Hi FP Sorry to hear about the Stay; the issue of CI has been prominently discussed on CAG for a while with quite a few fails because of its inclusion in claims. I take it the Stay was of the court's own volition as oppose to application received from the bank?

Hi bankcharges Replied to your PM - sorry, should be £9.25, not £9.50 which is hourly rate set by court

It seems to be standard practice from Barclays. They confirmed they'd settle my claim for breach of DPA by crediting an account that was closed three years ago! Twoo weeks later, they replied to my letter pointing out what berks they were, by saying they had been "unable to credit the account". A week later another department managed to send out the settlement in cheque form. These are the staff in whom we put our trust to safegaurd our money!

Well I say go for it if the settlement agreement you signed stipulated it was only in respect of certain listed charges/charges within a certain period etc. Where it was a generic acceptance to the account charges in general, you stand little chance of success. I have started a similar 'follow-up' action against The Woolwich for the same account. I accepted their F&F 'goodwill' settlemet for specific charges as detailed in their own list of charges sent in response to my LBA - their list was incomplete and I knew it. Since it was only £200 off the full amount, I chose to accept it with the intention of addressing the other charges (those not included in their list) with an entirely new claim. I sent my own acceptance letter that was worded: "Dear Sirs Thank you for your letter of settlement dated xx/xx/xx singed off by Neil Anderson. I accept your offer of £xxxx as Full and Final settlement of the charges levied against the above account between xxth xxxx 2001 and xxxst xxx 2004 as confirmed in the transaction list send by The Woolwich, a copy of which is enclosed. Upon receipt of the cheque or transfer of the funds into my present account, details of which are shown below, I will notify the court that this claim has been settled in full and that no further action is required. I trust this concludes this dispute to the satisfaction of both parties. Yours sincerely" As far as I'm concerned I have made a clear acceptance only for specific charges. There is no ambiguity as far as I am concerned and if the bank chose to misread the acceptance as emcompassing all outstanding charges, then that's their problem. I have now approached them regarding other charges (not the same ones) and am making reasonable efforts without resorting to court. In your post above #162, you say "I was further advised by Barclay to tender a further claim for balance." Regardless of whether this was verbal or in writing, you should use this to demonstrate that at the time of agreeing the parital settlement, the Defendants catergorically stated that this did not affect any further claim and that they were at that point in agreement that a further claim was acknowledged as due.

Hi Druids Sorry, been away on hols. I know it seems that the banks are dictating the court timetables and in any other circumstances, I feel sure the judges would be sticking to the rules but this issue seems to have them running scared. I would prepare a http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/n225_0406.pdf anyway and hand it into the court by hand on Tuesday - it can't do any harm, doesn't cost anything and if there are any further abuses down the line, you also have a stick to beat the court with - the fact that you rightfully asked for Judgement and if they had awarded it in a timely fashion as they are obliged to, further fiasco and time wasting could have been avoided. It also paves the way for a warranted Wasted Costs Order.

Hi tezl Been away for a bt so just catching up. I would also be inclined to attach a copy of the original Directions highlighting the bit about default Strike Out - I know the judge should have the original directions to hand when he considers your application but...well how many of us still have confidence in claims being handled fairly and efficiently by the courts? Hopefully, it will make it easy for him/her to give an instant judgement and rubber stamp your win

Hi Gary Absolutely. Add any further charges that you've incurred to your Schedule of Charges and use this for your N1 POC. You can indeed finally unleash your 8% Statutory Interest!

Hi Dave Normally you need to wait for the written court notice that confirms it has been stayed however if you have the date it was Stayed you should complete form N244 http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/n244_0400.pdf. Post #2 on http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/17065-application-removal-stay-updated.html gives you a step by step in filling out the form. You don't need to send a copy to the bank.

Hi Lee Even before the Test Case, Welsh cases were transferring (or as I call it herded) into Cardiff. You weren't meant to attend the transfer, no one does, it's standard practise. Unfortunately Cardiff Court, by their own volition (ie not because banks requesting) are automatically issuing Stays to bank charge cases however you are urgerd to send an objection to any Stay that is granted against your case. Wait to hear from Cardiff - they will either send directions, a notice of hearing or a notice that your case has been stayed. Post back once you hear from them

You don't need to pay Kivo and as long as you have proof of sending SOCs (ie at least one set were sent registered), that's fine

Congratulations doefar, I'm delighted that you got a judge who plays fair. Quite right too, the judicial system risks becoming a joke unless judges reassert court authority.

Sorry taff, you can't add further charges once you've filed unless you pay to submit a new POC!

Hi Jo Yes they always say that and once in a while it's true, whilst many times it's just something to say to get you off the phone. The fact is they are in breach of a law and as soon as your claim is issued, the law is on your side and simply sending through your statements (which would be great in itself) will not satisfy the claim - they will have to settle the costs requested in your claim as well. Many people delay claiming in these circumstances and whilst it's no skin off their nose, it doesn't progress your case at all. I infact started my bank charge reclaim using a partially estimated SOC which I stated I would revise upon receiving statements; it was the only way of getting my main claim into the court system.

Hi Jo and welcome to the Barclay's forum. When you rang Barclays and they confirmed they had received the letters, did they not state whether or not your statements/data had been sent out to you? Unfortunately Barclays is becoming more and more lax on complying with SARs; I would recommend that if nopthing is received in tomorrow's post, you file at local court a claim against them for breach of DPA. The claim won't be Stayed as it is not reclaiming bank charges and it will ensure that not only do you get a Court Order for them to send the data by a certain date but you will get back any filing fee plus reasonable costs to date. My own experience is that Barclays settle without the need to go to court. If you need any help in completing the forms, post on here where there are lots of people who can help you or PM me and I'll send through the claim I won. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/6971-data-protection-act-non.html

Hi LL Yes, this is asking for your full bundle. If you can, hand deliver to court otherwise, register mail it. Send a copy registered to BLT but I would refrain from putting in anything more than a one line covering letter "Please find enclosed my documentation Ref Claim No xxxx" as you do not want to remind them of the up and coming Firections hearing; best case scenario, Barclays will overlook it and not send in bundle nor turn up which would provide a slim opportunity for you to have Defence Struck Out for abuse (no real intent to defend through to trial). At the very least, I wouldn't contact Barclays any further apart from forwarding bundle. Print off the tracking available on Royal Mail website and take that along to hearing as well just incase you need to demonstrate Barclays received your bundle as per court deadline.

Hi Kivo If you didn't send a SOC after filing your claim, send one to Barclays and include one with your AQ mailing to the court. This will put paid to their first Defence point. Regadrs point two, if the judge feels your Particulars are too vague, he will issue directions for you to submit more detailed ones. Once you get to bundle stage, the documents you submit will negate point 2 anyway so don't worry about that. The Defence is one of their standard ones used in response to MCOL routed claims, so nothing to worry about.

Hi Kivo the court confirms they have received Defence so carry on with AQ. You will be exempt from any fee. Put down your mum if she is representing you - you can actually put (representative) in brackets next to her name - it will tie in with your explaination of why you are unable to attend yourself. If things change down the line and you do find yourself in a position to represent yourself, a short letter to the court requesting permission to amend representation should suffice. If you hand deliver your AQ, take the opportunity to advise that you have not been provided with a copy Defence and ask for one if possible. Once you get it, post the first 3 points of here so we can check there's nothing out of the ordinary.

Ah right, didn't read that they had put in Notice to Defend. Is this something that has come through from the court or is it something direct from Barclays? From the date on the Acknowledgement of Service, they have 28 days to put in a Defence (not just to notify that they will be putting one in, but to actually submit it). So if you received the Acknowledgemnt on 19th July, let's say it was dated 18th July. You count 18th July +28 days = 15th August. 15th August was final date by which they must have put in a Defence to the court. Ring up the court to see if a Defence has been received. It is 5 days passed so if the court has not received their Defence, you should take down the completed N225 immediately to the court asking for Judgement by Default on the grounds of no Defence filed within the 28day deadline. Worse case scenario is that the court will confirm that they have received a copy of Barclay's Defence in which case, you have to scrap the N225 route and carry on as normal submitting AQ etc. Post back so we know what the position is

Hi bankcharges As someone who experienced a 9 month fob off from Barclays in delivering SAR data, I urge you to file a claim against them for DPA breach without delay. Barclays acknowledged and even filed a Defence to my claim even though their Defence was riddled will factual errors and I had absolute proof. I put in for damages and costs and Barclays paid up and wrote several times urging me to call off the case. Because they took so long, my response was to advise that my costs of pursuance had increased and that they would have to send a further cheque by a certain date in order for me to discontinue. Although they were a little late, they sent the second cheque and 7 years worth of statements for all my accounts. I soon learnt to conduct everything in writing and I corresponded with Adrian Ruffhead, Legal Executive, Legal & Compliance at Barclays H/O. Although he got info wrong in the early stages, this was I believe because he was fed the wrong information from the Customer Service Team with whom I had originally corresponded. Once he and I got emailing and he realised I was steadfast in my intent to go to full hearing, he bent over backwards to get everything out to me. Don't be put off by Barclays threatening closed files and time deadlines - this is your claim and they are in no position to dictate terms. I am about to file my second breach claim against them and I shall be putting down my hourly rate at £9.50 this time round. I am confident they will pay up everything without the need for court and I will get all the data I require. Your damages/costs seem fine. I would attach a Schedule of Costs (breakdown) to date (so it can be updated).

Yes! Ring the court first thing and if they ahve no record of having received disclosure, don't wait (even if the court say they have a backlog) as you haven't received it either so Barclays are 99% certain not to have sent it. Fill in http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/n225_0406.pdf and if possible, hand deliver it to the court tomorrow morning.

HR is one of the main arguments already included in the Objection to Stay template. Some posters have suggested that judges have indicated that the HR issue is with some merit so it's certainly worth researching it more to see whether HR can be more potently argued.

Kivo, I've just looked through your thread - by my calculations, it's been over 28 days since Barclays put in an acknowledgement to court that they are going to Defend. If they haven't put in a Defence, you should be going for an immediate Judgement by Default! Fill out N225 http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/n225_0406.pdf and hand deliver it to the court Monday morning. When do you need to get your AQ in? If you can get Default granted before AQ is due in, it'll save you having to do anything at all!

Hi Yank First things first, I've hjad a quick scan through page 1 of your thread and the amount you're claiming puts this case into Small Claims (as oppose to Fast Track). In Small Claims Court cases, consideration is not given by the judge to award costs unless one party can be shown to have knowingly abused the judicial process (eg not complying with court directions etc). You have not chosen to have a hearing, it has been court ordered contrary to your explicit wishes. I am always highly suspicious of over zealous court staff giving advice regards judgements and the legalities of case considerations; which court is it Yank? In my humble opinion, I think the court staff member is bang out of order giving an opinion like that - if you are Small Claims, it is not procedure for the judge to award costs against the losing party especially in what is essentially a side matter of the main case, it being merely to determine the propriety of lifting a Stay. Along with your essential paperwork, take along another copy of the DRaft Directions. It seems the judge is entertaining the idea of allowing your case to proceed independently of the OFT Test Case and you can always urge him to get the claim done & dusted very quickly by granting the Draft Directions there and then. The fact is, the judge hasn't ordered this hearing simply to agree to the Stay - he is looking for a strong argument from you that will allow him to proceed the case.

Hi car and big congratulations! I have to admit, this is the first time I have heard of a judge (quite correctly) refusing a Stay Application made on the day because "and a "no notice" application requires the consent of each claimant". Thank goodness some judges are still abiding by the judicial process.

Hi elliero By whatr date have they been ordered to submit Disclosure?