Is this a mistake or Fraud? ***WON***

[legalpickle]

I have received no response from the Defendant and it is the 12th Sept 09 and well passed 4pm. I don't know if it has anything to do with the postal strike strike that has been going on in a few areas.

I think the deadline was 11th September. Don't give him excuses, he could have sent it special and sent it earlier. And the strike doesn't affect all areas. Visit: http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content1?catId=99700760&mediaId=99700760&campaignid=serviceupdate_redirect for more details on the postal strike, and you can see how it affects your area.

 

Ok. That means we draft a nice letter to the court, and to the Defendant, which you'll send this week by Special Delivery, including a costs schedule.

 

Please work out the amount of hours you have spent on each part of the claim, from the start to finish, itemizing each topic. Do NOT exaggerate, but also do NOT be too nice. I'll then break it down in the form of a Schedule of Costs, removing what I don't think you have a right to claim for, with an explanation and post back up here.

 

I am MAD busy at the moment with LOADS of deadlines, so please work on it and post up here by Wednesday, when I should have time to work on it. If you receive anything in the meanwhile, please post up here.

[frettful38]

Thanks LP,

 

I will do as advised. I can understand you must be very busy and I am very very grateful that you have helped me so far with everything.

 

take care and thanks again, chat to you on Wednesday:)

[frettful38]

On the 18th Feb 09 I wrote the Defendant a letter requesting the return of the overpayment he had received.

 

On the 24th Feb 09 I again wrote to the Defendant requesting he return the overpayment.

 

On the 4th March 09 I sent the Defendant a Letter Before Action, regarding the overpayment.

 

On the 24th July 09 I sent the Defendant a CPR request asking what the overpayment was for.

 

On the 22nd July 09 I instructed a firm of solicitors and paid £97.75 to amend my particulars of claim regarding the overpayment.

 

I have spent approximately £20.00 in postage and recorded/delivery letters to the Defendant.

 

In truth I must have spent countless and endless hours trying to work out how and what the overpayment was for, but to claim I know I won't be entitled to claim for this so I could claim for a reasonable 20hrs work at 9.25 an hr which totals £185.00.

 

I believe that the Defendant has proved that he has been beyond being reasonable and this matter could have been settled before court action was taken and certainly before the hearing on 23rd Sept 09 at 9.45a.m.

 

I did not have to pay for court fees as I was exempt.

 

In total my costs to date are £302.75 plus the overpayment of £3,433.20 plus statutory interest (at 8% per annum, pursuant to s69 of the county Courts Act 1984) of £1,300.63 till the 23rd Sept 09, since the date of overpayment. The Claimant further claims £0.76p in daily interest for each and everyday day beyond 23rd Sept 2009 that these monies are overdue from the Defendant.

 

I make it a total of £5,036.58. I hope that I have done this correct LP.

[legalpickle]

On the 18th Feb 09 I wrote the Defendant a letter requesting the return of the overpayment he had received.

 

On the 24th Feb 09 I again wrote to the Defendant requesting he return the overpayment.

 

On the 4th March 09 I sent the Defendant a Letter Before Action, regarding the overpayment.

 

On the 24th July 09 I sent the Defendant a CPR request asking what the overpayment was for.

 

On the 22nd July 09 I instructed a firm of solicitors and paid £97.75 to amend my particulars of claim regarding the overpayment.

 

I have spent approximately £20.00 in postage and recorded/delivery letters to the Defendant.

 

In truth I must have spent countless and endless hours trying to work out how and what the overpayment was for, but to claim I know I won't be entitled to claim for this so I could claim for a reasonable 20hrs work at 9.25 an hr which totals £185.00.

 

I believe that the Defendant has proved that he has been beyond being reasonable and this matter could have been settled before court action was taken and certainly before the hearing on 23rd Sept 09 at 9.45a.m.

 

I did not have to pay for court fees as I was exempt.

 

In total my costs to date are £302.75 plus the overpayment of £3,433.20 plus statutory interest (at 8% per annum, pursuant to s69 of the county Courts Act 1984) of £1,300.63 till the 23rd Sept 09, since the date of overpayment. The Claimant further claims £0.76p in daily interest for each and everyday day beyond 23rd Sept 2009 that these monies are overdue from the Defendant.

 

I make it a total of £5,036.58. I hope that I have done this correct LP.

Did you read my post? I did not ask for half the stuff you wrote here!

 

I asked specifically for the amount of hours, itemized! Not total hours and then the days you did things, but hours for each topic (and days). Also itemize postage.

 

The rest I will work out! Don't get ahead of yourself.

 

Also, you won't be able to claim for all of it. Let me advise what you should claim for, once you've done what I asked.

[frettful38]

No probs LP, I will do this right now.

[frettful38]

9th Feb 09 I wrote a letter to my mortgage solicitors inquiring what they sum of £6,191.80 was paid out for. They replied on the 10th Feb 09 that they sent this sum to the Defendant's solicitor. This letter took 15 mins. I sent it r/delivery which cost £1.08.

 

13th Feb 09 I wrote a letter to the Defendant's solicitor inquiring whom they paid the sum of £6,191.80 to. They replied on the 17th Feb 09 that they sent this sum to the Defendant. This letter took 15 mins. I sent it r/delivery which cost £1.08

 

I wrote to the Defendant on the 18th Feb 09 why he took an overpayment, and asked him to justify this. No response was received to this letter. I again wrote on the 24th Feb 09. No response again. A letter before action was sent to the Defendant on 4th March 09. No response again. I issued a claim in the County Court on the 29th April 09. Three letters 15 mins each. Normal postage was used ( 1st class stamp).

 

On the 22nd July I booked an appointment with the solicitor to help me amend my particulars of claim as the judge said there was no causation. This solicitor charged me £97.75 and his advice was not correct, but I do not know if I can claim, if not then it does not matter as it was my mistake.

 

Even though it has taken me a very long time to work out the Defendant received an overpayment, but to confirm it I only wrote a few letters to my mortgage solicitors and the Defendant's solicitor to actually figure out that he did take an overpayment. Initially I thought he charged too much interest but after LP's advice I was advised that no interest was due at all on the Final Costs Certificate.

 

I will be more than happy to receive back the overpayment with interest and as for costs there is no price I can put on it for all the heartache I have had to suffer. So for costs for a few letters and postage stamps and r/delivery will it really be worth me putting in for them.

 

I just want this over and done with so I can move on and appreciate everything you have done LP, to be honest I never would have got this far without your help. Your criticism I have taken and appreciate it. It has helped me so much. If you think I am not understanding what you are advising about the costs then I can leave it and just claim what I am due.

 

Thanks again

[legalpickle]

9th Feb 09 I wrote a letter to my mortgage solicitors inquiring what they sum of £6,191.80 was paid out for. They replied on the 10th Feb 09 that they sent this sum to the Defendant's solicitor. This letter took 15 mins. I sent it r/delivery which cost £1.08.

 

13th Feb 09 I wrote a letter to the Defendant's solicitor inquiring whom they paid the sum of £6,191.80 to. They replied on the 17th Feb 09 that they sent this sum to the Defendant. This letter took 15 mins. I sent it r/delivery which cost £1.08

 

I wrote to the Defendant on the 18th Feb 09 why he took an overpayment, and asked him to justify this. No response was received to this letter. I again wrote on the 24th Feb 09. No response again. A letter before action was sent to the Defendant on 4th March 09. No response again. I issued a claim in the County Court on the 29th April 09. Three letters 15 mins each. Normal postage was used ( 1st class stamp).

 

On the 22nd July I booked an appointment with the solicitor to help me amend my particulars of claim as the judge said there was no causation. This solicitor charged me £97.75 and his advice was not correct, but I do not know if I can claim, if not then it does not matter as it was my mistake.

 

Even though it has taken me a very long time to work out the Defendant received an overpayment, but to confirm it I only wrote a few letters to my mortgage solicitors and the Defendant's solicitor to actually figure out that he did take an overpayment. Initially I thought he charged too much interest but after LP's advice I was advised that no interest was due at all on the Final Costs Certificate.

 

I will be more than happy to receive back the overpayment with interest and as for costs there is no price I can put on it for all the heartache I have had to suffer. So for costs for a few letters and postage stamps and r/delivery will it really be worth me putting in for them.

 

I just want this over and done with so I can move on and appreciate everything you have done LP, to be honest I never would have got this far without your help. Your criticism I have taken and appreciate it. It has helped me so much. If you think I am not understanding what you are advising about the costs then I can leave it and just claim what I am due.

 

Thanks again

No, you will not leave it, because you should get ALL you are entitled to.

 

All I am asking for is for you to say how much time you spent on each issue relating to the claim, and on what dates. It's VERY simple.

 

For example: 18th January 2009 - Particulars of Claim - 2 hours...

 

It shouldn't be so difficult to grasp.

 

Also, don't go into tons of detail!

 

I also need dates, postage, letter. Not to know what they responded, just the dates, postage incurred & what the letter was for.

 

For example: Letter Before Action - 10th January 2009 - £1.08 recorded....

[frettful38]

Cool, doing right now as we speak. Please be patient LP,

[legalpickle]

Cool, doing right now as we speak. Please be patient LP,

I'm patient. It's your loss if you don't do it right.

[frettful38]

1. Letter to my mortgage solicitors dated 09/02/09 regarding payment of £6,191.80 - postage and r/delivery = £1.08 Time = 15 minutes

 

2. Letter to Defendant's solicitor dated 13/02/09 regarding what the payment of £6,191.80 was for - postage and r/delivery =£1.08 Time 15 mins

 

3. Letter to Defendant 18/02/09 asking why he took overpayment. postage 1st class stamp Time 15 mins

 

4. Letter to Defendant 24/02/09 again requesting asking the above question. postage 1st class stamp Time 15 mins

 

5. Letter before action 04/03/09 to Defendant postage 1st class stamp. Time 15 mins

 

6. Time taken to prepare case and before issuing claim 1hr and 45 minutes. postage £4.98 s/delivery.

 

7 Advice from solicitor on 22/07/09 £97.75 Time 30 mins

 

Sorry LP I am trying my best and apologise if I am not getting it correct

[legalpickle]

Sorry LP I am trying my best and apologise if I am not getting it correct

That's a start.

 

Time spent on here preparing amendment? Time for hearing?.... I'm sure there's more than that. What about time preparing PoC before you went to Solicitor?

 

Put it ALL in and let me decide if you should be claiming for it!

 

Are you sure the postage fees are correct? I believe Special Delivery would be £4.95, not £4.98.

 

Repost with EVERYTHING.

[frettful38]

1. Letter to my mortgage solicitors dated 09/02/09 regarding payment of £6,191.80 - postage and r/delivery = £1.08 Time = 15 minutes

 

2. Letter to Defendant's solicitor dated 13/02/09 regarding what the payment of £6,191.80 was for - postage and r/delivery =£1.08 Time 15 mins

 

3. Letter to Defendant 18/02/09 asking why he took overpayment. postage 1st class stamp Time 15 mins

 

4. Letter to Defendant 24/02/09 again requesting asking the above question. postage 1st class stamp Time 15 mins

 

5. Letter before action 04/03/09 to Defendant postage 1st class stamp. Time 15 mins

 

6. Time taken to prepare case and before issuing claim 1hr and 45 minutes. postage £4.95 s/delivery.

 

7 Advice from solicitor on 22/07/09 £97.75 Time 30 mins

 

Time spent putting paperwork in order before going to see solicitor 2 hrs at

 

Printing copies of everything submitting to Court Defendant, and for myself 500 sheets of paper, 10p a sheet including ink, stationary costs

 

That's really all I can think of LP.

Edited September 17, 2009 by frettful38

[legalpickle]

Time spent on here would I be allowed to claim for that what would it come under?

 

Legal Advice from the CAG forum Time 10hrs from members.

 

Time spent preparing for amendment I would say would be 2-3 hrs a day for 4 days. Being a litigant in person with limited knowledge seems reasonable. 12 hrs at 9.25 an hr

 

Time spent putting paperwork in order before going to see solicitor 2 hrs at 9.25 an hr

 

Printing copies of everything submitting to court 500 sheets of paper, 50p a sheet including ink, stationary costs £20.

1. I said include everything and let me tell you if it should be included.

 

2. Time spent will depend for what stage, i.e. preparing the PoC, preparing the amended PoC, preparing letters - mention which letters & preparing schedule of costs.

 

3. I said repost the whole thing, don't post it in separate posts and make my life even more difficult!

 

4. Do NOT break down the amount per hour. Don't do more than I ask. Let me do that bit, when I work out what you should be entitled to. Just the hours and dates would be fine.

 

5. Don't exaggerate the time, the Judge will only look at you with contempt and lower it. Be reasonable.

 

6. You didn't answer my note on postage.

 

7. How the hell did you get 500 sheets for this claim @ 50p/copy? Don't tell me you went to court to photocopy everything?! That would be unreasonable, a waste of money & VERY expensive. Also the court charges £5 for the first 10 pages of EACH time and 50p per page after that. You can't claim what the court charges unless you did it at the court.

 

8. And NO, 12 hours to prepare that one sheet of the final amended PoC is NOT reasonable. I don't mean to be nasty, but it isn't his fault that you needed to re-read posts several times and make so many mistakes. Most LiP's take a lot less over such a short document.

 

Now PLEASE THINK BEFORE YOU POST, because I am VERY limited on time, and if you want this ready before the hearing you're going to have to cut down on the amount of times you need to post and to get my responses.

[frettful38]

Sorry I was trying to amend the points and posted before you did,

[legalpickle]

Sorry I was trying to amend the points and posted before you did,

Your amendment doesn't take into account all my points. Repost with all my points taken into account.

[frettful38]

1. Letter to my mortgage solicitors dated 09/02/09 regarding payment of £6,191.80 - postage and r/delivery = £1.08 Time = 15 minutes

 

2. Letter to Defendant's solicitor dated 13/02/09 regarding what the payment of £6,191.80 was for - postage and r/delivery =£1.08 Time 15 mins

 

3. Letter to Defendant 18/02/09 asking why he took overpayment. postage 1st class stamp Time 15 mins

 

4. Letter to Defendant 24/02/09 again requesting asking the above question. postage 1st class stamp Time 15 mins

 

5. Letter before action 04/03/09 to Defendant postage 1st class stamp. Time 15 mins

 

6. Time taken to prepare case and before issuing claim 1hr and 45 minutes. postage £4.95 s/delivery.

 

7 Advice from solicitor on 22/07/09 £97.75 Time 30 mins

 

Time spent preparing for hearing 13/08/09 2hrs 15 mins.

 

Filling in application notice Time spent 30 mins

 

Time spent at hearing on 13/08/09 45 mins

 

Time spent preparing for and amending POC 1hrs 15 mins

 

Preparing paperwork in order before going to see solicitor 2 hrs

 

Photocopying of letters submitted to Court,Defendant, and for myself 500 sheets of 10p a sheet including ink, stationary costs

 

The court allowed the Defendant 50p a sheet when I was ordered to pay costs at the last hearing so that's why I put 50p down too.

 

.

Edited September 17, 2009 by frettful38

[frettful38]

Just got in from a terrible day. Very sad what has happened to my friend, hope she can can find some peace from the loss she has suffered.

 

I hope that the above is correct LP,

[frettful38]

I don't know if this is of any relevance LP but when this sum of £6,191.80 was paid out from the provisions of my remortgage I wrote to the Defendants solicitors in Jan 05. Their response was that "This money was calculated and information was sent to your solicitors". At that time I assumed that it was for my judgment and because I was so worried about losing my house I felt too afraid to dig any deeper.

 

My mortgage redemption statement shows that £6,191.80 as a third redemption. I wrote to my mortgage solicitors this year in Feb and asked them why this was and they said it was for a loan which I had with the Defendant's solicitors. That is why I could not make sense of this all and started to investigate it further. I wrote to my mortgage solicitors and requested my file back. They said that in order to release my file they needed the Trustee in Bankruptcy's authority because of my husband's bankruptcy at that time. My OH wrote to the TIB and he said that his authority was not required because he discharged himself from my husband's bankruptcy in Dec 05.

 

I wrote to my mortgage solicitors and sent them the TIB's reply and requested again they release my file. They did not respond to my letters or my letter before action. I then complained to the law society who took on my case. The law society have said that my mortgage solicitors have not released any information to them and the 28 days deadline is up, and they have assigned a caseworker to investigate further. I believe there is something that my mortgage solicitors do not want me to see in that file that's why they are not releasing it to me. I wanted to know how they calculated the sum of £6,191.80 before I issued proceedings against the Defendant.

 

I am happy that the law society are investigating my file, as my mortgage solicitors obviously are not co-operating with them properly either.

[frettful38]

LP, I know you said you were MAD busy but wanted to know if I had to do anything else?

[frettful38]

bump

[frettful38]

1. Letter to my mortgage solicitors dated 09/02/09 regarding payment of £6,191.80 - postage and r/delivery = £1.08 Time = 15 minutes

 

2. Letter to Defendant's solicitor dated 13/02/09 regarding what the payment of £6,191.80 was for - postage and r/delivery =£1.08 Time 15 mins

 

3. Letter to Defendant 18/02/09 asking why he took overpayment. postage 1st class stamp Time 15 mins

 

4. Letter to Defendant 24/02/09 again requesting asking the above question. postage 1st class stamp Time 15 mins

 

5. Letter before action 04/03/09 to Defendant postage 1st class stamp. Time 15 mins

 

6. Time taken to prepare case and before issuing claim 1hr and 45 minutes. postage £4.95 s/delivery.

 

7 Advice from solicitor on 22/07/09 £97.75 Time 30 mins

 

Time spent preparing for hearing 13/08/09 2hrs 15 mins.

 

Filling in application notice Time spent 30 mins

 

Time spent at hearing on 13/08/09 45 mins

 

Time spent preparing for and amending POC 1hrs 15 mins

 

Preparing paperwork in order before going to see solicitor 2 hrs

 

Photocopying of letters submitted to Court,Defendant, and for myself 500 sheets of 10p a sheet including ink, stationary costs

 

The court allowed the Defendant 50p a sheet when I was ordered to pay costs at the last hearing so that's why I put 50p down too.

 

.

 

 

LP this is really all I want to claim. All I ask is that you tell me what I should do and I will write and prepare everything myself. I will draft a letter to the court and put in for my costs. If you are too busy or think that I am not getting a grip on this then please say so to. Thanks for everything so far

[legalpickle]

frettful: I've not forgotten, but as I wrote I'm VERY busy. It's the Jewish New Year tonight through till Sunday night, so I have a LOT to do!

 

I will get back to you, but posting messages is not going to speed me up, just frustrate me!

[frettful38]

Oh Thanks LP,

 

Hope you enjoy yourself and easy on the vitamin W's , saying that maybe I should join you after all this.

 

Take care and have a great weekend, you do deserve after all you have done and do.

 

Thanks

[frettful38]

LP this is really all I want to claim. All I ask is that you tell me what I should do and I will write and prepare everything myself. I will draft a letter to the court and put in for my costs. If you are too busy or think that I am not getting a grip on this then please say so to. Thanks for everything so far

 

 

Total costs?

[legalpickle]

I will be here tonight or tomorrow. I know you're under time pressure. Stop fretting!