Fendy v NatWest - 16K - **FINALLY WON**

[fendyweather]

:o Please help, have I fluffed up before Ive even started. I sent a letter to Natwest on 28th Jan with full schedule of charges and interest at 8% and awaited a response. A week later I got a reply from the lovely Stuart Higley advising they were looking at it and considering my claim. I subseqently realised through looking at this action group that my claim went back a little over six years so I thought I had better redo the spreadsheet to include up to 6 years only. So I changed it, which actually made it a bit more because of the charges just come through last month, and resubmitted the letter again, saying I wasnt happy with their response of "they were considering it and would get back to me in due course". I submitted the new sheet of charges saying that I wanted a definitive answer from them by 1st March or I would be filing claim for charges plus interest. It now seems from reading the Action Groups threads that perhaps I should not have included the 8% interest. Is this right or wrong, and is it going to affect my MCOL Im filing in two days time if I include the interest at 8%. Its a little over 11K just charges but with 8% interest its around 15.7 K. Have I done wrong to have asked for interest from the banks to start with and will this mean my claim is thrown out. They've never come back to me with any kind of offer even just for the charges themselves without interest, though they have had my schedule of costs over a month now. Am I in my rights to now file Claim with MCOL to include the 8% charges, as I had requested from Natwest from day 1. ? Help, I just hope I havent fallen before Ive even started. I just need reassurance that the court wont boot it out at day 1 based on the fact I asked for 8% interest from Natwest from day 1. Help............... please. xx:-|

[shoe_junkie]

Hi Fendy

 

I'm not really sure if this will help or not but this is my 2 pennies worth, firstly please read the FAQ's again, you shouldn't claim for the 8% interest until you submit you claim to court. Also can I just check you have sent you Prelim letter and LBA both with a different schedule of charges, is that right? Did you mention in your letter why you've changed the schedule of charges?

 

I'm not sure if it would be a good idea to start again or not, as the reason most people say MAKE SURE you don't add the interest in the first and second letters is becasue it shows that you don't know what you're doing, so maybe it would be best to start again, maybe someone else could advise?

 

Also have you been sending your letters recorded delivery?

[fendyweather]

Hi there, just to clarify, I sent both the original letter and the LBA to the same person, and explained why I had changed the amounts on my spreadsheet in my second letter. I was told to add the interest in my first letter by somebody on the forum thats why I calculated it with not just the charges but the 8% interest too thinking that at least if they came back and offered to pay just charges then I would accept, but they havent replied by deadine set in the second LBA letter yet, and they only have one day left to do so. I dont really want to start again, as Ive already waited from start of the claim about 7 weeks now, so Ive delayed enough. I want to get this under way with MCOL, but wanted to know if I could still file claim for full charges and interest based on the fact my original spreadsheet showed both charges and interest on each one. If it gets to court, could I not claim that had Natwest come back to me and offered just charges then I would have accepted. ?? Help, Im such a novice. And its such a big amount. And yes, all correspondence I have sent to them to date has been sent recorded. No mistakes there. So I know theyve had everything.

[fendyweather]

Just wanted to add that having spoken to Nattie on Chat Room I havent fluffed it. She assured me I can still start claim for full charges plus 8% on 1st March as planned and it will be fine. Phew........ nearly went mad then thinking I had blown it. APPARENTLY I HAVENT. GREAT. WATCH THIS SPACE.................... XX

[Guest NATTIE]

Fendy, He assured me....please that is twice tonight that i have changed gender.

[fendyweather]

So sorry Nattie. I assumed with name like Nattie it was short for Natalie. So sorry. Just goes to show, we shouldnt assume anything. Sorry again.

[Guest NATTIE]

No need to apologise but it was the second time last night that i felt inadequate for some reason:D

[fendyweather]

Inadequate, Im sure not, your knowledge on all this is phenomenal. Im incredibly impressed, u shouldnt feel inadequate in any way. Sorry again, I will stop assuming and ask in future. Thanks again for the advice to date, Claim starts tomorrow with Natwest, i.e. filing MCOL tomorrow, their deadline is up and no further response so its costing me £400 to file the claim but worth every penny if I get 15.5k back. Thanks Nattie for support and info to date, Im sure I will be back for more. xx

[fendyweather]

Hi again, today is D day to start my MCOL claim. It works like this. Last LBA letter I sent to Mr. Stuart Higley gave him 18 days, i.e. until 1st March to respond to my claim for 11.5K plus stat interest at 8% making total of 15.7K, just over, and low and behold today on my mat arrived a letter for the lovely Mr. Higley, very polite and all, simply stating that and I quote "Your complaint regarding charges has been passed to me and I am sorry we have been unale to reach an agreement with you. I am sorry that we have not yet been able to respond to you and would askk that you bear with us in the meantime. We re currently investigating and will respond to you as soon as possible." End of letter.

 

Is it me or is this a stalling tactic, them somehow believing that if they hang on for the OFT ruling beginning of April then it might somehow stand them in good stead to be able to hopefully put of a few court cases. ??? Anyways, a new tactic, Ive employed here. I see Mr. Higleys department have a fax number: Its: 0207 8236 8010 for anybody thats interested. So Ive downloaded a fax sender from efax.com and sent him a final message by fax giving him a further 24 hours, no more to get back to me with some kind of response before I commence action tomorrow. It basically says that Im giving him a further 24 hours only to get back to me by fax, at my fax number, with answers to my claims, or basically some sort of date as to when I can expect a full detailed response from him instead of the standard, we will get back to you when we can. Ive given this long enough, and I feel Im being fair to give him a further 24 hours, no more. Not sure if they get back to customers by fax, but it was worth a try. Anything so that I can help my case by showing a judge I was being more than fair by giving him a further 24 hours after the previously advised deadline. I think it can only help my case. Plus Im only waiting an extra day for a response. So to be totally truthful whilst Im not expecting a response, I did this purely as extra back up to myself when it comes to court, if it gets that far. Im totally prepared to take it all the way and stand up in court and defend my case. Im not frightened of courts, judges are judges and I have the utmost respect for them, but they are only people at the end of the day. Nothing to be frightened of. Ive done nothing wrong. So, Im not sure if it will help, but I thought it was worth a short at faxing to give a further 24 hours just in case he deems me worthy of a speedier response or to help back up my case when it gets to court, if it does. I will keep you all posted as to if I get a reply to this fax, or not. Was worth a try for nothing. I also said in the fax that I would be happy to accept refund of the charges plus interest at 8% but in the absence of a satisfactory response, or even the opening up of any reasonable dialogue then now Im going for Contractual. Between you, I and the gatepost I dont think I can do this and win with contractual, but I really thought it was worth a try on the IF YOU DONT TRY YOU DONT KNOW basis. Anyhow, will keep you posted. This site is just amazing. The help, the love, the support between all us hard done by hard working customers of these big banks is just immense and warms the cockles of ones heart to know that with the power of people working together in a common interest, we can make a difference. Thank you.............

[fendyweather]

How weird, had e mail from Mr Dixon at Natwest after my e mail to them telling them it was final day to settle before I started my MCOL and low and behold he came back to me to say they had sent me a letter on 16th Feb to offer me £10970. But the thing is, I never had this letter from them. I never received anything from them offering me this. The other thing is that the letter I had from Mr. Higley this morning, mentioned nothing of an offer, only that they were still looking into it, see above post and could I bear with them. I found it odd that the e mail I received sort of contradicted this. So I wrote back to Mr. Dixon telling him so, also adding that if they were to settle my full claim for charges i.e. 11701.00 without the stat 8% I would have accepted, but as I never received anything, I gave them a deadline of 1st March to respond with offer, and they didnt, so hence starting MCOL first thing in the morning. Will keep you posted tomorrow on what arrives in my inbox. I was told by one of the admin people on here that if they offer me the full 11701. prior to be submitting my MCOL claim tomorrow, that I have to accept. Does anybody know if this is the case and thats true. ????? I would prefer to submit MCOL for the charges of 11701. plus 8% stat interest, thus making it 15.7K. But its gonna cost me 400 to make the claim through MCOL. Any ideas anybody ??? It might be that NW dont get back to me first thing in the morning, believing that my deadline was up yesterday but the truth is Im gonna submit the claim next Monday, not before, thus proving to any court if it comes to it that I did extend the deadline by a few more days to give them chance to get back to me. It can only go in my favour I think to show that I was a reasonable person and let the deadlines drift a little in the hope of getting good offer or dialogue from Natwest. Anyways, will post tomorrow and let you know if the lovely Mr Higley or Mr Dixon makes me an offer of my full charges. If they do, Ive been urged by the admin peeps on here to accept. THINK I WILL.

[Michael Browne]

If they offer your charges in full prior to you filing, you should accept. To go ahead with a court claim for interest, which as you now know, you are not entitled to before filing a claim would be foolhardy.

[fendyweather]

Yes I realise that, but as I told them I would be filing MCOL today at end of day technically theyre probably not now going to offer me the full charges of 11701. are they ? I know Im not filing the MCOL until Monday, basically because I wont have the money till then to pay for the claim, i.e. its costing me £400. I would still prefer they settle before court, but if I havent had full offer from them before Monday of full £11701. charges only, Im quite within my rights to start the MCOL for the 11701 plus 8% stat int, making it 15.5K in total to claim from Monday. And for them to say they sent me a letter offering me 10970 on 16th Feb is a lie. I never received anything from them letter wise with any offer. ever. If I had, I would have given it serious consideration, but surely they cant then tell me by e mail they offered me this on 16th Feb when I never received that letter. And Im still within my rights to hold out for the full £11701.00 arent I ??? Prior to filing MCOL. However, once I get to filing MCOL because deadline passed today, today was the dealine, then I can legally claim for the £11701. plus the 8% stat int making it 15.5K. Yes ??

[Michael Browne]

if I havent had full offer from them before Monday of full £11701. charges only, Im quite within my rights to start the MCOL for the 11701 plus 8% stat int, making it 15.5K in total to claim from Monday.

Absolutely

[fendyweather]

Wooo hoooo. I kind of hope they dont settle before I can afford to start the MCOL on Monday then, cos that way I can claim for more. 15.5K is better than 11.7K. But obviously I realise theres a bit more time, money, hassle and stress involved in getting the 15.5K. But hopefully worth it............ anyhow, will post again tomorrow if theres anything in my inbox in the morning. Like an offer for £11701. would be nice though.

[fendyweather]

Hi again, latest update on this. On thursday that was the deadline that I have given Natwest on my LBA. So as post above I started dialogue with them by e mail. They said they had offered me £10790 by postal letter on 16th Feb. No such letter ever came to me. Gave them a further 24 hours on Friday, yesterday to come back to me. I added if they were to offer me my full charges only, without any interest etc. i.e. £11,701.00 then I would accept, otherwise I would be starting my MCOL and taking on a solicitor, and I court fees would be another £400 plus interest at 3.35 per day from day of filing, plus that my solicitor would be changing the interest from 8% stat to 29.5% contractual. Now between you and I and the gatepost I know I cant now change it to contractual but I thought it was worth a go to try and get them to settle before court, because with 8% interest on it comes to 15.7K as I have been saying. I really thought Mr. Higley would see sense in that its better to settle now for 11701.99 rather than take it to court and me get 15.7 plus 400 court fee, plus interest accruing daily. I was obviously wrong. They came back to me Friday said they were looking at it, I clearly told them deadline was 5.00pm Friday 2nd March, and they chose to ignore it. Nobody came back to me, hence Ive filed my claim with MCOL this morning. It cost me £400 but worth every penny if I end up getting the 15.7K plus 400 costs plus interest at 3.35 per day. WHAT ARE MY CHANCES, ANYBODY ??????

 

If you can offer any help at all then please send all directives this way. Its court now. I was wondering, once they get served with the court thingy can they still come back and offer me my charges and do I have to accept or can I take it all the way to court now for the 15.7K. Thanks.8-)

[Guest NATTIE]

your chance of winning? What did i say the other night? Has anyone using this CAG method ever lost with natwest on bank charges? Errrrrrrrr NOPE.

What do you think of your chances now? Good Fair or poor?

You know what i am saying. Keep going the cheque will follow.

[Michael Browne]

I was wondering, once they get served with the court thingy can they still come back and offer me my charges and do I have to accept

or can I take it all the way to court now for the 15.7K.

 

Yes you can. But equally you can decide to accept or refuse any future offer

[fendyweather]

Thanks again Nattie. Ur pretty good at this bolstering peoples nerves up arent u. Im grateful believe me. I just keep worrying that perhaps Ive done it wrong because I asked for 8% right from the start, although as I said to you I would have accepted just the charges had they come back and offered them to me before MCOL. I gave them 2 deadlines by e mail over a 48 hour period and they didnt meet either of the deadlines. I just keep thinking how come they keep their nerve on this and let me submit MCOL for total of over 16K now with court costs on it. Do they know something I dont. And why didnt they settle with me for 11701.00 when I gave them the chance to. Are they happy to to go court for the 16.1K now or what. ?? Are they mad, confident of their case or just dont care how much extra money they cost their bank by not settling before MCOL. I will keep plodding away and will ensure I research and keep reading thoroughly all the info on the site and FAQ's about court bundles and the rest, but how do they hold their nerve so well. I will hold mine, but its blummin nail biting I can tell you. Dont think Ive ever downed as much red wine ever as I have in the last 48 hours. Purely to keep my nerve. Anyhows MCOL done now, so I will just have to sit back and see what happens next. Thanks again though for the words of encouragement. The peeps on here are fab. ;-)

[fendyweather]

Hi Michael, thanks for the advice, but I was just wondering, because its now such a large amount i.e. 16.1K with court fee added on, will they fight it in court do you think, actually stand up and defend this one. Its a lot ??? x

[Michael Browne]

Send 2 copies of your schedule of charges, clearly marked with your claim no. + a brief covering letter asking for them to be filed with your claim to:

 

The Court Manager,

Money Claim Online

Northampton County Court

21-27 St. Katharine's Street

Northampton

NN1 2LH

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

(Your Name) –v- (Bank)

Claim No: ********

Date Issued: xx/xx/xx

 

Please find enclosed a schedule of penalty charges taken from me by the defendant, along with interest claimed at the annual rate of 8% pursuant to section 69 of the County Court Act. The interest in addition to the amount in charges equates to the total amount of my claim, namely £(AMOUNT).

 

I respectfully request that the enclosed schedule should be attached to the particulars of my claim.

Yours sincerely,

 

Wait until you receive the Notice of Acknowledgement (not the Notice of Issue) from the court and then send a copy to the bank’s solicitors, since they are the ones who will now be dealing with your claim

 

Dear Sir,

 

(Your Name) -v- (Bank)

Claim No: ********

Date Issued: xx/xx/xx

 

Please find enclosed a copy of my schedule of charges relating to the above claim.

 

Yours sincerely,

[Michael Browne]

will they fight it in court do you think, actually stand up and defend this one.

Doubtful, but you should always assume that it may and therefore prepare as much as you can.

[fendyweather]

Amazing, thank you so much. I will do this and post recorded on Monday. Thanks a million again. Really appreciate all this help and advice. Scarey as the whole process is.

[fendyweather]

I will ensure this covering letter and schedule goes to the court on Monday by recorded or special. Not risking anything not getting to anybody now at this stage. Its now serious and Ive thrown serious money behind this claim. Im in this to the bitter end now, whether it costs me more money to do this or not. I gave them 4 chances in total to negotiate with me and time after time they didnt get back to me. Surely all this giving them more chances can only go in my favour if a judge looks at it. Ive kept all my e mails send to them and received back from them, and in each Ive been extremely courteous and offering the olive branch in each. i.e. even telling them if they offered me my charges only of £11701. that I would accept. TOUGH ON THEM NOW THOUGH. IM TAKING IT TO THE WIRE FOR THE WHOLE 15.7K PLUS 400 QUID COSTS. SO THEYRE NOW LOOKING AT 16.1k for their own stupidity and lack of contact i.e. getting back to me to negotiate. I aint backing down now for anything, and even if they offer me charges now Im not taking them. Im in it for the whole 16.1K now. The whole way. Ive bitten enough nails on this and worried enough about seeing it through so as far as Im concerned now Im not accepting a penny less than 16.1K. I think they will try and defend it to the very last day so Im in it for the long haul to the end, however it works out. Thanks to everybody for the great support and encouragement. It means a lot to us all I know. xxxx:)

[hedgey06]

Way to go Fendy!!!! I feel like cheering just reading your last post! Good luck mate and stick it to 'em!!!

[fendyweather]

I dont want to tempt fate, but the way I look at this now is, Im fearless. I have nothing to lose. Ive already lost the 11.7 K, which I thought was gone forever, so s*d them, Im gonna be greedy. Theyve nearly stuffed my life up for a couple of years, it was a nasty time back then, and I just see it as Ive nothing to lose. Anything I get back now is just a huge bonus, so they cant hurt me. Im solvent now, have been for a couple of years and dont owe anybody anything, apart from my mortgage of course, but Im always in credit now, Advantage gold customer, and always pay everybody on time now, so I dont owe them anything. THEY CANT TOUCH ME. They will be mine, Oh yes, they will be mine. Dont know if its the lovely south african cabernet sauvignon Im coiffing back but I feel totally fearless now. Ha. Not smug or unbeatable, but certainly fearless AND NOT THE LEAST BIT AFRAID ANYMORE. These organisations are soul less and faceless and prey on all our inexperiences and fears. Well not this lady. LOL. xxxxx:D