Lloyds

[basil010]

I have issued against Lloyds for 6 years totalling approx £14,000.00.

They have lodged a Defence on the basis that the Charges are not penalties but rather "Service Charges", chargeable under their T & C's.

It is very strange that they have also indicated that the case should be heard under the "Small Claims Track"????

This might of course be that they do not want to run the risk of incurring any legal costs, which they would do if the case was allocated to the correct track i.e. "Fast Track" and I used a Solicitor.

I have asked for the claim to be listed under the Fast Track on the Allocation Questionnaire and it will be very interesting to see what track the Court lists the claim for.

[MARTIN3030]

Hi welcome to the site.

I think somewhere there appears to be confusion.

I am sure they know that 14k in the small claims is not possible.

Please take some time to read up and you will see what I am getting at.

[basil010]

Hi,

thanks for the reply.

In fact a claim can be listed as "Small Claim" if both parties request it and it is considered to be "a simple claim". The Civil Procedure Rules allow for this in order to reduce the amount of time taken by the Court's when allocating a claim and for hearing purposes.

 

The most important thing is that if you request "a track" that is not the normal one for the amount, you need to explain why, which is what they have not done.

 

It is no doubt a way of reducing the "cost" factor for the bank if they loose, as the maximum costs that will be allowed in the Small Claims Track is only £50.00 plus mileage if the Judge is sympathetic to the claim.

 

Anybody else in the same boat should look at this point in particular as for claims over £5k it could well be worth using a Solicitor on a Conditional Fee Arrangement. This initself will encourage the bank to possibly offer a settlement before going to trial.