I GOT AN OFFER!!!! Advice needed.

[robbie_ship]

So about a week after posting my court bundle to DG, I got an offer from them.

 

My claim was for about £1800 but they've only offered about £1400.

 

I'm tempted to take the offer but I need some advice on whether they're trying to put me off from claiming everything. Basically, I'm ready to go to court if it means I am due the extra money.

 

The letter states a number of things which I'd like someone to advise on,

 

1. The Limitation Act of 1980 stops me from claiming for charges older than 6 years. I originally asked for the money on 2nd January but they're dating the claim from the time it was filed and saying that I can't claim before 19th feb 2001. Can they do this?

 

2. They are "at a loss to understand" why I'm claiming debit interest and 8% interest per annum and are asking me to confirm why I'm doing this. They say that interest on the account was part of the contract and not claimable. What should I say/do? Are they trying to put me off from claiming it?

 

3. The approx £1400 offer (which includes statutory interest, court fee and allocation fee apparently) is made on the understanding that it's a full and final settlement, that I don't make any further claims and that I treat the details of the settlement as confidential.

 

All advise offered is appreciated especially from people who've been in the same position.

 

Oh, and if it's not too early to say it, WOOHOO!!!!

[Castlebest]

Hiya Robbie, the statute of limitations s correct but there are ways the claim anyway, do a search for "Bong" and look how she phrased her letters to DG if you want to argue for these charges.

 

They always say that about overdraft interest if you used the preliminary letter from here there is a paragraph that deals with this, or maybe that was a rewrite Lattie did... let me know if its not on the standard preliminary letter and I will see if I can find it.

 

the offer should be for a specific period of time, if you have done it correctly you will have recovered all of your charges for this period so you wont want to charge again anyway.

 

and well done !!!

 

pete

[robbie_ship]

Thanks Castlebest.

 

Yeah, I understand the part about claiming again now. I thought they were implying that I couldn't take them to court again EVER should anything else arise.

 

On the subject of interest, my pre-lim and lba letters are worded the same as those currently in the templates library albeit I didn't include the sections referring to removing defaults and making a complaint to the OFT. Other than the "What I Require" section where I say how much has been debited from my account, I see no other text that says why I'm claiming interest.

 

How should I go about this then? Write them a further letter saying I understand I can claim contractual interest and 8% interest pursuant to S.69 County Courts Act 1984 and then refer them to sections in my court bundle?

 

The court date is next Tuesday so it feels like I'm cutting it fine with regards to negotiating this.

 

I found these sections in Bong's thread that looked helpful.

 

You have stated in your letter that HSBC will not consider any claim over 6 years old given that it is time barred under the Limitations Act 1980. This assumes of course that a Court would dismiss my claim under S.32 (1) (b) LA 1980 that HSBC has knowingly concealed the unlawful nature of its charges from its customers. It would make for very interesting news I am sure to see HSBC pleading ignorance of the law and of the profit it was making from this revenue source! I am therefore giving you this opportunity to reconsider your decision not to refund charges extending back to 1993.

 

You have also stated that you will not be refunding any overdraft interest. May I point out again that I do not expect to borrow from the bank free of charge. However I do not expect to pay interest on unlawful charges, and I would ask once again that you reconsider your position before this results in a Court claim.

 

Do you reckon if I worded them into myown letter, that would be a suitable response?

[Castlebest]

Those are the phrases, just revamp those around your own claim and say you dont accept their deductions.

 

Interest.... the most complicated subject...

 

Overdraft Interest - HSBC charged you interest on the amount you were borrowing from them wether it was an agreed overdraft or not. part of that borrowing was the charges HSBC added to your account, therefore you are entitled to part of the overdraft interest charged by HSBC back too. This should have been done at the beginning of your claim ifyou were going to ask for this back too.

 

Statutary Interest - (8%) Interest the court allows on top of your claim in recompence for HSBC having a loan off you.

 

Contractual Interest - Now a dead duck, a case went to the high court under apeal earlier this month and was found to have no grounds for claiming contractual interest, because it was high court it has set president (rules for judges to follow) Forget contractual interest.

 

pete

[larneylarnes]

Hi Pete

 

Do you have a link or any further info for the precedent about CI?

 

Cheers

Larnes:)

[Castlebest]

Had to remember where I put that then ... here it is larney..

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/halifax-bank-bank-scotland/97691-contractual-interest-precedent-lost.html

 

pete

[robbie_ship]

Cheers Pete. I did mean overdraft interest when I said contractual interest.

 

Here's the letter I've drafted. Yay or Nay?

 

I wish to confirm that I do not accept your offer of £xxxx.xx in full and final settlement of my claim of £xxxx.xx. As stated in previous correspondence, I would prefer to have this matter resolved without recourse to the Courts but that does not mean that I am willing to compromise my claim.

 

 

You have stated in your letter that HSBC will not consider any claim over 6 years old given that it is time barred under the Limitations Act 1980. This assumes of course, that a Court would dismiss my claim under S.32 (1) (b) LA 1980 that HSBC has knowingly concealed the unlawful nature of its charges from its customers. It would make for very interesting news I am sure, to see HSBC pleading ignorance of the law and of the profit it was making from this revenue source! I am therefore giving you this opportunity to reconsider your decision not to refund charges extending back to 1st December 2000.

 

You also state that you “are at a loss to understand” why I have sought to recover overdraft interest and 8% statutory interest.

 

On the subject of overdraft interest, I would like to point out that while I do expect to incur overdraft interest on my account, I do not expect to pay overdraft interest on unlawful charges. Therefore I am seeking to claim all overdraft interest incurred due to the unlawful charges you have applied to my account. This sum has been meticulously calculated and double checked and only ever relates to the cumulative charges within the overdrawn balance of the account at the point that the overdraft interest was debited.

On the subject of why I am claiming the 8% statutory interest, I am at a loss myself to understand why a law firm would be asking this of me. As mentioned in all previous correspondence, this interest is pursuant to S.69 County Courts Act 1984 and is allowed by the courts. To reiterate, the interest is calculated at 0.26 pence per day from the date of issue of the charge to the date of the judgement/settlement.

 

I have attached a further copy of my breakdown of charges with this letter.

 

I would like to reiterate that I am willing to accept the sum of £xxxx in full and final settlement of this claim.

 

I do not agree to waive my rights in respect of any other actions, nor do I agree to a clause of confidentiality.

 

With a court date of Tuesday 3rd July, I hope to hear from you very soon so that a reasonable conclusion to this claim might be achieved. I am sure that the courts would approve of our settling this matter in a timely manner and without their intervention.

[Castlebest]

That looks fine to me Robbie, good luck and keep us posted

 

pete

[robbie_ship]

Just had them on the phone about 2 minutes before I was about to post the letter. They want me to email them the letter instead. I'm sending that plus the breakdown. If they phone back by 4pm and make a better offer, cool. If not, the letter gets posted anyway.

[Castlebest]

Nice one Robbie, at least they are talking to you now

 

pete

[robbie_ship]

Incidentally, should they make me a more attractive (and hopefully satisfactory) offer over the phone, should I say yes and then ask them to confirm in writing or just say I'll respond to the written offer?

[freakyleaky]

Tell them you will respond to the offer once you have it in writing!

[robbie_ship]

Cool, cheers.

[robbie_ship]

They just upped the offer from about £1400 to about £1700 out of about £1800. I reckon I will go with this as it's near enough for me.

 

Is accepting the offer over email the same as accepting it in writing or should I ask them to send a letter to me?

[GuidoT]

I would ask them to send you a letter.

[Castlebest]

As Guido says ask for a letter but as long as they are happy, accept it by email too so they can get your payment moving and hopefully in your hands before your court date, it saves a lot of bother with requesting stays because they havent paid you.

 

pete

[robbie_ship]

Oh sugar. I just said I'd accept it when it arrived in the post.

[Castlebest]

will only be a day different so I wouldnt wory too much

 

pete

[robbie_ship]

Sweet! WOOT!!!:D:D:D:D:D

[Castlebest]

And may I be the first to say....

 

Congratulations !!!!!!!!!!

 

pete

[robbie_ship]

Thanks to everyone for the advice and support. Especially Lateralus, GuidoT and in the final furlong, CastleBest. Couldn't have done it without you. Cheers!!!!

[freakyleaky]

And may I be the second to say.......

 

 

CONGRATULATIONS

[larneylarnes]

CONGRATULATIONS Robbie! And thanks Pete for the link

Larnes x

[rockinrodders]

Funny how they will call you and get things moving quickly when they want to. Normally its the usual "response in 4 weeks due to high demand etc etc"

 

Shows they must have been brickin the thought of it going to court

[harejon]

I haven't had a single response to any of my letters to hsbc or dg, I'm assuming they'll want to talk once I do my court bundle. they must recognise the same letters coming in day after day and realise who are the ones who are not going to bow down and give in. it would save them money surely?

 

our files must be pretty similiar.

 

congratulations by the way, it's very heartening reading peoples successes against HSBC.