Jimmyay V Natwest ***SETTLED IN FULL***

[jimmyay]

The bank now appears to have missed the date for submitting their AQ to the court.

 

Anyone had this and has an idea of what happens next (apart from i get my pen out at some point and write a letter to the court about non compliance etc etc).

[jimmyay]

Right - i'm ready to blink guys!

 

Despite Natwest not filling their AQ in , in time to the court, i'm pretty sure that i need to settle now, based on their offer of full charge refund (but no interest and no costs) because if the now we know that the OFT is to rule in April on this issue, it will be most likely rule before my case gets heard ; natwest may then defend, and i will only get the difference between my charges and the OFT recommendation and have to fight through the courts for interest.

 

I am about to send a letter off saying i've reconsidered their offer of full settlement of my charges ( less court costs and interest) and will accept.

[Parkvale]

Jimmyjay,

This had crossed my mind already. Have a look at this

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/natwest-bank/69641-can-nat-west-reduce.html

[jimmyay]

Yes i see the thoughts there and i can appreciate the militancy with which the CAG wishes to prosecute the banks over this. i myself have got very wound up over this and want my money back!

 

However the likelhood of a test case or ruling by a judge is increased by an OFT ruling. The courts actually really WANT there to be a test case and are sick of banks coughing up at the last moment like they are doing. there would then be an enormous amount of confusion and the whole resources of the banks will be put on getting the "accepted" wisdom of the OFT seen as the "fair settlement".

 

Although i am not happy with this possible outcome, it is a reasonably forseeable one and will throw a spanner in the works of claims already underway when the ruling comes out.

 

Do those with actions already pending / awaiting court dates really relish the opportunity of a fight in court with the bank running the risk of having to settle for a proportion of the charges, when they could have easily accepted 100% settlement of the charges when the bank offered it.

 

Tricky one but my view is many will settle - can only speak for the natwest situation, other banks may be adopting different approaches, of course. Of course its different "post" an OFT ruling, if you start your claim after the ruling will just be another fact of life. it isnt' at the moment so i guess many wil opt for full settlement less court fees and interest in some of these Natwest cases.

 

I also heard anecdotally from a source within the courts that some (current account) bank claims are already being defended and rulings are being made using the OFT credit card ruling as a guide to settlements. i know this is not applicable with the bank charge issue and it may be that my source was confusing the credit card and current account bank charges issues but it doesnt stop a judge ruling - and if they were talking about rulings in credit card cases then it just shows that the same may apply post OFT bank charge ruling, to bank claims , in any event.

[Parkvale]

jimmyjay,

Whatever the OFT recomendation/ruling it still doesn't alter the law of the country. Which is what we are all using to reclaim our penalty charges. So the banks will still have to disclose their true costs in court or continue to settle out of court.

[jimmyay]

appreciate that - you're quite correct.

 

however the OFT ruling will carry some weight.

 

up to the individual really. depends on your ratio of court costs/ interest /bank charges i guess.

 

i am going to sleep on it.

[jimmyay]

just had copy of cobbetts AQ which they submitted at the last possible moment in the end the day of the deadline. Bloody typical - they must have all this info automatically programmed into a computer to spin it out as much as possible. Still they made it. And my argument about their cpr 18 request and my counter request for info must have hit home as they have confirmed they now want it to go on the SMALL CLAIMS track. A victory of a kind . Just waiting for a court date now & hope they cough up in full before we get to court.........

[Josamolly]

Good luck Jimmy.. I'm right behind you.. Just awaiting the AQ from the courts, having aready had the defence from Cobbets...

[Parkvale]

jimmyjay,

Turn a negative into a positive . You are on the home straight now. Just be patient and hold your nerve.

[jimmyay]

i have slept on it and my rejection letter still stands.

i see from other threads that people are have been in the same position and won. will keep me determined.

[Parkvale]

jimmyjay,

Courage is controling your fear, and fear is losing control of your courage. Good luck jimmy and welcome back,

[Josamolly]

I have thought and thought many times about my case Jimmy... a bit of SoLA, contractual interest to boot as well.. I have come to the conclusion that i only live once and need to make a stand. This is my moment.....

[Parkvale]

Josamolly,

You are also a star

[jonni2bad]

Hi Jimmyay - responding here from another thread where you posted.

 

The only time I would ever advise accepting offers of charges only would be where court action has not commenced. Once it has, as in your case, then there is absolutely no reason why you should accept less then the full value of the claim, this being;

Charges

Overdraft Interest (if claimed)

Interest on each charge

Court costs

s.69 daily interest from the date of claim until settlement.

 

In all likelihood, the bank will have several people in different departments dealing with these claims and I would imagine that the backlog means that some people will receive what the bank believes to be a full settlement, not actually realising that the claim had moved on...

 

I suspect that could easily be the case here. I'm glad you decided to reject it.

[jimmyay]

thanks for that - it inspires confidence - well i guess its a case of sitting back and doing my knitting for a while waiting for them catch up with things.

 

i am getting the impression that communication between Cobbetts and Natwest HQ is not all it should be , in co-ordinating and managing the claims.

[jimmyay]

I have won!

Got cheque through from Cobbetts in (nearly) the full sum of £2,700+ at the weekend. With a very bitter letter of their non-admission of liability.

This is slightly less than i claimed as they didn't include my AQ fee but have since spoken with them and they are going to send me that separately & that will make it up to £2,850.

I'm so relieved i didn't crumble when Natwest offered me full settlement but no interest and no costs the other week, i had my withdrawal of rejection offer letters all typed up and ready to go but just waited a few more days and it was worth it.

Advice to others is keep in there and don't weaken as you will get it in the end if you face squarely up to them as per all the advice on this site.

I will be donating some money to this site as i would have struggled a bit without the help of people on here, even though i have some knowledge of courts and am not easily intimidated, it can be scary doing this kind of thing. Thanks to all who have helped me, Parkvale, Josamolly, Brownie 24 and Jonni2 bad!

Hopefully the cheque will now clear!

[Josamolly]

Excellent Jimmy.. well done for hanging on in there, well pleased for you.

[Parkvale]

jimmyjay,

CONGRATULATIONS Brilliant result . I am so pleased for you.

You are a real inspiration . I hope all the new CAGGERS look at this thread and take encouragement from your result.

[jonni2bad]

CONGRATULATIONS

 

I have also now moved your litigation details to 'concluded'.

 

Could you take a moment to compete our SURVEY please?

[jimmyay]

Thanks Guys.

V happy about all this. Best of luck to everyone with their own claims.

J

[brownie24]

Well done Jimmy.

 

I still have no luck as yet, but missed the post this morning so fingers crossed x

 

Can I just ask you whether you changed the 6 year claim period to begin the date you submitted your MCOL or did you use the same figure and info you had outlined in prelim letter and LBA?

 

Brownie24

[jimmyay]

In the prelim letter and LBA i accidentally included 3 historic charges which were "out of time" , and so i removed them when i filled out the MCOL and I just charged 6 years from the date i first raised the issue with them which was in November. However my first charge was not until the February 2001 i think so i was within the limit for all charges anyway, i hadnt had a charge since well before this, my LBA, prelim had included charges from mid 2000 in error but of course these werent in the final claim.

 

In short though , as far as i understand you are able to recover 6 years charges from when you first raised the issue with them - this is so that they dont use the law to talk you "out of time" on the charges.

 

Best of luck, i'm sure you will meet with sucess as well, just a few days to wait hopefully.

[brownie24]

Yeah hopefully I'll follow in your footsteps.

 

Although I am battling with them at the moment as to my claim amount and they are using the argument that the 6 year period begins when I submitted MCOL. However I am fighting my corner that my litigation with them actually began when I submitted my SAR and my claim was based on the subsequent info/statements they furnished me with.

 

Have fun spending your money:D

 

Brownie24

[songbird]

I have just read thru all your messages, well done, I hope you are successful I am just about to start my own action with some intrepedation. Has your action resulted in them closing your account or withdrawing your overdraft?

[jimmyay]

No they just said if i couldnt accept their terms and conditions then i'd have to just openh a basic account . it was more of a statement than anything ele. they are not supposed to do this retaliatory action but i did open a parachute account with overdraft matching facility, etc, just in case.

i am a private banking customer with NW and have a good credit rating these days (hadnt incurred any bank charges in the last 12 months anyway) and have been with them for 15 years, so i dont reckon i'll be first in line to get chopped by them.