Tamadus v Abbey ERC

[tamadus]

Great news hon, let us know the juicy bits when you can!

 

I surely will mochamoo. I just want to take a few days to go over events in my own mind and with a couple of others before posting too much info on thread. Once thats done and I have the next steps firmly planted in my senile brain I'll make a full post.

[mochamoo]

very pleased for you, I've been out all day with no internet access and I've just got a taxi home instead of the train as I was desperate to find out how you did!!!!

[tamadus]

very pleased for you, I've been out all day with no internet access and I've just got a taxi home instead of the train as I was desperate to find out how you did!!!!

 

Awwwww Mochamoo did you really do that just for little old me?

 

I consider today a moral victory and in reality I hope that Abbey now pay attention to the judge who stressed several times that this case should be settled and should have been already.

 

Ok he was also critical of me but that was mostly to make the point that I should seek legal advise, but he also stressed that this case wasn't the same as normal bank charges. I definitely got the suggestion that he doesnt really want it coming back into his court and would much prefer Abbey to settle it before then.

[paddym]

well done tam ! so far sounds good for all the graft you have put in to it and remember these parasites read our threads so less said sooner mended keep up the good work well done im pleased for you mate !

[tamadus]

thanks Paddy,

 

they actually made this personal when they started scaring people off, but they tried it with a couple of us that dont scare very easily and are intelligent enough to see through their tactics.

 

what was a simple claim for me has now become a crusade for everyone they threatened.

[kippy2]

thanks Paddy,

 

what was a simple claim for me has now become a crusade for everyone they threatened.

 

FANTASTIC still cant get over it! 8-) (still think we have good judges here aswell as lincoln) without raining on your parade used Gary h non compliance letter for non bundle and it worked. will wait and see what lloyds say (for bank charges though)

 

priors lodge here we come 8-) 8-)

[bi15hgm]

Tam

 

Very pleased for you, I've been out since last Monday and just catching up tonight!!!!!

 

Fantastic news and I KNOW this justifies all the hard work you have put into this!!!.....and all the encouragement & advice you have given us all.

 

Regards

Mike

[ANNALH]

Hi Tamadus - VERY WELL DONE!!!!!

 

I was very pleased to hear of your win as I have an ERC claim against Abbey (along with various admin charges) so it looks hopeful for me.

My case is on hold at the moment pending location of my ex to make him joint claimant (another of Abbeys delay tactics no doubt). But they just emailed me to ask that I ring them to discuss the case as they cannot locate him.....im thinking settlement offer maybe??

 

If you could spare a few minutes to give me some helpful info for when my time comes in court I would be very grateful!

Thanks

Anna

[Bona]

Tam

was this a full hearing and I assume you won or was it something else whateve it seems your happy so well done

[tamadus]

thanks for all your comments

 

I think I need to state now before we get too carried away, this was an allocation/direction hearing only.

 

Abbey had made a draft directions order which included moving the claim onto multi track, and also involved another 6 months of messing about before a final hearing.

 

Their reason for wanting multi track was the'complex legal arguments' involved, The real reason was to try and scare me off, well it didnt work last time and it didnt work this time. Nobody scares Tam

 

I simply told the judge that I dont consider the legal arguments at all complex as the charge IS an indemnity and not the price of the product. I have proof that its an indemnity on their own paperwork. As its an indemnity the clause that triggers the ERC is therefore an indemnity clause in disguise. On the basis he accepts Abbeys letters as evidence (at least 2 letters saying the same thing) that this is an indemnity charge despite their sworn defence statement claiming it is not an indemnity then the UTCC fairness tests immediately have to be applied.

 

I have always known in my own mind this was a penalty, and without realising it Abbey actually gave me the evidence to be able to prove it in court. The Judge has not examined the papers yet but despite heavy argument he immediately allocated it to small claims, so he must have partly believed me. Abbey also wanted 4 hours for the final hearing and when I said that 2 would be more than enough he split it down the middle.

 

This is NOT a final victory by any means and I still have lots of work to do (with help from zoot and a few others) but it does show that Abbey did not get it all their own way, in fact they got very little they wanted.

 

What I consider even more important is that on 2 occasions the Judge looked directly at their representative and asked point blank why it had not already been settled as it was only for a couple of thousand.

 

Also while he typed up the directions order he again at least 3 times made references to settling it before the final hearing.

 

Basically we have to exchange documents in 4 weeks and statements of case in another 4 weeks with a final hearing in about 3 months time. Thats half of what Abbey wanted. The Judge wants this case settled and if that doesnt happen he wants it resolving ASAP.

 

What has happened as a result is that where I was worried about this claim since the recent losses against sub-prime lenders and subsequent threats of high costs claims when/if Abbey win, I now firmly believe that I can win this claim IN COURT.

 

Yesterday's hearing (which DLAP claimed they would stroll through) was about 20 minutes and I came out on top by winning every aspect that came up. My ex wife came along (yes we are actually friends now lol) and even she was punching the air as we walked out of the court. She probably wants a % of anything I get back as the divorce was the reason I had to remortgage lol.

 

So not a total win but Abbey should now know that the judge expects them to negotiate a settlement, and if they dont I have a feeling he wont be very pleased. It's given me a huge confidence boost for this claim and I believe it shows that we can win ERC claims (although every ERC claim will be different) if we do enough work towards it.

 

I do not at this stage advocate anybody starting a new claim for an ERC though. There have been bad results and the risks can be high. I'm just a stubborn old cuss that wont lie down at somebody elses beck and call even if it does cost me in the end. My claim was too far advanced to pull out without losing a lot of money anyway so, even though I was tempted, I decided to see it through, hopefully I can go on now and win the next few rounds and give everyone something to really cheer about.

[mrsfoot]

Tam, this is a fantastic result for you. I had a hearing a few weeks ago and after a lot of guidance from Zoot and Hag (who ill be forever grateful to) i cam away from what should have been a final hearing to it being trasferred to a commercial judge. I am ecstatic, the other side came in to win and brought up another case which they had won as evidence. I shot them down on every point....its as good a feeling as winning!!

 

Like me, i think you will get an out of court settlement, even though im sure you would prefer to get it all out in court (not literally!!) this will probably be a better ending.

 

Thanks for the clear update, keep the fight going and well done...as someone said to me " you might not have won the war just yet, but you certainly won the battle"

[paulpb123]

Tam,

This is very good news. A massive well done and it certainly gives the rest of us lots of encouragement. I was gutted to pull out of my claim against Accord but always felt that better times are ahead. I believe there may be more good news to come regarding ERCs in the near future. Good wishes and well done for staying on that surfboard!

Paul

[tamadus]

Thanks to both of you for your kind comments. Mrsfoot have they settled your claim out of court now ? if so please PM a few details to me

 

Paul, I can see it's given a lot of encouragement but I must stress this IS NOT a final result its just the first battle in what could still be a nasty little war. They were determined to take this case into multi track and they lost that round, simply because they couldnt convince the judge that the legal arguments were as complex as they claimed, I on the other hand convinced him the arguments were in reality very simple.

 

I firmly believe that if I do the work I need to then I can win this case. It may not be a huge amount but if just one case is proved to be a penalty then they have to start looking at some big repayment bills where ERC's are involved.

 

They made this personal by making threats against me and then compounded it by making the same threats against others in CAG. like you several people have withdrawn claims against Abbey so mine ended up being the first to step into a court room. They want this as a test case, I have already spoiled that for them. But if I win they should fully realise it will become a test case for the ordinary person on the street.

 

After the emotional highs and lows in dealing with this case over the last few weeks I need better suspension on that surfboard