Claim against mbna

[jax1964]

After sending my letter to MBNA with the paragraph:

 

'I now understand that the scale of fees, which you have been applying to my account in relation to late fees and overlimit charges, are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent consumer regulations. Should you disagree, I shall require you to demonstrate this by letting me have a full breakdown of the costs to which you have been put by as a result of my breaches, in order to reassure me that your penalties really do reflect your costs.'

 

I received the standard reply offering me a goodwill gesture but with the added paragraph:

 

'The way in which we calculate our default fees is confidential & contains business sensitive information, which could not be disclosed to the public domain. We are therefore unable to comply with your request.'

 

I am drafting a reply declining their offer, but would like to add something in reply to their above paragraph, if this went to court would they not have to show their calculations?

 

Any help would be very much appreciated.

 

 

 

 

[surreyscouse]

don't put too much thought into it, it won't end up in court. Just make them aware that you will ask them under oath to break down their fees unless they refund you immediately

[nigel J sellick]

can someone tell me where i can get a template letter asking for my charges to be refunded and do you do the same as with the bank and pay ten pounds for a list of the charges and is it over 6 years

 

 

thanks

[jax1964]

Thanks Surreyscouse

[Glenn UK]

don't put too much thought into it, it won't end up in court. Just make them aware that you will ask them under oath to break down their fees unless they refund you immediately

 

FWIW

 

I thnk this is a naive approach. If you presume it wont end up in court and it does what will you do?

 

The best appraoch is expect it will end up in court. Several people have already been to court I believe.

 

I would write to them and say something along the lines of

 

'The charges are believed to be unlawful and my claim is in part based on this assumption. Unless the claim is settled in full i intend to lodge a claim at court and request disclosure of your costs in relation to the applied chagres.

 

You will have the opporutniy to provide absolute proof that your charges are lawful and any court will infer their own conclusions should you decline to provide this evidence.

 

I suggest that in an effort to avoid court action you provide the relevant information at this stage. Failure to do so will be indicated in court as evidence that your company have tried to obstruct a fair settlement to my claim'.

 

I have to point out im not legally trained and dont have any legal experience, but you have to work on the basis that you will end up in court, Any other appraoch leaves you wide open should you have to pursue your claim.

 

it also leaves everyone else open to abuse should you fail to prepare in advance if you do end up in court.

 

Plan for the worst and hope for the best, its probable that you wont end up in court, but prepare for the day we are all wrong.

 

JMHO

 

Glenn

 

PS i personally would reply, and if you want specific advice pm a mod with a link to your post and hopefully they will give you some beter advice.

[surreyscouse]

FWIW

 

I thnk this is a naive approach. If you presume it wont end up in court and it does what will you do?

 

It's not naive at all. Have a good look around the MBNA threads and you will see one common theme, by their own admission MBNA state on countless occasions that they do not wish to be in court with their customers so they settle out of goodwill without admission.

 

Whilst we are on the subject of naivity, have another look at the MBNA threads and see on how many occasions I have been incorrect in what I've informed people. I understand what you might be saying here but you are looking at things pesimistically, whereas I'm looking at things very realistically having spent hours speaking to these clowns and helping others get their money back.

[Glenn UK]

It's not naive at all. Have a good look around the MBNA threads and you will see one common theme, by their own admission MBNA state on countless occasions that they do not wish to be in court with their customers so they settle out of goodwill without admission.

 

 

Im sorry if i caused offence but in my view to prepare any response to a bank or cc company on the basis that they wont pursue it is a naive appraoch.

 

If someone prepares on the basis that the cc company wont pursue the case to court its quite possible they will make a mistake or ommission which could lead to their claim beng faulty or dismissed.

 

If thats what people want to do then thats their business, but they should realise that the banks and cc companies are not benevolent organisations who will take advantage of anything they can to avoid paying you out.

 

if you prepare or respond badly to something, and refuse to withdraw your claim, then it may be that they do decide to take your claim all the way.

 

As an aside, as a concept the banks and cc companies are working very hard to find ways of stopping the flood of claims they are expecting to get, its my belief that if they think they can find a defense against something or other at some stage they will test that defence.

 

Probably in a small way somewhere, this could be your claim!

 

As i say everyone can make their own choices, I am only trying to give them a balanced view and point out that the best approach is to presume they will defend. then when it comes to it your claim will be stronger.

 

Its all JMHO as i believe is your view.

 

Glenn

 

PS please dont take offence, if you think there is anything legally or pratcially wrong with preparing properly then Id be happy to understand why its a bad thing?

[surreyscouse]

the point here is why send the banks "needless" letters which they can use against you later ? Therefore you don't need to plan for defence of letters you send.

[Glenn UK]

My main point was not whether to respond to their comment or not, but rather how you prepare.

Most of us here are threatening, or will threaten to sue the company in a court of law at some stage.

The FAQS make it quite clear to those who join the board and wish to read them, be prepared to follow the claim all the way to court.

Relying on the bank not going to court is not good advice, you have relinquished control completely to the defendant.

Actually its bad advice, I was trying to be nice about it but I don’ think there is any way around it.

If someone thinks my advice is inappropriate from a legal viewpoint tell me so can I can correct my views.

Im not sure its worth arguing about further, if you are adamant that no one suing the MBNA will ever end up in court then continue to give the viewpoint you have without any qualification, otherwise it would be prudent and fairer to those of us with little experience of such things to say something like ‘its unlikely to end up in court but you should consider it might’.

What's the harm?

Glenn

[lickthewallfatboy]

I think it's fair to say Glenn that if a bank is unwilling to make public how they make up their charges,it follows that they obviously know they are unjustifiable and cannot stand up to scrutiny.It is for precisely this reason that hey will not go to court.

 

They would be laughed out of court when it became clear they are charging you £30-odd for something which costs them an actual £2-3.

 

That's why we're not pessimistic!!

[Glenn UK]

I think it's fair to say Glenn that if a bank is unwilling to make public how they make up their charges,it follows that they obviously know they are unjustifiable and cannot stand up to scrutiny.It is for precisely this reason that hey will not go to court.

 

They would be laughed out of court when it became clear they are charging you £30-odd for something which costs them an actual £2-3.

 

That's why we're not pessimistic!!

 

i have no quibble with the previous history of the defendant or any of them for that matter.

 

very few claims are ending up in court as far as i can see.

 

i have no quibble with your viewpoint about thier charges i agree with you.

 

It still stands that the advice to presume they wont ever defend is wrong.

 

Do you think that these organisations are sitting around with their thumbs up their backsides wating to pay out millions of pounds to the likes of you and me with glee?

 

If you are then your sadly mistaken, they are depserately trying to find a way out of paying any claim they can and if they find anyway of defending their charges they will try it.

 

I stand by my comments to believe the banks will always just roll over is stupid.

 

If you wish to take the view porsonally that you dont have to worry thats your business, to give others the advice without warning them that their case may be taken to court and they have to decide what to do on the basis of that premise is really bad advice.

 

People come here for good advice and probalby think that because its posted on here its true!

 

if youre a laywer or barrister and can categorically state no one will ever end up in court with mbna then explain from a legal viewpoint why?

 

if like me you have no legal training or experience then i suggest you rethink the advice you give and be honest about the potential.

 

someone could rely on it and come to a load of grief because they thought you knew what we are talking about.

 

jmho

 

Glenn

 

Edit link to FAQs http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/faqs-please-read-these/653-do-understand-your-claim.html

[lickthewallfatboy]

look-guys on this site are getting back upwards of £10K and banks won't defend because they say that costs wouldn't justify it????

 

How much are they charging an hour for court claims appearances-5 grand?Because the usual indication given for typical length of hearing is 2 hours......

 

there is no-one saying for you not to be prepared to go to court-in fact the site information says that if you are not ultimately prepared to go down that route,don't start what you aren't prepared to finish.

 

We are saying it is extremely unlikely that you will have to.Most people on here for a while have a disclaimer on their signature saying that their advice is nothing more than their opinion.No-one is claiming to be legally qualified,I think you'll find....

[Glenn UK]

As i have said i dont disagree with you assessment, its ulinkely to go to court, i have said this too.

 

I agree most people put disclaimers in their signatures i dont, i usualy qualify what i say as an alternative.

 

The orignal post that started this discussions simply said

 

'don't put too much thought into it, it won't end up in court'

 

It is bad advice not to warn people that they should prepare as if they WILL go to court though.

 

Sorry if you think its spoiling yours or anyone else's rep, but its is bad advice not to point out the possiblity when advisng someone about how to respond to letters from a bank regardless of what banks have histrocially done.

 

Thats all i am saying.

 

if you dony like it then i dont really care, but i would hate for someone who is frsh to this site to read something like this and rely on it.

 

Glenn

[lickthewallfatboy]

if they bothered to read the FAQ's they would be fully aware of everything involved.Unfortunately most don't bother their behinds,despite bring told to "PLEASE READ THESE FIRST"

My reputation?Couldn't give a stuff really-all I'm interested in is the £3k recovered so far without so much as seeing the front door of a courthouse,and the several thousand more to come...

[Glenn UK]

if they bothered to read the FAQ's they would be fully aware of everything involved.Unfortunately most don't bother their behinds,despite bring told to "PLEASE READ THESE FIRST"

My reputation?Couldn't give a stuff really-all I'm interested in is the £3k recovered so far without so much as seeing the front door of a courthouse,and the several thousand more to come...

 

I hope i dont see the doors to the courthouse either, but i am not banking on it though

[jax1964]

Thank you Glenn UK for your views. I must admit I was thinking along the same lines as you.

[Glenn UK]

Jax

 

i hope that your claim goes smoothly.

 

best of luck

 

glenn

[jax1964]

Thank you and same to you.