MG v FD ***WON****

[MgintyMIA]

I'm just about to send off my prelim letter but like a few people I'm a little confused with the interest part.

My claim is for £2,862.00 then there is £871.57 interest so totalling £3,733.57 (using the simple spreadsheet).

I understand that in the prelim letter not to include interest but my query is that if they reply saying yes ok we'll pay the full amount (unlikely) would I then say ok I accept that as partial payment now pay the interest?

I've read the how to's and a few messages but remain a little confused

Thanks

[isidore]

There are different types of interest which can be claimed at different times and you need to get this correct. It sounds as though you haven't got this straight.

 

This thread should help explain. It's from RBS but same principle applies.

 

HTH

[MgintyMIA]

Thanks for your help - that explains a lot.

I've ben using the 8% rate I guess (from one of the linked simple spreadsheets. The cell formula is "=(F3*0.00022)*H3" as an example.

I don't think I'll bother claiming the o/d interest so letter goes off today.

Looking fwd to their reply ;-)

[MgintyMIA]

UPDATE:::

 

I sent off my prelim letter and got a reply offering some of the fees which I rejected with my lba - sent 19th Feb. I then got a very quick response on23rd offereing to pay the penalties in full but not any interest -I am claiming for unauthorised o/d interest plus interest charged on my o/d.

 

I am going to reject this and they have until 9th March before I proceed with my claim.

 

In the letter they mentioned that additional interest is only payable in the event of a successful court claim. Does anyone think that in my letter rejecting the settlement (or rather accepting it as part payment), I should mention that i am claiming interest because of reciprocity of contract and that the court may award 8 % or just ignore it?

 

The rejection letter templates here don't mention it:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/25716-rejecting-offers.html

 

Thanks all and good luck with your claims!!

[MgintyMIA]

Hi all,

I've read thru Mindzai and Lucid's excellent POC wording

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/lloydstsb-successes/26172-mindzai-lucid-lloyds-tsb-2.html#post228549

and would like to ask a question on whether it's a good idea to include the references to the various Acts and regulations etc.

I've read the Supply and Goods Act section 15

Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 as amended up to date to 1/10/2003

and am not too sure of what it means in plain english.

So, if I'm unsure, should i not include it?

Many thanks

[MgintyMIA]

hmm oh well no takers.

Did manage to find this on the moneysavingexpert website tho, maybe it will help someone - a little bit more in plain english:

 

The charges applied are an unfair penalty under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations, which state: “A term is unfair if it requires any consumer who fails his obligation to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation”. The amount charged does not reflect the cost of the breach.

 

Under the law of penalties, the charges are an unlawful ‘extravagant’ penalty. A charge is a penalty if it does not reflect an item’s true cost.

 

http://www3.moneysavingexpert.com/files/bank_charges_templates/letter7.rtf

 

 

[MgintyMIA]

Hi,

I have already filed my POC with the court the other week although have not had any communication yet.

 

The banks have stated in their letters that they have already refunded some charges so deducted them from the claim.

It's only now that I've gone back through the statements with a fine toothcomb and discovered that they are correct. It's not a huge amount and doesn't make much difference to my claim but am worried about how to address this mistake in the courts.

In my defense, I have been looking at the summary of charges sheet that comes with my statement rather than looking through the statement for charges and thought I had taken into account any refunds given (these are listed on the summary of charges sheet)

 

What should I do? I'm thinking that I should write back to the bank and acknowledge my mistake, plus when I get details of my case, write to the Court and inform them - effectively resubmitting my scedule of charges. Does this seem sensible?

For the record, the bank offered to refund all the charges, but not the interest or contractual interest that I am claiming, so I rejected the offer.

 

thanks for any advice in advance

[Calculator]

When did the bank offer to refund the charges? Was it before you submitted your claim to the Court?

How much is your claim for?

[MgintyMIA]

Thanks for your response.

The bank did offer to refund the charges only before I submitted to court.

However they are not offering to pay the interest they charged me which is why I took it further.

The claim amount is:

charges:approx £2800

interest: approx £400

contractual interest: approx £3500

 

So, do you think I should inform the court of my mistake and acknowledge it to the bank?

Or do you think I should have accepted the offer?

[Todge]

MgintyMIA

 

Phone the court and ask. Very helpful people.

 

Your figures are puzzling me - 2800+400 I get, but what's the 3500 for?

 

 

Hope this helps - JMHO.

T.

[MgintyMIA]

Thanks, I've just been up to the Court. My claim has been issued (20/03/07) and served today (28/03/07) so I have to fill in an application notice to change the POC and evidence. That will then get sent to the defendant so I guess they will know I have acknowledged my mistake then.

Re the amounts, I am also claiming contractual interest on the charges at the banks unauthorised borrowing rate which gives the 3500 amount. This is based on the fact that they took my money without authorisation and the principal of mutuality and reciprocity, e.g what goes around comes around.

There are loads of posts about claiming contractual interest so I'm not going to go into it further here!

Cheers

[MgintyMIA]

Hi all,

I have ended up filing my claim and have posted off my AQ.

I have since received a letter from DG solicitors offering an ex gratia payment.

They are offering:

2053 for the charges - i am asking 2307

645 interest (I guess on the above) - I am asking 336 o/d interest to be paid + stat interest

350 court fees.

 

They also mention that I have no basis for any of my claims - basically it's very similar to the initial offeres they sent. I'm thinking I should reject this and carry on with my claim.

What do others think?

I can post more later if needed,

thanks

[isidore]

What are the totals (what you are claiming, what they have offered)??

 

If it isn't the same, I guess you should be rejecting, there are plenty of template letters in the library area.

[MgintyMIA]

Hi, thanks for the response and sorry it's taken a while to get back. Everything seems to be going off at the same time at the moment so really busy!

Anyway, here's a breakdown of what's going on.

on both claims I am claiming my charges + interest and contractual interest @ unauthorised rate (19.9%) or in the alternative @ authorised rate (10.9%) or in the alternative statutory 8%.

 

I have sent of my AQ on both claims:

 

Claim 1

Charges: £2307

Interest: £336.36

Sub total:£2643.36

Court Costs: £350

Total: £2993.36

 

Claim of contractual interest @ unauth rate (19.9%): £2643.36 + £3053.32 = £5696.68

 

Claim of contractual interest @ auth rate (10.9%): £2643.36 + £1422.89 = £4066.25

 

Claim of stat interest: £2643.36 + £860.94 = £3504.30

 

I have been offered £3049.40 which breaks down into repayment of charges of £2053.50 (they are saying that the 6 year limit applies from the date of my claim, not when I was first asking for the charges to be repaid!) + court fees of £350 + interest on the charges of £645.90

 

Claim 2

 

Charges: £480

Interest: £83.73

Sub total:£563.73

Court Costs: £120

Total: £683.73

 

Claim of contractual interest @ unauth rate (19.9%): £563.73+ £430.23 = £993.96

 

Claim of contractual interest @ auth rate (10.9%): £563.73 + £211.41 = £775.14

 

Claim of stat interest: £563.73 + £135.82 = £699.55

 

I have been offered £741.17 which breaks down into repayment of charges (£480) + court fees of £120 + interest on the charges of £141.17

 

If I take the claim for 8% as my minumum then the minimum offer would be £3854.30 and £819.55 as I am unsure how succesful I will be claiming contractual interest. In which case the offer on claim 2 doesn't look too bad but I am tempted to write back rejecting them but offering to settle at my minumum claims.

 

What do you think?

Cheers

[MgintyMIA]

Bump.

Any thoughts? Anyone?

Bueller?

;-)

[isidore]

Well for starters, I think the 6 years is from when you first made contact with them not when you started your claim - find HydraUK's thread in the RBS forum as he is in court over a similar issue.

 

If you take the 8% as minimum, they obviously aren't offering you enough. Read up about the limitations bit and decide from there.

[MgintyMIA]

Sent off my rejection letter yesterday.

Used a combination of suggestions and came up with this:

 

Letter 1:

My Address

 

 

 

Date

 

Dg Solicitors

 

BS15 1QZ

 

 

Re: County Court Claim Number xxxxxxx

Response to settlement offer.

 

Dear Sir/ Madam

 

Thank you for your letter dated 08 May 2007. I respectfully decline your offer of £3049.40 as settlement of my claim.

 

I note that your client has disregarded the following amounts claimed based on the Limitation Act 1980:

 

 

Penalty Charges 23/01/2001 to 23/03/2001 £253.50

 

As my initial request for the charges to be repaid was made on 26/01/2007 and I have the original statements, copies of which have been provided, it is my belief that the Limitation Act 1980 does not apply. I am also aware of other cases that have gone back over 6 years where they claimant has been successful.

 

I also understand you have a policy of initially rejecting claims for overdraft interest. However, should this be the case after you have reviewed my claim, you should be aware that my claim for overdraft interest has been meticulously calculated and double checked. It only ever relates to the cumulative charges within the overdrawn balance of the account at the point that the overdraft interest was debited.

 

If it is that in your view the interest is not claimable, I am prepared to discuss this with yourselves and the judge in court.

 

 

However, I am mindful of the vast number of claims with which you are currently dealing. In order to more speedily resolve this matter, I am willing to accept the sum of £6111

 

Claim up to 29/03/2007 5696.68

Daily rate from 30/30/2007 to 17/05/2007 (£1.33 x 49) 65.17

Court Costs 350

 

Total 6111 (rounded down to nearest pound)

 

 

Please find enclosed another copy of my schedule of charges relating to this claim.

 

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 whole-heartedly approve of our settling this matter in a timely manner and without their further intervention. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

Links:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/hsbc-fd-hfc-successes/67152-mcol-4-days-2-a.html Post 8

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/hsbc-bank/76820-calling-all-hsbc-claimants.html#post671596

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/hsbc-bank/33005-bong-hsbc-contractual-interest-8.html#post446850

 

And of course the template

Hope this may help someone else

[MgintyMIA]

Hi,

I'm hoping someone can help me with my claim against FD. I'm posting here as it's now with DG and this board seems more busier than the FD one. I already have a (small) thread here:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/first-direct/60289-mg-fd.html

 

I have two claims (both claiming contractual interest and if not, the 8%) to which I have filed my AQ.

Claim 1 is for approx £1150 and DG have filed their AQ

Claim 2 is for approx £6500 and DG have missed the deadline for filing their AQ so I should be able to ask for judgement in default.

 

However on reading many posts it seems that I'm better off sending a letter 'nudging' DG to file an AQ. I'm not sure what to do so would appreciate any advice.

 

Thanks

[lateralus]

i'd say yes, there's a letter nearly like you want in my aq threads -

When you have filed your AQ................

New---after 28 Days - Maybe No Aq!!!!!!!

post number 1 on each has nudge ideas.

default judgments are very good as they can stay and appeal and drag them out forever - better to encourage them to file their aq to move things along.

[MgintyMIA]

Thanks for the response Lateralus - those are the threads I've been reading up on.

I thought I should send a letter nudging them about the AQ. How long should I leave it after that if they don't respond?

They did send an offer letter the day after I received my General Form of Judgement or Order and I haven't responded to that yet. Do you think I should combine the two letters - rejecting the offer and asking them to file the AQ?

Thanks

[lateralus]

sure - or let it be 2 letters - i'm saying one letter evrey 10-14 days until they send a good offer - which can take awhile and you do sort of get knotted thinking of new things to write about - so - make it two

[MgintyMIA]

Thanks for your help Lattie - I don't know where I'd be without this forum!

[MgintyMIA]

Hi all,

In light of this post:

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

I am reveiwing one of my claims. I'm due to go to court on Aug 04.

 

My original claim was including contractual interest and from Jan 01 but I didn't file it in court until March 07. DG have replied stating they are ignoring any clims prior to March 01 based on 6 year limit.

They have offered me £3056 which according to them includes charges/ interest to date of the letter (they don't specify which interest) and court fee.

Now, I have redone my figures taking into account the 6 year limit and the date of their letter and I get:

Charges: £2053.50

Interest: £280.72

8% stat:£744.47

Court Fees: £350

 

Total: £3428.69

 

Should I carry on taking it to court or should I write and say that I will not claim for the contractual interest and settle for £3428? Or should I just accept their offer?

Thanks

[jowalshy]

What is the £280.72 interest? Make sure that you only claim overdraft interest that only relates to your charges adn not the total amount of interest that was debited.

[MgintyMIA]

Hi jowalshy.

The interest is the O/D interest that relates to the charges, not the total amount I have been charged over the years.

Thanks