Bugged Lady vs Barclays

[bugged lady]

Wow got there-that is managed to find my way around website to start new thread. Think all this litigation and argument is doing my brain in!

 

Okay as Julie Andrews said lets start at beginning.

 

22 May 06 it all started when Woolwich took a DD from my account for £365 to someone which I had given no authority for and was totally unaware of! Made complaint about that because that took me overdrawn for the day till they returned it and made other DD's bounce. They also managed to block my internet and telephone access code in that period! So couldn't check my balance unless I went out to do so. Then told me I had to go to branch with birth certificate and other forms of ID to get a new access code! Felt like they were having a personal vendetta against me. Aparrently this info WAS wrong but they didn't admit to that until a letter dated 18 Aug 06 when they apologised and refunded £175 in 'administration charges'.

 

July 06 employer didn't pay salary into a/c via bacs as usual, didn't realise till after all the DD's etc had gone out and got letter from bank. Well there was no indication from employer anything was wrong (they kept very quiet!) and so didn't bother to check-why should I, you just don't expect to not get paid!?!?!? And cos I had no access code was bloody pain in neck. Anyway phoned Woolwich explained what had happened (that was joke with no access code too!) and asked if they would refund charges as it wasn't my fault and totally beyond my control. Woolwich basically told me tough, very sorry for my situation but there was nothing they could do about it. So I made official complaint.

 

1 Aug 06 got letter from Woolwich acknowledging complaint, usual stuff and saying they would aim to resolve matter by 30th Aug.

 

31 Oct 06 got two letters from Woolwich. One thanking for my time and trouble in telling them about my dissatisfaction and how sorry they were blah blah, that they were investigating and aimed to resolve the matter by 28.11.06. Second one was a Termination Notice! Yeah thanks Woolwich I thought, made phone calls got that sorted and waited for result of complaints procedure.

 

2 Nov 06 Got letter saying they had reviewed the charges were satisfied that they had been correctly applied but had arranged as a gesture of goodwill a one-off refund of £160! Wow big shakes their charges for the problem in August had resulted in my being near on £800 overdrawn!

 

Wrote back saying this was not at all satisfactory as it was beyond my control especially bearing in mind the press coverage about these charges being unlawful anyway and also the right mess they made of my account in May over the unauthorised DD and charges that although they eventually had refunded had had a snowball affect on my account that put me out of pocket.

 

The interest they had chucked on top of the charges had also increased the overdraft so I phoned told them I didn't find that acceptable wanted the overdraft wiped out. Also taking into account that they had told me that whilst the complaint was going on I was entitled to draw on the full salary I was depositing into the account but I wouldn't be able to use my card once I hit the overdraft line because it was unauthorised and therefore the card would not function. Okay I thought can live with that so long as I can use my whole salary and pay DD's etc and I'll just write cheque rather than pay by card. WRONG!!!! They bounced every cheque and DD and so escalated the overdraft even higher with the charges. They told me there was absolutely no chance of them wiping the whole overdraft out. So I finally snapped and said fine you want to be like that then I want all my bank charges back and wrote a letter to them stating this.

 

3 Jan 07 Woolwich wrote acknowledging receipt of my letter.

 

17 Jan 07 Woolwich wrote saying further to their letter of 3 Jan due to the nature of my complaint it had been escalated to their Head Office Customer Relations Unit (IE Barclays).

 

22 Jan 07 Barclays wrote saying they would endeavour to respond within 8 weeks blah blah with full report or update on progress.

 

27 Jan 07 Barclays wrote offering me £1,000 good will blah blah. I refused this by telephone stating that it was an insult bearing in mind the account hadn't been used since Dec and yet the overdraft had now gone up to £1300 due to the interest they kept chucking on it. I asked for my bank statements from inception and told them why I wanted them and that I fully intended to claim the whole of my charges back.

 

[i remember thinking at the time, this is stupid cos if they had wrote off the charges in the first instant as a matter of good will it would've cost them somewhere in the region of £800 but because they wanted to be bloody minded and greedy they had to eventually come in with an offer of £1000 and by that time they had increased the overdraft so much that that figure wouldn't even cover it!!!!!!]

 

Then came the great ordeal over trying to get the bank statements! Phone call after phone call (all logged and dated). Also had to phone Woolwich because they kept sending letters of default from their Collections Dept. Apparently they don't know what is happening on the Barclays side and neither can correspond with each other or even phone to let them know!!!!!!:o I have to phone Woolwich every month for them to hold the account and not take action on it or put extra charges of £3 per day on it.

 

April 07 eventually got bank statements, but then only got half and had to phone for rest which took another two weeks.

 

Soon as I had all the statements did calculations using Martinsmoneyexpert calculator. The total sum for the charges from Feb 03 (when I first opened the account) to 3 April 07 (last date on the bank statements) was £5,650.99 (with interest at 8% of £667.15 the total sum came to £6318.14)

 

I sent letter off requesting a full refund of £6318.14 (breaking it down into the two separate figures) and included a print off of from Martin's calculator. I stated I required a response within 14 days and didn't get it so telephoned several times, got fobbed off about them being busy, letter hadn't been forwarded blah blah.

 

11 May 07 got phone call from Richard Coote who offered me £4200 over the phone. I stated I wouldn't be drawn into any decision over the phone and wanted the offer in writing. This was duly sent the same day.

 

17 May 07 I wrote back saying I couldn't accept their offer but was prepared to accept it if they also wrote off the outstanding overdraft of £1167.46 and the £23.25 due to be charged on 22 May. I pointed out that this would bring the settlement figure to £5390.71 which was below the sum I would be entitled to claim through the county court. I gave them 7 days to reply. Surprisingly they didn't reply. I phoned three times last week in May.

 

7 June 07 I sent a final letter saying I was dismayed and dissapointed by their non-responses and so was prepared to accept their offer of £4200 in part settlement of the money they owe me, but I was NOT prepared to accept it in full and final settlement and would be pursuing the rest through the county court. I then gave them 7 calendar day to respond and if I had not heard from them by then I would start the process of suing them without any further notice.

 

AND THAT IS THE STORY OF WAR AND PEACE SO FAR AND UP TO DATE!!!!

 

Now am getting myself up to speed with the great help from this website and hopefully some help and pointers in the right direction from you all. Know I have to start actioning the court proceedings and that's the hard bit. My claim is over £5,000 so as far as I can ascertain I can't do it through small claims online have to go county court route and it will cost me an initial £120. Is that right?

 

Also have read lots of people talking about document bundles etc. What do I have to include in this and when do I need it to be completed by?

 

Sorry about asking lots of questions but feel totally exhausted already. It's been 11 months in all lot of stress and worry-feel like I've done 20 rounds with Muhammad Ali already and now comes the scarry bit when you really have to have your wits about you and get it exactly right!

[Russjo]

Wow you really have been through it. Okay first of all follow this link if you are going to claim on line it tells you all you need to know

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/site-questions-suggestions/71369-getting-mcol-right.html

 

If not look in the bank templates library (I think) for particulars of claim etc.

 

Some claims for more than £5k have been dealt with through small claims, but only if they are just above the limit which your £5,650 without interest might just sneak into. Otherwise, it may well go to the fast track but as far as I know, the process is still the same.

 

You don't need to prepare any bundles just yet, so take the time to read as many threads as you can and this will give you an idea of what to expect. Just keep all your paperwork safe and keep posting on your thread. There are others more experienced than me and they will advise you along the way

[dar£n]

Phew!!!!!!!

okay where do we start?

 

First thing. have you got the spreadsheet of charges saved? does it update the interest daily?

 

Good call on the phone call.

 

Your fee for filing will be £250:

County Court Fees

 

The court bundle can be downloaded:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/33060-basic-court-bundle.html

You simply add your correspondence and SOC's etc, the rest is there for you.

 

Dont worry about the amount and attending court, just follow the advice on this site and you will get the full amount back.

 

Barclays are settling about a month before the court date at the moment

[bugged lady]

Hi Dar£n

 

Many thanks for your help and assurance. Haven't got a spreadsheet that up dates interest daily. Martin's just did it to day and time I filled it in.

 

I assume the spread sheet on this site is a little bit more super duper and will do that for me? If so will have to sit down in next couple of days and put everything on the new spread sheet. Oh boy am I looking forward to that! Still has to be done-no reward without a bit of hard work.

 

Must also sit down and read all the processes for court process so have it in my head prior to actually doing it. I'm so worried that if I make one slip the buggers will get me on a technicality.

[dar£n]

In that case, transfer ALL your charges onto our spreadsheet and see the difference:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/182-6-interest-calculation-spreadsheets.html

 

simple spreadsheet will calculate the S69 8%.

 

Save it to 'MY DOCs' as something you will find easily

[dar£n]

youre not going to 'slip up' youre on CAG now, we dont allow slip ups.

 

just check back here before you do anything and someone will check you out..

[bugged lady]

I asked the Woolwich for T&C's on Thursday. Was very specific that I wanted them from 03 thru to present so I was completely aware of everything regarding my account from beginning.

 

They sent them out immediately! Great? No. They sent the new version only-the one Barclays have set up to try to get around all this!

 

Not stupid they can't hold me to new T&C's right back to 03 so will write them a nice little letter tomorrow outlining my disappointment at their continued inefficiency and request someone somewhere in their establishment digs out the appropriate T&C's I need as a matter of urgency. Will give them 7 days and tell them if they don't get them to me in time I will view it as another ploy by them in delaying tactics and will state all this in my claim, or when I am asked for document bundle. Not sure which I should put this in but really want to get the point over to the court that bank have been totally obstructive.

 

Question. I read here that you can claim costs. I understand the concept that you can claim reasonable costs for the time it has cost you to prepare the case (same as a solicitor would put in his charges). But, can you also claim for other costs in your original claim? IE: because I stopped using my account (I'm just using savings a/c at mo with instant access card it was such a problem and palava trying to get money out of the Woolwich a/c once it hit o/d status) I now have to pay all my utitility bills etc by cash and run around and they charge me £5 a month for not paying by DD and it costs me time and petrol. Just a thought.

[Trucker]

Welcome Bugged lady

 

Daunting stuff, i know, but we are all in the same boat and there for each other.

 

Very impressed that you have catalogued everything, this should add weight to your claim. As Dar£n (a man with a mind of information and excellent advice - along with saintly1 and others) has said your court fee will be £250 but although strictly speaking you are over the 5k limit for small claims court you should still be able to go that track with carefully worded argument when your case gets to Allocations

 

Good Luck... we are all behind you

[dar£n]

you can only claim costs incurred with taking the defendant to court in connection with getting your charges repaid.

[Trucker]

Daz im sure there is a thread re wasted costs claims but can't find it

[saintly_1]

Hi and welcome .... WOW im impressed with your handling of this so far you have stuck up for yourself despite the banks attempts. Cant add anything to what you have been told so far by daren and Trucker have said except to reiterate . any questions / worries just post them here and someone will come along to assist

 

saint

[saintly_1]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/barclays-bank/41628-claim-my-time-wasted.html

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/85726-wasted-costs-order.html

[bugged lady]

Many thanks Dar£n will do.

 

Really is reassuring to be able to talk to others and double check what you are doing is right.

[bugged lady]

Many thanks everyone so far. You are all so kind and so helpful. Very grateful. Sorry Trucker would press your button re being of help but haven't worked that one out yet. Ohh! Think that may have come out a bit wrong. :o Sure you know what I mean though.

[Trucker]

LOL

 

Where you see the name of who has posted to the thread. Bottom left of box is a dot that is either green or grey. Green means user is online. Next to the green dot is the scales.

[saintly_1]

Can you see the 3 icons under the name ... the circle the scales and the red triangle click on the scales under Trucker's name

[MoneyKing]

welcome to your new home!

 

you have sure had a lot going on!

 

Will help when i can

[bugged lady]

:DLOL Many thanks MoneyKing. Think I could well be glued to this website for some time to come.

 

You don't know how right you are when you say I have a lot on! Just finished with Employment Tribunal over the payment issue that started all this in first place. Now dealing with a claim for someone else through the Employment Tribunal who wasn't paid her bonus after she left even though she had earned it and was promised on leaving that they would pay it after 3 months. Now they are claiming it was discretionary and she's not entitled to it. She's scarred silly they will win and she'll end up with thousands in court costs. AND if that isn't enough had been working on starting my own business and 9 mths ago my very EX business partner ran off with all the money and a load of my personal property that I lent him. So off to see a solicitor on Tuesday to try and sort that out too. Know none of this relevant to this particular site but at times I wish 2006 had never happened! Sometimes my head feels like its been shoved on a spin cycle!

[dar£n]

holy shhhhhhh.

bad year huh!

 

Well we will look after you on here OK!

[bugged lady]

Many thanks Dar£n.

[MoneyKing]

hey 2006 be gone, summer 2007 is here, forget the past look forward to the future and remeber all that in 2006 has already given you the right skills to beat the banks! See 2006 had some good points to it

[bugged lady]

That's what I like to here! Positive forward thinking! Many thanks MoneyKing for the words of wisdom. Need it sometimes-think we all do went things seem totally against you.

[bugged lady]

A little bit tired this morning! Sat up til 3 in the morning reading Lucid and Mindzai's story. Wow. Deepest respect to them, was so thrilled at the end to learn they won and beat the buggers! Also it gave me a lot of food for thought.

[oneofakind]

This site can cause major loss of sleep, it's sooo addictive!

 

you'll be a winner too, in time.

 

[bugged lady]

Okay-food for thought. Might as well hit some of the questions and concerns that last night's reading brought up.

 

1. My last two letters to Barclays were headed "Without Prejudice". Having read M&L's thread don't think I should have done that! :o I thought it meant that they couldn't hold me to any offer of negotiation I put forward and so it could be withheld from court inasmuch it couldn't be put forward as evidence against me.

 

I certainly didn't know that it meant the letter could not be produced in court at all and that any letters etc directly relating to the without prejudice letter could not be produced in court as evidence either!

 

So have a bit of a quandry about that as I was going to use the fact that I have been trying to be fair and equitable.

 

2. M&L claimed for contractual compound interest at 29%+! Nice one! I also read however that this is a bit risky and so will have to read up more on it.

 

However, IF I could claim that (Barclays/Woolwich equivalent) instead of 8% or IF I was prepared to take the risk, I wonder if the without prejudice letters could work in my favour?

 

I'm not being greedy here. Just see the fairness and justice in claiming against them on same level of interest that they so easily and greedily took from me. Also have to be honest it would help if I have to go down long legal route with ex business partner and/or there are a few other people I could help out too.

 

By the way I'm fully aware this is going to be a long haul thing-not expecting any kind of result for at least 6 mths if not longer .

 

3. M&L formally requested their bank statements, copy initial contract signed when opening a/c, T&C's and copy recordings of all their phone calls by SAR.

 

I just phoned bank and asked for all my statements from the beginning. Would it be useful/is there any point in my now formally requesting everything M&L requested? Also if I did would it hold up my starting a claim in the CC? Or would I be able to continue with getting claim lodged and have time to get these things from them alongside?

 

Can see the absolute sense for many reasons why a body would want and need these things and/or even if they didn't get them how it could prove very useful in court to be able to prove you at least requested them/did your best to obtain them and yet again it's the bank's fault they are not there!

 

Anyway if anyone out there has any views/ideas/comments/instructions/words of wisedom I would be most grateful to hear them.

 

Many thanks.