Stunning victory against Nationwide

[Robertxc]

I have just returned from court where I finally managed to kill off Nationwide's case against me.

 

In March last year I wrote to them refusing to pay off my overdraft of £1500 because of their excessive charges. Eventually they sued me for it and I used the unfair penalties argument as my defence.

 

When we got to the first hearing Nationwide's lawyer announced that they were walking away from it, with no expenses due by or to either party. Much to everyones surprise, I refused to settle the matter on that basis because it had come to my attention that they had Defaulted me, in clear breach of The Banking Code. At this stage Nationwide refused point blank to even entertain the idea of removing the Default, stating that they had a legal obligation to 'accurately' record my lending history.

 

There then followed several hearings at which they tried to persuade the sheriff to force settlement on their terms, and during which I steadfastly stuck to my position and did not deviate from it by so much as a milimetre.

 

As we moved into 2006 their position changed and they agreed to remove the Default, but only if I paid about half the overdraft. Again I refused, but since their offer to remove the default had been written in such a way that it appeared to be unconditional, the sheriff forced them to honour it. I'm not sure if this was their intention or not, but the upshot was that I got an interlocutor (court order) requiring the removal of any prejudicial information they may have passed on to third parties. The sheriff continued the case for four weeks for them to remove the Default, after which we would talk about financial settlements. When we got to the hearing this morning their lawyer announced that they were dropping the entire matter and walking away.

 

In summary. Nationwide sued me for the recovery of their overdraft. I defended on the basis that a large part of it was made up of unlawful bank charges. End result: I went from owing £1500 and having a Default registered against me, to owing nothing and having a clean credit file again. Result.

 

Discussion.

This surely makes it a high risk strategy for the bank to sue anyone to recover an amount owed on either a loan or an overdraft. If the person has racked up bank charges over the years, then there has to be a good possibility that they can make the whole thing go away by using the same strategy as me. Anyone got any thoughts about that?

[Robertxc]

Thanks for the kind comments. I'm actually quite used to fighting my corner in court, so I wasn't too handicapped by the intimidating atmosphere which you often find there. I am pleased that I no longer have to put up with the disdainful looks from the lawyers in the court, who seem to resent a layman coming in and taking them on on their own turf. (and winning).

[Robertxc]

I don't know what their bill will be for all this, but Nationwide were using a big Edinburgh law firm, and they subcontracted to a local law firm, so assuming say £1500 per hearing (x5), plus all the case work, they must be looking at a bill of about £12k. Just as well I didn't lose, as this was not Small Claims!

[Robertxc]

Not really, they were desperately trying to extricate themselves from it from the start. A lot of the delays were down to their innefiency, so it's pretty unlikely that the Sheriff would have awarded them all their costs anyway. Also, in Scotland charges are laid down in a tariff set by the Law Society of Scotland, so it's possible that regardless of what it cost them, they would only be able to claim the going rate. If I'd thought for one minute that I could get hit with 12 grand worth of costs I wouldn't have gone near it (probably).

[Robertxc]

Thank you very much!

[Robertxc]

Absolutely. I guess you could say that I set a trap for them, and they walked right into it. I knew for a fact that their procedures would automatically lead to court action, especially, since I refused even to discuss paying back the overdraft. Every letter they sent demanding payment was replied to with "Dear Sirs. My position remains as stated in my letter of xxx". Once they had served me with a summons, as far as I was concerned, the case was over. I knew they would try to drop it as soon as they saw my defence, and that I would then be in a position to insist that they remove the Default first, which has been my primary goal all along. As far as I'm concerned a clean credit file is infinitely more valuable than a couple of thousand pounds on an overdraft.

 

Actually, looking back it seems a bit convoluted, but at the time it was the only way I could see to both recover the charges and remove the Default.

 

Mind you, I'm glad to get shot of it, it was becoming quite tedious.

[Robertxc]

Certainly, if it happens (unlikely), send me a PM.

[Robertxc]

My defence was quite simply that the value of the charges plus interest had to be deducted from the overdraft. They decided at the first hearing that they didn't want to pursue the matter and tried to walk away from the whole thing. I wouldn't let them until they fixed my credit file. Which is now being done.

[Robertxc]

I wasn't claiming anything. Nationwide were trying to exract their £1500 overdraft from me. I refused to pay about £1000 plus interest, because that was how much I had been penalised over the years.

[Robertxc]

Not to mention that as the Defender, I was in a position summon witnesses in my defence. I told them I would be summoning both my branch manager and Natiowide's Director of Retail Services. They would have been required to appear or risk having an arrest warrant issued... Now THAT would have been something to see.

[Robertxc]

Not to mention that as the Defender, I was in a position summon witnesses in my defence. I told them I would be summoning both my branch manager and Natiowide's Director of Retail Services. They would have been required to appear or risk having an arrest warrant issued... Now THAT would have been something to see.

[Robertxc]

This topic was closed on 09 March 2019.

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