abra15 v BoS

[abra15]

Hi, I have been reading through and trying to find out the best way to go about my claim. I received my statements on Saturday and with interest of 8 % my amount it around £6000. which i have to say makes me feel sick that they have got away with this for so long.

 

I am about to send my letter asking for them to refund my charges but i have been reading about splitting and seems it is not the way to go anymore. so i think i will have to get a solicitor which scares me.

 

Has anyone else been through the normal court for this kind of money and what kind of solicitor did you get? did you use a special claims firm or a normal one?

 

sorry if these have been asked but i couldn't find any posts about anyone actually been through it.

 

thanks

[donaldtramp]

I split mine into 2 and the court clerk didn't even bat an eyelid. Small claims and Summary Cause claims are good because they are a simple way of fighting in court. Remember you fill out the claim with the charges which can total up to 1500 in a summary cause and you can add the interest on top of that at 8%. So if your spreadsheet's interest adds up to 1500 quid or more I would think you would only need to file 3 Summary cause actions. (3 x 1500) with the interest on each 1500 added to each claim.

 

That's the way I split it anyway. Could you go this way?

 

DT

[abra15]

I spoke to the court clerk today and she said the only way was to goto normal court. I live in a Shetland which isn't very big and i think they would notice and I really don't want to lose because I didn't do it right.

 

My charges are 5387.00 and interest is £625.89 so it would be 4 claims plus interest. A drop from £6000 to £1500 is a lot if it doesn't work out.

 

I asked her how much the court fees would be but she didn't know. I'm not very keen on getting a lawyer then the bank backing out at the last minute and i still have to pay them. Which i think would happen with the no win no fee. I suppose i will have to ask local firms if they can deal with it and how it would work.

 

Thanks for your reply

[maroondevo52]

Hi abra15,

 

Summary Cause will cost you £39.00. The court will then send your papers back to you and you have to get a Sheriff's Officer to serve them on the defender. This cost me £15.97. The court gives you a list of local Sheriff's Officers and you can claim the costs back.

 

Best wishes with your claim's.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[abra15]

Hi, the problem is i cant do summary cause because i have been told by the court officer that my only option is ordinary cause court which i need a solicitor for. i have spoke to one local firm today who say they wont do it and i should speak to citizens advice.

[roryroo]

What about these no win no fee solicitors advertised they do all the work for you

[abra15]

the no win no fee solicitors seem to take all their fees from the bank and 25% - 40% of whatever i get.. which i think is a bit much if i don't even make it to court. I understand they have to still do a lot of work but getting their fees and almost half of mine is too much. it was bad enough the bank taking it and now i have a chance to get it back i don't want the solicitors getting it. but i would like to know if anyone has used any law firms in Aberdeen or the north and how much i might have to pay upfront. there is still a chance they will give me an offer before it comes to the court stage but i want to be prepared and know what i should be doing cause there seems to be a big chance they wont give me an offer.

[garyhay]

Plenty of solicitors in Aberdeen and if they ask for an upfront fee then they are not worth using as they should know you will win and include thier costs in any sum that is claimed.

 

I would use Quantum Claims as they will be best in this area with sort of claim. They can then add the 30% (or whatever) fee to the total being sued for.

 

www.quantumclaims.com

[abra15]

Thanks garyhay but they still want to take a % of what i get i am pretty sure I will win so I don't need a no win no fee just a solicitor who knows what they are doing and has hopefully done it before. But I have had no dealing with any solicitors before. I would be glad to hear from anyone who has been to the ordinary court with a solicitor.

 

thanks

[maroondevo52]

Hi,

 

Still not sure how you can't do 4 x Summary Cause, don't the courts in Shetland work the same as the rest. Seems odd.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[donaldtramp]

I can't see any reason why you can't split into 4 claims. As long as you pick dates and split it so between each set of dates the charges come to 1500.

 

You could end up giving a couple of grand to a lawyer that should come to you.

[KHMcBey]

abra - do you know anyone in England that would be willing for you to use their address purely for correspondance? That's what I'm doing in order to use MCOL, I've done it for 3 claims against BOS for my parents and a claim for myself against BOS. I did read somewhere about getting a PO box address in England, but not sure if you can actually do this for the purposes of MCOL.

[abra15]

Hi, after a lengthy conversation with the court clerk she has agreed that I can split the claims, but should try one at a time, or one first anyway to see what happens. I think they have only dealt with small claims cases of this so far. but there will be much more if i win, all my friends will be doing it too.

 

KHMcBey - Yes my brother lives in England so I have thought of that but mine is over £5000 so will need 2 and I was worried I might have to travel to England which will cost a lot and with another £100 charges today I don't think i will be able to afford to. but it might be an easier option if i dont actually have to go there. my parents also have a claim of over £3000 so it might be an option for them too if it worked ok for you. I have sent my letters to Edinburgh, will i still be able to use the english courts?

 

thanks

[garyhay]

Abra

 

Did you ask Quantum what they would take?

 

If they want 30% then this will increas your claim by 30% so will get the same.

 

If you don't want to do this try George Mathers & Co probably the best fpr this sort of thing in Aberdeen

[alic]

If Shetland's officers dont seem to have a scooby, what about filing in Edinburgh or something. I'm sure you could email them your forms and mail them a cheque. If worst omes to worst and you have to turn up to court..Edinburgh is not a million miles away from Shetland. I filed with Edinburgh today and they were really good.. seemed really clued up on all the bank charges stuff??

[abra15]

Thanks alic and garyhay, I think I will just go ahead with the summary cause in Shetland and see what happens. I got a letter from the BoS today thanking me for my letter and they are sorry to learn I am unhappy with charges applied to my account. and I should receive a reply within 4 weeks do i still have to wait for the 2 weeks to be up before I tell them I am taking them to court? I don't want to give them anymore time than I have to. What do I do about the new charges do I have to write new letters or can I add them to this claim?

 

thanks

[KHMcBey]

I added new charges to existing claim. I put in a new sentence that read "since my first letter I have been charged an additional x amount which I shall also reclaim" and added the new charges on to my charge list and sent it off to them. Stick to your timetable, so leave it for the 2 weeks if that's what you've said.

 

I appear to have been the first person to file through Elgin Sherriff Court as they had no idea either, but they accepted it!

[abra15]

ok thanks KHMcBey I will do that. Just gonna wait and see what they say.

 

garyhay, quantum claims said they don't deal with this kind of thing.

I think I wont bother with a solicitor at the moment it seems kinda hard to find one.

[garyhay]

Never a solicitor in sight when you need one. I suppose they want tens of thousands. Sorry if I have wasted your time with that.

 

I never waited 2 weeks after getting the 4 week reply and ended up getting an offer quicker.

 

It's up to you

[KHMcBey]

Do you have to split the claim if it's over 5k on Moneyclaim? I thought it was any amount under 9k or something similar. BOS don't go to court, I received my full settlement today for just over 1.5k.

[abra15]

Its no problem, didn't waste time, its good to know. Moneyclaim is 5k i think. I have sent my letter to Edinburgh though so will that stop me using the English system?

[KHMcBey]

No it won't - all of my letters were sent to the Edinburgh address but when I filed I used the address for the HBOS group. They're part of HBOS ergo it's also their head office! Bar stewards lol

[abra15]

thanks for your help I'm still not sure what I'm going to do. i still have time to think about it. congratulations on getting your money back.

[abra15]

Their time is up and i haven't heard from them so i am going to fill in my forms. should i just do one then another then another or try them all at once? The lady at the court said to try one first and see if it worked, but i cant see why it wont work. I don't want to be going to court for the next year, but will if I have to. Has anyone done them all at once or is it better to do one at a time?

[donaldtramp]

I filed a summary cause and a smalll claim at the same time against BoS. Sheriff Clerk in Aberdeen said it would be no problem. The benefit of this was I got the same return date for both of them.

 

Now awaiting on return date.....

 

DT