rely on in court, to both the other side and the court office, no later than 14 days before the date of the hearing. You must retain the original documents.

 

The documents/evidence you will need to submit will include;

 

- Schedule of charges

- Statements showing charges have been made

- All correspondence between you and the bank

- All cases and statutes upon which your claim relies

- OFT report

 

All this can be found in the Basic Court Bundle

 

Additionally, you should add as much other evidence as you can compile. Examples of other useful pieces of evidence are;

 

- The Competition Commission report - Not including?

- The McNamara interview - Was goin to include

- Australian Default Fee's report - Link doesnt work anymore

- BBC Commission conclusion - Was goin to include

 

 

The court date is on 26th July 2007 so it seems there is a big gap between the two dates mentioned. The witness statement section is worrying me the most

[GaryH]

Bloodster,

 

a) statement of evidence (see page 3 of this thread)

b) basic court bundle.

 

Don't hang about mind, you haven't got long!