Bank of Scotland - Advice please ongoing to court

[Big Grambo]

Hi,

 

Bank of Scotland (The friend we could do without)

 

After reading some of the threads about follow on claims for bank charges in the small claims courts being thrown out as incompetent, I had a chat with a lawyer and he said that my claim for £5700 plus interest would be considered as 'ordinary cause' in the Scottish court system.

 

He also said that the cost of taking this to court would be around £1500 plus V.A.T. To his credit he went some length to explain that it was not all sweetness and light and what could happen if the bank decided to put up a fight and won. I would be held liable for the banks court expenses as well as my own and at the end of the day I would not get a lot of change out of £6,500

 

I have just refused the bank of Scotland's opening offer of £3595 and, despite the risk, I am seriously considering taking this to court.

 

Because they have largely ignored my requests to provide me with all of my statements for the last 5 years, my lawyer suggested a process that is often used in such cases which involves claiming for a larger amount (£9,500) and this would force them to reveal the (true) lesser amount as part of their defence and in light of their revelations I would amend my claim accordingly.

 

My lawyer also made it very clear that backing out of the case, even before it got to court, would make me liable for the other party's costs incurred in the preparation of their defence. Which could still be a significant portion of the £6,500 figure I mentioned earlier.

 

Does anyone have an opinion on these comments or can they suggest a different course of action?

 

Cheers.

 

Big Grambo

[caro]

I think I might be inclined to use the Financial Ombudsman Service, which you can use once you have exhausted the banks complaints procedure.

[debt_mountain]

I live in Scotland and took HBOS through the English system for £10000. so far they have paid out £5100 and are saying the rest is statute barred.

 

I used the head office address in Halifax for the papers.

 

So the choice is yours. English system or ICO

[texel]

If you are able to afford the massive lawyers fees I would go ahead and hit them for everything as I do not think you would lose. For me who is broke. I would go the summary cost route for £ 1500 then try again for another £ 1500 ( after the first case was won) and so on until I got what I was looking for. or after the first case go the FOS route. But I do like the idea of the big court. I still don't think the bank is about to let us know whu they charge £ 30 when it just costs them about £ 2.50 Any it will be interesting to learn how things go. Keep in touch:D

[caro]

I would go the summary cost route for £ 1500 then try again for another £ 1500 ( after the first case was won) and so on until I got what I was looking for.

 

The problem with that is that some Scottish courts are refusing to accept second and subsequent claims, so you may not be able to do that, and there’s a good chance others will follow, which is why I suggested the FOS route so it can all be done in one go. It only delays things further by going to court first and then claiming the rest afterwards.

[texel]

You are absolutely correct. Luckily the court I use is still not doing that long may it continue