Ros v Alliance and Leicester *SETTLED IN FULL*

[Ros2710]

I have done N1 and am taking it to local court oday. You can get far more on claim. I have cobbled together bits from library template, another bit I found somewhere and Michaels bit about interest.

I have claimed contractual interest, but at the overdaft rate (currently 17.08% I also haven't claimed daily interest from the date of claim to the eventual date of settlement.

 

Particulars of Claim

 

1. The Claimant opened an Alliance and Leicester current Bank Account No. xxxxxxxx on xxxxxxx

 

2. During the period in which the account has been operating the Defendant debited numerous charges to the account in respect of purported breaches of contract on the part of the Claimant and also charged interest on the charges once applied. The Claimant understands that the Defendant contends that the charges were debited in accordance with the terms of the contract between itself and the Claimant.

 

3. A list of the charges applied is attached to these Particulars of Claim.

 

4. The Claimant contends that:

a) The charges debited to the account, as outlined in the attached schedule are punitive in nature; are not a genuine pre-estimate of cost incurred by the Defendant; exceed any alleged loss to the Defendant in respect of any breaches of contract on the part of the Claimant and are not intended to represent or relate to any alleged actual loss but, instead unduly enrich the Defendant which exercises the contractual term in respect of such charges with a view to profit. In the event that the charges are not a penalty, they are unreasonable under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 section 15. The Defendant has declined to justify the charges.

 

b) The contractual provision which permits the Defendant to levy such charges is unenforcable by virtue of The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations (1999) paragraph 8 and schedule 2(1)(e), The Unfair Contracts Terms Act 1977 section 4 and the common law.

 

Accordingly, the Claimant claims:

 

a) The return of the amounts debited in the respect of charges in the sum of xxxxxx

b) Court Costs

 

c) The Claimant claims compounded contractual interest at a rate of xxxxx per annum from the date of each transaction to 6th February 2007, which is £xxxxx

 

Defendant charges interest to the Claimant, via the Account, at its published “unarranged overdraft rate” of 17.08%. The Defendant claims that it is entitled to charge this rate, by virtue of the Terms & Conditions.

 

The unarranged overdraft rate is charged to the Claimant, via the Account, when the Claimant draws money from the Account whilst she has not obtained permission from the Defendant for exceeding any overdraft limit that she has. It is in effect, a rate that the Defendant charges the Claimant when she draws funds from the Defendant when she has no right for doing so.

 

Using, that reasoning and maintaining the principal of equity, mutuality and reciprocity between the parties, the Claimant contends that she is entitled to an equal rate of interest in this case. The Claimant notes in particular that the Defendant erred in law, had no legal right to levy the charges to the Account and refused to refund the Charges when asked to do so by the Claimant.

 

 

If the Terms and Conditions form part of contract between the parties hereto then there is an implied and/or imposed term of contract that the Defendant must pay the Claimant at the same rate of interest which it reserves for itself, in similar circumstances. If no express contract exists between the parties hereto then the Claimant contends that an implied and/or imposed contract exists between the parties hereto relating solely to the Claimant’s right to charge interest to the Defendant at the rate which it reserves for itself in relation to similar circumstances.

 

 

In the alternative,should this court not find that aforesaid implied and or imposed contractual term does exist, Claimant claims interest pursuant to s69 County Courts Act. Interest, in that case, up until 06/02/07 @ 8% amounts to xxxxxx as detailed in Schedule B attached hereto.

I believe that the contents of these Particulars of Claim are true.

 

Signed:

Dated:

[jansus]

best of luck - I am just starting my claim and must admit the part about contractual interest seems to be the most contentious. From reading all the threads it seems to vary from Bank to bank whether they accept. Reading some of the A&L threads it seems that they have. Did you tell a moderator you are at the claiming stage - beacause then I think they will jump in with help if you have problems( which hopefully you wont!)

 

interesting news today on the announcements aboutA&L fine dont you think!

[Ros2710]

no I didnt tell anyone - how do I do that? gave my claim in at conty court this morning

[jansus]

I am new to this but I think you go back to the bank action group general forum and then there is a section for those in litigation and it says PM a moderator ( what ever that means!) I know they are a different colour in the list at the bottom who shows who is on line.Sorry to be vague but I am finding the technical part of posts /threads difficult myself.

 

I think if you read in some of the success stories you might see some names of site helpers as well and I presume you can send Private message (just realised what PM means!) my brains too old for this!

 

best of luck:confused:

[Ros2710]

thanks. Am on it aready!

Best of luck with your claim

[jansus]

if you get time read Mendzai & lucid v lloyds tsb - it makes A&l threads lok like a walk in the park

 

jansus:o

[blue.pricey]

Hi Ros thanks for the advice good luck with your claim i have got to wait till next friday and then am going to file a N1 got the standard letter off A L yesterday basically they think there charges are right so go away hope you win and good luck to all

[Ros2710]

thanks. Glad I got claim into court Thursday - have been snowbound since! Its just waiting now - lets hope.....................

[Ros2710]

I had a letter today offering me charges claimed plus around £200 (£1911). I have claimed £3342 ( interest included) but actual charges are £1769.

I think this letter crossed with the small claims notification.

I do not intend to acept it and will stick out for whole amount.

[2hapennys]

HI

is this a new tactic by the A&L, not heard of many offers from them before?

[Ros2710]

well, I thought the same when I opened the letter just now. Usually it seems they refuse everything and dispute it all. They also went into great detail to explain how charges are worked out and when in the day (ie early morning) they are decided. They also say it is a 'gesture of goodwill'.

Probably they realise some people will acept this offer so ultimately they will save.

[2hapennys]

yeah it seems most of the other banks are using this tactic also, must be getting a huge ammount of claims, and most people find the thought of court terrifying. You keep at them Ros it all yours and you want it back.

[Ros2710]

Well strange things happened in the past few days. I went into acct online and its been blocked.

Received a letter today acknowledging N1 claim and they are goung to defend it............ooh................

Shall I just sit tight and wait??

[chain chick]

From reading the other posts, they always say that they are defending and then they send you a cheque before the time is up. This I think is another tactic to frighten people into backing down and accepting a lower amount.

 

Stay with it - You have already done all the hard work. I have also claimed filed claim on MCOL this morning (Got up early to do it)

[2hapennys]

Hi Ros

Dont panic the same thing happened to me, and I got my cheque 13 days later.......Your cheque will be with you shortly

[joyceejoy]

done my mcol for alliance leicester on 12/2/2007 for £1899 i also find it so difficult to find my way around the forum posting and messages. trying to pm the moderaters to put my details on ended up pm myself !!! i,m just behind you with my mcol so i hope you have luck with them

[Ros2710]

WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cheque received today whole amount £3463.82

yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[blue.pricey]

well done ros been wondering how you were gettin on not to far behind you filing monday morning had a few financial problems but have got the money together now so here goes and don't spend it all in the pub

[Ros2710]

no- have booked next years holiday on strength of it.

I'm sure you'll get yours. Waiting for Barclays now - 2 weeks to go there before date is up.

Must go and donate something

now

[stough999]

hi all,

 

Ive sent my first letter off to a&l claiming just the charges, and got the rejected letter a week later stating about its terms and conditions blah blah and after consideration will not be offering me any refunds.

As im new to this what is the next stage please, can i claim also the interest what hey have charged me so far to date or as i was advised by A&L that is a no no, or is there some kind of interest i can claim.

what is the next official document i have to send

Thanks to all in advance, much appreciated

 

Steve

[Ros2710]

Have you read the FAQ? good info in there. Next step is a LBA (Letter before Action) you ca find a template in the library.

Yes you can claim interest. Either the statutory 8% or you can try like I did to claim contractual interest - ie claim from them at the rate they claimed from you. I did them at the standard overdraft rate which is 17.08 at the moment. I know others have claimed at the unautorised borrowing rate which is much higher.

Suggest you have a good read around site. I have followed the standard way to go as you can see on this thread and I got my money back.

Also suggest you start your own thread up - you will get help from others . They wont see you attached to this one .

Good Luck.

[stough999]

thanks for the advice much appreciated:)

one thing can i claim back the interest they charged me say i.e. £400 on top of my charges + 8% or is it just the 8% and my actual charges and not the interest already charged .

thanks again in advance

 

steve:)

[welshcakes]

Congratulations Ross, great news! Hope you don't mind but I have copied and pasted your POC put up earlier in this thread.

 

Do you think we'll see a time when the banks just give up the delay tactices and start settling straight away as or do they recover enough through non follow ups to justify trying to bully?

[Ros2710]

Steve

 

you cant claim back interest charged by the banks on your overdraft - thats a legitimate charge, as is the monthy fee.

With regard to the interest you can chage on your claim this can be calculated using some of the spreadshets you can find on the site.

I used the speadsheet 2 in Vampiress Chambers.

I'll send you the link

Ros

[Ros2710]

Steve

 

This is a bit copied from Vampiress whio is a great. Hope you find it helpful

Ros

 

 

Firstly - it is not contractual interest that you need to use to calculate the interest they charged you on the penalty charges.

 

You need to start with the interest they took from your account and apportion it.

 

I have explained this in detail in a sticky in this forum, and there are guides in my Chambers explaining all this and how to use my spreadsheets.

 

You really need to spend quite some time reasearching, learning and understanding exactly what you are doing.

__________________

If you wish to use Google spreadsheets, feel free to use the templates in my Chambers. Copy any spreadsheet for your own use, then to find it again go to docs.google.com and log in and you will find the sheets that you had saved.

 

Advice and opinions of Vampiress, are offered informally, without prejudice and without liability. Use your own judgment. Seek advice of a qualified insured professional if you have any doubts.

 

If you have been offered a full refund of charges I advise that you accept this