Bank Charges Financial Hardship Disussion

esmerellda

Hurley_ wrote: »

I have recently gone with a debt management company where i pay of £190 split between all the banks and comapnies i owe. Can i still go ahead and ask for my charges even though they are kinda doing me a favour by dropping the interest rates?!

Yes Any money you receive back after you have paid priority debts should be split proportionally between creditors.

esmerellda

Woodsylou wrote: »

Hi

I wrote to Abbey re my financial hardship case, claiming back about £2500. i've just recieved a letter which says the following:

"We can see your Abbey bank account was closed more than four years ago, therefore, we beieve any unauthorised overdraft bank charges incurred prior to the closure have not contributed to your present financial situation. We therefore regret that we are unable to consider your request for a refund of charges on the basis of financial difficulty and we are unable to progress your complaint until the outcome of the high court test case if known"

so what should i do next? do i just need to wait?

thank you!

yes unfortunately - hardship is more a complaint about how the charges have no assisted you whilst in hardship or have contributed to the hardship. with an account closed 4 years ago it is unlikely it could be directly attributable unless you can show otherwise, so yes you will probably be on hold until the resolution of the test case.

hermum

natweststaffmember wrote: »

The surplus a week could be a problem since it might show that you are paying off arrears and have a surplus. Ask them the question.
Can I double check which bank it is(apologies but I might have their I&E form so am just double checking)?

Hi it's Co Op bank. I have a loan with them repaying 100 a month. Credit card with them also paying back 20 a month. Surely they take into account insurance, food etc or are you only in financial hardship if you can't pay priority debts|? I do need to eat, got to insure the building, put gas & electricty on each week? By the time tha's all paid I'm always into my overdraft? To get the overdarft I'm on a premier or something account at another 12 a month. Since losing my job due to ill health I've never been able to pay off the overdraft & go onto a basic account.
Any advice would be appreciated

esmerellda

gilligansyle wrote: »

I wrote to Lloyds TSB a while ago claiming financial hardship as at that point my lender was taking me to court for possession, they just got someone from Collections to ring me.

I read somewhere on this site that there is a dedicated place to put this sort of information but I can't find it anywhere!

Can someone help me please?

just start a new thread on the main bank charges forum and it will be easier to help you

shorty76

Hi - dont know if I'm putting this on the right part but only bit I could fine how to post a message!! To cut a very long story short - sent template letter to halifax re £4000 of unfair bank charges and proof of financial hardship - at present my house could be repossessed and if the bank paid up that would stop that from happening!! Halifax offered me £175 and no charges for 3 months which I declined and went to FOS - sent them alll detial of all charges and proof of hardship etc etc - lo and behold 9 monnths later have heard back from them - they say that bank says they think they have acted fairly?? Asked what lady at FOS thought about that and she said she couldnt comment - yet she is the one who is over-seeing my case yet cant tell me why she is content with the banks decision of they think the charges are fair??? Am I being a bit thick or something or is the FOS supposed to have SOME kind of input instead of just telling us what the bank have said? She said I can complain and SHE will look at the case - so the same person who cant comment and has no views looks at it again?? Like she is going to change her mind?! What can I do now - all the info on this site suggests that banks 'have yet to contest a case referred to the FOS' - the lady at FOS says this is totally untrue, and basically I did better myself when the bank made me a stupidly small offer - at least it was SOMETHING, yet the FOS have managed to get me even less - i.e NOTHING at all except a letter from the bank to say they think they have been fair charging £35 for every charge for the past how ever many years!!
Has anyone else had the same outcome and what can I do now - just lay down and let them take my house? I have no way of paying my arrears so thats what it will come to.......
Please help someone!

vbirdman

I am sending a letter to ask for my total bank charges today. I have phoned my bank to inform them i'm in financial hardship as i have no income. They have closed my account and told me it is passed on to a collections agency. So i phoned them told them the same thing "Financial Hardship" and i can't pay any thing. The lady on the phone gave me the address to ask for bank charges. But still says i have to pay something each month or it will be taken further. I'm just wondering that if i pay anything now will that effect my case? Or will i get it back? I'm just worried that if i don't pay something they will send debt collectors round demanding money. What should i do?

Thumbell_2

Orford wrote: »

That is only 1 point. The main factors are whether you have priority debt arrears (mortgage/rent, utilitites, council tax)
Financial Hardship will be based on household income and expenditure against priority debts

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

So I've got my form.

Is is priority debts only they consider? What about food, clothes, travel, etc.?

The last time I filled out a hardship form they said I had £500 a month to spare. Is there any way I can avoid them saying this on this occasion if I fill out the form better?

I asked my bank (HSBC) to correspond with me but they refused saying it had to be done over the phone, after some half an hour of talking with a supervisor she agreed to at least do the first part in writing but said that they could not guarantee the correct decision would be made this way (lol). They still refusesd to agree to give me a written explanation of how they assessed my hardship. Are there assessment guidelines published anywhere or is it a bank by bank pot luck and don't they have to justify thier decision?

I have noticed on here that some people have been full on abused by banks in thier hardship, doesn't this sort of treatment violate the banking code? Can't complaints be made to the banking code standards board for some of these?

bakerboy35

Hi All,
Been a while since i posted on here, but have been reading everyones comments on here.

My story update...

Rang my bank earlier, A & L, to ask whether or not they had recieved my income and expenditure forms as I had heard nothing off them, posted the forms off on the 12th September. Lady says that yes recieved on the 14th but no desicion has been made yet, but said loads of claims coming in bla bla bla, and will take 56 days to come to an answer. Well i think that 8 weeks is a bit long, considering i'm claiming via the hardship route and would like to have my money back asap. Best thing is on the 1st oct they are taking another £70 out of my account for being overdrawn by £2.30, thats after they have already taken £75 in charges this month already.
I mean, what do they expect me to live on this month, that £145 would help stave off more charges next month, just a downward spiral at the moment, just because the greedy banks keep taking!!

Have anybody had this type of reply whilst waiting for the banks to make up there minds?

getting really worried now.

regards

natweststaffmember

pingchris wrote: »

ok,here we go


i owe £6.000 on my credit card which fell into default, i agreed to pay £50.00 a month but that also fell into default,i still owe approx £6.000 on this credit card with the halifax

the halifax owe me £6.000 bank charges over the last 6 years on a seperate normal visa electron account.

the question is ? will the halifax pay off the credit card debt with my bank charges if the court case is won, or will i recieve the bank charges into my normal visa electron account,will the halifax just take the charges to pay off the credit card ????

Have you reclaimed the charges for the last 6 years on the credit card charges?

natweststaffmember

Hurley_ wrote: »

I have recently gone with a debt management company where i pay of £190 split between all the banks and comapnies i owe. Can i still go ahead and ask for my charges even though they are kinda doing me a favour by dropping the interest rates?!

absolutely you can.