Bank Charges Financial Hardship Disussion

natweststaffmember

dannylove11 wrote: »

I was wondering if anyone could help me??

My case has been going on for two years now against Lloyds tsb with regard to over £2000 worth of bank charges in three and a half years.

I am a full time student in a lot of debt and meet the hardship criteria under four different sections, which the ombudsman even agreed with me on.

I have been through all appropriate channels (using template letter from MSE, ombudsman) and have now gone down the court route. Lloyds have applied for a stay and got it from Northampton Court even though they (Lloyds) have accepted im in financial hardship.

Is ther anything else i can do???

Any help would be appreciated, Dan

No on the court system because there is blanket stays on claims at the moment.
Do you have priority debt arrears(mortgage or rent, council tax, utilities)?

Ali09_2

natweststaffmember wrote: »

I would contact the phone company and try and get a repayment plan with them if they are able to do so. Were the charges and are the charges still going out of the halifax account?

Yes, the latest was last week,notified a £35 charge due out Nov 1st, for 28p over overdraft (for less than 24hrs)

dannylove11

natweststaffmember wrote: »

No on the court system because there is blanket stays on claims at the moment.
Do you have priority debt arrears(mortgage or rent, council tax, utilities)?

yes i have, rent and utilities. will this help with my claim?

natweststaffmember

Ali09 wrote: »

Yes, the latest was last week,notified a £35 charge due out Nov 1st, for 28p over overdraft (for less than 24hrs)

make sure you update the FOS with the new charges as well.

natweststaffmember

dannylove11 wrote: »

yes i have, rent and utilities. will this help with my claim?

Yes, why have you not gone down the FOS route? Is LloydsTSB your main account that you still use?

Ali09_2

natweststaffmember wrote: »

make sure you update the FOS with the new charges as well.

I emailed them this morning attaching copy of Halifax letter and latest statement.

Their response was my case is now with their dedicated Hardship Team and to keep them up to date.

Just have to be patient.

vikk

I put in a claim for more than £3,000 from First Direct a few months ago. They refused to pay unless I was in hardship, so in July I told them I was (having become a pensioner). They then sent their Financial Statement form. I would have little difficulty in showing hardship with my true answers to the questions, BUT Step 6 is a declaration that I must amalgamate my account with my wife's AND that I offer to repay them the amount I'm overdrawn (nothing about them repaying me the charges) AND they will pass the details to credit reference agencies. But if they didn't owe me the refund of charges, I would owe them nothing. Allowing them to impair my credit record would make it v hard to improve my financial situation for several reasons (My affairs are admittedly complicated!). Must I go along with this in order to be judged as in hardship, or would I be better off going to the Financial Ombudsman and let them decide if I'm in hardship, avoiding having to amalgamate our accounts AND a bad credit record? Or should I just sue them for blackmail?

Sorry if this has been covered before: searching 200+ pages is too much.

natweststaffmember

vikk wrote: »

I put in a claim for more than £3,000 from First Direct a few months ago. They refused to pay unless I was in hardship, so in July I told them I was (having become a pensioner). They then sent their Financial Statement form. I would have little difficulty in showing hardship with my true answers to the questions, BUT Step 6 is a declaration that I must amalgamate my account with my wife's AND that I offer to repay them the amount I'm overdrawn (nothing about them repaying me the charges) AND they will pass the details to credit reference agencies. But if they didn't owe me the refund of charges, I would owe them nothing. Allowing them to impair my credit record would make it v hard to improve my financial situation for several reasons (My affairs are admittedly complicated!). Must I go along with this in order to be judged as in hardship, or would I be better off going to the Financial Ombudsman and let them decide if I'm in hardship, avoiding having to amalgamate our accounts AND a bad credit record? Or should I just sue them for blackmail?

Sorry if this has been covered before: searching 200+ pages is too much.

Am working on this one Vikk but please see comments on the other thread.

Ali09_2

Natweststaffmember

just as a PS

when I initially contacted Halifax and mentioned a Financial Hardship claim the guy said 'oh theres alot of stuff on the Internet about hardship claims' he pretty much said it was all nonsense. Thats when I told him I would contact the FOS and he said to make sure I told them the Halifax had offered Budgeting advice and that he would send me a Final Response letter.

Escapee_2

natweststaffmember wrote: »

It is not about the total charges or the amount that they gave, but the fact the account is closed. It is not contributing to your financial hardship today but historically may have. That was why I was surprised(pleasantly, I should add).

UPDATE:
I have received an updated offer based on the essential living costs I had to meet being less than my income by £50 pcm, my Ctax arrears and rent arrears. They have agreed to pay £640 now and if in 2 months time I am still in hardship then I can contact them again. The moral of the story? Negotiate. Thanks to Natweststaffmember for helpful opinion
:T