Natwest have taken ME to court

[stoggle]

I have had three bank accounts, a combined credit card and loans with natwest. I have been in a bad debt situation with natwest for a number of years now and it has been referred to their solicitor 'Shoosmiths'. I have tried to repay with various arrangments but recently I could not keep up my payments.

 

So natwest/shoosmiths filed a small claim against me. I immediatly sent off my data protection letter asking for statements from the last 6 years. I received my bank statements but not my loan/credit card statements (probably wrong address for these). I roughly calculated about £2000 that I could claim as unfair charges.

 

My intention is now to deny to the court the amount owed to natwest and argue that through the years of my banking with natwest the unlawful charges should be deducted.

 

If natwest are claiming money off me then they must have to provide all the evidance to the court, which I assume would mean a complete record of my banking history.

 

Any advice?

[hedgey06]

Bump for stoggle.............. anyone??? xxx

[Parkvale]

You must first try to stop any further action against you. Try one of these letters;http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html. Are you charges and interest more than you owe them ?

Start your claim for the return of your charges. They were taken unlawfully and you have a legal right to claim them back. These will help you.http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/faqs-please-read-these/

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/site-questions-suggestions/53182-cant-find-what-youre.html#post436526

Alot of help and info. available. Good luck.

[stebiz]

I'm being taken to court too.

 

Here is my link

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/natwest-bank/82094-natwest-stebiz-counterclaim.html?highlight=stebiz

 

I'm being sued for 7k plus. My charges would equate to a lot more than this. I sent off 6 days ago for a full SAR so I can work out my charges.

I have asked for a further 14 days to issue my defence.

 

Stebiz

[Guest NATTIE]

ball park fugure how much are you being taken to court for, higher of lower than the charges?

[stoggle]

OK natwest want £25k. As i said before I haven't had the statements for my credit cards or my loan, so at this stage I don't really know what the unlawful charges would be. But certainly over the last 6 years they would not come to anything like that amount. I believe (but I may be wrong) that the 6 year period only comes from the data protection act and that is why people can not re-claim beyond this period. My point is: If natwest are taking me to court to claim the debt accrued from my years of banking with them then they must have to have all records available as proof. Over the years the charges would take a huge chunk off that £25k. I have not got the court date yet, current status is 'transfered to my local court'. I'm not sure if I will have the time now to get statements for my credit cards and loan. So is it wise of me to make a defense without knowing the figures and to re-claim lifetime charges hoping that natwest will be forced to show all records in court?

[Guest NATTIE]

the advice here is now, to claim back charges further than 6 years.

[Wally]

Hi

I am being chased by the Natwest for old Bank charges and interest going back 6 years. I had agreed to pay £5 per month and kept to this. Because the 6 years is up they have told me I owe them £9,000 as they have been accepting the £5 per month and adding back £80 per month in interest. I contacted a Solicitor to sort this out and they have been pretty useless. The Bank now have decided after I was adament that the amount they where claiming was wrong that yes they had the figures wrong and are now claiming £6,000. The Judge has asked for their rate of interest they have been applying but as yet we dont seem to have an answer. I am now faced with them applying another court order for the £6,000 which is only made up from interest and am not sure how I should proceed with this as I am still waiting for them to explain how the original sum was made up (at a guess its bank charges). Should I try and settle with them as I certainly do not want a CCJ as this will effect my credit rating for 6 years.

Anyone got any ideas?

[gandolfi]

Hi stoggle

I'm in the process of challenging a very similar situation, but am a bit further down the line, so hopefully a read of my thread http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/natwest-bank/81525-gandolfi-natwest.html might help - there is a great deal of really good advice there. I'll try to advise too, although I am only a basic CAGer and only know what I've learned here.

 

Firstly, it would be a big help if you could give us a clear account of the situation so far by letting us know the following info:

 

1) What did they write in their Particulars of Claim?

 

2) Have you submitted a Defence yet? If you have, could you tell us what you wrote in your defence please?

 

3) How much time has passed since the claim was served and what stage is the case at?

 

4) Are the accounts in question personal or business accounts?

 

5) What do you think will be the proportion of the debt that is made up of unlawful charges? What will it be if you claim beyond six years (which you should!)? Also, what will it be when you have calculated how much the bank has charged you in interest on those charges over the years?

 

If you haven't submitted a Defence yet, we can help put something together with you. You may be able to indicate within your initial defence statement that the amounts are in dispute because you believe they are made up entirely or in part by unlawful charges and the interest charged by the bank on those penalties. You can state that you have requested further detailed information from the bank that will enable you to fully-particularise your defence and that you intend to submit an amended defence and counterclaim at a later stage, when the information required is forthcoming.

 

Also, rather than having to wait for the 40 days for the SAR information, and the 28 days for prelim/LBA letters to make your claim, you can move ahead more quickly with claiming your money back. Because the amounts in question are above £5000, you can demand the information you need (statement history, Credit agreements, loan agreements, detailed information on the penalties you've been charged and any manual intervention on your accounts etc etc) in a 'CPR 18 Request for Information and Clarification'. Because it is the subject of legal action, the bank has to respond by providing the information more quickly.

 

Have a good read through my thread as I'm sure the information shown there will be valuable to you - particularly the help that has been given by GaryH.

 

Meanwhile, good luck!!

 

Gandolfi

 

Also, this A-Z of things you might need is very useful too.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.c o....tml#post436526

[gandolfi]

....just noticed the original date on stoggle's thread - doh! Thought I was going to be able to help someone else for once...I wonder what happened?

 

Wally - it would be best for you to start your own thread, I think. Give us a clear account and chronology of the progress of your claim/the bank's claim.

 

Gandolfi

[hedgey06]

I think you've just given some fab help Gandolfi - Wally's post was made today, so hopefully they'll feel more knowledgeable about their situation once they've read your post above.

 

Nice work! x

[gandolfi]

I think you've just given some fab help Gandolfi - Wally's post was made today, so hopefully they'll feel more knowledgeable about their situation once they've read your post above.

 

Nice work! x

 

Thanks Hedgey x

[bluebutterfly]

I to have had a bad experience with NatWest, ive been with them for 5 years now & im going to change to Lloyds as they are alot more helpful. but it started when i went away & took out 10 pounds NatWest added 4p which went over my overdraft, i returned to find that 56 pounds had been added & when i was actually noted about all of this it had gone up to 200 pounds, i refused to pay it as it wasnt my fault and that they had been adding this on. also i was a student & could barely pay that amount. ive called customer sevices people over & over again with no luck & one called Ashley was very rude to me. it has gone so out of control that im thinking about taking them to court. People do not go with NatWest!!!