Bank Charges Financial Hardship Disussion

natweststaffmember

hermum wrote: »

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

Don;t pay to have an account. Ask them to downgrade the premier account because that will save you £12.00 a month. I think you might have been mislead into taking out a fee paying account for the overdraft so get rid of that.

natweststaffmember

Thumbell wrote: »

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.?
You don't get bank charges for paying for food and clothes and travel so when we talk of priority debt arrears they are the things that can see you lose your home, lose your liberty and lose you essential basic utilities. They will take into account food and clothes which is why the Income and expenditure form is important in this.
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?
If you are honest and truthful on the I&E form and your surplus is that high then you need to be looking closely at where the money is going and review your outgoings im my honest opinion. That is huge to be honest.

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?

If there are abuses of the FSA waiver on bank charges people can complain and will complain but without specific cases it is difficult to comment.

natweststaffmember

vbirdman wrote: »

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?

WHo is with?

natweststaffmember

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!

It's a sit and wait job. Do you have any current bank charges with a provider?

natweststaffmember

bakerboy35 wrote: »

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

56 days is from the first complaint received so I suspect that she was misquoting the timescale. When did you send the first letter to A&L?

bakerboy35

natweststaffmember wrote: »

56 days is from the first complaint received so I suspect that she was misquoting the timescale. When did you send the first letter to A&L?

Thats what I was thinking too. I sent the first letter off on the 23 August and they sent out the income and expenditure form out on the 26 August. I am I right in believing that I count the 56 days from the 23 august then?

thanks for your quick reply natweststaffmember.

Regards

Woodsylou

esmerellda wrote: »

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.

thank you. any idea when this case will be resolved? x

longhauladdict

Hi

Not sure if anyone can help, but I thought I read something somewhere that the bank had to notify you that they were taking charges before they did so? I know Barclays does this now?
I have 2 types of charges with A&L, one for missing payments at £25 Per time (taken instantly) and one for £5 per day overdraft charges (which have resulted from the £25 charges!!!!) - taken at the end of the month
I am looking to reclaim these under the hardship route so wanted to check if I can reclaim both???

Also, does anyone know if one bank has accepted your hardship claim, should the others therefore do the same??? Just seems that Barclays have accepted mine, yet HSBC state that they do not think I'm in hardship? Both have had the same breakdown and information.

Thanks

xx

natweststaffmember

longhauladdict wrote: »

Hi

Not sure if anyone can help, but I thought I read something somewhere that the bank had to notify you that they were taking charges before they did so? I know Barclays does this now?
I have 2 types of charges with A&L, one for missing payments at £25 Per time (taken instantly) and one for £5 per day overdraft charges (which have resulted from the £25 charges!!!!) - taken at the end of the month
I am looking to reclaim these under the hardship route so wanted to check if I can reclaim both???

Also, does anyone know if one bank has accepted your hardship claim, should the others therefore do the same??? Just seems that Barclays have accepted mine, yet HSBC state that they do not think I'm in hardship? Both have had the same breakdown and information.

Thanks

xx

The answer is no. It will depend on the charges taken and what they were for unless you have identical direct debits.

natweststaffmember

bakerboy35 wrote: »

Thats what I was thinking too. I sent the first letter off on the 23 August and they sent out the income and expenditure form out on the 26 August. I am I right in believing that I count the 56 days from the 23 august then?

thanks for your quick reply natweststaffmember.

Regards

I would count 8 weeks from 26th August.