Catchleen vs Abbey - notice to pay fee

[Catchleen]

I've completed my court form on MCOL and paid the £250 fee. Abbey hae filed their defence and the claim has been transfered to Watford (I live in Lancashire) but I've missed the date to ask for it to be moved. An AQ has been dispensed with and I received a notice to pay fee for £100, which I have paid. I called the court to make sure they had received my £100 and ask what happens next. I was told they had received it and the case has been referred to the judge to give direction and that this is taking about 3 weeks. Should I be preparing a court bundle at this stage? I haven't included my £250 court fee anywhere and when I sent my charges and interest spreadsheet to the court, it was slightly less than my original claim to the Abbey - will this cause a problem?

Am starting to get a bit unnerved as haven't heard from Abbey in a while and could do without a 150 mile drive! Any advise would be greatly appreciated x

[Lula]

Firstly, did they give you a reason why it was transferred to Watford?

 

and if the AQ was dispensed with, why did you have to pay an additional fee, in your original N1 did you not include the court fee in your costs? along with the claim plus interest? how is there a discrepancy between the amounts?

 

Sorry to have so many questions

[Catchleen]

Fine for the questions -

They didn't say why it was transferred to Watford. They only reason I can think of is that I used to live down that way and they used an old address (?) but no reason was given.

My claim is over £1500 so the court told me I'd have to pay it. There's a difference in the 2 as I think I included some costs I shouldn't have, and I don't have my N1 to hand to check if the amount was included. Off the top of my head, it said that I could claim back.

[Catchleen]

Just got my hubbie to look at the paperwork and I have included the £250 - phew - having a senior moment

[ICY]

Unfortunatly apparently even if the courts dispense with the AQ they are still able to charge you the £100 fee for submitting it, or not submitting it as the case is

[Catchleen]

I've just called Watford court re my claim and they said that today they have sent out an order for the claimant to file to the court account by number and sort code? I will have to wait until I get the papers in the post tomorrow hopefully, but the account and sort code is on all the paperwork I've sent through, or is this something more they are asking for - anyone had this before? I'm starting to panic! I've seen other threads of people emailing the abbey and asking for a settlement but I'm not sure if I should do that. This site is brilliant but now I'm reading so much I think I'll go into meltdown ...

[Catchleen]

I've had my form through from Watford and it reads

 

"Before District Judge Rhodes sitting at Watford County Court ... Upon reading the court file it is ordered that

1. The claimant shall file at court and serve the defendant the following further information by 4.00pm on 26 June 2007. 1.1 The identity of the account by number plus sort code to which the claim relates 1.2 Each and every charge by date and amount which claimant needs to recover.

2. This order was made without a hearing. Any party affected by it may apply within 7 days of service for it to be set aside, varied or stayed."

 

I've already sent this information to the Abbey and the court but I've got slightly different figures, so I was going to go through my statements again and list the charges and interest and send this in. I'm wondering if this is the reason they have asked for the info again. In my covering letter to the Judge I should then apologies for any amendments or errors and ask that this will not affect my case? I just don't want a mistake on my part to mess up my claim. Does this sound ok to anyone or is this normal practice? Any help as always great appreciated x

[Catchleen]

I'm really fed up - I've received a letter from court saying that a defence has been filed (I know) and asking me to complete an AQ (even though they said it was dispensed with) and asking for £100 fee (already paid)!

I've called the court and asked why I have been sent an AQ, given the previous correspondence and also that I had already paid the £100 fee. She told me that because the court had received so many bank charge claims, the Judges had decided to dispense with the AQ's to get through the claims, unless they thought that they were needed later. I asked if the amount being claimed was a factor and she didn't know. My claim is for £5868 (had started claim before realising should have split into 2 amounts below £5K) plus interest. But I now need to complete my AQ and send it with a note saying the fee is already paid, by 3rd August. Has anyone else had this? It's Watford County Court.

[Lula]

Catchleen, when and how did you already pay the AQ fee? are you sure that you didnt confuse this with the filing fee?

[Catchleen]

I paid it at the end of May by postal order when the court first told me that the AQ was dispensed with, and then later wrote and asked for the fee. The lady I spoke to at the court said that they have received the fee already so I don't need to send it in again. I had called them at the time to confirm they had received it and asked if they needed any further info, but they said no it would be passed to the Judge for direction. It just seems that 6 weeks have gone by with bog all done and going around in circles. There isn't really anything I can do other than complete the AQ and send it in. I think that some of my documents were lost in the transfer to Watford so I seem to be doing everything twice:mad: !

[ICY]

They didnt bother sending the schedule to my local court, when i had sent it to mcol, i had to resend to local court, apparently it happens quite often, which is why i am going to stick to the N1 route from now on, it actually works out much quicker.

Mcol is ok if the bank arent likely to defend, but if they do, it adds a delay to the process.

 

Are they insisting you pay the AQ fee again, if so do you have proof you have already paid it ?

[Catchleen]

No I don't need me to pay it again thank god, cause I don't have 2 pennies to rub together! I'll put a copy of the letter I sent with the p/o with the AQ when I complete it - I'm not looking forward to that!

[Catchleen]

I've just completed my AQ after spending probably 4 days reading through as many posts as I could and have now got my head around it (I think, hope...)! I'll send it to the court tomorrow by recorded delivery and to shAbbey as well. It's not due until the 3rd August but I wanted to get it in sooner rather than later, given the pending postal strikes.

What is the consensus on the next move - should I wait until the court gets back to me, hopefully accepting my proposal for abuse of process or should I contact the shAbbey with a minimum amount I would settle for? I'd appreciate any feedback x

[chelli]

i wouldnt try and contact the abbey they will just say that they are doing nothing until the OFT case is sorted. I tried sending an email and got no reply - they wont reply to you unless you are at the last stage and they have no where else to run.

good luck again

[Catchleen]

My AQ deadline was last Friday 3rd. I called the court today and was told that my file was with the Judge, awaiting direction. I asked if the abbey had sent in their AQ and was told that it didn't look like it, but it's down to the judge whether they given them an extension or strike out. Let's hope its the latter;). More waiting and nail biting ....

[chelli]

good luck you might just sneek in before me hee hee:p

[chelli]

fingers crossed the Abbey dont pull a sly one and have slipped the forms in at the last moment. They did that to me!

[Catchleen]

I've called Watford CC agaiin this morning as we've received a letter from the bank stating that they will be asking for a stay on all claims.

The lady I spoke to at Watford told me that my case was still with the Judge. I told her about the letter I'd received from abbey and what the situation was i.e. can abbey apply for a blanket stay on all cases or does it need to be on a case by case basis. She said she was just discussing it with a colleague and that to be honest, she wasn't exactly sure, as this was a new situation. However so far in Watford, the Judge has not stayed any cases and will look at each case individually.

My OH is doing his nut over this and wants/needs the money back for us, I'm trying to keep him calm and explain its a long haul while trying not to bite all my finger nails, toe nails ...

[chelli]

my OH is just the same

I have recieved the same letter from the abbey yesterday -just after i sent them a letter of non-compliance. Going to ring the courts to see if this applies to my case. Hopefully it shouldnt because the judge placed in his directions that each party had 7 days from order of service to apply for a stay. (that was from the 21st june)

Did you think thata the letter was strange (the last bit) it sort of felt like the abbey were saying we maight really lose this so we will give your money back soon OR was it a way for them to pretend that they are really nice - to the courts!?

Lets hope that you dont get a stay.

let me know how you get on

michelle

X

[chelli]

P.S it really is a long haul we have been doing this since Feb 07 and if there is a stay granted it could go on for another year!

[Catchleen]

I haven't seen the letter yet as I'm at work, so I'll look forward to that this evening!! My OH just read the gist of it to me but he was so p'd off it wasn't worth asking him to slow down!!!

[Catchleen]

Called the court this afternoon to get an update and they told me that both AQ's were filed and the file has been refered to the Judge for direction. Hopefully abbey have sent a copy of their AQ to me, as I sent mine to them, and it'll be at home this evening. I hope theres an answer soon and its not a stay.

[Catchleen]

Had a letter from court today stating : "The court of its own initiative orders that this claim is stayed until 31 March 2008 with a view to awaiting the decision of the test case. Either party may apply at any time, by application onnotice in accordance with CPR 23, to lift the stay. If no such application is made, the court will give directions of its own initiative on the expiry of the stay."

Well I'm off for a weeks break from Monday, so I'll apply for the stay to be lifted when I get back

[Catchleen]

My case is stayed until the end of March and I'm looking at what to do next. I didn't apply to have the stay lifted mainly because I've had no spare cash for the fee. But I am thinking of writing to the judge before the date it expires, requesting him to not stay it again and look at it from a hardship case - because we are now.

My question is, does anyone know if I can just write to the judge asking this or if I need to pay the fee and apply using the N244? If anyone has any thoughts on it, I'd appreciate hearing them.

[Lula]

Hi there, I am afraid that if you want to have the stay lifted then you will have to complete the N244 and pay the fee, for what it is worth, even the most hard of hardship cases havn't been able to get the stay lifted so wait until the end of the month