Bank Charges Financial Hardship Disussion

lourhys

I have filled in the YB hardship form .....see what happens!!
Does anyone know where I can get a refuse first offer template letter. My Mothers stay has been lifted (business banking)!

kathyx7306

Financial Ombudsman Service successfully reclaimed my bank charges last year and received settlement 5 months later just before the test case. I phoned the FOS yesterday re financial difficulty and they have agreed to contact the bank on my behalf, same process as reclaiming through them previously. I only had to give them my details and account number etc. Couldn't have been easier. Hope this helps someone.

Winnie79_2

Can any one help me Barclays owe me £2750 in charges. am in debt up to my eyeballs have an 18 month old son. Spoke to them today as iam going down the hardship line as my outgoings are double my income and they sald they will not deal with it till after the hold is lifted which really upset me got upset and the man at the other end told me to grow up and sort myselff out. I told them that they have to deal with it and he put the phone down on me please help

kathyx7306

Ah Winnie, what a $%@* you had to deal with at your bank. Phone the Financial Ombudsman Service re your bank charges and also complain about his behaviour towards you. I have just received a grovelling letter from Halifax this morning which made no mention of waiting until after the test case.
Here is their number, good luck.
020 7964 0500

hatchshack

Sent my first letter to Lloyds TSB olast Tuesday, got response back today, 7 days later. Just saying the normal stuff of hope to have a response in 4 weeks. In my letter I did put that im in particular financial dificulty (i was recently made redundant, my relationship has now also broken down and i will have to pay all the bills myself and I have no savings at all due to the cost of living. My redundency payment was the absolute minimum the company could pay £530 of owed wages. My rent is £525). I sent all the paperwork with regards to my situaton with the letter. I also put please could you deal with my case as soon as possible as I have no money for food let alone bills. Lets see what happens, Im currently slowly having to sell items out my flat to live on.

esmerellda

Winnie79 wrote: »

Can any one help me Barclays owe me £2750 in charges. am in debt up to my eyeballs have an 18 month old son. Spoke to them today as iam going down the hardship line as my outgoings are double my income and they sald they will not deal with it till after the hold is lifted which really upset me got upset and the man at the other end told me to grow up and sort myselff out. I told them that they have to deal with it and he put the phone down on me please help

Thats disgusting behaviour and I would write and complain about this employees attitude towards you. Note the date and time (and name of the guy if you got it) of the conversation and ask for a copy of the tape.

Have you written to the bank with you Income/Expenditure and details of your circumstances asking for help ?

Are there other debts you are dealing with as well ? Always make sure you get rent/mortgage and council tax paid as a priority before any of the others, whatever threats they make.

Winnie79_2

hi i have phoned the FOM they are going to send me forms. but it seems that barclays just dont want to pay. Which is bad cause that money would get 3 of my debts gone and make life a lot easier but i will be debt free march 2011 and i will never have credit ever again

phoebes77

:rotfl:

MSE_Wendy wrote: »

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.

I tried to get back charges on the Financial difficulty slant, but they wrote back saying I didn't qualify 'under their terms'. Will write back to them again and complain, not sure it will work.... I'm steadily sinking under overdrafts and a Visa card, so maybe I'll provide the latest figures and see....
Encouragement to everyone - about 2 years ago I was refunded £500 from HSBC in charges within about a week of sending in a letter from MoneySavingExpert - they really know what they're doing!

Rickee

Hi all,

Recently sent a letter to claim hardship following an attempt just before the stay came in. Unfortunately, they dragged it out until the hold was active. With my letter I sent a few pieces of evidence such as bank statements confirming missed standing orders, a letter from a debt collector and a couple of other bits.

The other day I received a letter advising me to complete an income and expenditure sheet and then give them a call. I completed the sheet and called them tonight. I was put on hold twice for about 5 minutes at a time while I tried to get round the fact that I no longer hold my account with them. They eventually put the phone down on me.

On my second call, I spoke to someone who told me he was negotiating on my behalf with two departments to try and reach a successful resolution to my bank charges complaint. I was on hold for around 25 minutes all together when he eventually came back and told me he had tried but they said that they couldn't help me because I have no account with them and that I would have to wait until the end of the test case.

So, I jump on here to find that there seems to be some confusion as to whether those in financial hardship should have their case dealt with immediately. Martin seems to use the word 'may' a little too much but I managed to find this on a site linked to the fsa site;

are in difficult financial circumstances – 'financial difficulty cases'
If you have a case of genuine financial difficulty, your bank or building society must still deal with your complaint. This may involve – or not – the repayment of charges. See the Banking Code for how they can help. If you're not happy with the firm's response to your complaint, you can take it to the Ombudsman, who will consider whether your complaint can be dealt with before the test case process is resolved.

And the site I got it from is this;

http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/news/product/unauthorised_overdraft_charges_test_case.html

So that says to me that they have to deal with them immediately. My next step is to call FSA and get them to agree I am in hardship and, according to their rules, my case should be dealt with by the bank.

I have a reclaim with LloydsTSB at the minute and am awaiting a further reply to a letter they will have received today. They already gave me back £750 last May and so I have cited this to try and help with my claim with them.

I'll keep you posted on what happens.

Rickee

Edinburghlass_2

I think the reason Martin uses the word may is due to this wording...

This may involve – or not – the repayment of charges. See the Banking Code for how they can help.

They have to look at your case but bear in mind this doesn't necessarily mean your charges will be refunded.

However, the fact they refunded their basic £750 should indeed have some bearing on your case.