What can we do if we are on benefits (merged)

jayja · 1 August 2007 at 4:15PM

Hi, please could someone help? It says in the Q&A's that under the law called Socil Security Administration Act 1992, that we can still clame charges. Me & my friends have got as far as sending the letter in to reclaim just over 2weeks ago. We would like to know what to put in the letter to say we are on benefits, as we dont use a phone. Thanx for any helpJay

chelbel1981 · 1 August 2007 at 8:26PM

I don't know if anyone can help me but I have just read something that I didn't know about in Martins weekly. I have copied and pasted here it is

Q: What else can I do if I am living on benefits?
A: If you rely on benefits for your main income, such as Income Support or Job Seekers Allowance, there is still possibly a way you can claim; though it relies on a slightly different law. All past claims have been based on contract laws but there is another law called the Social Security Administration Act 1992, which says that banks must not take charges from benefits as this money is needed for a person to live on.
If you are in this situation, contact your bank to tell them that you are living on benefits and it should process your compliant. If it still does not help, contact the Financial Ombudsman, but make sure you tell it that you are receiving benefits and your case will be dealt with. For details on contacting the Ombudsman see the main Bank Charges Reclaiming article.

Can anyone help me further as I have told the bank on numerous occasions my situation but they just have the shrug the sholders we don't care attitude
Has anyone done this that can enlighten me further???

Edinburghlass_2 · 1 August 2007 at 8:43PM

Just merged a few threads regarding this and there are quite a lot of links above. This thread is in the Benefits Board....

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=269424

Tortieshell · 2 August 2007 at 7:19AM

nich29580 wrote: »

Hi, im wondering if any1 can help me. I am new to the board and this is probably been answered b4 but does any1 know whether the bank are allowed to reclaim charges from your child benefit?
Today with the RBS i was charged £28 standard fee and then a further £38 overdraft fee for being £8 overdrawn on my account. Equally today i received £72.00 in child benefit and this was the only money in my account and so effectivly the money was taken solely from my benefit:. Surely this is not allowed. Please help. Thanks:mad:

I had this done to me also so I contacted the Bank (who were of no help) so I insisted on speaking to a manager (it's the only way to get things done, ALWAYS ask to speak to one) and they told me that if I showed them a few bills ie phone bills (doesnt have to be recent) and receipts for food shopping etc they would refund me back the money they took. (It sounds silly but it worked!) I was refunded in 24 hours although they did say it could take a few days I stressed that I couldnt survive a few days

Hope that helped.

cindy100 · 2 August 2007 at 11:58AM

After excepting £140 from Abbey i was waiting for them to write back on the day the announcement came out (typical) i have asked for £1463 including interest. All the charges they have taken have been whilst i have been on income support, i rang Abbey this morning who told me i don't qualify for a hardship case because i have an overdraft of £450 and still have an available balance of £50. I then phoned the financial ombudsman who told me that all cases had been canceled and that was that. I rang them back hoping to get a different person, i did who told me to write to my bank and get a final decision in writing then they may be able to help.

has anyone actually been told by the financial ombudsman that they can carry on with their claim?

dawnie_1066 · 2 August 2007 at 1:27PM

Hello all Can someone please help me ???
I was in the process of reclaiming £1400 of charges from Lloyds TSB until he recent OFT decision and now I dont know what to do.
Someone has told me that this doesnt affect me because of the following I need to know if this is true or just a false hope

My account with Lloyds TSB only receives credits from the following

Child Benefit
Child Tax Credit
Working Tax Credit
I also receive Disabled Living Allowance for two of my children into this account

I try my very best to keep my account run correctly but these benefits are all paid four weekly all my payments are made via monthly direct debit and this problem is where most of my charges come from unfortunately what takes Lloyds TSB a second to charge takes me a month or more to recover from financially

I have been told that the Social Security Administration Act 1992 makes it a criminal offence for any bank to take money from these payments to pay penalty charges is this information correct and if it is what do I do now continue with the court action?

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks for reading

novelli · 2 August 2007 at 8:59PM

cindy100 wrote: »

After excepting £140 from Abbey i was waiting for them to write back on the day the announcement came out (typical) i have asked for £1463 including interest. All the charges they have taken have been whilst i have been on income support, i rang Abbey this morning who told me i don't qualify for a hardship case because i have an overdraft of £450 and still have an available balance of £50. I then phoned the financial ombudsman who told me that all cases had been canceled and that was that. I rang them back hoping to get a different person, i did who told me to write to my bank and get a final decision in writing then they may be able to help.

has anyone actually been told by the financial ombudsman that they can carry on with their claim?

I have emailed them but had no response, also emailed OFT, no response from them either. What we really need is someone to draft up what we should quote to the bank in these circumstances. Mine have also refused to continue with my claim, not acknowledging hardship!!! So was hoping someone would give advice on what to actually put in wiriting to them.:rotfl:

lemonsqueezi · 3 August 2007 at 11:03AM

<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" width="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">Hi

Am i right thinking that it is unlawful for the bank to apply charges when the main source of income is benefits suh as income support / job seekers?

Is there any wording that should be used in letters particularly relating to this?

Are the banks etc obliged to action this - I am also in a debt management plan with a company which i am happy with - doe this meant that the banks are likely to treat this as a hardship case?

I know i have 2 areas in this question and there is a benefits thread but for the life of me cant get to it - can someone give me this link.

PS ......does anyone think that ith enough complaint the 'waiver' may be lifted before the case is final (desperate!!)

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rjm2k1 · 3 August 2007 at 1:15PM

I'm puzzled by this, I can kind of understand that benefits are supposed to maintain a standard of living, not pay bank changes, but surely the banks must therefore be able to either refuse to let people on benefits have accounts in the first place, or at lease restrict them to locked down accounts which will not allow them to go overdrawn and therefore incur charges in the first place?

In the example above, why bother with a DMP, if the only source of income is benefits and they aren't allowed to take from them, surely anyone on benefits alone cannot be forced to pay for their debts? Doesn't this also mean that someone on benefits can apply for a loan but not have to pay it off until they have another income?

cherade9 · 3 August 2007 at 2:51PM

I'm currently writing my details in a letter downloaded from http://www.govanlc.com/benefits_&_bankarrestment.htm to claim back my bank charges taken from benefit monies. I have a Card Cash account with the Halifax.

The only money going into that account regularly since it was opened in 2000 was/is Child Tax Credit, Child Benefit and Income Support. I've read contradictory information about the legality of my claim on this website, but the Govan Law centre and the CAB both have information in support of this type of claim.

The article of law is:

187.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, every assignment of or charge on—

(a) benefit as defined in section 122 of the Contributions and Benefits Act;

(b) any income-related benefit; or

(c) child benefit,and every agreement to assign or charge such benefit shall be void

Link http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1992/Ukpga_19920005_en_16.htm

I'm claiming back both unauthorised overdraft fees and bounced direct debit fees. As far as I can tell this claim is separate to the current stay on claims for unfairly high bank charges, as it has this other basis in law.

I was wondering if anyone else is currently claiming or has claimed under this law and received any monies? Also as my claims run from 2002 until now, should I claim interest? I intend to pursue this claim in Halifax County Claims Court if the Halifax refuse to refund me any monies, even though I live in Edinburgh. Does anyone have experience of claiming against the Halifax in Halifax?

Liz A.

Twinkly · 3 August 2007 at 3:01PM

Tortieshell wrote: »

I had this done to me also so I contacted the Bank (who were of no help) so I insisted on speaking to a manager (it's the only way to get things done, ALWAYS ask to speak to one) and they told me that if I showed them a few bills ie phone bills (doesnt have to be recent) and receipts for food shopping etc they would refund me back the money they took. (It sounds silly but it worked!) I was refunded in 24 hours although they did say it could take a few days I stressed that I couldnt survive a few days

Hope that helped.

I am happy for you that you got your money back bu the manner in which the manager forced you to prove outgoings was absolutely appalling. Your bills are none of his business and I would have felt pressured and humiliated at having to reveal personal details on the spot like that.

State benefits are calculated to be the minimum that the government assumes a person Needs to live on regardless of how much they actually spend or Need. To state that you receive the amount the government says you need to live on should have been enough to get you your money back.

I would write a letter of complaint regarding the managers conduct in your position. You should not have been made to literally beg for the money that was taken unlawfully from your account. By that I mean in contradiction of the Social Security Administrations Act and not the seperate issue of the unlawfully high amount charged.

What can we do if we are on benefits (merged)

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