Is there any chance of being refunded by GMAC? I have searched the site for advie ect but have not been able to find anything linked to them. My son has estimated that he paid over £1,000 in charges which he would obviously like to claim back but i have not been able to find anything relating to them or how we go about it.

Hi Jerry I will be keeping everything crossed for you, stay postive and focused and hopefuly it will come right for you. Please let me know how it all goes for you - Go Get Erm! Frankie

I did my best today to have the stay removed but it wasn't good enough - I LOST! The Judge wasn't interested, he said he was not qualified to make the decision and it was best to leave it to the high court! He didn't even want to see my court bungle and the solicitor representing Barclays just quoted a lot of legal jargon that i did not understand. The only thing that the Judge was interested in was saying how much of his time had been taken up by Bank Charges hearings! Barclays little weasel scurried off with a smile on his face when the Judge refused to lift the stay - I think it was a case of my time being wasted not he Judges as it was a dead cert of the outcome before i even got in the room - GUTTED

I did my best today to have the stay removed but it wasn't good enough - I LOST! The Judge wasn't interested, he said he was not qualified to make the decision and it was best to leave it to the high court! He didn't even want to see my court bungle and the solicitor representing Barclays just quoted a lot of legal jargon that i did not understand. The only thing that the Judge was interested in was saying how much of his time had been taken up by Bank Charges hearings! Barclays little weasel scurried off with a smile on his face when the Judge refused to lift the stay - I think it was a case of my time being wasted not he Judges as it was a dead cert of the outcome before i even got in the room - GUTTED

Hi Jerry Thank you so much for your support, i did my best but it wasn't good enough - I LOST! The Judge wasn't interested, he said he was not qualified to make the decision and it was best to leave it to the high court! He didn't even want to see my court bungle and the solicitor representing Barclays just quoted a lot of legal jargon that i did not understand. The only thing that the Judge was interested in was saying how much of his time had been taken up by Bank Charges hearings! Barclays little weasel scurried off with a smile on his face when the Judge refused to lift the stay - I think it was a case of my time being wasted not he Judges as it was a dead cert of the outcome before i even got in the room - GUTTED

Hi Slick, i was going to ask about where i stood now with regards to Interest and court charges as the judge told me to check out the website that i had obviously been using. I did reply that i had been reading an awful lot of information from various media reports as i knew fighting for justice would never be easy but that's as far as the advise went.

Hi Guys - Thank you so much for your support, i did my best but it wasn't good enough - I LOST! The Judge wasn't interested, he said he was not qualified to make the decision and it was best to leave it to the high court! He didn't even want to see my court bungle and the solicitor representing Barclays just quoted a lot of legal jargon that i did not understand. The only thing that the Judge was interested in was saying how much of his time had been taken up by Bank Charges hearings! Barclays little weasel scurried off with a smile on his face when the Judge refused to lift the stay - I think it was a case of my time being wasted not he Judges as it was a dead cert of the outcome before i even got in the room - GUTTED

stonedecroze I feel so sick amd i am shaking already, today is the day, i will be leaving in about 1 hour. I have my court bundle, my statements and also my store and credit card statements which will hopefully help to prove my hardship as i have to use them to live on as my overdraft is at it's maximum and if they paid me it would clear my overdraft - i am robbing peter to pay paul every month.

Jerry I have a little update regarding my above post as I telephoned the court on Monday and was told that my date for court (11th Sept) is for the Judge to hear my application to have my stay removed!! I have to attend on court on 11th Sept and I was advised to bring as much supporting evidence with me as i possibly could e.g. Bank Statements, but to be honest I haven't got all my bank statements only the one's which show the charges I have had applied since i first started this fight - I am so very fed up with it all, it seems everything is against the Joe Public from getting Justice. I was also told that the court (Chester) HAD applied blanket stays to all cases relating to bank charges. I used the template that Hedgey06 has given you the link to so i would go with that, I am petrified at the thought of going to court - Oh Lordy I hope you help me.

I telephoned Chester Court on Monday (3rd Sept) and was told that they had applied a blanket stay to all cases relating to bank charges, i have a hearing next week (11th Sept) with the judge to put my case forward to have the stay removed, However, I was not charged for my appeal i just had to write a letter to the court to request the removal of the stay.

Do you what I am getting really cheesed off with feeling low about all of this, I think the way I am feeling at the moment I will be straight to the point with the Judge on the 11th Sept, take the statements I have and also the copy Statements that Barclays kindly gave me as a gesture of good will back in Feb 07 and as soon as the Judge takes a look at my bank statements he might feel sorry for me as the balance is in a very sorry state! I will also plead with him to let my case be heard due to the financial hardship I am in and explain that although I think a test case is needed, I find it unfair that stays are being applied when the test case could go on for a few years. I myself have charges, which go back more than 6 yrs, which come to over 2,500GBP, which I cannot claim for. It might have be easier to swallow however if it was ordered that all the banks involved could no longer apply charges to customers until the outcome of the test case is known, or if the stays applied only to new cases, maybe the reason thats not happend so far is that It's a far to easy solution and the banks/courts wont make any money.:idea:

Thanks for trying it Saintly - i thought there was something wrong with my PC but youv'e confirmed it isn't

Nicethan / Smutley thank you to you both for coming back to me, I have a little update regarding the above posts as I telephoned the court today and was told that my date for court (11th Sept) is for the Judge to hear my application to have my stay removed!! That I had to attend on 11th and I was advised to bring as much supporting evidence with me as i possibly could e.g. Bank Statements, but to be honest I have only kept the bank statements which show the charges I have had applied since i first started this fight - I am so very fed up with it all, it seems that I'm not going to win either way now. I was also told that the court (Chester) HAD applied blanket stays to all cases relating to bank charges. I have to attend the 26th has been vacated so if anyone could advise me what else I can take as supporting evidence it would be great as I thought the template letter would be enough for the Judge Oh Lordy what am I going to do?

Don't know if i have a problem with gaining access to link but that one does not work for me either, seems a bit strange as the Buddy one also didn't work for me.

stonedecroze / Slick - thank you to you both for coming back to me, I have a little update regarding the above posts as I telephoned the court today and was told that my date for court (11th Sept) is for the Judge to hear my application to have my stay removed!! That I had to attend on 11th and I was advised to bring as much supporting evidence with me as i possibly could e.g. Bank Statements, but to be honest I have only kept the bank statements which show the charges I have had applied since i first started this fight - I am so very fed up:( with it all, it seems that I'm not going to win either way now. I was also told that the court (Chester) HAD applied blanket stays to all cases relating to bank charges. As I have to attend (as I booked this hol before my original dates (26th Sept) was vacated I have no option but to attend, if you could tell me what else I can take as supporting evidence it would be great as I thought the template letter would be enough for the Judge:mad: Oh Lordy what am I going to do?

Hi - If anyone has T+C's for Barclays dating back to 1984/85 it would be great as i haven't managed to download any info on the attached links. Many thanks

Hi Slick thank you so much for responding, here goes - 05/02/07 – Sent SAR. 08/02/07 – Response from Barclays informing me that the bank was not under any obligations to present information according to any particular format, they returned my £10 cheque as the bank would provide me with the copy statements on a complimentary basis. 06/03/07 – Received the copy statements. 07/03/07 – Sent request to bank for repayment of charges, which included the spreadsheet from CAG. 14/03/07 – Received a response from the bank, which offered me a partial offer (half of what I was owed). 16/03/07 – I wrote to the bank to thank them for their offer but declined their offer as a full and final settlement. I stated that I would accept the sum offered only as a part settlement. 21/03/07 – I wrote LBA to the bank, which again included the spreadsheet of charges 31/05/07 – Hand delivered N1 to the Court to begin proceedings. 05/06/07 – Received Notice of Issue from the court, which informed me that my claim was issued and the court sent it first class post and it would be deemed, served on 08/06/07. 13/06/07 – Received Notice that Acknowledgement of Service has been filed. 03/07/07 – Received notice from the court that a defence had been filed 13/07/07 – Completed and hand delivered my allocation questionnaire to the court, I also sent a copy to the bank out of courtesy and asked them if they would like to bring a rapid end to the litigation, I was happy to discuss it with them. ??/08/07 – Received notice that a court date had been set for 26th September. (Letter in work drawer, will have the exact date tomorrow) 13/08/07 – vacate Received General Form of Judgement or Order from the court to inform me that a stay had been applied to my case and the trial date fixed for 26th September 21/08/07 – I requested to the court that the stay be removed again using the CAG template 01/09/07 – Received Notice of Hearing Application from the court which will take place on 11th Sept. It reads like this - The hearing of the claimant's application for An Order (see copy attached) (this is the letter i sent to them) will take place at 11@:30 on the 11 Sept 2007 at the Chester County Court. I think your right, i now think this is a date to hear my application to have the stay lifted, but what i cant understand is the letter that i sent in the first place to ask for it to be removed was very lengthy surely that should have been enough for the Judge to decide if i can proceed as normal. I'm also having to cancel a holiday i had booked last minute now given that my original date was 26th Sept i thought i would be ok to book it:(

26th Sept was the hearing that got stayed. I know have a Notice of Hearing of Application for 11th Sept. I have been advised that this is my day in court but i am still unsure if it is or whether it is to hear the reasons for the stay. Any advise??

Nic forgot to put this bit of advise in If you already have a court date, it should be taken to court with you alongside your usual bundle and witness statement so you can argue against a stay if one is proposed. I will have my court bundle with me but what is the witness statement?:o

Hi Nic I used the template from this site sorry i do not know how to insert the link but this is what is says Claim Number:XXXXXXX In the XXXXXXXX County Court Between: [YOU] Claimant -and- XXXXXXX BANK PLC Defendant I strongly object to the proposed order of a stay in respect of the claim detailed above upon the following grounds; Human rights It would infringe my rights under the European Convention on Human Rights directly and as enacted in the Human Rights Act 1998. Article 6 of the Convention provides that; “1. In the determination of his civil rights… everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time.” It is submitted that the ordering of a stay as proposed is not reasonable. The 8 banks involved in the High Court test case have recently published identical statements on their websites informing customers that they expect the test case to last for over a year. Moreover, the nature and gravity of the case is such that any judgment is highly likely to be appealed to the Court of Appeal and possibly even then appealed further to the House of Lords. It is entirely conceivable that a final resolution may not be reached for 2 – 3 years or perhaps even longer. It is thus submitted that the period of any proposed stay cannot be accurately predicted and would therefore in effect be indeterminate, which is contrary to the right of entitlement to a fair hearing within a reasonable time as provided for by Article 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998. The Overriding Objective The Overriding Objective requires that my case is allowed to proceed speedily so that a just settlement may be obtained by the parties to this case. Dealing with cases justly includes ensuring that this case is dealt with expeditiously and fairly and in a way that is proportionate to the amount of money involved. It is submitted that the imposition of an indeterminate stay in a small claims track case involving a reletively small sum, at such an advanced stage in proceedings, is not just, nor is it expeditious, nor is it fair on a claimant who has outlaid sums by way of court fees in pursuit of a legitimate right to seek a remedy. Balance of convenience The sum claimed is insignificant to the bank but it is highly significant to me. Furthermore, although a stay prevents me from recovering my money, the defendant bank is not prevented from levying its charges or interest on debt comprised of those charges so the order of the court has the effect of favouring a powerful and well-resourced institution and does not place any restriction on their continued application of charges which I say are unlawful. Further, many banks are now routinely closing the accounts of their customers who commence claims against them. This amounts to a sanction for seeking a ruling from the justice system and as such is a basic denial of citizenship. I will remain at risk of such action despite the fact that my remedy has been placed on an indeterminate hold. Additionally, the defendant remains at liberty to enter my name on the default register which it and other banks routinely do in respect of unlawful penalties which are unpaid by their customers. The banks have direct and privileged access to this register. They have no need to obtain a County Court judgment before they may enter a default on the register. This default remains on the register for 6 years and causes enormous damage to reputations. Were my name to be entered on the default register I would find it impossible to get credit or a mortgage and I would have to pay higher fees for any credit which I did manage to obtain. The banks would also remain at liberty to bring legal proceedings against me for the recovery of any debt which mostly or entirely consists of penalty charges, penalty charges which are contended to be unlawful, but which consumers would be helpless to challenge in the event that stays are imposed on any claim where a customer is seeking to dispute the lawfulness of them. It is submitted that a stay may potentially mean great difficulty for me and yet be insignificant for the defendant bank. In fact a stay is supportive of the banks litigation strategy which is to frustrate justice by repeatedly taking the claimant to the door of the court and then to settle the claim. The Status Quo The stay does not maintain the status quo. As submitted above, a stay favours the bank by preventing the claimant’s pursuit of its legitimate remedy without placing any restriction upon the banks activities which I submit are unlawful and/or retaliatory. Furthermore, as submitted above the present case concerns a relatively small sum and is at a late stage in proceedings, and therefore I submit that to impose an indeterminate stay is unnecessary, inappropriate, not in the interests of justice and further, is detrimental to my rights in a way which is unfair and inequitable. In the alternative In view of the preceding paragraphs, if the court accedes to the defendant’s application for a stay notwithstanding these objections, I respectfully request that the court issues the following injunctions: That the defendant bank is prevented from applying further penalty charges to my account until the final settlement of the matter. That the defendant is prevented from applying interest charges to any outstanding amounts which are comprised of penalties until the settlement of the matter. That the defendant is prevented from closing my account. That the defendant is prevented from making any entry on its own systems or from communicating any similar information to any third party about any matter insofar as it relates to penalty charges until the final settlement of the matter. That the defendant removes any derogatory entry on its own records insofar as it relates to penalty charges. (The Court has the power to do this under the Data Protection Act 1998 ) That the defendant arranges the removal of entries from the records of any third parties to whom it has previously communicated information insofar as it relates to penalty charges. (The Court has the power to do this under the Data protection Act 1998.) That these injunctions remain in place until the settlement of my claim. That should my claim proceed to a hearing that a decision should be made at the hearing as to whether these injunctions should be made permanent. That if the matter should not proceed to a hearing because the defendant decides to settle outside court, that these injunctions should become permanent. I, the Claimant, believe all facts stated to be true. Signed: Dated: Good luck, please let me know how you get on, it took about 10 days for the court to respond to me.

stonedecroze - thank you so much for your fantastic reply:) I did file my N1 claim with court and used the spread sheet to calculate interest from date of first charge at 8% . I also added the £120 fee on to my claim as i was not charged for the S.A.R. What i didnt do was add the £0.0022 as i wasnt sure how it all worked and to be honest i could get my head around it so i didnt include that in case i messed everything up. As far as i know all i have to do now is attend the court on 11th sept with my copy as i produced 3 copies of everything with my N1 and the court then sent me my copy and also Barclays their copy. I also sent Barclays a copy of the AQ out of courtesey and to try to force them into making me my full sum. If i need anything else it would be fantastic if you could advise me again as i am really very scared but for just under £2000 i am determined to see this through. Out of interest what sort of things are they going to ask me on the day as i havent got anyone to go with and the court buddy link does not seem to be working:(

Saintly_1 I took your advice and wrote to the court to ask for the stay to be removed, i have today received a letter from the court which says "The hearing of the claimant's application for An Order will take place at 11:30 on the 11 September 2007. Apologies for my ignorance but i am very confused now does this mean that i am having to attend a court hearing to have the stay removed, or has the stay been removed and this is my day in court V Barclays?

Jerry - you must go for it, when i contacted Chester County Court about the stay that had been applied to my hearing i was told that all i had to do was write a letter outlining the reasons why i wanted the stay lifted, to make sure i had the claim number included in the letter and to sign it and the judge would decide on whether to lift the stay or not. I did not have to pay the £35. I received a letter this morning to tell my my request was successful and the stay has been removed my new court date is 11th Sept 07 earlier than my original date which was 26th Sept, i must admit though i am really, really scared about going to court. I am going to look for a court buddy :o

Hi Nic I received a letter from Chester County Court this morning to say that my request to have my stay overturned has been successful - YIPPEE!! My original court date was 26th Sept 07 but it has now been changed to 11th Sept. Although i am delighted with getting the stay overturned i am now scared stiff at the thought of going to court as ive never been good sticking up for myself and given how important this is to me i am worried i will fall to pieces and mess it all up.

My son's date has also been stayed, just got it in the post ...And upon reading the papers in the present action And upon it appearing that the issues raised in the present action are the same or similar to some or all of those raised in to the proceedings And upon it appearding to the court to be jusy to stay the present action until the outcome of the proceedings is knon It is ordered that:- 1) The claim be stayed forthwith pending ultimate determination of the proceedings 2) The trial date fixed for 5th sept be vacated 3) permission to either party to apply on notice to lift the stay in accordacne with CPR 1998 part 23 4) The stay be without prejudice to any negotiation between the parties to settle the action 5) Unless the court has given directions in the meantime, the defendant shall within 28 days of the final determination of the proceedings apply on notice for directions. I am getting more worried about this whole ordeal as it's going right over my head, can someone please tell me what do i do next? and what does this letter actually mean in plain english?