ET v HSBC offer made - should I bite?

[ETphoneshome]

Hello everyone

 

I am new to the site. I found out about claiming for bank charges from the BBC online site and followed their step by step guide. From there I found out about CAG.

 

Here is what I did:

 

Dec 21: Sent letter to branch asking for £831.00 back for charges between Feb 2001 to Oct 2006

 

Jan 2: get letter back from CLangdale saying they want the charges listed in a table, not the hard copties

 

Jan 4: Send CLangdale letter with table of charges

 

Jan 26: File with moneyclaim online for £831.00 (cost me £80 to do so)

 

Feb 3: receive acknowledgement that it has been received and HSBC intend to defend.

 

Feb 14: receive offer for £732.00 from CLangdale

 

They have sent a form for me to accept and say if they do not hear within 7 working days they take it we have declined. I want my court costs back with MCOL, as I am on maternity leave and superskint at the moment. The full whack will pay off all our debts. They tell me they are confident they will win in court if I decline the offer.

 

What would any of you successful claimants advise?

 

Many thanks for any help.

 

ETphoneshome x

[nettyg]

just follow your timetable and get the rest back. you could send letter saying that you'll accept offer only as partial settlement as you have already filed in court and you intend to recover the remaining costs.

[ETphoneshome]

Thanks nettyg.

[ETphoneshome]

I've had some funny goings on. I filed my MCOL and it was deemed served on February 3rd. I got a letter from Langdate last week offering £731 (but I am asking for £832 plus costs) but it was dated Jan 31 - so a bit of a delay.

 

Today I've got a letter from DG Solicitors saying they act for HSBC bank. They sayin HSBC has passed to them our claim form (with our MCOL claim number) and they want a fully itemised breakdown of the amoung with the date of charge, description and value. They saying they cannot address the calin without this info and it will delay any resolution of the matter.

 

I don't understand this as I sent HSBS they full list of charges in the format required on January 4th.

 

Should I resent to the solicitors and has anyone else had letters from these solicitors?

 

Thanks for any help

[lateralus]

this is probably very good news - dg solicitors is acting for the bank and they dole out the offers after you file (you are correct in saying the one you got was a very late offer regarding one of your letters), when you get you acknowledgment - we advise sending dg a copy of your breakdown. they always ask for one before they make an offer - i smell an offer coming - send them the breakdown as soon as possible. i'm betting an offer less than a week away if you get them the breakdown quickly - you could fax it - but then send a hard copy to follow. fax no. in contact details above and probably on letter too. good luck - let us know what happens.

[ETphoneshome]

Hi Lateralus

 

I had an offer from Colin Langdale of £732 already. Will DG give me another? If you think it is ok for them to ask for a breakdown I will send one. I find it funny that HSBC didn't pass them all our letters with the breakdown we sent already. Or do DG just pick up from MCOL and don't see the rest?

[honeygie]

hello et.. from my experience, colin langdale makes a different offer.. but i would go for what dg would offer me... they are the solicitors i suppose.. and yes send them a copy of breakdown again.. this copy to be sent to dg solicitors... send them by post, fax email.. and then ring them.. lateralus hopefully would confirm this..

[ETphoneshome]

Honeygie

 

Thanks for the reply. Do we have to go with what the solicitor offers or can we still go for the full amount through MCOL? This is the first time I've done this.

[nettyg]

hi et

wait and see what dg offer you. if the offer is not acceptable, you can accept it as part settlement as you have filed a claim anyway. you can always say that you are going to recover the rest through your claim on mcol

[ETphoneshome]

Hi nettyg (you are lovely for replying to lots of threads and helping)

 

Ok. I've written to DG tonight and attached my letters to HSBC (21/12.06 and 4/1/07) which gave the prelim and the breakdown. We'll see what they say.

[Eddie]

Hi there

 

Are we supposed to reply to Langsdale offer letter, or just sit back and wait for DG solicitors to contact me?

[nettyg]

aww thank you, very nice of you to say (blushes)

 

i'd just send the breakdown with a covering letter - please find attached breakdown of charges as requested by yourselves on such a date! don't know if it's correct but i'd not be showing dg what hsbc had already offered

[ETphoneshome]

Hi Eddie

 

Langdale's letter with the offer to me just says if we do not sign the form and reply within seven days then they will take that as offer declined. I don't want to take his offer as I won't get my costs back and his offer is £100 lower than what they owe. I could do with it all back. However, Langdale's offer states that they will go all the way to court.

 

Nettyg

OK, I won't give anymore than they ask for. Thanks for the heads up on that.

[nettyg]

that's the spirit... if hsbc thought they were so legit in what they were offerering... erm why would they offer anything, the mind boggles.

at em and up em!! lol

[lateralus]

ok, back from the pub to restore order -

everything everybody said is just perfect.

and eddie and ET, as for responding to colin l's offers - depends on where you are - if you haven't yet filed a claim then colin langdale is the main man! and as such you should respond to his offer letters with a yes, please or no, thank you. but once you file your claim - colin never offers with the 8% or the court fee included (well, never say never - cuz someone will crawl out and say, yes, he did!), colin generally is responding to letters (allbeit, very tardy responses) sent before claims are filed. as such, once the claim is filed - dg becomes the main man. you would think, in a sane world, that hsbc would pass all the info to their in-house solicitors - but NOOOO.... sanity does not prevail - so, you need to send your breakdown - just the list of charges as the came out on the spreadsheet - that's the breakdown or schedule of charges that you are reclaiming. put a little cover note on saying - please find enclosed my schedule of charges relating to my claim number XXXXXXXX. plus a little equation for them charges xxxx+ interest xxx+ court fee xxx= TOTAL:XXXX.XX

dg may offer a 100% full return of your money - in which case obviously you will accept. if they come back with less - let us know if they say why they are offering less - if they just are - with no specific reason just saying they are "mindful of the costs ....blah, blah" and want to give you xxx to go away - then we recommend saying, no thank you - with a rejection letter - and they will offer more. ok, peeps? get back if you have questions or need reassurance. that's what we are doing here.

and et - i still think them asking is the beginning of an offer for you, very soon.

[ETphoneshome]

Dear Nettyg and Lateralus

 

Sending a letter today. I will let you know what DG say. Thanks to the both of you for your kind help x

[pieman]

Dont worry ETphoneshome, DG will make an offer soon and it will all be over. And fairies live at the end of my garden. No just hang in there and you will soon get the cheque.

[ETphoneshome]

I am just a few days away from a default judgement and now worrying they will close my account or ask for our overdraft back (although we've been within our limit for a good while now). Has this happened to anyone after a successful claim?

 

Thanks

[The Witstta]

I Had a settlement offer on Saturday and the money was in the bank today with no conditions imposed.

 

I did open a fall back account to be on the safe side but never had to use it.

[ETphoneshome]

Today the 28 days was up. I went to MCOL to click no defence and it said:

The Defendant disputes the whole amount you have claimed. Your claim cannot proceed online and will be transferred to the appropriate court for continuation. You will receive confirmation to where the claim has been transferred to shortly.

 

 

ARGHHH! What does this mean?

[livelylad]

Today the 28 days was up. I went to MCOL to click no defence and it said:

The Defendant disputes the whole amount you have claimed. Your claim cannot proceed online and will be transferred to the appropriate court for continuation. You will receive confirmation to where the claim has been transferred to shortly.

 

 

ARGHHH! What does this mean?

 

Firstly you have 4 threads for this claim, that makes it difficult to follow and advise please stick to one.

 

HSBC actions are standard, you will recive an Allocation Questionaire which you need to complete you will also recieve a copy of their defence.

Once you have completed the AQ return it to the court (with any applicable fee) and a copy of your schedule of charges (also schedule of charges to their solicitor) You will in time recieve a court date. The chances of going to court are very very slim. I also advise reading the step by step instructions this will explain it as well.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/11644-allocation-questionnaires-guide-completion.html

[ETphoneshome]

Hello Livelylad

 

Sorry for the four posts, I've just asked questions as they have popped up as I've gone along. I just panicked this morning when I went to MCOL and it said defended. Hopefully I will be able to sort out the AQ from that link you provided.

 

Many thanks.

[ETphoneshome]

I got the AQ form 149 in the post this morning. I've filled it in following the link but I am unsure what to put in section G - other information - can anyone assist with some wording?

 

Also will I actually to attend court? What will happen now?

 

Many thanks.

[hagenuk]

Hi

 

The information and wording you need for section G is all there. Please look again at the link that Livelylad posted for you.

 

Please also look here for details of other claimants experiences with HSBC, nobody has been to court yet, HSBC have settled in every single case.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/hsbc-fd-hfc-successes/

[ETphoneshome]

Hi Hagenuk

 

I can only see this:

Give details of any other information that you consider will help the judge to manage the claim, referring as necessary to any documents you might have attached. Bear in mind however that at this stage you need not attach all other documents which you wish the court to consider at the hearing. This is something you will later be asked to provide.

(BUT WHAT INFO DO I NEED TO ADD?)

You should state here that you believe the case will last no longer than 1 hour.

(OK GET THAT BIT)

You may wish to add reasons why the case is more suitable for Small Claims Track if your claim value exceeds £5,000 or provide reasoning why the other side should provide evidence of their costs! You could include similar text to this....

I am respectfully requesting that my claim be allocated to the small claims track. This issue is not a complicated one; it is an issue of fact and not of law. The issue is only whether the money levied by the Defendant in respect of its customer’s contractual breaches exceed their actual costs incurred. I am happy to pay their actual costs and I am surprised the Defendant did not counterclaim for these, because I would have paid them without argument.

 

However, the continuing problem is (in common with the 100s of other cases currently being brought by other bank customers) that the banks refuse to reveal the details of their penalty-charging regime. As the banks have a fiduciary duty towards their customers, they have a duty to deal straightforwardly and in utmost good faith.

 

Accordingly, I would respectfully ask that the court in this case, not withstanding allocation to the small claims track, order standard disclosure. I understand that it is in the courts discretion to do so. I believe this would bring a rapid end to this litigation.

(WHY WOULD I ADD THIS BIT IN WHEN THEY'VE ALREADY SAID IT WILL BE SMALL CLAIMS TRACK?)

--

 

I just can't see anything in this bit that hammers the nail into the coffin. I really worried that I won't be able to fill the form in properly and will not get back the £911 they owe. I am having a panic attack about it now. I wish I'd never started it. I haven't got a clue about legal stuff.