Bank Charges Financial Hardship Disussion

Former_MSE_Wendy

This thread is to discuss the updated section of the Bank Charges News article on financial difficulties.

Please feedback here so that we can finesse the info.

techspec

I helped a friend prove financial hardship, and Barclays wrote back saying "you will still have to wait until the test case is resolved". Its now with the FOS.

sarah73076

I have written to both Lloyds and Alliance & Leicester regarding my bank charges and requesting they deal with the case now because of financial difficulty. I was separated last year (divorce now final), and left my job due to my current partner's new job which required us to move up north. So basically I have no income and am in both of my overdrafts. I haven't had any bank charges for a while (getting rid of ex-husband helped), but money is very tight while I'm looking for a job.

Alliance & Leicester sent me a form and only gave me 10 days to return it. I had to list all my income and debts, and I did list my partner's income and debts on there as well. It looks fairly clear that even with our modest budget, we don't have enough to pay our bills and are going further into the red every month. I sent it a few weeks ago and haven't heard anything. Will be following up as soon as we are back from seeing family in the U.S. (which we really can't afford, but tickets were booked months ago!).

As for Lloyds, the account I was making the claim on was my now-closed joint account with my ex-husband. They sent two identical form letters, one addressed to both of us, one addressed just to me. The letter rambles on for a few pages, but does promise to contact me within a week about my financial difficulties. No one has contacted me, and it's been well over a month. I've written them again saying I will go to the ombudsman if I don't get a satisfactory response in two weeks.

Will try to keep this updated if anything happens. Hoping some others will join this discussion!

alcrawford

I made an initial claim (HSBC) in July 2007 dated before the original FSA ruling. It was still, however, put on hold quoting FSA as was not dealt with until after the ruling.

I have today sent a letter requesting that my case be looked at again both under 'hardship' guidelines and the fact the original letter/claim was submitted before the original suspension of normality.

They'll also be getting a Debt Management Plan letter shortly so hopefully they will finally realise my financial situation!

I will update when I get a response...

campari

I am currently defending a repossession action by my lender, having sent copy correspondence clearly showing this to both HSBC and HALIFAx, they both still refuse to action my claims against them!

Sol00

I just had my claim for hardship refused by HBOS.

As I'm now unemployed, I have requested they send another I&E form to complete. Will keep posted.

ru28m

I have applied for a refund of bank charges some time ago. Have just found out it is possible to use financial hardship as a reason to get my case heard. Is there a draft letter out there that I can used to send to my bank, and is it worth doing it? I have read some of the postings and it doesn't seem to making any difference.

budd246

I am have real trouble with RBS. I am a full time student and having difficulty with mortagage payments and other bills. I filled in a questionnaire that RBS sent me and they replied saying I dont fit the criteria.

I then sent them more information on what difficulty I had, including partial mortgage payments, exceeding my overdraft limit, credit cards at their max and a demande of late payment form my factor. They still came back and said this was not enough to show financial hardship. A red letter from my factor came through demanding payment within 7 days, I forward this on and this was stil not enough.

I was told that I would have to prove what action would be taken after the 7 day period had come to an end as it would have to be passed to a debt collection agency before they would reconsider my case. I contacted my factor on to request this information and they informed me that I will be passed to a debt collection agency. The following day I received a letter form Hacmy factor confirming this, along with a letter from the debt collection agency demanding immediate payment or further action would have to be taken. I forward both of these to the collection centre in Glasgow for them to issue a decision in my case.

A few days later I called the collection centre and spoke to Anne who informed me that my case was now passed to Natwest to deal with, which I could not understand as my dispute is with RBS, not Natwest even though I understand they are affiliated. Anne would not provide a contact number for this department but did give me an address. I found a telephone number for this department, which was in Borumwood and so called them. I was them passed to another 3 different departments who knew nothing of my case. Finally I was informed that it was being dealt with in Edinburgh and I would not hear anything for 21 days.

I felt I was being messed around and as this has taken so long to sort out, especially considering my financial hardship. I wrote a letter to the collection centre in Glasgow and also to the Edinburgh office informing them I would be contacting the Ombudsman and considering court action if the charges were not refunded within 7 days.

On 15th July 2008 I received a call from RBS informing me that before my case will even be considered again I either have to be taken to court or evicted from my house. I told the caller that I thought this was ridiculous and will now be taking further action against the RBS.

I feel that the RBS are being incredibly unfair in dealing with my case as I am in a case of financial hardship and have complied with every request in proving my financial status only to be faced with a new requirement for them to consider my case.

Its now with the financial ombudsman so hopefull they'll be able to sort them out, esp after the clarification on financial hardship yesterday!

juniespoonie_2

I have a claim against Natwest going back to 2007 (just before the test case) which was put on hold. To add to my misery, I took my chequebook and cards into my branch to close the account. I was told I didn't need any confirmation that they had closed the account down but lo and behold, they didn't close the account straight away, a direct debit which I missed cancelling was presented, that incurred more charges which escalated out of control. I wrote immediately to state I was having financial hardship and would they look at my case again. They gave me a financial statement to complete which I did. I then got a letter from Natwest to say they agreed I was in financial hardship and would stop the charges on my account. I then wrote back to say that I had passed the debt (overdraft plus charges) to the Consumer Credit Counselling Service and they would be making a small payment off the debt each month. I also asked what was happening to my claim. I didn't get any reply and so I went to the Financial Ombudsmen Service as recommended. I got a letter stating that as Natwest had agreed to stop the charges being applied to my account plus the fact that Natwest were not pursuing me for the whole debt was sufficient action in the eyes of the FOS and that my claim should wait until the test case was resolved. However, I contacted them again once I read the waiver had changed and went through the whole thing again. I was told categorically by the FOS that the banks DID NOT have to look at your claim again and that in my case, because the bank had accepted a payment plan, they were under no obligation to take any further action. What does one do now?

gosavesomething

just got off the phone from glasgow collections centre - unless court action is taken against me then they will not consider financial hardship case - that's what I was told!!! Ridiculous!!! person on the phone was not even aware of the new changes to the waiver let alone had the office recieved any updated information about the changes to the waiver.

Next step FOS but very irritating to hit a brick wall. last line of conversation,

"...so I am to believe that unless court action is taken against me, Natwest will not refund any charges?"

"(NATWEST) ...that is correct"

"Thanks, bye!"

a1i

I've put in my claim for the last 6 years couple of weeks ago. First Direct wrote back to say it's on hold and as I said I was in finanical difficulty, then I've a form to fill in. So that's done and sent yesterday. I haven't gone over my overdraft for a while, but that's coz I'm drawing money from my credit card, and this is reaching the limit, so soon I'll be scuppered. I just hope that they agree with me, and I can get something back.

What is the time limit for replies, i.e. in case I need to contact the FSA to put my claim with financial difficulties?