Bank Charges Financial Hardship Disussion

DaisyBella_2

So should I just keep the £150 and wait now? Or should I take it further with FOS? Any opinion or advise greatly appreciated.

natweststaffmember

DaisyBella wrote: »

So should I just keep the £150 and wait now? Or should I take it further with FOS? Any opinion or advise greatly appreciated.

I would possibly ask them how they have come to that figure ie a Final response letter since they should be doing that anyway.

myers1984

This year, I finally faced up to my debt and, after my jaw dropping seeing how much I owed, I decided to find the best way of dealing with it. I therefore set up a debt management plan with a company who helped my understand my current financial position fully and worked out how much I could afford to pay back each month to my creditors. Needless to say, my payments to all of them in total have now halved. However, I saw Martin on GMTV a couple of weeks ago when he was talking about people who are in financial difficulties having their claims for bank charges being pushed through, so long as it could be demonstrated that you were in financial hardship. I did a little bit more digging on the site and found that having a debt management plan in place could be considered as financial hardship. I haven't yet contacted the bank I was previously with (as a result of the DMP, I was advised to change my bank otherwise they would just take all of the money that was paid in each month to settle their own debts), but wonder whether anyone thinks it would be worthwhile doing this? I have just read that one person tried to help their friend who was considered to be in financial hardship, yet the bank refused the claim and it is now with the FOS.

ellie154

Hello

I was wondering if anyone could help. In the last year i have received approx £1500 in bank charges on my natwest account. The balance on the account is now -£1700 overdrawn and the account is with a debt collection agency. I have today received a letter from natwest stating they will offer £674 under the hardship terms. Although i knw this seems like a good offer it will not put my overdraft under its limit (£600) so I will continue to recieve the charges and interest each month.

I have tried calling Natwest but was infromed they cant discuss it over the phone. I'm worried if i decline and argue for more they may take the offer away? Due to having no income for 10 weeks ~(awaiting jsa payment) and lots of debt i can not afford to pay towards the overdraft.

any help would be greatly appreciated

elenor

gezzathorpe

I have written to cahoot twice using the suggested letters from MoneySavingExpert and cahoot have sent me a form to complete showing my income and outgoings. They have also requested the same information from me about my partner. My partner and I have separate financial arrangements and I do not see that her financial information is any business of cahoot. It is me who is suffering hardship and I cannot expect my partner to be bailing me out as a result of cahoot's charges on me. Am I compelled to disclose my partner's financial information in order to progress my hardship claim?

meows1

Hi All,

I first would like to thank you all for all the help and support you are offering each other. It's so nice to read such a supportive thread!

I wonder if someone could help with my (somewhat complicated) situation...

I had a student account with HSBC, which was constantly charged fees for missed payments and unauthorised overdraft. I was a student, considered under hardship by my university at the time. I informed HSBC about this, and they refused to stop these charges, despite the fact my student loan barely covered my rent fees, let alone putting my account in the black.

When the account became severly in the red, due to these charges, I met with HSBC and they said my only option was for them to close the account and transfer the owed amount to a MANAGED LOAN account. This happened in early 2001. I was only able to pay into the account, to reduce the balance. This was AFTER they declared me in hardship, due to being a full time student, and unable to work more than 16 hours per week.

Now, as the Managed loan account is made up of the TOTAL of the fees charged to me in the original student account, can I claim for the FULL amount of that account (around £1500) OR can I only charge for the fees accrued by the managed loan account itself, totalling nearly £200?

Is it worth just trying for the full amount of the account balance - as the account was active in July 2001, and only featuring the fees they were forcing me to pay off - and seeing what happens?

Also, can I retrospectively complain to the FSA/CCO about this treatment? The more I think about it, the more I'm shocked by the way I was treated. I have pretty much remained in hardship, and this has affected my financial life ever since. I feel pretty hopeless about ever digging my way out of this.

Any advice greatly received

myers1984

Hi Meows1
I'm not sure how far you can claim back to. I have also been offered a managed loan from HSBC, which I have declined as I have a Debt Management Plan in place - if I agree the Managed Loan, if my circumstances change in the future, then I will have to continue making the agreed payments with HSBC and making revised payments to my other creditors. I think you should pursue the charges that you had to pay by taking the loan. Make a complaint to the bank first of all and ask them for their final response letter - the FOS won't look at any complaints unless you have had a firm's final response which provides you with your referral rights to the FOS. Also, the FSA don't accept complaints from individuals - they are a regulatory body rather than an independent arbitor.

meows1

Hi myers1984,

Thank you for your reply, really helpful.

Wise, I think, to avoid the managed loan account route - it seems to be a very crafty way for them to create a "new" account, that hasn't accrued any "fees".

clinicalclass

I've just moved house involuntarily to a different county so i had to leave my job, due to my living costs increasing any money i had put aside i've had to spend to get myself up and running, i'm currently looking for a job but i'm only starting. I have paid about £1000 in bank charges in the past 2 years but after the hold started i put it on the back burner as i wasn't in hardship. I have a £500 overdraft which i am £300 into and having no regular income will only delve deeper into. Am i in a position to claim for hardship? It certainly sounds like i am, but how can i prove it? I'm always wondering, if i claim today how will that affect my overdraft, will they cancel it outright? Also at the end of the month i'm assuming my interest on the amount i am in y overdraft will get slapped on further?

PS I bank with Natwest, sorry if it doesn't make too much sense!

natweststaffmember

gezzathorpe wrote: »

I have written to cahoot twice using the suggested letters from MoneySavingExpert and cahoot have sent me a form to complete showing my income and outgoings. They have also requested the same information from me about my partner. My partner and I have separate financial arrangements and I do not see that her financial information is any business of cahoot. It is me who is suffering hardship and I cannot expect my partner to be bailing me out as a result of cahoot's charges on me. Am I compelled to disclose my partner's financial information in order to progress my hardship claim?

If you want to claim under financial hardship then yes is the answer. You can choose not to and the bank will be able to follow the FSA Waiver to a T.

"6.
Where the firm does not have sufficient evidence to assess whether or not the complainant is in fact in financial difficulty, the firm will seek such further relevant information as is reasonably required to make that assessment. In the event that the firm reasonably requires relevant information to be provided by the complainant and the complainant does not provide the requested information within a reasonable period of time, the firm shall not be obliged to treat such a complainant as being in financial difficulty."