A New Way of Looking at Interest- 1st successful Claim - N'wide

[fivelaws]

I know this is only slightly relevant, but I have used a different Act for recovering debts in my business life. The legislation that provides small businesses with a mechanism to claim interest on late payments (the fabulously descriptive and surprisingly compact) The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

 

I know that this legislation SPECIFICALLY excludes consumer credit agreements and that the Act we rely on (CCA1984) is a *totally* different ballgame .... but I think there are some interesting aspects.

 

The definition of "Interest" that this Act employs is;

1. If the contract has a stated right to charge interest, then the claim cannot include statutory interest - the rate stated in the contract will apply.

2. Statutory interest is calculated by a formula set down by the secretary of state and in doing so, the Sec. of state will consider the following criteria; a) To protect suppliers whose financial position makes them particularly vunerable ... b) To deter generally late payments.

Where it does apply, the rate of statutory interest is not fixed. It is determined by taking the Bank of England base rate at the beginning of each half year and adding 8%. For the first half-year of 2006, the rate is 12.5%. (there is a full list of rates here; http://www.payontime.co.uk/legislation/legislation_main.html [Edit: Link fixed]

 

As I said - I know this is all very different because it only relates to small businesses taking on customers, but there are a couple of interesting parallels in this legislation - specifically the bit about the interest rate used *MUST* be the one in the contract if stated and that under such circumstances, statutory interest cannot apply.

 

Does anybody actually have access to the full wording of s.69 of CCA84? And are there any appropriate amendments? How/where would we find such beasts?

[fivelaws]

No, you need to include the interest in the amount claimed box - even if just claiming section 69.

 

I'm hoping that's not true... I filled my N1 yesterday and did not include the s.69 interest in the "Amount Claimed" or "Total" boxes. I did this on the grounds that the particulars of claim and the schedule of charges referenced the s.69 interest....

 

Have I dropped a spanner?

[fivelaws]

Alternatively, you can pay £35 to amend the claim,

 

I was fretting badly that I would have to withdraw the claim and pay another £120 to re-file it. Will phone them first thing AM tomorrow and see if the front sheet can be replaced or failing which, stump up the £35 to have it amended.

 

Cheers for the info! You're a star.