**ANOTHER** Lloyds TSB **WINNER!**

[BARTY]

I'm confused/panicking received counter claim from Lloyds and have decided to file allocation questionnaire with court. Went to CAB have also been advised to make sure I make one last contact with the Financial ombudsman before sending in questionnaire. what do I do? Lloyds did credit my account with £750 as a "goodwill gesture" etc I refused verbally but it went into my account anyway with the understanding that if I go to court then they would ask the judge to take this amount into consideration if I took it further. Amount claimed is more than £4k. Have until 2moro to file as deadline is 4.3.07

Hi

Have you got your own thread? I would ask this on there as you will get more response, or start a new one if you haven't got one.

Barty:)

[nearlythere]

Have today received Acknowledment of Service from SC & M solicitors. They now have 28 days from date of service to file a defence. Date of service was 21st Feb so I presume they have until 21st March to file a defence. What happens then, do I get a court date after they file a defence with the court?

[Michael Browne]

The court will send you their defence and an Allocation Questionnaire.

[nearlythere]

Will I actually get to see their defence ie: justification for it going to court/justifiction for the charges?

[Michael Browne]

Yes, either a 9 or 14 point defence

[nearlythere]

Thanks for that. JUst have to sit tight and wait. If there was anything wrong with the claim form/POC then I would have been told so by now? You hear of 'vagueness' etc from the solicitors, due to us claimants having to initiate the claim/wording etc but I suppose from now on it is more a definitive yes/no on the AQ's/court forms?

[GaryH]

The 14 point defence is the "too vague" one. If you used the proper POC and sent a schedule to MCOL then its unlikely you'll get that one. If you do, see the sticky thread at the top of the LTSB forum.

[nearlythere]

Have today received defence from Lloyds solicitors, SCM. It is a 10-point defence, point 9 being the fact that they are saying that any money claimed prior to 16th Feb (original court papers served date) is statute barred. The original request for refund/LBA was in October 2006, I was thinking this was the claim date. Anyway, allocation questionnaire needs returning by March 23rd. Section A query, postponement to discuss settlement - yes or no. Will this prolong it all if answering yes?

[Heropanda]

Just wanted to subscribe to this thread as you're at a simliar stage to me, defence according to moneyclaim earlier this week so its probably waiting at home for me...

[nearlythere]

On Lloyds defence with regards to my claim, they say that anything I am trying to claim back prior to 16th Feb, 2001 is 'statute barred' and isnt considered in the claim. I started the procees in October 2006 (letters/LBA etc) and thought that would be when my claim timeframe is covering - October 2000 - October 2006, they're saying it is Feb 16th 2001 - Feb 2007. Any advice??

[GaryH]

Unfortunately they are right - the 6 years goes back from the date of issue.

 

When they offer to settle it will be without the statute barred charges - so you then have a choice, you can either accept it, or, hold out for the lot argueing that the Limitations Act does not apply under section 32(a) or whatever it is. If the pre 6 year charges don't add up to a lot I'd go for the former. If you choose the latter it will mean a lot of research into the Limitations Act, etc. There are some threads covering the subject in the general forum.

[nearlythere]

Cheers Gary. There is only about £180 difference on a claim of £3700. I have incurred some charges since October 2006 until Feb16th (claim date), that were not included ( due to me starting the claim October 2000 Oct 2006) is there any point in adding them to the claim or is it too much to change/expense. Thanks.

[Deller]

I tend to agree with matter that your 6 year period starts from October 2006 when you first informed the bank of your intent to reclaim unlawful charges.

I had the same situation with my claim and responded with the foolowing letter which seemed to do the trick.

 

Thank you for your letter dated XXth March 2007.

 

I first contacted your client regarding their unlawful charges on XXth October 2006 and therefore disagree with your contention that some of these charges fall outside the scope of the Limitations Act 1980. However I am happy to let the court decide on this matter.

 

Your client should consider themselves fortunate I have not claimed charges going further back, since I believe that any limitation would be overturned under the terms of section 32 of the Limitations Act, due to their continued "concealment" of the facts that their charges are unlawful, or for relief from a "mistake".

 

I respectfully decline your offer of settlement and request, once again, that you return to me all charges imposed on this account, interest and court fees, which together with the daily rate of £0.XX now total £xxxx as of XXth March 2007.

 

I will accept the sum offered only as part settlement and on the clear understanding that I will pursue recovery of the remainder.

 

I will be willing to withdraw my claim upon receipt of unconditional full settlement of my claim.

 

I am also not prepared to agree to any confidentiality clauses you try to impose, unless of course your client wishes to make an offer of due consideration in addition to the amount of £xxxxx, in order to be afforded this privilege by myself.

 

I trust this clarifies my position.

 

Yours faithfully

[nearlythere]

Thanks. I suppose that when the initial SAR letter is sent in them and all of the subsequent letters/LBA are sent, this can take take upto 2 months before you start legal proceedings, therefore, your claim is based upon the figure that you first requested. If they settle before legal proceedings, they have based their settlement on your first requests, not the court claim date because it hasn't got that far.

[nearlythere]

Have today taken my AQ plus the £100 fee to my local court. SCM have until 23rd March to return theirs also. Will they wait until Ive returned mine or do they have to return theirs regardless on/before 23rd March.

[BARTY]

Hi

I think they have the same deadline to return it as you.

Barty:)

[Deller]

You have two options here, the first is to return your AQ and pay the 100 quid, this is my prefered option as it means its gonna cost the bank more money. The second is to leave it as late as possible in the hope that they settle beforehand and therefore saving you paying the fee.

[nearlythere]

Already been to the court and paid it. Will SCM receive notification that I have returned my AQ, if so, will this perhaps spur them on to contact me.

[GaryH]

I tend to agree with matter that your 6 year period starts from October 2006 when you first informed the bank of your intent to reclaim unlawful charges.

 

It does'nt. Section 5 of the Limitation Act says that the action must be brought (ie claim issued) within 6 years of the cause of action, ie. when the charge was made.

 

If you want to go back further than the date of issue then be prepared to argue concealment under section 32.

[nearlythere]

Think I'll leave the pre 6 year charges out of it. Just updated my spreadsheet to include charges from October 2006 - February 16th (start of claim - actual claim date) but taken out the charges from October 2000 - February 2001, theres a plus difference of about £30 so it's a negligible amount. Thanks.

[nearlythere]

Have been reading a few threads with regards to the returning of the AQ. Some people are mentioning a draft order which is returned with the AQ. What is draft order, where does it come from and do you have to have one/return it to the court? I returned my AQ on Friday to the court with the 'other info' section filled in but didn't return anything else, ie; draft order. Should I have done?Thanks

[Michael Browne]

Is this right. In Section G you put the passage from post #3, but didn't include the Draft Order from post #2 here:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/53570-new-strategy-allocation-questionaires.html

 

If so, I suggest you post a copy of the order with a covering letter to the court asking for it to be attached to your AQ. Did you send a copy of your Aq to SCM, if so send them acopy of the draft order too.

[nearlythere]

I only filled in a form which was the Allocation Questionnaire and I didn't send a copy to Solicitors. There was no mention of this.

[Michael Browne]

I didn't send a copy to Solicitors.

Don't worry if you haven't, it's not a requirement, just recommended as a courtesy. Although you could still send a copy if you want.

 

What did you put in Section G. If you didn't mention the draft order , then forget my last post.

[nearlythere]

Words to the effect 'it will not last longer than an hour', 'matter of fact and not law', 'if charges were appropiate then would pay willingly', 'surpised defendant has not counterclaimed' etc. Followed a link on a previous post. Have I messed it up????