Bank Charges

[stan]

After declining an offer of £540 from Barclays in pursuit of claiming £800, Ive recieved a letter from the Courts saying Barclays have filed a defence.....

does this mean they arent going to pay out lol?!! or is this part of their ongoing stalling tactics?

anybody had anything similar??

[seanofnp]

they aint paying you if they have a defence, i accepted my first 1400 quid offer, but looks like your going to court, may be a good idea to settle.

[snowman]

I was going to ttry this as im sure im due something,what does it involve as ive read somewhere they could shut your account down completely?

[scoobs]

Threr is many sites dedicated to this bank charge lark, Search google, you will find an answer.

I got charged another 25 quid this week, After payday, i'm doing this too. Should have a few hundred me hopes.!

[Jamie.]

They will still not turn up at the court date - it costs them alot more to attend a hearing then pay out the extra £300 you are requesting. Just deffering payment.

Although a word of warning - banks are beginning to fight back in this constant debarcle regarding bank charges. In the end the terms and conditions will be re-written or charges will be changed to avoid this farce.

I also recently read in a number of articles that some judges are ruling in favour of banks - and wouldnt be suprised if this lead to more automatic 1st offer acceptances or banks co-alligning and setting up a legal team/network between them to reduce payouts.

Cant see this going on for much longer.

[stan]

TBH...it is a farce...im just jumping on the band wagon!

Ive already written off declinging the offer, hence their defence. So what do you reckon i should do?? Ive got the form they sent me to accept their offer...shall i sit it out and hope they dont show, or send the form off and accept?

Do you honestly think they are just stalling me further?

[Jamie.]

In your case i cannot see them arguing - they will just pay it out.

When the stakes are higher, you know the type these idiots claiming back 7/8k then it may be worth their time but if you imagine a solicitor defending a claim for £800 when their charge out rate is £110 p/hr + admin time - just as an individual case its not worth their while.

I think if you feel uneasy about the situation to accept the offer.

[NickFr]

This is a standard defence. As it stands at the moment no bank is wanting to set a legal precedent and therefore are settling sometimes minutes before the Court case takes place. The likely response from the Banks will be to recover this lucrative lost revenue stream by charging everyone for using cashpoints again, in the meanwhile it is definitely worth pursuing the banks for overcharging.

[stan]

I shall stand strong then :lol:

[Swervin_Mervin]

It's a stalling tactic stan. Only reason the banks have won any cases so far is a lack of proper preparation on the claimants' part in terms of the docs they submitted to court etc.

Stick with it and best place to ask any queries once it goes further is the consumeractiongroup website.

I think they might even be taking their own action as a group in a bid to get a final decision on teh whole matter so that in future there is less room for manoeuvre by the banks.

[nyk]

if they have prepared ad submitted a defence, they have already incurred legal costs on your case.

I would think carfully about why they are only offering you the 540 and not the full ammount before you wait it out. If they have good reason not to refund you the 260 difference, you could lose the lot in court.

As in - to make myself clearer - if the 260 relates to charges for something that was lawful on their part, you risk losing the lot and paying the court costs to boot.

Banks are fighting back now cos its costing them millions, and most claims I have seen over £500 are being defended fully.

[Swervin_Mervin]

The banks will not fight it. They didn't take the action to court in the last two cases. The banks offered the full amounts in the end but the claimants turned them down in order to go all the way to getting a proper judge decision.

They don't offer the full amount simply 'cos that's what they do. Most will simply take the first offers.

[stan]

I figured they offered a lower ammount as whatever-percentage of what I claimed for, simply to try and lessen their expenditure and not necessarily as they feel they "only owe" that much.

I dont imagine they will have resorted to incuring costs by preparing a "special" defence...its likely just a default statement they use...its not as if im claiming a massive ammount, or used any unusual tactics.

[Swervin_Mervin]

Looks like you're claiming for a similar amount to what I did for myself and the mrs each. Got a similar offer. Got the full amount in the end.

[number1]

Im owed plenty and even though i have a court hearing date, they are still issuing charges on my old overdrawn account £185 this month! like there getting that out of me! they owe me over £500 atm, and as of the 13 august i will be £300+ overdrawn all due to bank charges went £3 over they have given me £300+ of charges!!!!! OUTRAGED!!! hence why im not putting any money in that account, i have bills to pay, and a hybrid to get through mot and tax this month!

Dave

[Lunner]

Can't you get your bank to not let you go overdrawn? Just reject the payment?

[FATBOY]

i heard a court ruled in favour of the banks today... bit of a landmark case for the banks so i hear? get ya monies asap! this will stop

[Swervin_Mervin]

i heard a court ruled in favour of the banks today... bit of a landmark case for the banks so i hear? get ya monies asap! this will stop

Nah, this is the dickhead graduate barrister trying to make a name for himself. He had all his monies back off teh bank then still tried to take them to court for "damages". What a nob. Bank even offered him another £1600 to settle out of court but he pressed on in a bid to make it a test case. Judge ruled against saying his claim had no basis in law.

I assume they mean his claim for damages.

The big test case is underway soon though brought by the OFT. That will be the case and unfortunately for stan, if this is true, the BBC claim that any current court actions will be suspended until a ruling is reached. On the plus side, the banks must still honour any offers they have already made to those whose actions will be suspended, regardless of whether they win or not.