What do I do now? Dilemma!

[blimeyboy]

If MCOL still shows acknowledged and you have not received anything from the court then no need to panic.

Wragg are trying to scare you into giving up, it is obvious they have no intention of claiming. Also my feeling is that Wragg know the courts are getting very annoyed with the banks and the bank solicitors - swapping the with work and having no intention of defending any claims.

So instead of entering a defence with the court they try to scare you off with 6 pages of rubbish ( their defence). I am sure there is a % of people who drop out at this stage.

DONT DO THAT

Stick with it and you will get paid out.

A&L seem to drag it on as lonf as possible but in the end they pay up.

My Cheque arrived on Saturday and from the initial Prelim Letter to when the cheque arrived was over 70 days.

 

Stick to your time table. (33 days from when you issued your claim).

[PeggDC]

As Caza says, most useful advice blimeyboy.

One thing I have picked up from a couple of other threads is when reading the 'defence' Wragge send through, it mentions "Insufficient particulars of claime" - usually items 9-11. In particular item 10 talks about claimant failing to particularise the claim against the defendant adequately, and the claimant is requested

[PeggDC]

sorry, got cut off there!

continued - requested to particularise each and every charge etc etc

Obviously, this has been sent to the bank, on several occasions, but is it worth sending to Wragge and the court also?

Well done on getting the cheque through! One other thing I have heard about is A and L subsequently closing accounts - has this happened to you?

[blimeyboy]

Pegg, I agree they have had the particulars of claim on several occasions I feel it is a standard tactic (from all bank solicitors) to scare/delay the process.

All banks know that they have to pay up, they do not have a leg to stand on.

If they can scare 10% of people to drop their claim then thats 10% payout saved.

My gut feel is that with such media attention people follow other websites/media guidelines that is not as in depth as CAG - nor do they have the forum to discuss with other their experience advice.

So here is the senario:

Mr A uses BBC Watchdog templates to claim money back...

Mr A goes through the process following the 'ten point' guide.

Then MR A gets a letter from the banks solicitor - Mr A cannot find any help on BBC Watchdog site dealing with the letter so drops his claim.

 

I am not saying the BBC Watchdog site or similar sites or not good, but they are not as in depth as CAG.

Simple.

 

In terms of closing my account, the letter with the cheque said they woul dbe contacting me accout my account - standard issue again as the account was closed late last year

[MimiJane]

sorry, got cut off there!

continued - requested to particularise each and every charge etc etc

Obviously, this has been sent to the bank, on several occasions, but is it worth sending to Wragge and the court also?

Well done on getting the cheque through! One other thing I have heard about is A and L subsequently closing accounts - has this happened to you?

 

Yes, cover your back. Send it to Wragge with a short covering letter saying you've previously sent it to the bank and hope this clarifies your claim. Also, ring the court (as I did recently) and email your schedue to them. Some people are awaiting the Allocation Questionnaire to send it to the court, but few people are now getting these, unless it's later requested by your local court.

 

A&L seem to be closing accounts in the vast majority of cases, hence the urgent need to open another account, especially if switching DD's and Standing Orders is involved.

[nicgould1981]

Ok, I have now received 2 copies of the defense - one from Wragge and Co and one from the court. Whats this AQ I'm waiting for?

 

Also as yet nothing has been mentioned about a court date - will this happen?

 

Lastly, I'm panicking that I haven't sent a particular claim to anyone - all I did was send letters to A&L asking for the total amount and fill out the MCOL - I haven't been asked for the total amount to be broken down, or for a more detailed breakdown of my claim, or why I think its unfair!

 

I've got this horrible image of me in court being ripped to pieces by a nasty A&L solicitor!

[JonCris]

If you completed a MCOL then you have submitted your claim. A court date won't be set until after they receive your completed AQ.

 

If you haven't submitted a schedule of the charges & interest you better write to the court & send them both to the court Wragge & Co. Having done that please read the FAQ's & someone else's thread to learn the procedure.

[nicgould1981]

Will the schedule of charges be my past statements with the charges highlighted?

 

I came to this forum from another website and seem to have missed out a lot of the steps, so when I read other people's posts they don't really make sense!

[JonCris]

Your statements are the evidence of when the unlawful penalty charges were applied. The schedule is your calculation using a spread sheet of the amount you wish to recover excluding court costs (you add them to the final figure). You only need to submit your statements as evidence/court bundle when requested to support your claim

 

You must take the trouble to read the FQA's & another members thread

[nicgould1981]

Thanks JonCris - I have now read through the FAQ and created a Schedule.

 

I actually started off on the Daily Mail website and followed their steps to start with - they then send you over to this website when things get nasty which is why I seem to be doing things the wrong way round!

 

Will it harm my claim that I'm sending in my Schedule at such a late stage? I will send a copy to Wragge and Co and the courts with a covering letter.

[nicgould1981]

I am just reading through the defence and under the section on the charges, they justify each one of the charges I am claiming for. These are Paid Item Fee, Failed Transaction Fee and Unauthroised Overdraft Fee.

 

They state that each of these is reasonable and I agreed to them when I opened the account. How am I supposed to respond to this?

[Jess68]

I'm at same stage as u guys, im in the process of typing in A+L defense so we can all compare notes. I was mega panicking but im at the stage where i'm not loosing anything by claiming so if i loose (which hopefully i wont) ive not lost anything... if that makes sense..

 

I rang the court after i received a copy of A+L defense from Wragge & Co, the guy at the court weren't too impressed they had sent it to me direct before filing it with the court, mutually agreeing intimidation tactics. Anyway we will probably all get decisions at same stage so fingers crossed!

[blimeyboy]

nic how are the justifiying each of the charges?

They have to show that each of the paid item fees etc ACTUALLY cost £30 to do.

We all know from previous whistleblowers etc that the true costs is aroung £2.50 (if that).

In their defence they have to prove or show that for bouncing a cheque etc it actually costs them £30 to do it.

Needless to say they cannot prove that at all.

 

What they have sent you is rubbish. Its a major scare tactic.

By sending you 6 pages of legal jargon they still hope you will walk away as its too complicated.

Stick to your guns and just get everyhting prepared.

 

In etrms of your schedule of charges.

With your Premil letter, LBA and once you issued court proceedings you should have sent a copy of the schedule of charges.

The bank will have a copy of these charges anyway but it is something you have to have done.

[nicgould1981]

Thanks BlimeyBoy! Its all starting to become a bit clearer now!

 

I've now sent out a Schedule of Charges to both the court and Wragge and Co.

 

Also because the court have chosen to dispense with the Allocation Questionnairre, as suggested in another thread I have sent to Wragge and Co a 'nudge' letter suggesting they call it a day, and I have sent the court a Draft Direction letter suggesting we all provide information within 14 days etc.

 

So now I just have to wait to hear from somebody!

 

I'm just thinking about the information I will have to prepare and I'm not sure I have all of the information for the court. I have my Schedule of Charges, my statements (can they be Internet Banking printoffs? and do I need to highlight the charges?).

 

I'm not sure which Statement of Evidence applies to my case (post 55);

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/53570-new-strategy-allocation-questionnaires-3.html

 

Then I have the Basic Court Bundle.

 

Is this all I need?

[nicgould1981]

Just another update.

 

I haven't heard from the court following my Draft Direction letter.

 

However, A and L have responded to my nudge letter by repeating their previous offer of £198.

 

They have responded to my Schedule of Charges by saying

 

'it does not deal with the issue in relation to the Particulars of Claim, which would require a formal amendment under order of the Court, or where you will need to introduce these details into evidence for the Court (by way of a witness statement or otherwise) during the course of the proceedings. We say this not to be difficult, but only as a comment on the Court rules'

 

Can anyone put this into English for me?!!!

[Jess68]

errrr seems they are saying that you can introduce your schedule as a witness statement... i think anyway.. sorry not much help but i get a little bewildered by the whole thing.

[cazawilson]

Dont worry i had the same letter from wraggle after i sent them my schedule, i emailed them back informing them that i had already had legal advice and that i was waiting for a court date to finally put this thing to bed. They are just using a lot of legal jargon to scare you i'm sure everything is fine, dont worry. My case has now been transfered to my local court and there is no allocation questionairre to fill out. When did you send your direction and was it the draft one on this site???? also have you heard anything since. Let me know, youre not the only one bricking it. x

[cazawilson]

Check out the thread MJ versus A&L it will help you no end

[nicgould1981]

Right, I've finally got my day in court in August, which seems like ages away but I know I've got a lot of preparation to do before then!

 

So any tips for what I need to do? I know I need to get some papers ready for A and L and the court in advance, and assume I'll need to take some on the day too.

 

Also what happens if A and L turn up at court???!!!

[MimiJane]

Right, I've finally got my day in court in August, which seems like ages away but I know I've got a lot of preparation to do before then!

 

So any tips for what I need to do? I know I need to get some papers ready for A and L and the court in advance, and assume I'll need to take some on the day too.

 

Also what happens if A and L turn up at court???!!!

 

What "directions" did you/A&L get from the judge in the letter informing you of your court date? This will tell you exactly what you need to prepare and will probably give you a date when it has to be submitted. It's a good idea to post them on here so you can get advice.

 

Is it a preliminary/directions or full hearing?

 

If it's a full hearing and you have to submit any documents beforehand, it's unlikely you will have to take any with you on the day.

 

It's highly unlikely A&L will turn up (don't think any bank has yet:rolleyes:), unless it's a preliminary/directions hearing when they have on occasions attended.

[nicgould1981]

Hi MimiJane, I've just been reading your thread and sounds like you are just as stressed as I am!

 

The letter says;

 

'Deputy District Judge Brown has considered the statements of case and allocation questionnaires filed and allocated the claim to the small claims track.

 

The hearing of the claim will take place at 14:00 on the 17th August and should take no longer than an hour.

 

Witness statements should be included in the documents filed and served including those of any individual party.

 

Witnesses must attend unless advised otherwise.

 

Court may disregard document etc if directions not complied with.

 

Each party shall deliver to every other party and to the court office copies of all documents (including any experts report) on which he intends to rely at the hearing no later than 14 days before the hearing.

 

The original documents shall be brought to the hearing'

 

So what are all these documents they are referring to?

[MimiJane]

Hi MimiJane, I've just been reading your thread and sounds like you are just as stressed as I am!

 

The letter says;

 

'Deputy District Judge Brown has considered the statements of case and allocation questionnaires filed and allocated the claim to the small claims track.

 

The hearing of the claim will take place at 14:00 on the 17th August and should take no longer than an hour.

 

Witness statements should be included in the documents filed and served including those of any individual party.

 

Witnesses must attend unless advised otherwise.

 

Court may disregard document etc if directions not complied with.

 

Each party shall deliver to every other party and to the court office copies of all documents (including any experts report) on which he intends to rely at the hearing no later than 14 days before the hearing.

 

The original documents shall be brought to the hearing'

 

So what are all these documents they are referring to?

 

Hi there,

 

Your directions are very different to mine ... they differ from judge to judge, but I'll do my best to help.

 

It sounds like a full hearing, so very important you submit your documents prior to the 14 days before the hearing, or your case could be struck out.

 

There's a template for the Witness Statement here, which you'll have to adapt to your case.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/abbey-bank/57385-examples-witness-statements-disclosure.html#post479224

 

Here's a link to some important info., including the "basic court bundle", which includes important back-up legal documents to your witness statement:-

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/guidance-notes/64911-got-court-date-guide.html#post553523

 

I'd print this off in include it in your bundle, together with any other docouments in the CAG Library (at the top of the forum) which you think may be relevant, e.g. settled cases like Dunlop v. New Garage and Lordsvale v. Bank of Zambia ... lots of cases included in the library, but have a read through and print off the ones you think are applicable. In addition, you can google any BBC articles on bank charges (specific to A&L or otherwise) that you'd like to include, or any other info. you know about of course.

 

Also include copies of all correspondence you've sent and received between all parties in date order and, of course, your charges schedule and copies of your statements with charges highlighted (just those with charges on).

 

My bundle was over 200 pages long, so there's quite a bit of preparation:rolleyes:

 

If A&L don't comply with their directions by the way in the time specified, you can ask the judge to order that they settle in full with you for not complying. Keep all your originals safe for the hearing.

 

Other folks on the forum may have different ideas on what you should submit, so hopefully you'll get other replies.

 

Have a good read through all the links above and PM me if you'd like me to email you my index, though it will need altering of course.

 

Good luck

Mimi

[jansus]

hi

 

great advice from Mimi as usual

 

for what happens in court keep your eye on new posts early next week as there is a big bulk case at mercantile court on Fri - in excess of 150 people at court - and another on 4th July.

 

Should be some interesting posts then.

 

Best of luck

 

jansus:)

[nicgould1981]

Thanks everyone, I'm just getting the court bundle together now.

 

I'm having difficulty finding settled cases I can use as examples - can anyone give me a link to them?

[MimiJane]

If you go into My Forum from the home page, scroll down to the CAG Library ... you should be able to find everything there that you need.