Help please in Scotland - RBS

[meagainstrbs]

Hi everyone,

 

I just wanted to introduce myself and hope someone says hello and is willing to offer me some help! I've posted a couple of times on the RBS forum but its not very busy!

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=4842

 

Here is my story:-

 

I sent off my Prelim Letter to RBS (to my branch and copied to the customer services link on the sticky at the top of the RBS forum) on 22nd March and received the standard reply. I then sent off my LBA to my branch, the customer services person already written to and also to the person who had replied to me. Just to make sure they got the message, you know! I have received the standard 'go away - this is our final response and you can contact Financial Ombudsman blah blah'

 

I am now ready to submit my court claim. I should be submitting this today I have not had ANY funds until today and I will be able to get to the court on Tuesday (if I have to submit my claim in person?). If so, I will be submitting this claim form early next week.

 

I have a couple of questions that I was hoping somebody would be able to help me with (please!)

 

*To anyone who has already submitted a court claim in Scotland - can I use moneyclaim online (as people in England can) or do I have to go to the court?

 

*How do I find my nearest court? I think my nearest is a sheriff court - can a small claims case be heard at a sheriff court?

 

*If I do end up going to court, will someone please accompany me and help me? I am really scared of doing this but DETERMINED to see it through.

 

I'd appreciate any support and advice from anyone. The RBS forum is not particularly busy so it'd be great if someone could please reply.

 

Thank you

 

meagainstrbs

[meagainstrbs]

Hi deemacperth and scotia,

 

Thank you so much for both of your replies - you have really put my mind at rest. I am planning to put in my claim early on Tuesday morning - I think its going to be at Haddington Sheriff Court in East Lothian - which is my nearest. I take it I just head down there and someone will help me out? Should I fill out the papers on the computer first and just hand them in or go down there with a note of the wording and fill them in there? Please advise...?

 

I am going to cobble together the wording from Govan Law Centre and library on here - even though I don't understand a word of it! Do either of you have a template of any court papers in Scotland you have served with the wording for the 'particulars of claim'?

 

Thank you both for offering to be my buddy - I'd be so grateful. I think it will all work out but I am so close to just going oh, f**k it - you know, thinking - is it worth it?! Well its £750 + 8% + £37 court fee + expenses so I think it is worth it! Having a bit of a crisis of confidence!

 

Anyway, thanks again - I was a bit scared when no-one replied that I didn't have the support - but now I feel a whole lot better!

 

meagainstrbs

[meagainstrbs]

Thought i'd add my name in the forum, I only came across the Scottish area by mistake, glad realy as I thought Money claim was the road to take. Anyway I am in Edinburgh and would be happy to assist anyone and give support if needed. I am in the process of making various claims and have found the advice brilliant. I am about to issue my appeal against Cap One so may need to put a claim via the Sheriff Court....now that I know that:p

 

Hi Jamboray,

 

...I work in Edinburgh and I am happy to support you too (even though I've a feeling we'll disagree on football teams !) I'm not sure what use I'll be but in the unlikely event that it does get that far even just having another person there, I feel might help.

 

meagainstrbs

[meagainstrbs]

Hi scotia and deemacperth,

 

Thanks again (have clicked your scales) - scotia I have PM'd you.

 

Its actually £750 + 8% = £39 court fee, and the maximum you can claim for expenses is £75.....but it'll be like trying to get blood from stone........the clerk told me that it was only to cover for travel etc, or if you need a carer to take you to court.....so they advised me to leave out expenses .......

 

I thought that would be the cause (from the Govan Law Centre website) so happy to leave that out since I can get to Haddington for free anyhow (monthly bus ticket!) - my one concession to the barstewards!

 

Thanks again guys - will update on Tuesday once I have been to the court to 'file my papers' (is that the correct term?)

 

meagainstrbs

[meagainstrbs]

Hi everyone,

One more question (phew!) before I submit my court claim tomorrow:-

There is a RBS in Haddington but my branch is in Edinburgh - but most of the correspondance I've had is from London - should I raise the action against my branch (I've had no correspondance from them at all even though I sent copies of both my prelim. letter and LBA there) or to the nasty guy in London (was quite looking forward to that after the tone of his response to my LBA)?

Can anyone please advise?

Thank you

meagainstrbs

 

 

[meagainstrbs]

Sorry... I have now read wintermare's post at the bottom of the 'Scotland' forum, which answers the above question. I'm all set to go!

 

Good luck everyone!

 

meagainstrbs

[meagainstrbs]

Hi everyone,

 

Me again - I went to file my claim this morning and just wanted to let you all know how I got on...

 

I filled in forms 1 and 1b (thanks Scotia for providing yours for me to base mine on) which was much easier than I had expected. I pulled together an updated list of all the charges and printed off two copies of the forms and note of charges and headed to the court.

 

This morning, I submitted my claim to the Sherrif Clerk's office to my local Sherrif Court which cost £39 and she took 1 copy of my forms and 2 copies of the charges. She read over the information quite thoroughly and took my fee and said that the court would be in touch with a date. She asked if I was going on holiday as if I was they would need to schedule the court date round that. I am not so she said it was likely to be at the end of June - eeeeeeeek!

 

I have to say (and I'm really not trying to put anyone off, just telling you my experience) that the Clerk was not very helpful - she was quite condescending and acted like I was an inconvenience to her vital conversation about what she had done over the holiday weekend and because she had to provide me with my £1 change!

 

Anyway - all done now. I do have to share with you the most ironic thing about the whole experience! There was a sign up in the Sherrif Clerk's office inviting all staff members of the court to a Royal Bank of Scotland (bank I am claiming against) Branch Open Morning for coffee and wine and chat - cosy, eh? I don't think I'll be popular down my court!

 

I'll keep you all posted!

 

meagainstrbs

[meagainstrbs]

Hi Robertxc,

 

I think I just caught the clerk on a bad day! 9am on the Tuesday morning after a bank holiday maybe isn't the best time to go - in hindsight, I'm not very friendly then if anyone visits me at work either!

 

My full claim would have been for £973 (if I was claiming in England) but I have claimed £743 to fit into small claims. I haven't decided whether to go after the other £230 as I've found all this really tough (and I'm really surprised I haven't chickened out yet - too late now!)

 

Can I ask you a quick question? When you say serve the summons - I must have missed this bit - is this if I win in court to get them to pay me or if not, what is it please?

 

meagainstrbs

 

P.S. Thanks very much to everyone else for all the support...

[meagainstrbs]

Hi scotia,

 

Yes, all letters sent for full amount - but just used standard LBA so didn't say would be submitting seperate claims etc - but I guess I could do this anyway as it was clear I wanted the full amount back. Maybe if they do try to settle (hopefully) then I could tell them that I'll be submitting another claim for the other £230 and see if they just give me it all (or would that be too lucky?)

 

That's great news about the 'serving the summons' bit - I guess the court will get back in touch if they have any problem delivering the papers?

 

Thanks again - and I've got you earmarked for a beer or two! Am trying to pass on the support by helping other people now too!

 

meagainstrbs

[meagainstrbs]

gosh - the courts are quick!

 

meagainstrbs vs. Royal Bank of Scotland

 

Claim submitted 2 May 2006, Sheriffdom of Lothian and Borders

Case Number SA146/06

Return Day 19 June 2006

I can contact Sheriff's office on 20 June 2006 to enquire if the Defender has lodged any response to my claim

Hearing Date 26 June 2006, 10am

 

Fingers crossed!

 

meagainstrbs

[meagainstrbs]

Ok, so the return date is the date by which they have to notify the court whether or not they intend to defend it or not. They will probably submit a defence at the last minute (i.e. 4.30 in the afternoon of the 19th) - so be mentally prepared for that.

 

They'll put in a defence and act like they have every intention of defending your outrageous impertinence in court. Shortly after that they'll write you a sanctimonious letter about how they're prepared to defend their honour in court, but as a matter of 'good faith' they'll give you some of your dosh back. Tell them to get lost, and somewhere between the 10th and 26th of June they'll settle in full.

 

Hi Robertxc,

 

Thanks very much for the info - very helpful.

 

Please keep an eye on this thread as I'm sure I'll need lots of advice when the above happens!

 

Thanks again

 

meagainstrbs

[meagainstrbs]

Hi everyone,

 

Shaking a wee bit just now - and starting to feel very nervous about all this claiming back charges stuff - would really like some reassurance.

 

Just had a call on my mobile from someone friendly from RBS saying:-

 

RBS: 'We've got a big bundle of statements here - did you order them?'

Me: 'No'

RBS: 'I thought so - we've just got them here but have no record of you ordering them'

Me: 'It's probably because I've got a Small Claims Action against you at the moment.'

RBS: (taken aback) 'Oh, okay. I'll just pass them to the Small Claims dept then.'

 

I guess (and I know I'm stupid) its just reminded me that this might end up in court. I knew it was a possibility, of course, but had managed to put that to the back of my mind over the past three weeks (since I had served the court papers and got my date). I haven't heard anything from RBS (they have until 19 June to lodge a defense) and am worried that this is a BAD OMEN as people left right and centre seem to be receiving settlements.

 

Also - can't believe my own stupidity, but have gone over my overdraft again this month and am £28 over and will get charged. Have been overdrawn for about a week and no funds go in (and don't have access to any) until Thursday (when I get paid). Very mad with myself - please don't tell me off - I wish things were different and I hadn't made this stupid mistake. Does this invalidate my claim and mean that I will lose?

 

Sorry for feeling so wobbly - but would really appreciate the advice from you guys. I was feeling really confident, but am now scared that I will lose.

 

meagainstrbs

[meagainstrbs]

Thank you very much babes!

 

I'm really cr*pping myself and scared because my court date (26th June) is so near to when they have to submit their defence by (19th June) - that's only a week apart. What happens if they do submit a defense - do they get longer and court date is rescheduled or if they do submit a defense, should I be preparing in that week to go to court? I haven't booked the day off work or anything!

 

Thanks again everyone - more advice please!

 

meagainstrbs

[meagainstrbs]

Hey everyone,

 

Just an update - I've not been around a lot recently - think I've been trying to put bank charges stuff to the back of my mind as I've felt so wobbly and terrified!

 

Its now only 6 days until I can phone the court and find out if RBS have submitted a defence. I'm a bit worried as from 20th June (when I can phone up) to my court date, there are only 4 working days (20th-23rd June) - so if they have submitted a defense, it really doesn't leave a lot of time for them to make an offer. Therefore, if it does end up in court (Monday 26th) - then I don't have much time to do all my further reading and ask anyone to come with me! Please be ready to help me!

 

meagainstrbs

 

Welcome AlsoSkint - very happy to see you here and (although I haven't seen your thread yet) - am in Edinburgh and am very very happy to chum you through this process and to court etc - PM me if I can help you at all...

[meagainstrbs]

Okay - in about 12 hours I should find out if RBS have submitted a defense. If so - then I'm apparently off to court on Monday ! I haven't heard a peep from RBS since submitting my claim (apart from that bizarre phone call about copy statements).

 

If not -

 

Look out for my news tomorrow night! I'll be on a train all day so not able to post til about 11pm.

 

meagainstrbs

[meagainstrbs]

Hey everyone,

 

Phoned the court this morning (yesterday was return day) and the bank have not submitted a response so I have won by default - yay!

 

However, all is not so simple. According to the (not helpful in the slightest) ladies at Haddington Sheriff Court, I have to return Form 11 by Thursday (fine). 14 days after this, they will send me an extract decree. I photocopy this and send to my bank with a covering letter stipulating time period in which I request repayment by. Send this recorded delivery. Then I expect the bank to pay within the time limit. If they do not, then I can get the courts reinvolved.

 

Ok - has anyone else been in this position and had to go through this protracted process? The one thing the (frankly quite horrible) lady did say to me, was that there is no certainty of getting my money back - WTF? Surely if I win by default, that's the whole point!?? I would have also expected them to help more with the recovery of the money - please - can anyone give me any advice/help/support who has been through this process?

 

Thank you so much

 

meagainstrbs

[meagainstrbs]

Hello everyone,

 

Well its been a fair journey but I DID IT! Yay me and thank you guys so much for all your help and support!

 

After I posted the thread (above) on Tuesday morning - about 11am my mobile phone rings and its Mark, a lawyer from RBS:-

 

Mark@RBS: "We understand you are having some problems with customer service and issues of charges from Royal Bank of Scotland"

 

Me: "Yes" (sitting at Perth train station, caught unawares!)

 

Mark@RBS: "We'd like to settle the matter by offering you a full refund of £743 + £39 court fee - only if you agree to keep this a secret" (Ha! Try and stop me!)

 

Me: "Okay - but what about the 8% interest" (Jumping up and down!)

 

Then follows a boring conversation where he ensures me he doesn't understand the 8% interest thing (yeah right, you have a law degree!) and he assures me it only adds up to £4.95 anyway. We argue back and forth for a while.

 

Me: "I think you'll find its about another £100 on top of the £782 you already are repaying to me"

Mark@RBS: "I'll need to calculate it and ring you back"

 

Call No. 2

 

Mark@RBS: "Well thank you for that thankless task" (Talking about calculating the interest - and yes, those were his actual words)

"You are due £884.62" which includes £102.62 of interest"

 

Me: "Thank you and when will I see this money"

 

Mark@RBS: "It'll be paid into your account today"

 

It appeared in my account on Thursday! And for the first time in 8 years, my bank account was in credit and due to stay that way for the future!

 

My overdraft was £850 so I just paid this all off, paid a little bit off the Barclaycard and had a bottle of cheap plonk!

 

For anyone who is considering reclaiming bank charges - go for it! PM me if you need any help (particularly in Scotland) or are claiming against RBS.

 

I have filled in the CAG survey - but its really geared (in the stages bit) towards people who have claimed in England so my answers were a bit skewed - but its filled in all the same!

 

Thank you to Ewan, cowlie, deemacperth, babes66, wintermare, Jamboray, setonsteele8977, ajs444, Robertxc, Also Skint, suzanne_michels, give_me_it_back, RiaMac for all your advice and support and particularly to scotia and Candice (amosworks) who gave me so much help with my court claim form.

 

megainstrbs xxx

[meagainstrbs]

By the way....what team do you support?

 

Aberdeen!

 

hope Mark gives me a call, i'll tell him your asking for him:D

 

Please do, he really was clueless!

 

Good luck jamboray!

 

meagainstrbs

[meagainstrbs]

Hey guys,

 

Thanks very much for the messages and PMs - I really would have caved in if it wasn't for the support and advice on here - still considering going after Mint for £60 and researching BOS joint current account charges - not sure if I have the nerve again - but know you'll all say GO FOR IT!

 

Of course I'll still be around and if I miss you, please email me on jellymelonbean'at'hotmail'dot'com

 

Thanks again!

 

meagainstrbs

[meagainstrbs]

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