Hi Miss Money Penny, we rang Barclays as they hadn't sent her a copy of their evidence, they settled on the spot without any prompting from us, with hindsight we shouldn't have left it so late to chase it up, Sam

Barclays just called back, say they weren't aware of the case (incompetant numpties!!!) Have settled in full, have told her to ring court and inform them but not to close case until cheque cashed/money transferred. I'm very relieved and will point her in the direction of donation and survey. Thanks for all the help. Sam

Settled in full!!! Will point her in direction of survey and donation, thanks for all the help - talk about go to the wire! Will be making a complaint against the woman in the court office. Sam

Things not progressing very well, she hasn't received copies of Barclays evidence which is obviously required for Monday, she tried to ring Barclays as I suspect she has slipped through the net of settlement offers, they didn't answer the phone so she has left a message, she then tried the court to ask them what should happen re: Monday, got a very rude member of staff who made her cry and said "What do you want me to do about it?" Judge will sort on Monday in court!!?! I've told her to ring back and ask to speak to supervisor who will hopefully help, none of this is helping to talk her into actually continuing with the case which is hardly surprising given the court staff attitude she has encountered, I've set up a thread in Barclays so will just keep that one up to date now, thanks for advice, any more gratefully received. Sam

I'm really cross now, she has tried Barclays but they don't answer telephone and it goes to ansaphone so she has left a message, she then rang the court who were extremely rude and asked what she expected them to do about !! They told her she would have to attend court on Monday where the judge would decide if they had submitted evidence or not and was she pyschic saying that they hadn't!! I've told her to ring again and politely request to speak to someone else, its no wonder the poor girl is reluctant to go to court on Monday if this is the way she will be treated. Sorry for the rant, any other suggestions? It seems like this visit to court on Monday will be a waste of time, she has three children and will have to make complex arrangements at work and for collecting children. Sam

Hi Sue, hope you are feeling better now. I've got no counter claim but as you've seen they are trying to get it moved to multi track, I've written a letter to the court pointing out why this isn't necessary and am waiting for something back from them. If Eversheds are seeking to intimidate then they couldn't be more wrong, I'm actually hoping there is a hearing to discuss it, its getting quite exciting. The AQ was an exact copy of several others that have been received on the forum, they must have a good photocopier! Can't believe you still haven't heard anything from them, not long to wait now though! Sam

Hi guys, yes this is the full hearing. We've sent our court bundle to both Barclays and the court but haven't receive anything from them. I appreciate that there is nothing scary but the trouble is its not my fight and I can't help her as I live 300 miles away, I may still be able to talk her around and will get her to give them a call, thanks all Sam

This is on behalf of my Sister in law, we've not posted a thread so far but her court date is set for next Tuesday and we've had no contact from the bank since they sent in their allocation questionnaire, she's not had a copy of their evidence, should she have? They've not tried to make a settlement with her since the start (claim is for just under £1000). The problem is she is getting cold feet about court and I'm a bit concerned the whole thing will fall apart and she will cancel, is it worth sending Barclays an email? If so can anyone point me to a template which might help us word it? Grateful for any advice, I'm really concerned they have forgotten about her. Sam

No i haven't signed her claim as a litigation friend, obviously its too late for this but I understood it was used in cases of children or those with mental health problems? Thanks again for the advice. Sam

Thanks both for your advice, if the claim is struck out will she be liable for Barclays costs? Meantime I'll try persuading her to change her mind and check the buddy system, thanks again. There were no actual costs on her side as she gets tax credits and child tax credits. Sam

Hi guys, I'm hoping someone can advise me, I've checked out the courts website but cannot find the answer to my question. Situation is I helped my sister in law claim her bank charges back, I've tried to keep her fully informed throughout the porcess and got her to do as much of it as possible (sometimes its easier to do it yourself - big mistake!) anyway we've got to the stage where the court date is set for next Tuesday and shes turned around and said she won't go to the court as she is to scared, I'm 300 miles away so can't attend with her, what will happen if she rings the court and cancels? Can she do this? Can Barclays claim costs from her? The claim is for less than £1000 of bank charges, I know they seem to settle quite late but I'm concerned as she has had no contact with them at all since receiving a copy of their allocation questionnaire. I wish I'd never encouraged her to do this although I did warn her she need to be ready to go to court if necessary, I'm still trying to talk her around and help her prepare but not looking good. Grateful for any advice. Sam

I'm far from an expert.....but I would imagine that if they now were to acknowledge the claim they would still get a further 14 days to submit a defence. AS far as teh judgement is concerned as long as it isn't set aside then they have to pay you the money, if they don't pay it within an agreed amount of time (that you put in MCOL when you entered the judgement) then you can send in the bailiffs, this will cost you (£65 I believe) which you in turn charge them for. I think that if you've requested judgement on MCOL then it goes to a judge to make the decision so I don't think there is a set period, just keep checking as it should update on your claim when they've actioned it. Zoot will probably pop in for her nightly session and will no doubt advise you if I've got anything wrong. Fingers crossed for you. Sam

Totally agree, issue the judgement, its the law that says this is what you do next, there is no point in giving them more time, no judge would expect you to. Press the button today and see what happens, follow MCOL adivse, they deal with judgement by default every day. Fingers crossed you've slipped through the net! Sam

If they ask for judgement to be set aside (they have to pay a fee for this) then the claim will just continue as before, they will submit defence and then at the end of the allotted time allocation questionnaires will need to be submitted. I don't know how long it could be left before the judge would say its too late, I would imagine its down to indivduals, have you rung MCOL again? My local court was shut from 22/12 right through until the 2nd so they are probably dealing with a backlog, unfortunately because it went over the Christmas period they were only 2 days late by the time the court shut down. Sam

They may well get judgement set aside, apparantly its common place, I was hoping that Eversheds had missed the deadline for their Allocation Questionnaire return as it was last working day before Christmas but no, they are now asking for it to be multi tracked and a hearing be arranged to discuss evidence, bring it on, there is a thread further up the page that has been settled via Eversheds so keep your fingers crossed. Good luck Sam

Thanks Sue, I'm really rubbish at putting things down on paper so your wording will give me a really good start, I did PM Zoot and she said they probably wouldn't allocate to a different track without a hearing but that it couldn't do any harm sending a letter so I'll get on to it straight away. I'll keep you posted. Sam

Hi Sue, Poor you! I didn't have much of a Christmas either as my gran had a massive stroke, she seems to be recovering but it was all very scary, my parents live 20 miles from the nearest hospital and they took her in the air ambulance, it was all very traumatic! Totally agree with what you're saying, its silly really, they seem to have forgotten the idea of trying to settle these cases, are you just waiting for your day in court now? Do you think I should write to the court requesting it stays in small track? Take care of yourself! Sam

I've just got back from Cornwall to a copy of IGroups AQ, they are suggesting that it goes to multi track, the details are identical to what is on D5Tweddles AQ apart from they say costs are £400 not £800 (bizarre) and they have requested a Case Management conference. What do I do now? Does anyone know what the case conference will involve? I'm ready to continue the fight but admit to being a bit perplexed, which I guess is the idea! Any advice gratefully received.... Sam

Quick update from me as its all been quiet for a while, I had a letter fro mthe court saying if AQ not received from defendant by Friday then defence will be struck out, now that would be quite a Christmas present but as we all know they will leave it till the last minute, unless they've forgotten me! Sam

As far as I know you are the first and there are plenty of us here, maybe its something they've just thought of and there is one winging its way to me as we speak, up to now everyone seems ot have received the same defence, I can't really help but I'm sure Zoot or Alan or someone equally knowledgeable will be here soon to help you out. Fingers crossed for you. If it spurrs you on check out Dogwash's thread, she hasn't got there yet but they did talk settlement monies, here court date is set for February. Sam

Zoot, I'm claiming against IGroup who've also changed to GE Money, have I filed all papers in the wrong name? Nothing was said in the defence about the change of name...... I'm concerned now! Sam

This is standard practice from GE money, virtually identical to what we've all received, unless you think you can handle a phonecall with the solicitors then either send them an email or a letter telling them you prefer to keep things in writing and see what they have to say for themselves, if you speak to them be prepared that they will attempt to confuse you and blind you with science, see Dogwash's thread. If you don't want to contact them then just wait for the next stage. Sam

Sorry it didn't keep the colours in the pasting, if you're unsre then search the site on zootscoot and it will come up on the first page, its in her Halifax settled thread. Sam

This is the template written by Zootscoot, read it carefully and change the bits you need to so it applies to your case - good luck, I'm at the just handed in AQ to the court with GE Money! Here is a letter, its not the one I sent in fact its much improved since I sent mine. Its taken from various sources including the templates and has bits added and ammended at various points!!! The bits in purple are if you are claiming late payment fees in addition to ERC delete if not required. ACCOUNT NUMBER: XXXX Request for repayment of charges Dear XXXX, Our request We are writing to ask you to refund the charges which you have levied from our account in respect of late payment fees to the sum of £XXX , the sum of £XXX representing the contractual rate of interest applied by yourselves in respect of the said charges (Please find enclosed schedule of charges detailing dates, amounts and interest) and xxx in respect of a redemption fee. We now understand that such fees are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent consumer Regulations. In the case of Castaneda and Others v. Clydebank Engineering and Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (1904) 12 SLT 498 the House of Lords held that a contractual party can only recover damages for actual or liquidated losses incurred from a breach of contract as oppose to a charge which represents a penalty. This law was confirmed and upheld in Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co Ltd v New Garage and Motor Co Ltd [1915] AC 79. A charge will be held to be a penalty if the sum stipulated for is extravagant and unconscionable in amount in comparison to the greatest loss that could conceivably be proved to have followed from the breach. A penalty clause is void in its entirety and unenforceable. (You may want to add something here relevant to how the charge they levied could not amount to a genuine pre-estimate. This will obviously vary depending on the particular product and lender) In addition your charges appear to represent an unfair term of contract which is contrary to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (SI. 1999/2083). Our account falls within the ambit of Regulation 5 of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 as we are consumers. Your charges constitute an unfair penalty under Schedule 2 of the said Regulations which provide an indicative and non-exhaustive list of terms which may be regarded as unfair. Under paragraph 1(e) of schedule 2 this specifically includes terms which have the object of requiring any consumer who fails his obligation to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation. We would vigorously contend that this is the position regarding the fee of XXXX which you deemed fit to apply to our account. Furthermore a fee levied requiring us to indemnify you against any commercial risk to yourself in offering us a reduced interest rate in order to attract our cutom is also contrary to s.4 Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. We are confident that a court is likely to consider this clause to be unreasonable within s.11 of the said Act as a large commercial institution such as yourselves is in a far better placed position than us as consumers to bear the burden of the vicissitudes of business. I would like to bring your attention to the following statement by The Office of Fair Trading: "A term in a mortgage agreement which requires the borrower to pay more for breaching the contract terms than actual costs and losses caused to the lender by the breach (or a genuine pre-estimate of that) is likely to be regarded as an unfair penalty and to be unenforceable both at common law and (in a consumer mortgage) under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations. A redemption charge may be regarded as a penalty even if it is expressed as the price for exercising a right rather than a consequence of breaking the agreement." We believe that the charges you have levied of XXXXX for late payment, return of debit fees and early redemption far exceed any true cost to yourself as a result of our breach and any genuine pre-estimate you could conceivably reach. If you disagree, then will you please demonstrate this by letting me have a full breakdown of the costs to which you have been put to as a result of our breaches, in order to reassure us that your charges really do reflect your costs. Your responsibilities We would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that we took out the loan. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law. We are frankly shocked that you have operated our account in this way as we had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise. We consider that your repeated representations that your charges are fair and reasonable are deceptive and that they have deceived us into agreeing to pay them. Your concealment of the true nature of your charges has prevented us from asserting our rights until now. Our targets to resolve this matter We really hope that this matter can be resolved amicably and without the need for redress to the courts. Thus we are asking that you refund the charges which have unlawfully been levied on our account. Failure to refund all the money unlawfully taken from us will result in us taking further action. We will give you 14 days to reply accepting, unconditionally, our request in principle and letting us know a date by which we will receive payment. If you do not respond, or you do not respond positively, within this time period, we shall send you a letter before action giving you a further 14 days in which to reflect. We believe that these targets are more than sufficient for a large company such as yours with dedicated staff and departments. After that, there will be no further communication from us and we shall issue a claim at the expiry of the second deadline. Thus take this letter as 28 days written notice of our intention to issue a court claim should you not comply with my request. I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me about this matter and I am writing this letter to you on the assumption that you will prefer to do this than merely respond with standard letters and leaflets. Yours faithfully,

Fantastic "news", Zoot you really are a complete start to offer that support to a virtual stranger, we are all very grateful to you! Sam