On the road... ***WON***

[clubber]

Hi all , I've been reading from this site with interest for a while now and could not have started my own claim were it not for all the info/advice from here.

 

My basis story thus far is as follows, at the end of which I do have a problem;

 

February - sent SAR

Late April received 6 yrs statements

27 April 07 sent off claim for £1605 + interest.

Received letter offering £1495 which I declined.

MCOL completed 8 May

Barclays acknowledged - last minute of course

Requested judgement at midnight on 28th/29th day

Rejected by Northampton which allowed Barclays to enter defence on 29th day after issue

Claim to local court, awaiting date (LONG back log at local court). I work there which makes it difficult

received defence- just like standard ones Ive seen EXCEPT it includes a paragraph requesting my claim be struck out for abuse of process as my claim does not include my account number

 

The wording is;

The particulars of claim do not provide details or particulars of the account in question and/ or the precise charges alleged to have been unlawful, or the date thereof. Furthermore they give no recognisable cause of action,nor is there sufficient material to enable Barclays to serve more than a bare denial of liability as a defence. The statement of case would appear to be an abuse of process and/ or will obstruct the just disposal of the proceedings and it does not appear to comply with cpr r16.2".....the defence goes on to request the claim be struck out.

 

and;

 

"The Defendant repectfully requests an order that the Claim be struck out pursuant to CPR r3.4 as it does not disclose reasonable grounds for bringing a claim and is an abuse of the courts process".

 

I am worried by this and any advice would be appreciated.

 

SAINTLY 1 (many thanks) advises me to complete a change of claim for N244- can you do this on line? Has anyone else had a defence including these paragraphs?? How much is it to complete an amenment form, my claim is for £1605 + interest.

 

Cheers in advance

[saintly_1]

Hey clubber you made it to your own thread i worried we had lost you when you didnt start your own thread that day

Your local court is now dealing with your claim so it cant be done online ...

You can get the forms necessary http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/41901-form-n244-application-notice.html

 

You can fill in the N1 on your computer just remember to print off at least 3 copies once its filled in as you cant save it

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/n1_0102.pdf

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/681-4-particulars-claim-n1.html

Use the guide lines ^^ to complete it

The cost i think is £35 and is non reclaimable ...

Hope this helps

 

saint

[lucy60]

Hi just to let you know, I recently amended claim using N244 at local court cost was £65. Its worth doing it though to make sure you re claim is right.

[oneofakind]

Hi clubber,

did you send Barclays a copy of your SOC? This type of defence is fairly standard, alleging you have not provided information which you probably have sent to them.

 

what particulars of claim did you use on your MCOL form?

 

[clubber]

Your are right Lucy, it is worth doing. I have followed saintly1's advice and used the application form N244 and amended POC. I have to pay £35 BUT, the potentially good news is that my claim, from being at the bottom of a whole heap of claims awaiting a court date, has arisen (from the dead so to speak) like a phoenix from the ashes, and ascended to the top of the pile. I had a word with the office clerk who told me as the claim had gone to their court from Northampton AND money had changed hands then mine will be dealt with first. QED as they say.

 

Oneofakind- couldn't cut & paste from MCOL but my POC on MCOL were basic sayig I was claiming bank cahrges from ?? to ?? and sec 69 interest. I believed at that point that my evidence would be needed in the court bundle and AQ not the POC. I have included what I have seen on here but am still a little grey as to what you have to include at the POC stage.

 

Thanks for the feedback though.

[lucy60]

don t understand why my amendment cost £65 and yours was £35 using the same form (N244). Can t be based on the amount you claim as I am claiming back less than you.

[clubber]

Re: Lucy60

 

Hi, I have checked with my County Court and they have told me the charge is standard for an application of this kind, regardless of the amount of the claim. The £35 application to amend is relevant in cases where it is not necessarily money that is being claimed for, so it makes sense that the amount of the claim is not the determining factor of the fee, as there is often no monetary claim being applied for.

 

Hope this makes sense. let me know what your court says.Was it made through MCOL or at the local court?

 

Good luck anyhow and keep me updated.

 

Cheers, Clubber

[lucy60]

Have rang court to ask about the cost (why it was £65) I told them I knew of others paying £35, and they said it is based on circumstances. Don t really get that as they did nt ask my circumstances when i amended claim.

[lucy60]

Think you could be right about claim going to the top of the pile, I got my court date within a week of amending. ( september)

[clubber]

Re: Lucy60

 

Hi, i do not really understand the explanantion given by your court, what circumstances etc as this sounds totally different from my response, however I guess getting the money is the most important thing and if the amendment has aided you getting a quicker date for court then thats brill. I hope to get a date myself during the week. Let me know if you decide to contact B's with your date for a settlement, though it sounds as if B's are that bogged down they are only settling a week or so before. I still aim to contact them with a date and use the pestering tactics as it seems there is nothing to lose by this.

 

best of luck Lucy..

[clubber]

Hi again, just updating in case this is any help to folk. I have been ringing my local court siince my claim has been transferred from Northampton. Initially they told me I would have to wait a fortnight for a court date which would be no sooner than October due to the back log. I kept ringing each day saying I just needed a date as it was very likely B's would settle, or at least I would be in the queue to settle once I had a date. After 4 calls they shuffled me in for the 1st date which is 8th August.

 

I got this date on 19th July and I have rung and emailed Paul Quinn since. Finally today I got hold of him. He told me he would probably settle a day before as he is settling tomorrows court dates at the moment. I asked him to email me with what he had said and he refused saying the situation might change tomorrow ie there may be a case where B's fancy their chances. i asked him to email me what he had said stating 'other things being equal they will settle'. i explained this would mean I would not hold him to anything should the situation change. I remained calm when he told me I would not have to attend court and replied that an email confirming this would be my motivation to trust what he was saying. He then said as I was being polite he would email me a settlement figure of my claim, costs and 8% tomorrow... I know seeing is believing but thought I would share this to reassure those dealing with Mr Quinn that he is not as bad as a lot of experiences show him to be.. mind you I ain't had me dosh yet so maybe he's worse than that after all. Will keep ya posted!

[welshcakes]

Hi Clubber - did PQ email you today?

[clubber]

Welshcakes.... frustrating, i won't know until the morning as he has my work email address and I have been working away today...will let you know tomorrow

[Johnsworld]

Ho Clubber,

 

Interested to know what happened with PQ.

 

Told me on 5 July would settle nearer date but nothing since. Have court date on Friday.

 

Wondered if OFT case has made any difference to your case or his offer.

 

I've heard nothing from court and expect to attend hearing as normal.

 

regards,

John.

[lucy60]

Hi clubber, think I figured out the difference in the court costs (£65/£35) if you want an amendment with a hearing it is £65 without a hearing it is £35. I ticked without a hearing as advised but clerk said it would have to be with a hearing. Anyway I got my amendment through the post, saying judge had looked at it and it had been amended without a hearing. So it was the court clerks mistake. Suppose they must be really overworked with all the claims.

[clubber]

Hi Johns world/ Lucy.

 

thought the £65 was a bit expensive, wonder if you can claim back?

 

Anyway, my last thread was talking about a settlement from Mr Quinn on 23rd July. 23rd turned into 24th, 25th and you guessed it 27th d-day when the doors got slammed shut!

Anyway What I did was accept the initial offer (75% of my claim) by contacting Customer Relations as it was the last day to accept, 8 weeks to the day. I was told on the phone the offer was still valid and sent in a letter that day taking the staff members name.

 

i checked twice since, the 1st time still valid, money on its way, the 3rd time was on the day i was going to withdraw my court hearing (which is tomorrow). This time I was told B's had withdrawn their initial offer because I had taken claim to court.

 

I looked back and relaised that the initial claim was by letter, the date of which was 6 daysAFTER my claim on line was deemed served on B's.

 

The bottom line is I have served my bundle with everything from here (thanks all!) and made a 2nd statement about how unreasonable B's had been and I had tried my best to negotiate a settlement before court, including the evidence of phone calls with named staff memebers about the initial offer being valid.

 

The end of the statement asks the court to throw out defence, no bundle etc, and also states the directions (which tells both parties a stay application must be made in writing at least 7 days before trial) have not been complied with and in the absence of an app to stay the Claimant has not seen the need to apply for a removal.

 

the statement also requests, if the full amount is not given the court finds in my favour for the initial amount offered ( I have exhibited letter, acceptance form and file note of staff saying it was valid) PLUS all the costs I can go for which... funnily enough just makes up the shortfall between original offer and the full settlement figure.

 

I hope all this makes sense as I am buzzing today. My court has said there are no blanket stays and the irections say any application to stay must be made in writing 7 days before. I am under no illusion that the test case may change things, but directions are directions and I reckon Ive shown them to be unreasonable and am confident of a result.

 

Will keep in touch and let you know

[clubber]

Hi, for info court case today, put up a good fight when stay requested by barrister but judge was adamant it was in everyones interest to wait pending test case. I brought up the withdrawing of my initial offer accepted by me on the 56th day. Judge ordered that the app to stay be refused and that Def file and serve further statements for a return hearing in Sep.

 

Phew, not won but still in the fight. Hoping B's cant afford another Barrister and decide they may as well pay up. Would be ggod news for me and for others on this site to be able to quote. Ive heard other stays have been refused so who knows....

[welshcakes]

Hi Clubber

 

I think you should take that as a positive outcome to the day. I cannot think why the judge would merely adjourn fro yet another hearing in September only to order a Stay on the day; if he was of that mind, I'm sure he would have got you all out of his hair by Staying today.

 

Pretty sure Barclays will come to the same conclusion so perhaps you'll find yourself posting off a Notice of Discontinuance within the next four weeks

[clubber]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Welshcakes. I do share your view, the Barrister was non chuffed and tried to argue the point, she was especially miffed when the judge looked over to me and said with a wry smile " you may have got through this (referring to 27th July) by the skin of your teeth" and went on to say the case would be reserved for him. He also said infront of her, the bank may argue they have withdrawn their offer, they do that you know, in which case we'll see at the hearing. The tone of his voice was one of being completely cheesed of with his experiences of these hearings. I honestly believe if judges can find a loophole to exploit they will, as the judge commented it will be up to him (judge) to sort out the growing mountain of parked up cases when its all been sorted out.

 

Will wait to hear from B's

[clubber]

Bizarre, litigation team actually phoned me today. Mr Quinn is on holiday and his sidekick phoned to ask me the result of the court hearing on 8th August...I contemplated for a few seconds as I thought about telling them f all, but then decided to give him (not heard the name before) a little bit saying the stay had been refused and B's have to serve further statements by 28th Aug.

he seemed polite and said he knew nothing of this, said he would speak to his manager and ring me tomorrow.... I said ring when you want and left it at that as I've heard it all before (haven't we all)... like I said in my last thread we'll wait and see.

[clubber]

Well, Greg Thomas (covering Paul Quinn until 27th August) called today as he said he would. He has told me he will be speaking to his manager about my court hearing (when the judge refused the stay on the grounds I said I had accepted an earlier offer within the 56 days when still valid which B's are contesting had beem withdrawn). He said he would be getting back to me by the end of this week which I have taken with a pinch of salt since 27th July. However, as he instigated the call to tell me this I have slightly more confidence as he couild well have not bothered ringing.

 

For anyone who got a quick hearing so that their initial offer is still within the 56 days and have not rejected the offer in writing, its definitely worth at least considering accepting this before a hearing and using this as a reason forthe judge to refuse any applicatio to stay. I know the timescales have to be spot on ie the date of the offer letter needs to be AFTER the initial claim has been deemed served, so B's can't argue the offer was null & void once court action was instigated as they tried to do in my case.... we'll see what happens later this week. I'm clutching at straws i know but reckon I have nothing to lose, the worst scenario is a stayed case...

[clubber]

Update...call from Paul Quinns sidekick informing me that he has been instructed to leave my case for Quinn when he comes back from leave as he has enough work of his own to get on with. I said fine not mentioning that Quinn is back on 28th as 27th is a bank holiday and B's statement needs to be filed and served by 4pm on 29th!

Lets hope Quinny has too much on and see how the judge takes to B's ignoring the judges directions for the 2nd time.Its great to see cases being heard, I will be taking a list of courts and claim numbers to the court at 401pm on 29th!

 

Good luck to all those with hearings coming up...theres a lot more hope around than 2 weeks back.

[clubber]

Hi, just to let you know B's have paid up. Following the courts Order for them to submit further statements addressing my contention that they had made an initial offer which was then retracted.

 

I received a call from Quinn this morning as it was his 1st day back and B's statements are due in tomorrow by 4pm. He offered the amount of the original offer i was claiming was still valid (70% of the claim). I refused this on the grounds that I was confident that B's would not be able to demonstrate that the original offer was no longer valid and therefore the DJ would find in my favour, in which case I could legitimatley request reasonable costs on top of the offer.

 

At first he wouldn't budge saying I had accepted the original offer in writing (true) and that B's could say I was entering dual negotiation (false- the offer ws made AFTER my MCOL was served on them).

 

I said if B's offer was only the original amount I may as well take my chances at the next hearing. At this I think he realised that mine was a safe line of thinking and I explained the different costs I could ask for at court. I eventually agreed to original offer plus court costs (inc AQ which i didnt pay as wasnt required & the cost of varying POC's (which are not claimable) and wasted time costs). All in all still short of full claim with interest etc by just under £200 (

 

Will discontinue my claim once funds cleared in my account. Thanks everyone, especially Dar£n, your threads on all the posts have been really helpful. Contribution will be forthcoming upon cash clearing and will stick around to see how things go.

 

Keep on keepin' on

[saintly_1]

Congratulations

 

Do you want your title changing now ?

Or wait until you get your money ?

[clubber]

Saintly, your name should've been in there with dar£n's and PJDavies, all been so very helpful...once the cash is in please Saintly...I dont think they'd back down on an email offer now but hey, worse things have happened!