the_decknician v Halifax

[the_decknician]

Here is a schedule of actions that have occured in my reclaim process:

 

28/11/06

Wrote the letter asking for my statements

 

02/01/07

Posted the first letter asking for a full refund of the calculated charges that have been levied from my account, giving 14 days to comply (16th Jan)

 

09/01/07

Received a letter saying that my case was being handled by the customer relations department and that I should expect a reply by 28th Feb. I ignored this.

 

16/01/07

Sent a Letter Before Action, giving a further 14 days (30th Jan) for them to fully reimburse me before I proceeded with court action.

 

23/01/07

Received a letter offering me a partial sum as a 'full and final' settlement, this was offered as a gesture of goodwill, and the rest of the letter basically detailed how the bank are fully within reason to 'pass on the charges incurred' from paying direct debits and such when funds are not available on to the customer concerned, as apposed to absorbing them which would in turn pass them onto the rest of its customer base. The fact is that the bank has NEVER paid a direct debit for me, and has only ever refused to pay them. I use paper-free banking and so they don't even incurr a postage cost...!

 

24/01/07

Wrote a reply to the above letter saying that I would accept the sum offered, but only as a partial payment to the full amount being claimed. I then told them that the previous deadline still stood and would run out on the 30th Jan. If by this time they have not offered me the full sum I am claiming that I would then proceed with court action. Which I will.....

 

15/02/07

Filed my claim at the courts

[maddyrose1664]

Well done! Stick with it - you'll get all of it eventually.

[Aaronsdad]

I did the same thing and I got £3000!

 

Stick in there.

A D

[the_decknician]

Hi,

 

I just wanted a little clarification on the subject of 8% interest.

 

My understanding is that we can ask for an additional 8% of our claim when we go to court, however after reading the following thread:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/34887-5-money-claim-line.html

 

I am a bit confused on the issue of

 

"continuing at 8% until judgment or settlement at a daily rate of .."

 

When does this daily rate start from and run until? How do we then add this on to the total amoutn being claimed?

 

If anyone can give me the lowdown on the whole 8% and '8% continuing at the daily rate..' busines I would be most appreciative.

[jonni2bad]

Hi

 

...at a daily rate of £0.xx; - This daily rate of interest is calculated by multiplying the total value of the charges (plus overdraft interest, if claimed) by 0.00022

For example,

£1,429 in charges

£27.40 in overdraft interest

Total £1,456.40

1466.58 x 0.00022 = 0.32 - This would therefor be £0.32p on a daily basis.

So, you would type ...at a daily rate of £0.32p

The daily rate runs from the date of the claim until settlement or judgment, whichever comes first.

 

Your spreadsheet should show the charge value and the Statutory Interest at 8% up until the court action, so in other words print this off on the day you start the claim.

 

Even though you have sent one to the bank with each letter, you should also now send them the latest copy and also send a copy to the court. A short cover letter explaining its use and including the claim reference number will be fine.

[the_decknician]

Thanks John,

 

One more thing, I have not asked for the £10 Data Protection Act details fee back. Can I add this now? or is it too late for that?

[jonni2bad]

You can add this to your schedule (spreadsheet) and of course to the total being reclaimed.

[the_decknician]

Ok, I have just completed the N1 form. I have printed 3 copies with another 3 copies of the schedule of charges.

I am going to take one copy to hand in at the courts, and keep one for myself.

Do I need to post the other copy to the bank? or do I keep hold of it for now?

[sea-sidelady]

Take all 3 copies to the court. They will do it all for you.

[the_decknician]

ok, thanks

[BankFodder]

You send nothing to the bank. the court will do it all.

 

HBOS have a policy of settling all claims in full once proceedings have been started.

 

Believe me.

[the_decknician]

excellent, thanks again

[the_decknician]

Filed my court claim today.

[the_decknician]

Well, a few things have happened in the past weeks:

 

1) I received a copy of the claim from the courts telling me that a copy has also been sent to the defendant, and that they have until March 12th (today) to reply.

 

2) I received a phone call from the Halifax on Friday (9th March) telling me that they had reassessed my claim and were now willing to pay me the total of all charges deducted from my account, to the value of £330 (this is less than the total I have calculated, which is £370).

I brought up the fact that a court claim had been made and that interest and court charges had now been added onto the total being claimed and that this now came to over £400.

She replied by firstly saying that the bank does not pay interest, and then went on to say that they had "nothing on file" to say that any court claim had been issued.

I said that the claim had been issed by the courts and sent to them outside of my control; although I don't believe they haven't had it yet anyway..

Next day, I receive a letter reaffirming the offer made and saying that they are "sorry I did not feel this was acceptable" and that "account charges are in place because the banking service is offered as free and if I can't manage my account they are at liberty to close it, blah blah blah...".

 

3) I checked the post this afternoon and there is nothing in there from the bank. The court has given them until today to reply.

 

 

 

...so - what now?

 

I have the Notice of Issue form from the court which has a section about if the defendant has not replied. However the form also has a section saying that the defendant may Dispute the Claim or File an Acknowledgement of Service or Admit that only part of the claim is owed.

 

Could it be the case that they may have taken one of the latter 3 options, but I have not been notified of this?

Shall I phone the courts to find out if there has been any contact from the bank?

Shall I wait until tomorrow and file a Request For Judgement on the grounds that the defendant has not replied?

 

Any advice would be great.

 

cheers

[the_decknician]

[jonni2bad]

Don't worry - your case will now be handled by the Organ Grinder. You have just experienced a chat with the monkey.

 

Pay no notice of this, they will be in touch soon.

[the_decknician]

Ok, I have filled out the Notice of Issue attached to the copy of the claim the court sent me. I have stated that the defendant has neither agreed to nor contested my claim and that in light of this I am applying for full settlement of the amount claimed immediately.

 

Thanks guys

[jonni2bad]

Check with the court before you set off, often these acknowledgements are sent by fax at the last minute - wouldn't want you to have a wasted journey.

[the_decknician]

I phoned the court yesterday, they said they are 4 days behind at the moment but they are dealing with things in strict date order; the guy I spoke to went on to recomend that I return the form anyway...

 

Basically, he said that even though the defendant is given a date by which they must have replied - it is up to me to ask the court to enter judgement once this date has passed. If the bank are say 4 days late is replying and I wait a week before returning the Notice of Issue - then they will deal with still allow it.

 

So, anyway. I've sent it off. We'll see what happens....