Bank Charges Financial Hardship Disussion

moneymoneyguy

Any takers for the Co-operative FHC???? Am going to their Head office in Manchester next week as cannot get an ounce of sense from any of the muppets on the phone................any help would be greately appreciated.

LondonSteve_2

Hi all - i have a got a seperate thread on this but hopefulyl someone on this can help.

We have just received a letter in which halifax acknowledge receipt of our complaint about fees (MSE hardship 1st template) and they also acknowledge that we are experiencing financial difficulties.
They then go on to say that having reviewed our account they are satisfied the fees were correctly applied but in view of our fianancial difficulties will cancel any fees incurred in the next 3 months.

All we have sent so far is the 1st letter and they havent even asked for a statement of earnings/proof of rent or bill arrears etc

I've searched for a template letter to send but i'm not whether my next step is:
a: send the 2nd (court threatening) letter
b: send another 2nd letter that I havent found for financial hardship cases that have been turned down
c: appeal to the Ombudsman

Any help/advice much appreciated

Steve

lismarlilmia

LondonSteve wrote: »

Hi all - i have a got a seperate thread on this but hopefulyl someone on this can help.

We have just received a letter in which halifax acknowledge receipt of our complaint about fees (MSE hardship 1st template) and they also acknowledge that we are experiencing financial difficulties.
They then go on to say that having reviewed our account they are satisfied the fees were correctly applied but in view of our fianancial difficulties will cancel any fees incurred in the next 3 months.

All we have sent so far is the 1st letter and they havent even asked for a statement of earnings/proof of rent or bill arrears etc

I've searched for a template letter to send but i'm not whether my next step is:
a: send the 2nd (court threatening) letter
b: send another 2nd letter that I havent found for financial hardship cases that have been turned down
c: appeal to the Ombudsman

Any help/advice much appreciated

Steve

Hi there my husband has has exactly the same response as you from the halifax. We have separate accounts and my bank paid out but Halifax seem to be extra mean at the moment. We have sent all income and expenditure lists along with all copies of court orders and bailiff actions to come but they still think we do not qualify for hardship! We have just sent a complaint form to the FOS as we have exhausted all other routes with Halifax. What i find strange is that I sent exactly the same info to my bank abbey and they settled in full. My advice to you is to put in a complaint with the fos. best of luck!

scotslad9

This is my first time on here, so bear with me lol. As with a good number of people I am going thru a bit of a dip in finances and trying really hard to keep on top of things ? I applied to the Abbey 2 months ago with a hardship claim to try and speed things up but after letter after letter telling me it was being dealt with i decided to phone them up today, a few hours later a rep contacted me from Abbey to go through my application and was very pleasant. After verifying all my details she promised to get back to me within 2 weeks ? Needless to say I will update you all on how I get on, after all this time I won't hold my breath

debrag

I have already stayed a claim with Nationwide, is there a letter somewhere that I can send to them to claim hardship?

A_fiend_for_life

I have just been in to the Bank of Scotland and requested a 'detailed financial summary' apparently this gives list of all the charges on my account for the period in question. Has anyone gone this route or is it best to put in a data protection request? I am told the 'detailed financial summary' should be with me in 8 to 10 days.

Meanwhile I have just had a call from Albion Collections saying they are passing me on for legal action. According to Albion Collections the court case over the legality of bank charges was ruled to be legal 18 months ago!!!!????? I asked for this to be put in writing and I was told there was no need as the information is in the public domain!!!???

natweststaffmember

A_fiend_for_life wrote: »

I have just been in to the Bank of Scotland and requested a 'detailed financial summary' apparently this gives list of all the charges on my account for the period in question. Has anyone gone this route or is it best to put in a data protection request? I am told the 'detailed financial summary' should be with me in 8 to 10 days.

Meanwhile I have just had a call from Albion Collections saying they are passing me on for legal action. According to Albion Collections the court case over the legality of bank charges was ruled to be legal 18 months ago!!!!????? I asked for this to be put in writing and I was told there was no need as the information is in the public domain!!!???

They are lying to you. 18 months ago means July 2007. That was when the OFT announced that they were taking the Banks to court. Give me a few minutes and I will get someone I know will help you with Albion Collections

Panther1_2

Hi all. Working in Estate Agency, I have had my income reduce by around 35% in the past 12 months leaving me in financial hardship (reduced mortgage payments, missing loan, credit card and utility payments).

I wrote to Lloyds in November after 2 months of charges totalled over £600 on my 3 main accounts (I had rung them initially and was told I had incurred the charges so there was nothing they could do - after saying I therefor wanted to reclaim my charges I was given a POBox address to write to).

I received no reply, so wrote again at the beginning of December complaining which I also copied to Customer Services by fax. I received my charges breakdown on my main account which I then wrote back claiming (£1613). At this point I had no communication - verbal or written - regarding my financial hardship or its assessment.

2 weeks later I wrote again complaining and asking for the breakdown of charges for the past 6 years on my other 2 credit accounts - copied by fax to customer services - which I received a few days later.

Just before Christmas, I received a letter from the "Customer Service Recovery Centre" saying it had been 4 weeks since my complaint but it had not been assessed so it would take another 4 - 8 weeks.

I rang on 2nd January to complain that this was ridiculous having clocked up another £300+ in charges since my first letter in November and still noone had dealt with my claim/complaint. I was put through to the Customer Support Unit who went through a verbal assessment of my income/outgoings and stopped my charges for the next 2 months and changed my accounts to limited charges accounts due to my situation.

I have now written to the bank giving them 7 days to pay the charges for all 3 credit accounts (just over £3200) or I will commence court proceedings. Having studied the Waiver and having had past experience in court in my past career (taking 30+ cases to court) I believe the Bank has failed in its obligations in the waiver both to assess Financial Difficulties and its timing in doing so. I feel they do not have grounds to enforce they elements of the waiver which suit them - but ride roughshod over their own obligations in the waiver.

Any opinions or successes in this situation?

dohadeer

Panther1 wrote: »

Hi all. Working in Estate Agency, I have had my income reduce by around 35% in the past 12 months leaving me in financial hardship (reduced mortgage payments, missing loan, credit card and utility payments).

I wrote to Lloyds in November after 2 months of charges totalled over £600 on my 3 main accounts (I had rung them initially and was told I had incurred the charges so there was nothing they could do - after saying I therefor wanted to reclaim my charges I was given a POBox address to write to).

I received no reply, so wrote again at the beginning of December complaining which I also copied to Customer Services by fax. I received my charges breakdown on my main account which I then wrote back claiming (£1613). At this point I had no communication - verbal or written - regarding my financial hardship or its assessment.

2 weeks later I wrote again complaining and asking for the breakdown of charges for the past 6 years on my other 2 credit accounts - copied by fax to customer services - which I received a few days later.

Just before Christmas, I received a letter from the "Customer Service Recovery Centre" saying it had been 4 weeks since my complaint but it had not been assessed so it would take another 4 - 8 weeks.

I rang on 2nd January to complain that this was ridiculous having clocked up another £300+ in charges since my first letter in November and still noone had dealt with my claim/complaint. I was put through to the Customer Support Unit who went through a verbal assessment of my income/outgoings and stopped my charges for the next 2 months and changed my accounts to limited charges accounts due to my situation.

I have now written to the bank giving them 7 days to pay the charges for all 3 credit accounts (just over £3200) or I will commence court proceedings. Having studied the Waiver and having had past experience in court in my past career (taking 30+ cases to court) I believe the Bank has failed in its obligations in the waiver both to assess Financial Difficulties and its timing in doing so. I feel they do not have grounds to enforce they elements of the waiver which suit them - but ride roughshod over their own obligations in the waiver.

Any opinions or successes in this situation?

I've just received probably the same letter from the Lloyds TSB Customer Service Recovery Centre today.

I would also agree that they seem to be ignoring the waiver and if you believe that, then you should definitely take it further.

I was thinking of phoning the Recovery Centre and going through the letter asking them to explain all the bits that don't add up;

Why are other banks still refunding charges when Lloyds TSB say all claims are on hold ?

Why, if Lloyds TSB believe the charges to be fair, did they refund all my charges up to December 2006 ?

Why does it say their charges are 'fair' and then a few sentences later says, 'the court has not yet decided whether the charges are fair or not.' ?

I will probably write another letter and if that's unsuccessful, refer my claim to the FOS, but I'm worried they will just do the same as Lloyds TSB and postpone my claim until the case has concluded.

LeLLe

Hi everyone,
I'm wondering if i could claim under FH? I'm currently on benefits as a single mum and am struggling a bit. The property i am renting is being repossessed so am currently looking at somewhere else to live, however i don't have a full deposit so this is making it difficuilt. Also, my ex partner has lost his job so i won't be getting child maintenance from him. Most of my DD's are bouncing and i'm getting charged quite alot because of this.
Alternatively, if i couldn't claim through FH, is it possible to get a small (say, £50) overdraft to help? I'm with HBOS.