Beckz -V- Abbey

[beckz27]

Just recieved abbey's defence this morning. Can anyone tell me what happens next please? I am awaiting a letter from the court saying which court will be dealing with my claim, does any one know how long this may take and how long i may have before i have to attend court.

(The defence denies everything)

[jcaps]

Hi Beckz, the system is changing because of the heavy workload on the courts. I got a letter from the court around a week after abbeys defence saying where and when but I wasnt sent an allocation questionaire. Court date was for 6th june, abbey settled in full today, keep going beckz your getting close.

[beckz27]

Thanks for the support. I have a rough idea about what needs to go in the court bundle but could you give me a bit of an idea as to what went in yours, don't want to make any mistakes and be made to look stupid.

 

Cheers

[jcaps]

I used the basic court bundle from this site, use this template for your witness statement (delete or add where applicable)

 

WITNESS STATEMENT

 

 

 

Claim Number: XXXXXXX

Claimant: XXXXXXX

Defendant: Abbey National PLC

In relation to : Bank charges applied to account number XXXXX since March 2001

 

I, XXXXXX will say as follows:-

 

1. I am the Claimant in this case.

 

2. I make this Witness Statement in support of claim against the defendant.

 

3. I make this Witness Statement from information and facts within my own knowledge and which I believe to be true.

 

4. I have contracts with the defendant since 8th January 1993. I am claiming the return of money taken by the defendant in the way of charges since March 2001.The bank's charges are a disproportionate penalty and therefore unenforceable as they are contrary to common law.

 

5. On 3/ 8/2006 Data Protection Act – Subject Access Request: Letter to defendant requesting complete list of transactions relating to my account for the last six years.

6. On 9/8/2006 letter dated 9/8/06 received from defendant, the information you have requested is no longer held on our systems and therefore an administration fee is required as follow £5.00 for 1 month statement and £10.00 for multiple monthly statement which have been archived.

7. On 14/8/2006 letter to defendant enclosing £10 fee and informing them of my registered address, it is the same address as all previous correspondence.

8. Letter dated 19/9/06 received from defendant confirming all data transactional held in the system have been produced but still needing confirmation of address.

 

9. On 25/9/06 Letter to defendant requesting repayment of charges and pointing out that regime of 'fees' that the defendant had been applying my accounts in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations. Request for repayment of charges and 7 days notice given for the defendant to respond positively.

 

10. On 28/9/06 Standard holding letter received from defendant together with Complaints Leaflet

 

11. On 3/10/06 another Standard holding letter received from defendant together with Complaints Leaflet

12. On 9/10/06 Letter before Action to defendant enclosing further copy of schedule of charges.

 

13. On 10/10/06 letter to defendant in reply to their letter of 6/11/06 (not included) another copy of charges also attached.

 

14. On 27/10/06 Form N1 completed via MCOL £120 fee paid. Copy of schedule of charges sent separately.

 

15. Notice of Issue received from court. (not attached).

 

16. On 29/11/06 Notice of transfer of proceedings received from court.

 

17. On 29/11/06 Notice that a Defence has been filed from court.

 

18. On 11/12/06 Allocation Questionnaire completed and returned to court. £100 fee enclosed.

19. On 8/1/2007 Notice of Allocation to Small Claims Court.

 

20. On 8/1/2007 Letter from DISTRICT JUDGE BROWN orders the hearing on 13/04/07 at Shrewsbury County Court.

 

21. My claim is that the bank's charges are a disproportionate penalty and therefore unenforceable as they are contrary to common law. Further, as a disproportionate penalty they are invalid under the Unfair (Contracts) Terms Act 1977 s.4 and under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Para.8 and sch.2 (1) (e). In the event that the charges are not a penalty then they are unreasonable within the meaning of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 s.15.

 

I have repeatedly asked the bank to justify their charges but they have declined to do so. As reported on a recent BBC2 ‘The Money Programme’, three experts have researched for a period of time and their conclusion is that the maximum cost incurred to process a ‘bounced cheque’ is £4.50 and a ‘direct debit or unauthorised overdraft’ is £2.50. Therefore being charged £20-£35 for the same ‘service’ is unlawful.

 

I am claiming interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% a year on£2491.56p including costs from 14/8/06 to such period as the court deems just

 

 

Statement of Truth

I believe the facts stated within this Witness Statement to be true and exhibit Exhibits comprising dated 13 January 2007.

 

 

Add all your statements and a schedule of charges plus any correspondence from the bank regarding the complaint. Get it in as soon as you can, then I emailed inga with an offer to settle without me adding further costs ie photocopies, stamps, expenses, time spent on case (an extra £270)

 

Hope this helps

[beckz27]

Are you saying the court bundle needs to go now???

 

I thought you only needed this when you actually went to court, didn't realise i needed to send it now, does it have to be sent to the court and the bank???

 

I am awaiting a response from MCOL to tell me which court will be dealing with my claim.

 

HELP PLEASE

[hellhasnofury]

Are you saying the court bundle needs to go now???

 

I thought you only needed this when you actually went to court, didn't realise i needed to send it now, does it have to be sent to the court and the bank???

 

I am awaiting a response from MCOL to tell me which court will be dealing with my claim.

 

HELP PLEASE

 

Hello Becks

 

Calm down please, there is no need to panic. These things do not happen overnight.

 

There is no need to do the court bundle yet as you have not had a court date,

 

You issue, they defend denying of course, this is the nornal process and nothing to worry about:D

 

Next stage, it maybe a while as the courts are a bit busy, you will recieve a court allocation questionaire from the court. you fill it out and send it back with your fee(claimable of course). You will help filling out the allocation questionaire in the bank templates library.

 

Then the court will eventually send you a court date at a local court near where you live, They will give you instruction when to send in your court bundle probably two to three weeks near your court date.

 

Please be assured that the court bundle( lots of photcopying )will probably not be necessary as they will cave in before this and give you your money:D

 

My court date for the NatWest was the 25th June and I recieved my cheque last week so take faith and stop worrying.

 

You will get yours

[jcaps]

didnt mean to scare you beckz. the bundle is a way off but it does help to prepare yourself.

[beckz27]

Need some advice please.

I recieved Abbey's defence about 2 weeks ago but have not recieved anything else from either Abbey or the courts. MCOL did say they would be transerring my claim to a court and would let me know which one it would be but i have not heard from them either.

I am getting a bit worried now incase i have forgot something.

Can anyone advise if this is normal or if i should be doing something or contacting someone?

[Villafan]

Hi Beckz,

 

Don't worry... it's more likely that MCOL & the courts are just bogged down at present with all of these claim.

 

Why not try giving them (MCOL) a call on 0845 601 5935 & see if they can give you an update.

 

This is the hardest part sitting & waiting....gives you chance to read up on & get to grips with the next stage though & then when it happens it's not quite so scary . Good luck!

 

Villafan

[jcaps]

dont fret beckz, you are in the same boat as loads of other scabbey claims. keep your chin up, you will be paid off soon enough

[beckz27]

Just recieved a 'notice of transfer of proceedings' today, my case has been transfered to the Liverpool county court with Judge Murdoch. It does not contain the allocations questionaire though just Abbey's defence. Does anyone know what will happen next and how long it will take? I am unsure about what will happen next.

[beckz27]

One other thing i have as yet not recieved any GOGW, although i have noticed that several others have. Bit disapointed

[Villafan]

Hi Beckz,

 

The AQ will come from Liverpool County Court (if they are still doing them?) I think I received mine about a week after I'd received the notice of transfer from MCOL.

 

I also received my GOGW from Abbey after they'd filed their defence...marked 'without prejudice' of course!!! so hopefully you should hear from both the court & Abbey soon. For what it's worth GOGW wasn't worth it anyway...it was about half of my claim.

 

Just abit of a wait now but keep going!

 

Villafan

[beckz27]

Just called the court in Liverpool to be told they are not sending out AQ to everyone now and i wont be getting one. (not sure if thats good or bad) but still have to pay the £100 fee to them before the 25th May. Can anyone tell me what happens next please?

[beckz27]

Need some advice please.

 

I have now paid my fee to court for the AQ that i am not getting, but unsure if i should be doing anything just now or sending anything to either Abbey or the court.

 

Any help would be great please this seems to have dragged on forever compared to some people, (i started my claim in January)

[beckz27]

HELP!!!

 

Just recieved a court date for the 10th July at Liverpool County Court, the letter says it is a 10 minute hearing.

Do i need to attend, and hand my court bundle in before then?

My predicament is that i live in Livingston (between Glasgow & Edinburgh) and although i am prepared to travel there and back i would rather not if i don't need to.

 

Any help and advice from anyone would be a lot of help Pleeeease

[Lula]

hi Beckz, it would be very wise for you to attend, what did the order say exactly

[beckz27]

Not sure exactly as the letter was sent to my Liverpool address and i am awaiting it being sent to me either via e-mail tonight or in the post.

 

Do you think i will need my court bundle??

[Lula]

LOL I dont know without seeing the order, Abbey will probably settle before then anyway, if they do offer to settle and you have already done your bundle ask for those costs too £9.25 per hour plus printing, ink, postage etc etc

[beckz27]

Cheers for your help, will post the letter as soon as i get it

[beckz27]

As promised here is an outline of the letter i recieved;

 

Notice of Allocations to the Small Claims Track (Hearing)

 

District Judge Johnson has considered the statements of the case & allocations questionaires filed and allocated the claim to the small claims track.

1. Claimant do within 21 days of this order, serve a schedule setting out the amount of the individual charges, the date they were applied to the account and the reasons given for such charges.

2. (Allocations questionaire dispensed with)

3. The hearing of the claim will take place at 12.00 on the 12th July 2007 at Liverpool County Court, and should take no longer than 10 minutes.

Then it goes on to say i must inform them if the case is settled before hand, and the case is listed with a number of other similar cases and the order of them will be determined on the day depending on various factors such as attendance and priority. Although every effort is made to hear the case on the day it may need to be changed to another day.

 

In the notes at the bottom it does state that if i choose not to attend on the day i must inform the court within 7 days before the hearing and the district judge will hear the case in my absence, but will take account all the statements provided.

If the claimant attends but the defendant does not the judge may make a desicion based on the evidence of the claimant only.

 

Can any one help with this please??

Is their anything else i should send other than the schedule of charges??

And do i really need to attend?? My issue is that by this date i will be 22 weeks pregnant and due to problems with my hip and pelvis am unable to walk far, Although i know it would look good if i attended and i would rather attend after coming this far don't want to blow it, but if the case is not even heard on this day that means i would have to travel to the court on another occasion.

 

HELP PLEASE

[Michael Browne]

Is their anything else i should send other than the schedule of charges??

No

And do i really need to attend??

You should make every effort to attend. Cases have been known to be struck out by non-attendance

You could send written representation with Draft Directions See here:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/lloydstsb-successes/56933-tjc-ltsb-2.html

but this would be very much a last resort

[beckz27]

Meant to ask do i need to send Abbey a copy of what i send the court???

[Michael Browne]

Yes

[beckz27]

Just a quick question, when i go to court on the 12th July do i need to take my court bundle with me, or anything else??