TheNorthernWarrior v Northern Bank Ltd. ***WON***

[TheNorthernWarrior]

Good Luck Nervous, i'm on the same track with halifax today wass there last day, i live in here also so i'm trying to work out how to get the claim right in our court system and also what spreadsheet to use too for interest etc!!

I never used a spreadsheet, because i felt that would delay time in their correspondence. IE. They would then have to check the bank statements and check my info to see if it was right. I just sent them photo copies of all my past statements with ALL charges highlighted for them and then i just added the 8% interest to the balance.

nervous:)

[spud0772]

Hi Nervous are you doing your claim online now?

[TheNorthernWarrior]

Hi Nervous are you doing your claim online now?

No,spud0772, i'm not, but i've just saved the draft from the FAQ section and will file tomorrow.Technically, because it is still their last day ( even though i know there's no post now) i will wait and also i'm too tired, what with 2 glasses of wine in me.

I just copied it from 'moneyclaim online' and then i'll just cross check it with the N.I. small claims online. When are you doing yours? My pen drive is full with all the written docs on this site and i'm just preparing everything , just in case and anyway, i know that i'll have to submit court bundles etc before they agree and as i will be doing it twice, i might as well have everything set up.

nervous

[spud0772]

Lol your much more organised than me.

 

i thought this was a doodle as my halifax current account paid out after the second letter but their credit card company have different ideas. So i'm gonna read the N1 now and will fill it in tom nite when i get home from work.

 

Goodluck

[TheNorthernWarrior]

Well all, further update! Tried to access the NI small claims online, but got as far as my address. It seems that i don't live at said address even though we have filled in electoral forms for the past 5 yrs. This, i guess is when i should be asking the question " will I, won't I, continue? I am so browned off with the whole thing, i now have to call into the courts in Ards and get a form from them, fill it in at home, 3 copies and then hand it back to them! As i am splitting my claim into 2, i am over the £2000.00 by £15.00. question is do i leave that in or not? With the interest added it is only £2905.84. At least in England the small claims is £5000.00, we seem to have a raw deal with a measly £2000.00! Don't mind me, i am just so fed up with coming up against barriers when in this supposedly 21st century of modern technology, nothing seems to work!! I know that when it is all over and I am reading somebody else's thread and they are going through the same thing i will smile and say it's okay, you'll win and win they will!! In the meantime, i'm clocking off and away to the courthouse tomorrow. Ho hum.

[Clare11]

LOL Nervous......I am like you.......tried the same and got as far as entering the claim details after the 3rd/4th attempt...after that I was "snookered"..lol....I think its lack of space is the problem and you have to warn them of any other literature , documents you wish to show at the "hearing" and include these ALL online!. And anyway..you will have to gather up all this paperwork and send it to the court at some stage.

So I have decided to instead just simply fill in a NI form for a Business and drive to "God only knows" a county court?

I was wondering would a local court not accept the paperwork etc and forward it all onto the county court.

I too am really "browned off" .....so near and yet so far.!

Maybe its because I am tired and fed up....

I think we both need a wee sip of wine and learn to relax....

Tomorrow is another day.....smiles

I think we are both "damsels in distress" waiting for our knights in Shinning Armour!

Kind regards

Clare

[lickthewallfatboy]

I don't understand the problems you are having.This is the particualrs of claim you need to use-adapt to your own dates and figures....

 

Claim Description

1. The Claimant has accounts ("the Accounts") with the Defendant which were opened in xxxx and

xxxx respectively

2. During the period in which the Accounts have been operating the Defendant debited numerous

charges to the Accounts in respect of purported breaches of contract on the part of the Claimant and

also charged interest on the charges once applied. The Claimant understands that the Defendant

contends that the charges were debited in accordance with the terms of the contract between itself

and the Claimant.

3. A list of the charges applied will be forwarded to be attached to these particulars of claim.

4. The Claimant contends that:

a) The charges debited to the Accounts are punitive in nature; are not a genuine pre-estimate of cost

incurred by the Defendant; exceed any alleged actual loss to the Defendant in respect of any

breaches of contract on the part of the Claimant; and are not intended to represent or related to any

alleged actual loss, but instead unduly enrich the Defendant which exercises the contractual term in

respect of such charges with a view to profit.

 

b) The contractual provision that permits the Defendant to levy such charges is unenforceable by

virtue of the Unfair Contract Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations (1999), the Unfair Contract

Terms Act 1977 and the common law.

5. Accordingly the Claimant claims:

a) the return of the amounts debited in respect of charges in the sum of £xxxx and any interest

charged thereon;

b) a declaration from this honourable court that the term of the contract leading to the application of

the charges is unenforceable;

c) Court costs;

d) Interest pursuant to section 69 County Courts Act as set out on the to-be-attached list of charges

or at such rate and for such periods as the court deems just.

 

It should be very straightforward-cut and paste all that, and amend to suit.

[Clare11]

Hi LTWFB

Would you care to amend this for my Business account.? smiles.

I may just take another stab at it.

I have read that online I have to also include or rather MENTION what documents I intend to show to support my claim. And these said documents must be forwarded to the Small Claims Processing Office along with a covering letter "at some stage"..

So....is it my local branch of the Northern Bank of their Head Office.

When I give the address ....REgistered address of the Northern Bank as

Donegall Square West , Belfast BT1 6JS it insists on the street Number which there isnt one?

 

And by the way.....did you do your claim online?

[TheNorthernWarrior]

Hi thereLTWFB.

For me i managed to access the small claims online, but it doesn't seem to believe that i live where i live. So i actually cannot get passed the address system, even though i have been trying to amend it i don't know how many times. The fact that i have lived in this house for the last 5 yrs, somehow doesn't register with these government officials. I live in an extremely rural area and the house is new, by the way and somehow we do not seem to come up on ANY systems, so that's why i now have to go and collect a form. But thanks anyway. Keep watching!

[lickthewallfatboy]

Hi LTWFB

Would you care to amend this for my Business account.? smiles.

I may just take another stab at it.

I have read that online I have to also include or rather MENTION what documents I intend to show to support my claim. And these said documents must be forwarded to the Small Claims Processing Office along with a covering letter "at some stage"..

So....is it my local branch of the Northern Bank of their Head Office.

When I give the address ....REgistered address of the Northern Bank as

Donegall Square West , Belfast BT1 6JS it insists on the street Number which there isnt one?

 

And by the way.....did you do your claim online?

 

I did all mine online-was really straightforward for me.You just need to use that wording for your business account,and don't waste precious words on things you don't need to specify at the moment-the word count is limited online.The court will just expect you to file your papers in good time for the case date.

 

This is the actual address on my court papers

NORTHERN BANK LIMITED

Po Box 183

Belfast

BT1 6JS

 

hope this sorts it out for you!

[paddym]

i too have had no probs using the method as discribed by LTWFB ! REALLY FOLKS CHIN UP IT WILL BE WORTH IT IN THE END WHEN YOU GET YOUR MONEY BACK ! take your time slowly slowly catchy monkey !

[Clare11]

Okay boys.......

You have convinced me.....I will give it another go tomorrow.....

When online will I have to say that I plan to disclose the following information e.g.copy of the bank statements, Bankcharges plus interest spreadsheet , copies of their correspondence to me and vice versa, all at a later date?

[paddym]

no ! just use the text that LTWFB has used in that thread that he posted ! thats what we have used and we won !

[JAMES900]

ConsumerLine: Home : Consumer advice, information, consumer rights, consumer legislation, consumer education, and help on customer care from the General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland

 

Go to here and download all their information on bank charges. Very helpful - step by step guide. I was informed that all banks are settling these out of court, with the exception of Bank of Ireland, who are trying to delay.

[Clare11]

hello James.....thats very reassuring in what you say....All I want is a cheque in the post!......smiles..

I did ring the Consumer Advice Center in Belfast and they said they could NOT advise anyone with a BUSINESS account on claiming back penalties. But certainly they would be invaluable to ordinary current account holders.

Kind regards

Clare

[Clare11]

Hello Nervous.

I did it online..today.. lol......I just hope I filled in all correctly because I didnt keep a copy.. I dont think there was an option but I maybe wrong.

But my claim is only for a few hundred pounds and it might as well have been 1000's £ . It was so frustrating as last night I had the case of "verbal" diahorrea.

Its a big relief to get it out of the way and I can get back to "normality".

I dont care what the Northern Bank throws at me......I am prepared for them!

[paddym]

clare once you have registered on the northern ireland court service website you can log on at anytime using your user name and password you can follow your progress i.e. when your papers have been sent to bank and when they have to return them and so forth . you can also print copies of your small claims form and i would advise you once you know your papers are with the bank to print a copy of your papers together with your up to date schedule of charges and a nice little letter to the bank that will be the copy you said in the particulars of claim you said you would send ok good luck your doing well now keep reading !

[JAMES900]

On business accounts, if you have asked the bank to investigate their excessive charges, they should send you a letter saying that they have investigated with their results, either with an offer or more likely saying they have no case to answer, and if you are not happy you can refer it to the financial , banking ombudsman. Once you get this letter, go ahead and complain to the ombudsman about excessive charges. This is what I have done, no idea if I will be successful ! My solicitor has advised me to consider issuing a writ for excessive charges to my business account. I might just do it, as the charges amount to over £12K. If anyone has any success on business accounts please let me know

[paddym]

forget about the ombudsman he has no clout he can only recommend a particular course of action he has no legal control he cannot impose any recommendations on the financial institutions and who does he represent ?????????? the financial institutions ! stick to the course of action recommended on this site the tried and trusted way that loads of our fellow forum members have got their unlawfull charges refunded without solicitors this is a self help site for members who wish to take up their right to have their unlawfully taken hard earned money returned to them just read the threads you will see how successfull we are best advice start by reading through the frequently asked questions then progress through to the bank you want to sue and read other members experiances and you will be able to see the likely process you will have to take any problems just post here although we cant be online all of the time we will get back to offer you help or advice at some stage as i said earlier a self help site so come on people regain your rights start reading !

[JAMES900]

thanks, but is there not a difference between business accounts and personal account charges ?

[paddym]

I dont know if theres a difference between the account but the way i look at it is if its a penalty charge then its reclaimable the only thing you cant claim for is if the bank are providing you with a service so if they have for talk sake charged you £39.00 for a bounced cheque thats not a service but a penalty so reclaimable wether personal account or business !

[JAMES900]

mmmm, OK. But the size of my claim on my business account is £12K too large for the small claims and the only way I can see is a writ. The bank have already said no to the claim and see their charges as fair on this business account. So, on the business side of things, the only way I can see is through a solicitor and a writ. Would you agree ?

[paddym]

well if you are going after the £12k all at once you would have to issue a civil Bill and in northern ireland courts these cannot be issued ny individuals so you would need to employ the services of a solicitor ! or could you not split it into six £2k plus interest claims although this would take longer you wouldnt need a brief !

[TheNorthernWarrior]

Okay,everybody, further update! I've been rather quiet for these 2 days,cos i am just fed up with the whole damn thing! I had to go to the court house to get my application forms and now i have to write them by hand. The only good thing is i can enclose another sheet for further info. On Sat. morning we (or should i say, hubby,though i've been doing all the work and both names attached to all docs) was delivered to us from our good ol friends, 'the northern'!

 

Dear Mr.*****

I refer to your letter dated 27 January 2007, addressed to the Manager, Newtownards Branch, regarding your dissatisfaction with charges which have been applied to your account. In accordance with our Internal Complaints Procedures the matter has now been referred to Service Recovery. Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.

All complaints are taken very seriously and I have arranged for the matter to be investigated. I will respond to you as soon as these investigations are complete, and in any event, within the next 20 working days.

I have enclosed for your information a copy of our internal Complaint Handling Procedures "Putting Things Right For You" These procedures confirm how to pursue your complaint if you remain dissatisfied and how to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service if we cannot resolve the matter.

Yours sincerely

Melanie McKee

Service Recovery Officer.

 

Well what about that then? The bank manager has already conducted his 'investigation' which is why he offered us a paltry £1000.00 and now we are having another investigation when all has been stated in past correspondence of what the outcome is to be. They are stating to me that another 20 days??? I don't think so.

My claim forms are right beside me. I will enclose the spreadsheets and post them all off tomorrow recorded delivery. Should i also enclose the court bundle and all relevant info from Bankfodder's library of new update on the 'Big 4' in N.I.?

I'll be back once i've filled in forms. God, I wish it was all over!

nervous.

[TheNorthernWarrior]

What spreadsheet do i use? English advanced or simple?

nervous