Bank Charges Financial Hardship Disussion

natweststaffmember

Ali09 wrote: »

Not Council Tax, can't afford to, Electric at £5 per week.

The Bank Charges and interest payments take my extra income

What have you done so far?
Have you written to Halifax? What was their written response?

natweststaffmember

gfara wrote: »

I do now - since being made redundant I have been temping and get paid weekly so find it easier to pay in cash

This one is gonna be a tough one to argue because you are going to have to argue that the bank charge currently you have got have made the situation worse. Are you further behind on council tax and was the bank charge for that?

jasoo

does anyone know of a situation where eg. solicitor acting on behalf of insurer charged something like £5K to oposite parties insurer to fight a case for a final payout of just £750?

should i be reporting this or questioning this? where?

thanks. I know this is not teh right place to ask the question - but i'm still trying to learn how to work with this site.

natweststaffmember

already responded to you
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=21

PRW_3

I recently submitted a claim for a £1300 refund from HSBC under the financial hardship scheme and received my reply this morning. It starts with all the usual gumph about how they don't believe their charges are unfair or unreasonable but that they're waiting for the legal issues to be resolved before they can proceed etc etc. And at the end they've tagged on a bit about my financial hardship claim and how they can only verify my financial situation by doing a complete review with me.

They've included a budgeting form / leaflet to complete but have told me not to return it, that it is to be used to help with my review. Basically they want to meet with me to discuss my situation and to see how they might help! Well, refunding my charges would be a good first step, but I suspect that is what they're trying to avoid doing.

Has anyone else had this kind of response? The kind of arm over the shoulder, "Why didn't you tell us?! Look, don't worry about all that silly charge refund stuff at the moment, let's see what else we can do to help you if you're really in that much of a mess" approach?

Should I just return a financial statement to them anyway? I really don't want to go and sit down in a room with one of their staff to discuss how irresponsible I've been, but if that's what they've suggested would it be the best way to progress my case? I'm pretty sure my circumstances qualify me as being in financial hardship according to the rules stated on the website so I don't think they can argue with me from that point of view.

natweststaffmember

PRW wrote: »

I recently submitted a claim for a £1300 refund from HSBC under the financial hardship scheme and received my reply this morning. It starts with all the usual gumph about how they don't believe their charges are unfair or unreasonable but that they're waiting for the legal issues to be resolved before they can proceed etc etc. And at the end they've tagged on a bit about my financial hardship claim and how they can only verify my financial situation by doing a complete review with me.

They've included a budgeting form / leaflet to complete but have told me not to return it, that it is to be used to help with my review. Basically they want to meet with me to discuss my situation and to see how they might help! Well, refunding my charges would be a good first step, but I suspect that is what they're trying to avoid doing.

Has anyone else had this kind of response? The kind of arm over the shoulder, "Why didn't you tell us?! Look, don't worry about all that silly charge refund stuff at the moment, let's see what else we can do to help you if you're really in that much of a mess" approach?

Should I just return a financial statement to them anyway? I really don't want to go and sit down in a room with one of their staff to discuss how irresponsible I've been, but if that's what they've suggested would it be the best way to progress my case? I'm pretty sure my circumstances qualify me as being in financial hardship according to the rules stated on the website so I don't think they can argue with me from that point of view.

You need to complete the income and expenditure form(household). You need to send notices of priority debt arrears(mortgage or rent, council tax, utilities).
This is fairly standard

PRW_3

I recently submitted a claim for a £1300 refund from HSBC under the financial hardship scheme and received my reply this morning. It starts with all the usual gumph about how they don't believe their charges are unfair or unreasonable but that they're waiting for the legal issues to be resolved before they can proceed etc etc. And at the end they've tagged on a bit about my financial hardship claim and how they can only verify my financial situation by doing a complete review with me.

They've included a budgeting form / leaflet to complete but have told me not to return it, that it is to be used to help with my review. Basically they want to meet with me to discuss my situation and to see how they might help! Well, refunding my charges would be a good first step, but I suspect that is what they're trying to avoid doing.

Has anyone else had this kind of response? The kind of arm over the shoulder, "Why didn't you tell us?! Look, don't worry about all that silly charge refund stuff at the moment, let's see what else we can do to help you if you're really in that much of a mess" approach?

Should I just return a financial statement to them anyway? I really don't want to go and sit down in a room with one of their staff to discuss how irresponsible I've been, but if that's what they've suggested would it be the best way to progress my case? I'm pretty sure my circumstances qualify me as being in financial hardship according to the rules stated on the website so I don't think they can argue with me from that point of view.

natweststaffmember

I have responded

Mathsgeek

Smile (Co-op) agree that I am in financial hardship which is why they so graciously allow me to pay off my £1000 overdraft through a DMP . As I am keeping up the payments on the DMP they see no reason to refund the £3500 of charges they owe me as they have done all they need to to alleviate my hardship .

FOS agrees with them as do CCCS .

I am seriously considering asking CCCS to remove them from the DMP and then saying I can't afford it and really am in hardship due to non repayment of fees .

skint_scot

Hi Everyone,
Hope you enjoyed your extra hour in bed this morning, and also hope you will be able to give me some advice on my matters with HBOS.

I wrote to HBOS around two weeks ago, to reclaim around £2,500. I'm currently on a DMP with CCCS and both myself and my wife are currently claiming job seekers allowance (thanks, recession!) so am claiming hardship.

I quickly received their standard reply letter stating they would aim to respond in 4 weeks. This morning I received a more detailed letter from a Customer Relations Manager, who is "satisfied that the fees were correctly applied".

However, they are offering me a payment of £30 for one account and £136 for another, for fees debited to my accounts between February 2006 and October 2009. Of course, this offer is made without admission of liability!
　
Several issues however come to light.
Firstly, in light of the amount I believe to be owed me, the amount they offer is ridiculous. The charges I am reclaiming date from October 2003 - October 2008, a marked difference from Feb 06 - Oct 09. Why are they ignoring several years?

They acknowledge that I am experiencing financial difficulties but then proceed to mention the banks' and OFT legal proceedings and only once the proceedings conclude will my case be reviewed - completely ignoring the waiver relating to hardship cases.

They also mention that apparently I "…am concerned that the fees have been deducted from my Social Security benefits." I said no such thing in my initial correspondence.

Having read the comments on the MSE forums I am aware that the fact they are prepared to offer me money - even their paltry amounts - is encouraging per se, and that 'the purse can be opened'. However, I am wanting to bring this matter to a speedy - and successful - resolution, and wish your opinion on how to expedite this.

In short I am wondering what my next steps should be…. I feel I should immediately write back, reinforcing my claim under the hardship provisions, and also taking them to task over their inaccuracies etc.

The bank also proceeded to telephone my parents to try and get hold of me, even though they send my statements to the address I live at with my wife, and I have repeatedly told the bank I will communicate in writing only. I've not lived with my parents for nearly 6 years! My parents experienced anxiety and I consider this harassment. This makes my blood boil.

Furthermore, my local MP is none other than Vincent Cable, Shadow Chancellor, most trusted MP in Britain, and who widely predicted the global financial crisis before it occurred.

Do you think if I mentioned the prospect of getting Vince Cable MP involved - a worthy opponent - and also bringing to light their less than honourable actions in contacting my parents, would be worthwhile? Also, maybe I should contact their Chief Executive as well, to raise the stakes?

Any advice on how to move forward would be most welcome!

Thanks