thorx vs hsbc

[thorx]

Hello

 

I've gone through all the steps described on this site and finally filed my MCOL earlier this month.

 

The claim was served on 4 June and it has been acknowledged giving them 28 days to file a defence, which works out to be a deadline on Monday 2 July (this coming Monday).

 

Now the funny thing is I just received an offer letter from HSBC (signed Mark A Loker, Service Manager) referring to my last letter to them back in May. I guess they're busy! The letter was dated 21 June, but I only received it yesterday (sent first class but Royal Mail have never actually understood the concept of delivery within 2 days have they but that's a

rant for another day ).

 

Anyway, my MCOL claim was for approx £3700 + court fee. The offer letter says they wont pay back overdraft interest and interest on the charges, but even then they're still about £500 short of the charges in my spreadsheet so god knows how they worked out what they would

offer. Now the offer letter stipulates that I have to reply within 10 working days or it will be considered as declined. So basically the offer expires on 5 July.

 

So I'm thinking I could use the cash (just had my first son come into the world last week), but it annoys me that I have to effectively 'give away' about £1400 which I probably stand to get if I hold on, but of course there's always the risk that I have to go to court..

 

Should I accept the offer (after all it is £2400 I never thought I'd see again) or should I hang on for an offer from DG?

 

I'm a bit nervous about hanging on as I haven't heard anything from DG yet and there's only a few days left until the 28 days are up, and you can bet that they'll file a defence last minute. What happens if they don't file by the way?

 

So what do you guys reckon? I'll be eternally grateful for any help you guys can provide.

 

thorx

[lateralus]

my personal opinion is that mr loker (usually it's colin langdale - i think mark l is hatchet man in training) is doing this for exactly that reason - to make you say a bird in the hand....., better the devil you know....., whatever. it worked didn't it -

you can't tell me he is only just now answering post from may - it's a con - the bank (before you file a claim - don't pay the 8% interest, overdraft interest is reclaimable if figured correctly using the advanced spreadsheet,

bog standard first offer from hsbc is usually 85%,)

so, taking all that into consideration -

yes, it will take you longer to get your money - maybe a couple of months -

so you need to weigh this up -

if you figured your overdraft interest correctly and are willing to wait it out - you will most likely get all the interest and your filing fee and all your charges back.

 

if you feel the need to get out now (either because you don't think you did the overdraft interest correctly, or because you need the money now,

or for whatever reason) then send this letter back and you will probably be able to up the amount at least by the filing fee amount.

 

it's up to you.

 

 

 

TWEAK THIS - TO SAY WHAT YOU NEED IT TO SAY:

 

Date

Dear Whoever

Ref: Your Offer of Settlement

 

Account: xxxxxxxx

Sort Code xx-xx-xx

Claim No: XXXXX in XXXX County Court

 

I acknowledge receipt of your letter date xx/xx/xx and your settlement offer of £XXX

 

Unfortunately, I have already filed my claim with the court. That action has cost me a further £xxx. Were your offer to include my filing fee of £xxx, I would then be able to accept your offer as full and final settlement. I will accept an offer of £XXX.(filing fee plus their offer)

 

As soon as I receive confirmation from you that you agree to this increased figure I will accept the new offer without prejudice and I reserve the right to make any further claims should you apply future charges that may be considered unlawful under common law or in violation of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 or Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.

 

I will be willing to withdraw my claim upon receipt of unconditional full settlement of my claim of £XXX.

 

Should you not agree to this slightly increased offer, I will then continue with my claim to pursue the total amount claimed for. If I do not hear from you within seven working days, I will be forced to continue with my claim.

 

I am also not prepared to agree to any confidentially clauses you try to impose, unless of course your client wishes to make an offer of due consideration in addition to the amount of £xxxxx, in order to be afforded this privilege by myself.

 

I look forward to receiving your revised offer

Yours Sincerely

[thorx]

I'm not really too fussed about getting the money right now, but I am slightly concerned that it might go all the way to court and I lose there. Oh well, I guess I should give it a go...and I'm pretty sure my overdraft interest has been calculated correctly.

 

So I guess I ignore the letter from Mr Loker and wait and see if DG file a defence. You never know - they might forget (unlikely as it sounds though).

 

So should I send DG a nudge letter? I could get it off by special delivery tomorrow which would give them an option to reply before the deadline...and I haven't sent them anything since I sent the schedule of charges to them when I put the claim in with MCOL.

 

Do DG usually delay the process for as long as a couple of months? Or is that delay just because they wait until just before the court date to make an offer?

 

thanks

[pinkduchess]

if youre going to proceed then you should send a rejection letter in reply to the offer from HSBC using a template (or combination of 2 to suit your situation) from here Rejecting Offers

 

Wait until DG file their defence which is highly likely just as the 28 days expries - then youll get transferred to your local court. Then is the time to nudge them. not worth doing it now - DG wont make an offer at this stage & tend to ignore any correspondence until they are forced to respond (with an offer ) by a court date.

[thorx]

Thank you both for your help!

 

I've just created the rejection letter and will send it later today. Basically my wife says that I've already spent months getting to where I am, so why give in to them without getting all of what I've asked for.

 

I'll post again to let all of you know what's going on..

 

thorx

[lateralus]

i'm secretly glad - although i'd have said you'd done the right thing if you'd accepted - i just like people to get all the money due them really but if they don't feel they can go on - for whatever reason - i back them up.

[thorx]

Status on MCOL has changed to Defence today so I'm now just waiting for the papers from the court before sending nudge letter number 1 to DG....

[lateralus]

don't hold your breathe - they are so backed up that it is taking about 2 weeks plus for your to get a paper copy of their defence along with a transfer to your local court - then you wait again til the local court gets in touch to say what they want you to do....

lots of waiting around - but you are progressing.

 

did you send copies of your breakdown of charges to the courts and dg.... if so...fine....if not....make a note to yourself to do that as soon as the transfer paper arrives (we'd normally do it while it was still with mcol - but i think it's best to wait til the local court has it if you still haven't done it - although you could go ahead and send dg a copy if you haven't already - referencing your claim number)

[thorx]

I know it will take time. You'd think the courts would be fed up with the banks' tactics by now, wouldn't you? I wonder when the first case comes along they decide to give substantial compensation for wasting the claimants time....Several judges have already said they are fed up with the banks wasting valuable court time so I guess if it doesn't stop then they'll be forced to act.

 

I sent copies of the charges spreadsheet to DG and Northampton County Court (MCOL) when I first raised the claim so I guess that paperwork will be sent to my local court.

[thefuture]

Hi Thorx, just read your thread, I got an offer letter from Mark A Locker as well but it took him from 6 March until 14th June to reply to my initial letter, then only one account, still heard nothing from my number 2 account. I declined of course I'm waiting for a court date at the mo. Good luck with your claim tf:)

[thorx]

and you mate!

 

While I'm waiting for the court to send out paperwork etc I've decided to pursue a few other organisations. Mint Credit Card is first on my list... :)

 

I also checked my HSBC credit card (paid off and cancelled a long time ago), but surprise surprise they never charged me anything. Even when I paid late and went over the limit...I was actually a bit disappointed that I couldn't go after them for some charges applied there as well.

[lateralus]

just looked up mint in the search line and they all seem to be in the royal bank of scotland thread - rbos must own them - you'll get lots of help there for that one looks like. good luck.

[thorx]

anyone have any steer on how long it normally takes to be transferred to your local court?

 

and does the information come from MCOL or from your local court?

 

i guess my local court will be high wycombe so if you have any experience with it i'd appreciate your view...

 

thanks

[pinkduchess]

a week or so for mcol to send transfer papers, then another couple to hear from local court

 

it will vary depending on the court & how busy they are.

 

i was in high wycombe last week for work.

[chauvesouris]

My notice of transfer came the day after I started worrying that it was never going to come - which I put down to the magical predictions of Lateralus. It was two weeks after HSBC had to submit their defence. I am still waiting to hear from my local court (I've been allocated to Wandsworth) - it will be two weeks on Tuesday since I heard from MCOL.

[thorx]

thanks people!

 

I was just starting to get worried about it so following chauvesouris lead the paperwork will probably arrive in the morning...

 

pinkdutchess: I feel for you. HW is a dump...

[pinkduchess]

i went to loudwater which wasnt too bad but only on my way through to another office.

[thorx]

Aah i see! I actually live in Loudwater (it's not great, but not too bad), but I definitely would never say it is High Wycombe...A bit snobbish I guess

[thorx]

I still haven't received anything from MCOL (or my local court). It's been more than 3 weeks now. Have they lost my paperwork?

 

Anyone know if there is somewhere I can call to get the status of my claim?

 

thanks

[pinkduchess]

Customer Help Desk Money Claim Online

The Customer Help Desk can be contacted for support between 9:00am to 5:00pm, Monday to Friday on:

Tel : 0845-601 5935

Fax : 0845-601 5889

[thorx]

Spoke to a nice lady at MCOL. Apparently my case had been forgotten (in the age of computers how this happens is beyond me), but she was going to flag it up with her manager. So hopefully something will now happen...

 

So not only to do we have to contend with the bank's delay tactics, now the courts are doing their bit as well....:o

 

I know the courts are overworked due to these cases but this simply isn't acceptable! Then again, what am I supposed to do about it...

[Castlebest]

Unfortunatly this does happen sometimes and theres not a lot you can do about it

 

pete

[thorx]

Finally received the court transfer document from MCOL the other day. Took more than a month, but I guess in the current situation the case is likely to get stayed anyway so...

 

Should I still send a nudge to DG or will they just disregard? Even if they do disregard maybe I should send just to illustrate that I'm trying to resolve before it goes to court...what do you think?

[lateralus]

yes, the suggested approach now is to follow the original plan - up to the point you get the stay from the court - then apply for it to be removed - so yes, go ahead and nudge dg - you'll be able to show - just that - that you are trying to resolve

[thorx]

Called up the court to ask what was going on as the case was transferred more than 3 weeks ago. I was half expecting that it had been stayed, but was pleasantly surprised that it is still going ahead. The judge has apparently ordered an allocation questionnaire only a few days ago, so should receive that next week.

 

Good news I guess..

 

Next step is to learn how to handle the AQ in the best possible manner....