Bank Charges Financial Hardship Disussion

never-in-doubt

natweststaffmember wrote: »

Wednesday will not lead immediately to refunds because if the banks' appeal fails we will have reached the 50% mark in the case. The rules about whether bank charges can be assessed for fairness will be clear. If the banks' win the refund issue is over.

Hi Natty, personally what do you think is likely to be the outcome Wednesday? Just curious to know how you think things will pan-out, being the resident expert in this matter (i.e. the time you've invested means you can give an educated guess)....

mojoparrot

mojoparrot wrote: »

Yes they dont feel that I am in hardship as I havnt gone over the £200 overdraft limit. This is because I have cancelled DDs on their suggestion to avoid adding to debt. I now pay everything - well the priority everything with cash. I'm around 1200 short a month now. They say I should go over the £200 then I would be eligible for hardship. In other words take out more debt with us before we decide what we will do. I thought I'd been irresponsible enough but apparantly not.

You were right about the Coop not finding my case to be in financial hardship. They wrote telling me that I have over £1200 disposable income a month!! Not sure where they got that from. When I contacted the FOS who have been dealing with my case since May 09 they told me to contact the bank direct. I did this and they agreed to look at my case again. I have had to send in bills (which I did before) as they told me they were unable to take them into account last time as they did not show a true minimum payment. I have sent in what I can but some of my minimum payments are highly inflated as they havn't been paid for a couple of months. The statements do state that these are minimum or monthly payments though.

The coop said it would take 2-3 weeks to re look at my case. I have sent copies of my correspondance with the coop to the FOS just in case they are interested.

natweststaffmember

never-in-doubt wrote: »

Hi Natty, personally what do you think is likely to be the outcome Wednesday? Just curious to know how you think things will pan-out, being the resident expert in this matter (i.e. the time you've invested means you can give an educated guess)....

Likely outcome could be Banks' appeal FAILS and we move onto the second stage of the test case ie which terms are unfair/fair and possibly injunction under section 12 of UTCCR 1999. That is where it will get interesting.
I am considering taking a break from the forum tomorrow because there will be a lot of information to digest. Firstly we will have the judgement itself on the supreme court website, we will have the OFT updated Q&A's and we will have the nonsense of "let the politicians get involved"!.

If there is a negotiated settlement out of court then we have wasted 2 and a half years of our lives since in April 2006, the view of the OFT was as follow:

"Only a court can decide finally whether a term is unfair, or at what level default charges should be set to meet the requirements of the UTCCRs. It should be kept in mind that other enforcers may apply for injunctions under the UTCCRs and that the UTCCRs may be relied upon by consumers in private claims."
OFT 842 regarding default charges on credit cards.
If there is a negotiated settlement as Martin has perhaps indicated as favourable then consumer revenge is not, in the title of the Jeffrey Archer novel, "not a penny more, not a penny less" but is a negotiated surrender on the part of consumers. In fact, it would blunt the knife of consumer revenge. No doubt people want their money returned swiftly but patience will lead to fairness.

never-in-doubt

Thanks Natty - looking forward to tomorrow (bear in mind it is also nearly time for the 12 cases at manchester - Credit Card Test Case) so getting nervous about that! Obviously being pro-unenforceability! lol

jledi

techspec wrote: »

I helped a friend prove financial hardship, and Barclays wrote back saying "you will still have to wait until the test case is resolved". Its now with the FOS.

I have successfully won my charges back from hsbc on hardship grounds, however
hsbc have told me that because i owe some rent and council tax they are going to pay these off and send me the remainder, i didn't think they could pay my debts for me out of money that is mine, i have complained over it but they have said these are the conditions and i have to live with it.

john.

grannybinley

Hi all,

First time on the forums and hopefully not the last. Ive been a fan of MSE for some time and thought its about time I did something about my Bank charges as the extra money would help me out at the moment, as I have recently had to close down my business.

Anyway, I am at the very start of the process, just finishing typing out my request for charges letter (great templates btw:money:). The reason I am writing on the wall so early is that I am worried...

The other day I recieved a statement from Abbey, stating that my balance had been returned to £0 with a long list of returned charges. I had been in the red with them for some time due only to these charges, after zeroing my bank account last year. However, they owe m far more than the amount that has been returned.

What should I do? Do I carry on with my request for charges etc. as normal, OR do I assume that this is Abbey returning some of my fees as a token of goodwill and that I should first inform them that although its nice of them to act unsolicited, they have not returned anywhere near all the "immoral/illegal" fees that have been on my account?

Many thanks for taking the time to read my question, long winded though it is. I plan to be on here a bit more in an effort to ensure my debts disappear and stay gone!

GB

natweststaffmember

jledi wrote: »

I have successfully won my charges back from hsbc on hardship grounds, however
hsbc have told me that because i owe some rent and council tax they are going to pay these off and send me the remainder, i didn't think they could pay my debts for me out of money that is mine, i have complained over it but they have said these are the conditions and i have to live with it.

john.

And I would agree with the banks view ie that a payout on financial hardship is by definition to alleviate financial hardship so they have paid arrears..

natweststaffmember

grannybinley wrote: »

Hi all,

First time on the forums and hopefully not the last. Ive been a fan of MSE for some time and thought its about time I did something about my Bank charges as the extra money would help me out at the moment, as I have recently had to close down my business.

Anyway, I am at the very start of the process, just finishing typing out my request for charges letter (great templates btw:money:). The reason I am writing on the wall so early is that I am worried...

The other day I recieved a statement from Abbey, stating that my balance had been returned to £0 with a long list of returned charges. I had been in the red with them for some time due only to these charges, after zeroing my bank account last year. However, they owe m far more than the amount that has been returned.

What should I do? Do I carry on with my request for charges etc. as normal, OR do I assume that this is Abbey returning some of my fees as a token of goodwill and that I should first inform them that although its nice of them to act unsolicited, they have not returned anywhere near all the "immoral/illegal" fees that have been on my account?

Many thanks for taking the time to read my question, long winded though it is. I plan to be on here a bit more in an effort to ensure my debts disappear and stay gone!

GB

GB, it is difficult to advise at the moment but once the Supreme Court has given its verdict tomorrow then I can most definitely do(well, Thursday cos am taking tomorrow off the forums after the Supreme Court decision).

never-in-doubt

Good Luck with developments today Natty - Hope we get the result we're all hoping for :rolleyes:

Fingers crossed for today everyone - lets hope it's a nice win for the consumer!

natweststaffmember

never-in-doubt wrote: »

Good Luck with developments today Natty - Hope we get the result we're all hoping for :rolleyes:

Fingers crossed for today everyone - lets hope it's a nice win for the consumer!

I did predict the "let's the politicians get involved" brigade

Now we are onto negotiated settlement.

Next we will be talking about how great the politicians are!!!

Where did I put that white flag......I'm sure I have never used it in the time I have been in the bank charges campaign