Sorry guys....

[Robertxc]

Hello fruitycar, I just got back £436 from HBoS for my wife - they didn't put up too much of a fight actually.

 

There will be a fairly straight forward chain of events.

 

1. You will write to them demanding your cash back

 

2. An incredibly condescending woman will phone you and call into question your sanity for having the temerity to challenge them. In the nicest possible way of course. Her task is simply to try to convince you that the only people who think they can get their charges back are crackpots and loons, so don't even bother trying. She may offer you half of your charges back.

 

3. You will submit your claim to your local Sheriff Court. This is where it begins to get scary if you haven't done it before. The good news is that nothing bad can happen to you. If you have any questions about the procedures or forms or anything like that, you should speak to the clerk of court. I've dealt with them many times and of all the public servant I've ever encountered they are by far the mst friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. If your claim is for more than £750, there is a simple solution. Add up all your charges and then use the spreadsheet which is available on this forum to add the interest. Now, start with the earliest charge and add them up until you get to £750. This will be your first claim. don't worry, the rest will be dealt with later.

 

4. About three days after submitting your claim, you will get the forms back from the court with a return date for about 6 weeks later. You have to serve one of the documents on the Defender (the bank), which you do by registered post. Then you wait...

 

5. Sometime about a week before the return date, you will get a letter from Halifax offering the charges, but not the interest. You will tell them to get lost.

 

6. You'll get another letter offering settlement in full. Now, this is where they will try to be tricky. They will almost certainly ask you to sign an agreement saying that this is settlement for all claims ever. They will do this because they will realise that while you are only claiming for £750 today - tomorrow you're going to come back for the next £750.. and so on. this is where there will be a bit of negotiation. When the cards are on the table they may just offer you all your charges back in one go to get rid of you - which is what you want.

 

7. They'll give you back your dosh, and probably close your account.

 

Have fun.

[Robertxc]

Probably not. Things definetly get more complicated in Summary Cause, and you won't be protected from paying costs if you lose, and those could be well into four, if not five, figures.

 

In my experience, the Sheriff will give you a lot of help in Small Claims, because it's intended for people who are representing themselves. Summary Cause is intended for lawyers, so you will find the Sheriff much less tolerant if you get the procedures wrong. The risk of having your cased kicked out is much higher in summary Cause. Also, bear in mind that one of the main reason that the banks don't defend these actions is because there is no way for them to recover their costs if they win (in Small Claims). If you do it in Summary Cause, then that disincentive no longer exists...

[Robertxc]

The whole thing sounds horribly complicated, but it's not really. As I've said before I strongly urge you to go down to the court and have a chat with one of the clerks if there's anything about the procedures you'e not sure about. They won't help you with your actualy case, but they know everything about the procedures.

 

It is most unlikely that you'll actually have to go to court to try your case, but if you do, remember that the Sheriff has a duty to help you with your case - especially if you're on your own and the other side have a litigation specialist. He will not let the other side give you a kicking, and if he think there's something you should do to help or improve your case, he'll tell you. Also, forget any ideas about coming up against Rumpole of the Bailey. Remember, going to court is HORRIBLY expensive for your bank. If you think your lawyer charges you a lot, you should see what he charges a bank! Never underestimate your bank's desire to stay well way from Small Claims procedures.

[Robertxc]

For bank charges you almost certainly won't go beyond stage 5. Certainly no one on theis forum seems to have gone beyond that poimt

[Robertxc]

Just send it to the company and address it "Dear Sirs".

[Robertxc]

Don't worry about dealing with individuals. So long as you send it to the head office and make sure it includes their reference number, you can leave the rest to them. Remember, your dealing with the comany as a whole, not individuals within it.

[Robertxc]

Don't worry about it, i'm sure it will be fine.

[Robertxc]

Bank of Scotland PLC

Make sure you put their registered office address on it. I think it is:

 

Bank Of Scotland PLC

The Mound

Edinburgh

[Robertxc]

Good for you!

[Robertxc]

Form 1a is the pursuer's copy, and 1b is the defender's copy. You will fill both in and hand them to the court, along with two copies of your statement of claim. You shouls include the spreadsheet. No, the interest doesn't stop accrueing at the date of claim. When you go to the court, the clerk will probably go through it with you to make sure everything's there, so don't worry about it.

[Robertxc]

Well done. Keep us updated. Also, bear in mind that BoS and Halifax are one and the same.

[Robertxc]

Don't panic. If your claim was filed properly then you'll get some stuff through from the court soon with a return date on it. The return date is the other side's deadline for letting the court know if they're going to defend. They'll probablyt say they are, just to try and scare you. This is the time for a steady nerve.

[Robertxc]

Phone the sheriff clerk to check, but they may want you to serve it on the bank yourself. To do this, look up 'Sheriff Officers' in the phone book and get them to serve it for you. They will charge about £15. All you do is take the form b in to them and they'll do everything else (don't forget to include the statement of claim if it's on a seperate sheet). Alternatively, the sheriff clerk might tell yoiu just to serve it yourself by recorded delivery. This is very straight forward.

[Robertxc]

I thought they owed you £1400? Presumably you r claim was for £750. How much have they refunded?

[Robertxc]

If you do accept their offer you need to be very careful to make sure you're doing it in respect of this particular action only. They may try to word it in such a way that you will be prevented from going back for the rest. If in doubt, PM me with the text of their offer letter and I'll get some opinions from the other moderators as well.

 

By the way, did you have any difficulty getting your statements out of them?

[Robertxc]

Probably the best thing to do right now is absolutely nothing. I presume you've told the clerk that as far as you're concerned the case is NOT settled? If so, then it should call as planned. If not, then you should do so, in writing. you don't need to go into the details of why it's not settled, just a nice brief statement will do. If the bank think it's settled then they won't bother to turn up, in which case you'll Minute for Decree (win by default).

 

Once the return date has come and gone, you could write to the bank and tell them that you've informed the court that the matter is not settled, and that the case is going to call as planned. Expect them to cough up the rest of the cash imediately at this point. If it's getting perilously close to the date of the hearing, PM me.

[Robertxc]

Fruitycar, have you told the court that it's not settled? If not, you should do so imediately.

[Robertxc]

I think a slight change of strategy is called for to avoid this happening again. I'll call you later to discuss. You may have lost the battle, but you will win the war.