Patience (not) -v- A & L

[DoublesWhenDo]

Sent off court bundle to Wragge requesting payment prior to hols .

 

101 pages inc concluded claims from CAG, KEEP YOU POSTED

[jansus]

Best of luck and try not to think about it while on holiday:-)

 

Just think as you bank balance goes down -it might go back up again when they pay the money in:D

 

jan

[DoublesWhenDo]

Hi Jansus,

 

They did state in the last offer letter that they would only keep my account open if I accepted the offer (£700.00) as full settlement and accepted the terms and conditions, so I don't want the account - not used it for months.

 

I can still log on to it and check balance!!

 

Hoping they just send me a cheque

[DoublesWhenDo]

Well, the court bundle worked - NOT!!

 

Wragge sent me a letter today, offer of £600'ish incusive of court costs (without prejudice, of course).

 

Have got email contact to a specific person now, replied stating this offer is less than the offer of a month ago (sent direct from A&L) and full claim amount is the only acceptable offer.....cheeky b&*%$£@.

 

KEEP YOU UPDATED

[MimiJane]

Out of interest, were Wragge asked to submit any sort of "court bundle" by a specific date? If so, what were they asked for?

 

Mimi

[DoublesWhenDo]

just had another look at n157, states that 'Each party shall deliver to every other party and to the court office copies of all documents on which he intends to rely at the hearing no later than 14 days before the hearing'

 

This gives them 'til 17th August, I will be on my hols

 

I guess the answer is YES.

 

Also BCC operates a 'back to back' system for small claims.

This means that your case is blocklisted at the same time as a number of other small claims hearings, by listing this way the court is able to offer a much earlier hearing date.

The hearing should take no longer than 15 minutes!!

[DoublesWhenDo]

Hi all, spanner in the works or not??

 

Could anyone clarify if my claim, made wholly of returned direct debit fees, relies substantially on the UTCCR, if NOT can the UTCCR part of the bundle be removed?

 

Could I suggest a settlement of the claim amount over and above the OFT £12.00 limit and settle remaining part of claim after test case?

 

Can I contest a stay on any of the above points?

 

Received reply to my email to wragge:

 

I am not instructed to make a further offer to you. As you may be aware,

the OFT has issued a test case in which the "bank charges" issue will be

decided. It is understood that the Court will stay all current claims

pending the result of that test case.

Your claim has been allocated to the Small Claims Court, and each party

therefore bears its own costs. Should you wish to claim for wasted

costs, you will need to fully particularise exactly what costs you

consider have been wasted, and why. In this regard, I look forward to

receiving your submissions.

 

Any thoughts, TA

[jansus]

bump

[DoublesWhenDo]

I rang the court and was informed that as yet, my hearing was schedulred to go ahead as planned.

All claims with hearing dates were set to go ahead.

 

Sent a reply to above email asking for final clarification to enquire of any impending offers due to this info and await a positive response

[chubbas dad]

good work, keep the pressure on, you are near the end now.

[DoublesWhenDo]

Good morning Chubbas,

 

I got a reply from Georgina with regard my LAST EVER correspondence with these people before hearing

 

Quote "Unfortunately, my client is not prepared to make a further offer to you at this stage"

 

A&L are stubborn gits!! court it is, unless they've something up their sleeves

[MimiJane]

I got cheque in full settlement on the morning of the court hearing date ... hold fire!

[DoublesWhenDo]

my problem now is my holiday . I won't know if they've put in a defence, requested a stay, or sent me an offer til I get back on the 25thAugust - they have until the 17th August, in the middle of my hols!!

 

This leaves me very little time to prepare any reply should courts/wragge send me anything.

 

Although they all know I'm on hols, even sent wragges a copy of my flight schedule

[MimiJane]

The main thing is that you've covered yourself by letting everyone know when you're away ... plenty of others must be in your situation also.

 

I wouldn't worry, enjoy your hols. and there might be a nice surprise when you return and, if not, just carry on, you'll get there.

 

Mimi

[kpsh87]

Hi there

I'm also in the same situation. I'm on hols from 10 - 24 August. Have informed everyone.I have to have my court bundle in by 22 Aug so am busy copying, pasting and typing up everything. to take to court early next week before I go away. At the bottom of court letter it states refer back to the judge after 29 August. I emailed Wragges last week about settling but so far have had no response.

Have a good holiday, I'm going to get everything tied up and just forget about it for 2 weeks - (I wish)

[Jess68]

Hi DWD dont worry too much, haven't heard them doing anything at all yet, you could always take the court number with you and ring to see if its really worrying you. Personally i would forget it and wait until you get back refreshed and ready to fight. I never contacted them at all until the day before we went to court (Good advice from Caro) and they were all to willing to settle, infact i kinda got the impression i could have asked for all sorts and they would have agreed rather than have to appear unprepared in court the following day, they foned me at 8.45am before the banks even opened and agreed instantly, even contacting the court to say it was settled (think it had more to do with me saying i was going to court and wouldn't have the case closed until i had money ) So enjoy ur hols, come back refreshed and ready to fight

[DoublesWhenDo]

Hi Jess,

 

I'm wondering if they hadn't time to request stays that were due shortly after the test case announcement but wragge are hastily sorting this!!

 

I'm not one to worry, just trying to be prepared, I can see them trying to wriggle their squeaky bottoms out of the predicament their in.

 

Hols in 5 days , will have to see what postie brings?

[DoublesWhenDo]

Back from hols and it is not good news..........

 

The courts have issued a stay of their own initiative and give me 7 days to reply - dated 17th August, i.e. 24th august for applying for set aside etc....bloody infuriating seeing as all parties notified I was on my hols til today :mad:

 

I am going to apply for set aside, if that is the right course. Have read through the OFT Case and A&L site and it states that the test case is for overdraft charges on current accounts.

 

In addition to the template I was hoping for additional help in adding a couple more paragraphs if appropriate.

my whole claim is for unpaid direct debits and it is a basic cash account with an ATM card. I was never allowed an overdraft or cheques and I was wondering what actually constitutes a current account.

 

I was hoping to state that this 'basic' account was not afforded the priveleges of a current account and could not be classed as such and the fact that all charges were not related to an overdraft.

 

Very annoyed with the court also as it took them over a month to issue a court date, when it came it was in the middle of my hols and then issued a date two weeks later, I am sure this claim would have been settled now. Clearly they haven't reviewed the claim bcoz there is no way they would have sent the STAY and required my reply knowing I wasn't available!!

 

Any advice - should I keep my money or go for the set aside,

 

regards

[dewhit20]

Call the court, write letters, (see templates on the site) anything to let them know the situation and how they havent given you time to reply. You have rights! The system is stacked against us, but there is so much going on now.. the truth will out. you will get your money back one way or another. Try not to let it get to you!

Love KX

[DoublesWhenDo]

Hi all,

 

spoke with FSA and OFT AND COURTS.........BUSY, BUSY.

 

The FSA say that returned direct debit fees are within the realms of the OFT test case.

The OFT state that the test case is to establish if the terms and conditions in account contracts are clear and fair but also I was told that the removal of a stay would most likely be refused.

The Court says I can proceed with my N244 APPLICATION for removal of the stay but was given no advice either way with regard the outcome!!

 

 

I really don't know what to do, trying to locate details of claims (specifically A&L and the claim numbers) paid out very recently to include with any application.

[MimiJane]

Hi there,

 

Settled claims link is here :-

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=138&Itemid=82

 

Schroll down to "Show results for", find A&L and it will show you the details.

 

Good luck

[DoublesWhenDo]

thanks MJ, JUST BEEN READING THROUGH YOUR THREAD.

 

DID YOU NEED TO REMOVE A STAY, HAVEN'T GOT TO THE END OF YOUR THREAD

[MimiJane]

Fortunately, no, just got in at the 11th hour! Got judgement by default and cheque arrived morning of the court hearing:rolleyes: Didn't know judgment had been awarded for definite though 'til a week after the court hearing was due when my SIL got a letter from the court! All very tense ... we later realised Wragge HAD to get the cheque to her before court, hence the arrival of a DHL courier at her door the same morning!

 

The "test case" was announced the following day ...

[DoublesWhenDo]

I am now thinking against applying for the removal .

 

It appears that odds are now stacked against me, even more so with the courts putting the stay in place themselves.

 

the order states:

 

upon it appearing to the court that:

 

a) a test case has been issued in the high court between the OFT and certain banks with a view to determining issues of legal principle in relation to the recovery of charges made on bank current accounts and the applicability of the UTCCR and other legislation to such charges

 

b) further info is likely to be available at The Office of Fair Trading: making markets work well for consumers

 

c) the issues raised in the test case will affect this claim.

 

It is ordered that:

 

1. the claim is stayed until further order with a view to awaiting the final decision in the test case.

 

2. the defendant shall within 28 days of the final decision file in court and serve on the claimant

a) a case summary of not more than 500 words setting out the effect of the decision

b) their proposed directions in this claim

 

3. documents at para. 2 to be referred to a district judge to consider further directions

 

4. either party may apply at any time, by application on notice in accordance with CPR 1998 Part 23 to lift the stay.

 

5. because this order has been made by the court without considering representations from the parties, the parties have the right to apply to have the order set aside, varied or stayed.

 

thanks for any advice.

[DoublesWhenDo]

after much deliberation I did it, N244 Application for removal of the stay, still £35.00 even with courts making order!!

 

Not many have applied apparently, and those that have it is where charges are for credit card fees.

 

alongside template, supporting evidence for removal:

• vexatious defendant
  
• obtaining direct debit fees from child benefit/tax credits
  
• other courts/judges proceeding and settling claims post OFT announcement
  
• articles covering professors and finance experts stating charges of differing degrees from £2 to £4.50.
  
• Claimant or Defendant not party to OFT test case.
  
• Was never afforded authorised/unauthorised overdraft, thus I never undertook any borrowings authorised or not.
  
• terms of the account were changed significantly over a given period, making the day to day running of the account problematic.

QUE SERA SERA, DWD