Hi Puppylove As you know from this thread, everything is on hold until the (hopefully) OFT court victory in January and it's well nigh impossible to get stays on existing claims lifted.However it's definitely worth your while initiating a claim now so that you are in the queue come next year. Hi Karen Sounds like you've hit the proverbial brick wall but keep trying! Brett

Sally, apologies for the previous hiccup, I pressed send by mistake! If you are after lifting a stay on a bank case they will probably wheel on their legal heavies, otherwise my guess is that it will probably be a no show. Your credit card/loan cases look like the second scenario so you have just got to keep fighting and the dosh will surely come ... Brett

Sally,

Hi again Karen! Just checking another Halifax thread I've contributed to and found you here getting even more grief from Halifax than Virgin. I was comparatively lucky on the Halifax front in that both my bank and credit card claims were settled in full without the need for mcol earlier this year before oft started their party pooping. However I do have a long running mcol with Lloyds TSB filed in March which got stayed just before it was due in court in August. I filed to get the stay lifted and there was a composite hearing a couple of weeks ago at my local county court. I was out of the country at the time but someone who did attend said that it looked like the judge had already made up his mind beforehand, all pleas of hardship, human rights abuse etc were dismissed and no stays were lifted. I'm sorry that this is not very encouraging for your case but it looks really difficult at the momment to get a stay lifted anywhere, whatever the circumstances .... Brett

Hi Karen I was probably being optimistic about the speed! I'm really surprised that a moderator or someone else has not been able to come up with suitable poc wording, you must be the guinea pig for this type of mcol. Best of luck, just hang in there and keep plugging away, I'm sure you'll get a result in the end and then the rest of us will be piling in to claw back our charges ..... Brett

Sally,I am afraid I have resigned myself to the inevitable, but definitlely go for it with compound interest in your case, you've got nothing to loose ... Brett

Hi Karen Whilst twiddling my thumbs waiting for the last two of my bank claims to emerge from the oft fun and games in March next year, I thought I would turn my atttention to the late payment/non dd charges Virgin threw at me last year when I was having a few financial problems. After reading this thread I'm not so sure! The treatment you have received from Virgin is outrageous and you have my sympathies. They don't seem to care you should be a 'valued' customer. I've been with them for a while from the start of cable and various incarnations of Cable & Wireless, NTL etc and had a few nasty run ins with customer services myself in the past but nothing like the madness that you have had to endure. My finances have since marginally improved and I am now reluctanly on DD because, like you, I was sick of having to pay out the £15 penalty each month. I wish I could come up trumps with the mcol poc but unfortunately I've only used the bank charges version which is not appropriate. The very best of luck in going forward with the mcol. I'll keep an eye on your (hopefully speedy) progress and will start my own claim if you beat the Virgin boys. Brett

Sorry to hear those meanies at Halifax have cottoned on to your arrangement expiring. I phoned them again to complain and ask what makes them so special when all of my other creditors have happily agreed to zero interest. They just trotted out the standard line that it was 'company policy' to only freeze interest for 12 months. When I asked what would happen next, they said that interest would continue to be charged for another 6 months and then they would throw me out into the jaws of a debt collector. It makes me mad too but I don't think there is anyone we can complain to. On a positive note, interest will then stop and the debt collection agencies among my existing creditors have been an agreeable lot willing to fit in with the cccs plan without any hassle. However, it's possible that Halifax might chose one of the heavier handed outfits who want their pound of flesh yesterday and I might then have another battle on my hands ... The letter looks great, although I am not sure you can positively link the start of interest to your claims - both of my claims were done and dusted earlier this year and yet they didn't start the interest nonsense until after my 12 month period recently expired. I would send it to the Financial Ombudsman as well as FSA. The news on stays being lifted is not encouraging. In my own case (Lloyds), they had a composite hearing at my local county court a couple of weeks ago and nothing was lifted. I couldn't be there because I was out of the country but someone who did go reported that the judge had made up their mind before the hearing and it was a done deal irrespective of cases of hardship .... sorry to spoil the festive cake making spirit! The season of goodwill doesn't extend to Halifax Brett

Thanks Sally, it's encouraging that you have had an agreement in place since 2005 which I assume has always been zero interest. I had a review in July which resulted in a small increase to all creditors and I asked cccs to send the paperwork to Halifax when I last spoke to them. I'll have another go at Halifax to check if they have received the paper work and can agree to carry on as before. Brett

Malaga, why am I not surprised?! The dice are definitely loaded against us. I also ticked no to a hearing but I think from an adminstrative point of view they just wanted to roll everbody over in one hit. My vacate letter from the court also states that his honour will 'consider what further directions should be made' on 13th October so maybe I will not need to attend another hearing. In any event, I will probably just tell them to stuff it - As GuidoT says, all stay lift attempts seem doomed from the start and all we can do is dream about the interest till March ...

Sally, good news on the refund. Their defence sounds a bit like the fun and games I'm having with my Lloyds claim - I am currently trying to get the stay lifted. I hate to admit it but I think we will all be shuffling around waiting for action until March. On the cccs front, Halifax have decided to be different from all of my other creditors and started charging interest again. The interest is about £20 more than my agreed monthly payment so the debt will just keep on growing indefinitely. I spoke to both Halifax and cccs, the former said their policy is to freeeze interest only on the first year (which has just expired) and the latter said they can't force anybody not to charge interest. Any ideas? Brett

Malaga, just back from my hols expecting to see an update from you on the trials and tribulations of the 12th - any news, good or bad? I received confirmation from the court that my case has been vacated and I am waiting on a new date, although if you report doom and gloom in your case I don't know why I am bothering ....

Empowered, looks like we are all in the same boat and it's a long wait till March! Brett

Best of luck Malaga and fingers crossed!!! I am off on my hols for a couple of weeks next week and will catch up on your result when I return. I am still waiting for a new date from the court for my hearing ... Brett

Blue, a credit card claim shouldn't be affected by the OFT case as the banks voluntarily lowered their charges when requested to do so by OFT last year. Suggest you put in a new court claim with just the standard 8% interest. I have had a couple of non Lloyds credit card claims settled in full before N1/MCOL was required and I am currently trying to get my Lloyds bank claim stay lifted although I am not optimistic ... Brett

Congratulations Empowered!!! - Persistance and patience have paid off. I am still battling with Lloyds TSB on the last of my 4 claims still outstanding. They slapped a stay on my case like everybody else and I am trying to get it lifted. Not too optimistic because currently all of the lift stay applications seem to be going in the bank's favour. To add insult to injury, I stuck in an MCOL in July against Lloyds on behalf of my daughter and they settled in full (inc fees and interest) straight away ... sometimes life isn't fair ... Brett

Hi Malaga Sorry I have been out of the loop for a little while as I have been moving offices and I don't have a PC at home. The temporary good news is that the man from [problem] has verbally agreed to a postponement of my stay hearing so I won't be involved in your courtroom battles on October 12th. I guess they will shunt me off to another composite stay ding dong round 2 later in the year. The trials and tribulations of Elseg et who have really sound cases for lifts make depressing reading and only deepens my already pessimistic view that we are up against an immoveable force. I envisage that the likely scenario on the day will be that the banks will send in their legal big guns who will give the judge a quick blast of their best barristerspeak to align to their cause. It will then be a case of us poor legal lightweights being summoned in turn for our 5 minute audience, with all our tales of woe, financial hardship, human rights, [problem]'s ignoring court orders etc. brushed aside with a directive of the stay stays, oft you jolly well go and don't come back till March ... testing times indeeed ... On the other hand we may get lucky with a judge having a good day who is sympathetic to the plight of the little man and lifts our spirits by kicking the bank's aguments into touch where it belongs ... but somehow I have a feeling that this is just wishfull thinking ...

Malaga I definitely had the same letter. I spoke to the court this morning to get some clarification of the order. The skeleton argument is basically what you put on N244 plus anything else you can add that you think may help.The relevant authorities are copies of any case laws you quote in the argument. I was hoping not to attend too! I told the court I won't be able to attend and they advised I contact [problem] to agree a deferment. If [problem] don't want to play ball, I can apply for an adjournment but that costs £65. I'll see what [problem] have to say .... Brett

Malaga My wile has just phoned to say there is a letter from the court requesting the pleasure of my company for a hearing early October. It sounds like this is the collective stay lift hearing we have been waiting for even though I specified no hearing on my N244. Unfortunately I'll be out of the country on holiday at that time so I'll check if I can make representations to the judge by letter. Will provide more details tomorrow after I have read the letter tonight. Brett

Malaga Payday today so filing N244 this afternoon together with the standard letter that [problem] have not complied with court directions (there's a surprise!). My (work) local Lloyds branch was firebombed recently and is out of action for the foreseeable future. I'd like to think that a disgruntled claimant was responsible but it's probably the work of another deranged arsonist... Brett

Shame! I've now got my N244 application sorted, ready to hand into the court on Friday. After looking at the new stay section thread I'm still none too optimistic but one has to try .... Brett

Malaga, that's very interesting. I think I might go along the N224 route after all. The immediate problem is that I don't have the £35 fee until I get paid again at the end of next week so I'll play a temporary waiting game keeping an eye on your news until I have the funds. Can you add this fee to the main court fee as part of the claim? Brett

Malaga, I now have the answer in writing from the court to 'Should I stay or should I go? Predictably [problem] are staying and I don't get to go. The order was made by a different judge last Friday but not processed till Monday and the letter postmarked Tuesday. The letter states that the test case is expected to be heard between 14/01/08 and 28/02/08, with a review of my case scheduled for 7/03/08. I can apply to lift the stay but from what I've seen in the forum threads, nobody has applied successfully yet and there would have to be really strong reasons (as per garfy's experience at Luton) for the lift. So it looks like I will be sitting tight along with everybody else until March 2008, praying for an ace result from OFT ... any news on your lift request yet? Brett

Congratulations Chrissie! Knowing the nightmare that is MBNA admin, I also gave them a little extra time before starting MCOL and it works.My settlement was also a credit rather than real readies and I am on a zero interest payment arangement so it made a nice dent in the outstanding balance. You were lucky to get a result before the OFT threw their hat into the ring - I've had an MCOL filed against Lloyds TSB since the end of March for approx four grand with a court date scheduled for next week ,and I have just been told that it's been stayed until the OFT result - very unfair and frustrating! Brett

Hi Malaga Heard nothing to date re: my fast approaching date at Brighton County Court next week. I have just phoned the court and they said a stay was in the post so it does not look too promising. I'll be interested to see the outcome of your request to lift your stay. In the meantime I have sent a letter to [problem] berating them for not complying with court orders on the bundle and will soon whack off a similar letter to the court highlighting [problem]'s negligence. Brett