Bank Charges Financial Hardship Disussion

natweststaffmember

pendle68 wrote: »

hi there
same here with the halifax, they sent a income and expen form and a letter stating, that the case is going through the courts. How can get bank charges back, when they ignore the letters, we send !!!
lol
Pendle

Have you completed the income and expenditure form(it should be household income and expenditure)?

natweststaffmember

mumofmark wrote: »

Hello, I wrote to halifax asking for about 500 pounds charges to be refunded. They send me a letter asking for a proof that I am in hardship. What do I need to send them as a proof. I have a small child and get housing benefits and some tax credits. My husband has been out of work for over a year. We have three credit cards, loan and 2 overdrafts. Will the bank have to accept letter from council saying how much benefits I get, which is basicaly a proof that I dont have any income.

Also my barclays account charges me 22 pounds a week if I go over my overdraft which is 200 pounds. Can I claim this back or is this new lower charge actualy legal.

Thanks for help.

They are talking about priority debt arrears(mortgage or rent, council tax, utilities). Furthermore you can be in financial hardship with one account but not another account with a different bank.
Yes to Barclays btw.
have you reclaimed the credit card charges?

Black_Horse_Apocalypse

Hi,. first post here as I've drawn a blank on my claim with Lloyds under hardship, so advice - motivation needed.
The story so far. Started back in March/April with sending the bank copy of charges + letters asking for refund in full and follow up letters after the 'default' replies, filled in hardship statement, but still received charges + nothing happened - I moved house, the estate agent refused to give deposit back (so still fighting to get that returned, and it has impacted on my bank account) - my partner and I had our 1st child, and with those 'distractions' (both financially draining, but one very happy situation at least I got back on the case with Lloyds under hardship, sending further evidence of fines and my council tax demands + credit card statements, proof that the charges only serve to keep me in a vicious circle of getting paid, and then all fees claimed by further fines. Roughly a week + 1/2 after payday, my account is suspended, so I wait for the next 3 weeks before being able to buy my basics etc..
So.. the latest from Lloyds - a letter -
they say they did consider hardship, and this is why they passed my details to their customer Support Unit (they did nothing for me)

they are referring back to the test case to say that the FSA guidelines say that 'they must assist customers in financial difficulies, but this does not mean we will automatically refund bank charges'

they will be writing to me when the test case is over etc, etc,

they say the FSA has allowed them to suspend the normal timetable for dealing with complaints about unplanned overdraft charges.


I believe I am entitled to a resolution, and for the charges to be refunded but I feel it is not being taken seriously.

Where next? FS Ombudsman? - Court?

charges amounting to close to 1000, most of this has been since the start of the year. If the majority was refunded i would still be in an overdraft but well within my limit and can work up to clearing it and being able to buy things like food all month round!

bit of a moan there - couldn't help it. Any advice appreciated.

natweststaffmember

Can I ask if you are still using the LloydsTSB account?
Have your reclaimed the credit card charges as well since there is no hold on reclaiming them?

berkshirelady

I'm having a Victor Meldrew moment tonight.

After 13 months of hell with Lloyds (despite getting help from CAB & CCCS), bodged complaint responses from the bank, many hours on the phone, 110 pages of correspondence to FoS (and counting), penalty charges in dormant accounts while ignoring third party debt advisors' attempts to contact, multiple phone calls from me not recorded, arbitrarily setting payment plan date in advance of CCCS payment run, then accusing me of defaulting, and general appalling customer service...and the Ombudsman says 'they behaved within the Banking Code'. and to add insult to injury, the FoS letter included this comment - 'we all suffer some inconvenience in our day to day lives and in our dealings with commercial organisations'.

Well, if that's not a green light for poor customer service, then I don't know what is. I am drafting a no-nonsense reply (seeing as some aspects of my complaint weren't answered) but I would appreciate comments from others who have had rebuff from FoS on hardship complaints and what they did next - as not sure where to go from here! aaarrrgh

natweststaffmember

berkshirelady wrote: »

I'm having a Victor Meldrew moment tonight.

After 13 months of hell with Lloyds (despite getting help from CAB & CCCS), bodged complaint responses from the bank, many hours on the phone, 110 pages of correspondence to FoS (and counting), penalty charges in dormant accounts while ignoring third party debt advisors' attempts to contact, multiple phone calls from me not recorded, arbitrarily setting payment plan date in advance of CCCS payment run, then accusing me of defaulting, and general appalling customer service...and the Ombudsman says 'they behaved within the Banking Code'. and to add insult to injury, the FoS letter included this comment - 'we all suffer some inconvenience in our day to day lives and in our dealings with commercial organisations'.

Well, if that's not a green light for poor customer service, then I don't know what is. I am drafting a no-nonsense reply (seeing as some aspects of my complaint weren't answered) but I would appreciate comments from others who have had rebuff from FoS on hardship complaints and what they did next - as not sure where to go from here! aaarrrgh

Do you have priority debt arrears(mortgage or rent, council tax, utilities)?
I am sure you have posted on this board before but because it is on this thread it is a lot harder to find than on a thread of your own.
If the account is dormant then I would probably agree with the FOS since their charges are not worsening your hardship.
Any credit card charges that you could reclaim though?

Black_Horse_Apocalypse

natweststaffmember wrote: »

Can I ask if you are still using the LloydsTSB account?
Have your reclaimed the credit card charges as well since there is no hold on reclaiming them?

The account is still in use, yes, If the charges were to be refunded - I could get by. I would consider closing it and starting again but not sure who would let me have an account at the moment - I've been declined a Credit card as I was wanting to do a balance transfer to sort some of this out. Also if I closed it I just see it as more debt to pay off. It's confusing.
I will follow the procedrue of claiming Credit card charges - unfortunately due to bank charges I had to pay some rent on my Credit Card.

Matt_Watkinson

Sadly, Abbey's still as bad. Makes token repayments to make it look to FOS that it's being helpful .I wrote to Mr. Osorio (its boss in the UK) and a person popped a few quid on my account out of some sort of sympathy. I'm still on the dole and in hardship but now Abbey says I'm not! Bless 'em. So. WHEN WILL THE SUPREME COURT ANNOUNCE ITS DECISION? WE WERE TOLD IT WOULD BE OCTOBER. I think they're scared of adding to the muddle the greedy bankers have got themselves into. GIVE S OUR MONEY BACK NOW! Can you tell how cross I am?

Lumbworth

Hi. I've made a claim and sent off the HSBC budget off to them showing I am in hardship. I've got priority debts inc council tax at bailiffs water n gas. HSBC rang me last thurs but I've rang them back 5 times now. I have not been put through to the financial hardship dept which I'm told by the first person I spoke to is the ones who rang me. They always say there's a fault and now today I got through only to be cut off straight away. I've not been to fos yet so should I go there now?

Karenh01

I have just gone the financial hardship route with charges from RBS for £2000 and got a letter saying I had been handed over to debt recovery for my O/D.

It turns out that when you claim these charges back it is reflected against your managers budget and he/she gets this amount taken off the targets that they have acheived. So what my madam did was hand me over to debt recovery so it would not reflect on her figures..... How is that for being mean. Apparently I also get a black mark against my name. I am so angry and I dont know what to do now. I have also not had any response from them regarding my claim so at the moment feel I have lost all ways. Can anyone help and guide me where to go from here.