Had a wierd letter after MCOL

[Geekusdeekus]

Hello,

 

In November, I wrote to A&L asking for a breakdown of my charges. When they arrived, I started the spreadsheet from October 2000, I can'y remember why. I have recently filed a claim with MCOL. My spreadsheet was actually written in December and the dates the spreadsheet covers are 30/10/2000 to 21/12/2006. I received a letter this morning from A&L saying that I am only allowed to claim for 6 years and I should send them an amended spreadsheet that only covers 6 years.

 

What should I do? could this put my claim in jeopardy?

[Advoc8]

There is a law that limits how far back you can claim (6 years for this sort of thing) however there is also an exemption in that law that might apply here. For the moment I'd simply ignore their letter, they may try other methods to get you to lower your claim but those can be dealt with as they arise. The only communications you need to worry about are those from the court.

[Geekusdeekus]

I have retyped the letter in full here:

 

'We have received from Northamton County Court a copy of the claim form that you have issued. We note however tht you are seeking to recover charges added to your account since 30th October 2000. Under the limitation act 1980 the maximum period for which you can make claim of this nature is 6 years. Can you therefore please provide us with a detailed breakdown of the charges that you have incurred since the 8th March 2001 so that we can consider the matter further. Can you please provide us with this breakdown within 7 days of this letter.'

 

If I did this it would hardly affect my claim as I have recently been subject to some charges. However, they are wanting mw to backdate the claim 6 years from the date when I filed the claim, surely this is wrong. If this was the norm then everybody would be forever changing their spreadsheets as weeks pass, taking out the old and adding in the new etc.

 

Also, if I gave them what they ask for would this be classed as a new claim and have to start from scratch? I am very nervous about the implications of this letter. If I do ignore it what could happen? I don't want to miss out on my claim in full, it is for nearly £7k.

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Advoc8]

First of all, don't panic!

 

This letter is a scare tactic. After you submitted your claim to MCOL did you send both MCOL and the bank another copy of your spreadsheet (you should have although it's not obvious that you need to do this)?

 

Let's make an assumption that you send them a list of the charges, which having seen the full letter I think you should if you've not done so since starting your court claim. The list you should send them would be the full list of charges you are claiming, not just since 2001.

 

They then submit a defence. This defence may or may not make an issue of the pre-2001 charges. Unless the court directs you otherwise don't worry about it. If the court does want to make a ruling about those earlier charges at an early stage it can do but there are arguments on this site that can support your claim for earlier charges.

 

The way that a claim works is that if it goes to court each separate item you are claiming for can be awarded or not. I would suggest that the worst that would happen is the pre-2001 charges get chucked out but not the rest.

 

Just one word of warning. As your claim may take you into the fast track you might get more complex paperwork than a small claims claim. Keep coming back for advice, but don't worry!