Lawyer's Charges

When a bank is sued for the return of an off-plan deposit does the judge automatically award interest (as per the sales contract) and lawyers/court costs or does this require a second court case?

Also, if you have previously sued the developer and won, but they failed to pay up, can those costs be added to the bank's costs, if it was the bank who told you to 'Sue us' when first asked to return your deposit for late completion?

If the bank also fails to pay up and you then have to sue the original  conveyancing lawyer for gross negligence, can ALL previously accrued costs be claimed from this lawyer and does it involve another court case?

I am thinking that at approximately £5K per case one could rack up a legal bill in excess of £30K and see very little of your original deposit after these deductions.

It is no wonder the banks were so blase' when telling us to 'Sue us' and why the Spanish have been so reluctant to go to court. It is simply too expensive.

Bump.

I am not a lawyer but as far as I know when sentanced to pay up the legal interest is automatically applied from the date the case was presented and accepted by the court. If the interest in the contract is higher and teh Judge does not think it is excessive he/she will apply it automatically or reduce it accordingly but never below the legal rate of interest.

As far as the rest.. best consult a lawyer! :) 

Good points Sandra.

I was thinking something similar along these lines.

Originally I tried to sue the developer, and part of that lawsuit was cancelling the purchase contract. Now, I have been led to believe that to sue the banks you need to have shown that you have cancelled the original purchase contract with the developer. This procedure costs around £500-1000 to achieve (i think, it's so hard to get concrete figures off lawyers). So, with that in mind, could I not add that expense to the new lawsuit against the bank, as this would be needed to proceed?

I have been led to believe that if costs are awarded they will only be the legal costs relating to the new Lawsuit against the Bank and will not include the costs of the previous action against the developer.

Maybe interest is different and could be backdated accordingly?

Perhaps Keith or Maria could clarify both points.

Actions against Banks

When suing the Bank after having a contract cancelled, only costs recoverable are those used for suing the Bank.

Interests award depends on Judges, some of them are awarding them just from the moment lawuist is brought against the Bank and not for the entire period since payments were made to developers account.

Thank you Maria for that clarification.

The cruel irony is that judicial recognition to back-date interest to cover the entire period since payments were made to developers account, would act as a great disincentive to Banks who choose to continue the ploy of prolonging the legal process and not settling out of court!

Anne, I do agree with you. We actually ask for interests for the whole period, and subsidiarily for the period since claim is made against the Bank out of Courts. We prevent imposition of costs against our claim this way

Thank you all for your replies. Call me thick but I am still not clear.

 If I pay for a case against the Bank to refund my original deposit and I win the case, are the costs and interest awarded at the same time? Or do I need a second court case (i.e., another £5K) to claim the interest and costs when it was the bank who told me to sue them if I ever wished to see my money again?