MEOB v Barclays (help please!)

[MEOB]

Received, thank you. Should have checked my email before posting!

[MEOB]

Hi Guys, any more feedback before I post my Prelim letter?

 

I'm also looking for the answer to the following questions before I do this so I understand the full implications:

 

Will this claim (approx £7,800) move me out of the small claims/onto fast track?

 

Does that open me up to costs if I loose? Is there a limit on this?

 

I read in another thread that if I am fast track I'm probably better off in

regard to a settlement as the bank can be ordered to disclose their costs at court for fast track, so are more likely to settle. Do I have this right?

 

Can anyone link me to some usefull info relating to Small claims v fast track?

 

Finally, what I would like to do is give the bank authorisation to speak to Mr.MEOB on the phone in regards to this (or full authorisation to talk to them) as he is helping me anyway and is pretty clued up on this stuff, but I don't know what wording to use. Any help/examples of 'aceptable' wordings for this?

 

Sorry to be a pain.

[dar£n]

Fast track and multi track

 

Small claims track

 

£7000 yes fast track

 

Costs yes

[MEOB]

Here is my prepared Prelim. letter in (more or less) full.

 

I have edited exact figures etc. to avoid identification of the claim, just in case. I am also offering Barclays 14 days in which to settle at the exact amount for charges plus overdraft interest on charges over the full 12 years. I don't think they will do this, but I want to be able to show the Judge (should it get that far) that I have been willing to settle fairly and amicably from the start of the proceedings. Should I take the 'without prejudice' out? Will that prevent me from showing this to the Judge?

 

Request for repayment of charges

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: XXXXXXXX

 

My request

I am writing to ask you to refund to me the charges which you have levied from my account over the last 12 years.

I now understand that the regime of fees which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent consumer regulations. If you say that they are not, then will you please demonstrate this by letting me have a full breakdown of the costs to which you have been put by as a result of my breaches, in order to reassure me that your penalties really do reflect your costs.

Additionally, it has now been confirmed that your particularly high level of penalties are considered to be unfair per se by the OFT who reported on the 5th April 2006 and are therefore presumed to be unlawful in the absence of specific proof to the contrary.

 

In anticipation of your using the Statute of Limitations act as an argument against claims pre-dating 6 years I draw your attention to s.32(1)(b & c) of the Limitation Act 1980.

 

Your responsibilities

I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law.

 

I am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary.

I consider that your repeated representations that your charges are fair and reasonable are deceptive and that they have deceived me into agreeing to pay them.

Your concealment of the true nature of your charges has prevented me from asserting my right until now.

 

Please note that this letter places the balance of my account in dispute. Please refer to The Banking Code if you are unsure of the implications of this.

 

What I require

I calculate that you have taken £1,9XX.XX plus £2XX.XX which you have charged me in overdraft interest for the sum which you have taken.

I also contend that that the principle of mutuality, or reciprocity, applies to the banking contract I entered into with Barclays Bank PLC. I therefore claim interest at a rate of 27.57% APR (Your current unauthorised overdraft rate), from the date of each transaction compounded daily. This currently stands at £5,6XX.XX. This Interest will continue to accrue at the daily rate of £1.45 until this outstanding balance is settled.

The current total amount outstanding is £7,8XX.XX as at the date of this letter.

I enclose a schedule of the charges which I am claiming with this letter.

 

My targets to resolve this matter

I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me about this matter and I am writing this letter to you on the assumption that you will prefer to do this than merely respond with standard letters and leaflets.

 

I will give you 14 days to reply to me accepting, unconditionally, my request in principle and letting me know a date by which I will receive payment. If you comply with this deadline then, as a gesture of good will, I am prepared to accept a payment of £2,1XX.XX as full and final settlement in relation to the charges which appear on the enclosed schedule. This offer is made without prejudice and is only valid until close of business (6:00pm) on [Two weeks from date of letter].

 

If you do not respond, or you do not respond positively, within this time period, I shall send you a letter before action giving you a further 14 days in which to reflect. I believe that these targets are more than sufficient for a large company such as yours with dedicated staff and departments.

 

After that, there will be no further communication from me and I shall issue a claim at the expiry of the second deadline.

 

I am hearing impaired and wear hearing aids. Because of this I find it difficult to communicate by telephone, therefore please ensure your response, and any further correspondence in relation to this matter, are sent in writing by post or email.

For the sake of clarity, I do not wish to receive any telephone communication in relation to this matter.

 

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

MEOB

 

I'm a bit worried that I may be the first Barclays customer to try beyond 6 years with Contractual Interest, and the fact that the claim total is fast track level is adding to my worries. Is there any way I can get a mod to glance at this just to check it all looks OK and I've covered everything I need to at this stage? I just need some reassurance.

 

Some others have entered multiple small claims to avoid fast track. I'm assuming that I can do this even after I send this letter and my LBA (Just in case I get cold feet), although this might alter the total amount of the claims. Any comment on this?

 

Wow, my nerves are kicking in and I haven't even sent it yet!

 

[dar£n]

Hi mate,

You do realise that at this stage you are not entitled to claim for the interest dont you?

 

Interest only gets added when filed at court.

 

just checking!

 

As you are going 6+yrs + CI, you are going to have obstacles, so you dont want to give them MORE to work with.

[MEOB]

Hi Dar£n,

 

I confess that I was under the impression that CI could be added at this stage. I thought that Statutary Interest shouldn't be added until the court stage (which I am obviously not claiming since I am going for CI).

 

This is what my reading on this site seemed to show. Have I got this wrong? :o

 

See, this is exactly why I wanted an expert like yourself to check this out. Thanks for that - back to the drawing board!

[MEOB]

Hi Dar£n/All,

 

The post sainty 1 linked to in post 16 of this thread shows CCI being added at Prelim letter stage

 

Also, see post 19, 22 and 40 in this thread:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/18313-why-no-one-claiming.html?highlight=Contractual+interest

 

Has this info been superseded?

[dar£n]

Sorry mate, early morning and speed reading it,

my mistake,

Include your CI as you have and then the S69 at court as an alternative

[MEOB]

No problem.

 

Yes, that's the plan, with the Bank's standard rate as a first alternative. I'm going to argue (amongst other things) that the Bank has been unfairly enriched by lending my money to others at these rates.

 

Would it be wrong for me to PM bankfodder and ask him to look at this? I don't want to hastle people with minor stuff when they are busy, but I am nervous at asking for 12 years of charges and CCI and using fast track (for the first time with Barclays it would seem), so I want to be sure I get it all right from the start.

[dar£n]

Have you read Bong v HSBC thread.... She would be a good contact

[karenann]

Have been reading your thread with interest. Just wanted to post a good luck message in your +6yrs and CI claim. If I can offer any help along the way will try and do so but will keep an eye on your thread and hope all goes well.

 

Karenann

[MEOB]

Dar£n - Thanks. I think I have seen this thread (Bong rings a bell!) I will check out the Bong thread again if I can find it and maybe PM her.

 

karenann - Thanks for the support. This stuff is so overwelming that it is nice to know that there is support there.

[MEOB]

Dar£n,

 

Do you mean this thread?

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/hsbc-bank/33005-bong-hsbc-contractual-interest.html

 

I have read with interest. I can't click on bong's name to send a PM, but I have posted asking her to have a look here. With her experience it looks like she could help me out a lot.

[dar£n]

Hmmmmm looks like she is no longer a member then,,, strange!!!!

[dar£n]

Hi just asked HSBCrusher to take a look for you!

[HSBCrusher]

Hello Folks.

 

I have had a quick scan of the thread, tell me if I have missed something.

 

Firstly, for your prelim, keep it simple. Don't give away your arguments so soon!

secondly, If you claim £6000, then stick to your guns at this stage. If you are willing to drop £2000 right away, how much further are you going to give? This makes you look desperate IMO.

thirdly.. my opinion of CI is this, I think its OK if you can get it, by all means have a go for it. But do not go to court on that alone, especially since you are now not immune from costs.

 

You add on CI interest at prelim stage... if you are claiming the standard 8% then yes it does only get added at N1/MCOL and not before.

Unfortunatley, Bong has decided to leave us, so you will not be able to contact her.

[MEOB]

Hi HSBCrusher,

 

Thanks for taking the time to look things over.

 

I take your point about keeping things simple, so I will remove my reference to the Statute of Limitations act and only bring it up once they do, but I think Barclays must be expecting this argument by now!

 

Your point is also taken about the reduced offer. I wanted to show later (if necessary) that I had acted as fairly with my claim as was possible, but I was worried that this might be interpreted as a weakness by Barclays, so I will remove this too.

 

Your third point was my thinking exactly, especially after reading some of the recent wins. If Barclays do pay on everything else I will probably have to settle, but if you don't ask...

 

Thanks again. I'm off to edit my Prelim now, and I will be sending it (special delivery!) first thing on Monday.

[MEOB]

Hi Guys,

 

OK, I'm printing my spreadsheets out now and have a couple of questions.

 

The spreadsheet I'm using has one page where you enter the charges and overdraft interest and it calculates the total charges and O.D interest on the charges, another page which calculates the s69 Stat. interest, and a final page which calculates the CCI.

 

So, do I send page 1 and 3, or just page 3? Page 3 includes the charges and dates of charges, but no detail/description.

 

Also, while entering my O.D interest I notice that there are times when my balance was positive when the O.D interest was charged. On these occasions the interest paid on penalties remains zero (which can't be right). I appreciate that the spreadsheet can't be 100% accurate since the balance fluctuates so much during the month, so should I just remove these lines from the spreadsheet and ignore them? They look very out of place at the moment.

 

Any help just to clear this up before I send my letter much appreciated.

[MEOB]

Can anyone help with this?

[saintly_1]

i think Trucker had the same thing with his o/d interest maybe you could ask him

[MEOB]

Thanks saintly 1.

 

I have PM'd Trucker.

[Trucker]

i think Trucker had the same thing with his o/d interest maybe you could ask him

 

Yes... the 1 occasion i was in credit :grin: .

 

Have returned PM

[MEOB]

Hi Guys.

 

Thanks to Trucker I have sorted the interest problem.

 

Can anyone advise on which bits of my spreadsheet to include with my prelim?

[Trucker]

If the spready is for 8 %... knock out interest on charges and interest on bank interest

[MEOB]

Hi Trucker,

 

I am claiming for CCI in my prelim, so I guess I need to include the CCI page of the spreadsheet.

 

My question is, is this enough on it's own, or should I include the first page (charges and o.d interest only) too?