Bank Charges Financial Hardship Disussion

michelle318

Halifax has flatly refused to look at my claim of hardship. Their reply states that "if i try to issue a claim to the courts, they will immediately apply for a stay of action to the courts until resolution of bank proceedings with the OFT". :mad:

Do i now contact OFT with my hardship claim? Please help!!!!

Thank You

esmerellda

ooooo big words from halifax lol.

What did you send to them to claim hardship ?

We can have a look at doing a more personal letter for you, under the new waiver guidelines.....and possibly complain to the FSA for them breaching them.

Really depends on your situation so need a bit more info honey. PM me if you prefer.

a1i

Ok. I wrote to FD to get £730 back for charges. They sent me a form I needed to fill in to show it. So I did. I got a letter back today saying that, I do not qualify, even though they stated in the letter that I have negative income by £300 in the last 6 months. So how does that not qualify? Well, as I have a gym membership, that means that I can live within my means if I didn't have it.:mad: Now, I don't own a car, so I have no petrol, and to me, gym membership is part of my social life, which I'm entitled to. So now I have to write in stating exactly why I should be in the hardship category. They said that my bank account hasn't been bad the last 6 months or so; well, I've been taking money out on credit cards to ensure that my bank account didn't go overdrawn. Had I knew that what my account has looked like was important in claiming back funds, I'd have not been so careful to keep it in control!

So now I've got a letter sorted and photocopies of credit cards to show how I've been keeping my bank account afloat! Wish me luck, I hope they can see my point of view and I'll get the money back. I know it's not enough for a while, but at least it'll help for a bit.

esmerellda

hey

did they actually mention your gym membership ?

the £2200/£2500 in the last six months - is that each month or in total ?

Family circumstances, housing etc will all be taken into account to. It is sad people get penalised for working hard to keep their accounts in order, but tbh hardship cases will be those where there is no alternative to keep going because credit cards etc aren't available.

The form theysent you to complete and return will give a very black and white picture to the bank, so if you feel stronglythat you meet the new guidelines then write a personal letter back explaining why.

a1i

esmerellda wrote: »

hey

did they actually mention your gym membership ?

the £2200/£2500 in the last six months - is that each month or in total ?

Family circumstances, housing etc will all be taken into account to. It is sad people get penalised for working hard to keep their accounts in order, but tbh hardship cases will be those where there is no alternative to keep going because credit cards etc aren't available.

The form theysent you to complete and return will give a very black and white picture to the bank, so if you feel stronglythat you meet the new guidelines then write a personal letter back explaining why.

Yes, they mentioned the gym membership directly. My sister and brother in law says I should mention I'm in a contract with them.

That amount is each month. I have a £700 in rent to pay (one bedroom small - Jersey is expensive to live - the housing market hasn't stopped going up yet). I have £400 mortgage to pay as I'm trying to sell a flat on the mainland, I have another £700 in credit card debt I'm paying a month. So that's £1800 before any other bills such as food, fuel, phone, electric, sky and Drs (Jersey you pay for Drs) are paid each month leaving my account.

I left my 14 yr relationship and job in October and have been using my cards to get by until I got a job 4 months later. I consider that I'm nearing the end of my money - I really don't want to increase my debt. I have written a letter, I will review it tomorrow and send it, along wth evidence. They told me to send it registered as it's only £1.04 and I'll know they have it. I did mention that we don't have Royal Mail in Jersey, so the cost may be more.

I will keep you guys informed.....

kgeoghegan

I think the information on hardship cases on the site is misleading. It states there is a 'hardship case' exemption to the (FSA) hold on reclaiming. In fact there is no exemption. I have read through most of the blurb from the FSA and I can't find any reference to any exemption. What it used to say was that banks must still deal with complaints from people in financial hardship under the Banking Code, which is what the banks have always done anyway, so no change there. There is no mention of the banks having to deal specifically with bank charge complaints.

The new waiver changes nothing, in fact. It states:

"…the firm must ensure a fair, consistent and intelligent filtering of new complaints in order to identify relevant charges complaints from complainants who claim to be in financial difficulty and then assess whether that claim is justified…"

To me that is only saying that the banks have a duty to separate bank charge complaints from people in financial difficulty and then put aside the bank charge complaints and then assess the financial hardship cases separately. There is no compulsion for the banks to even discuss bank charges.

If the FSA hardship 'exemption' meant anything, then surely the FOS would ask the courts to allow cases where financial hardship is a factor, as indeed they ought to in any case?

borgbaiter

kgeoghegan wrote: »

I think the information on hardship cases on the site is misleading. It states there is a 'hardship case' exemption to the (FSA) hold on reclaiming. In fact there is no exemption. I have read through most of the blurb from the FSA and I can't find any reference to any exemption. What it used to say was that banks must still deal with complaints from people in financial hardship under the Banking Code, which is what the banks have always done anyway, so no change there. There is no mention of the banks having to deal specifically with bank charge complaints.

The new waiver changes nothing, in fact. It states:

"…the firm must ensure a fair, consistent and intelligent filtering of new complaints in order to identify relevant charges complaints from complainants who claim to be in financial difficulty and then assess whether that claim is justified…"

To me that is only saying that the banks have a duty to separate bank charge complaints from people in financial difficulty and then put aside the bank charge complaints and then assess the financial hardship cases separately. There is no compulsion for the banks to even discuss bank charges.

If the FSA hardship 'exemption' meant anything, then surely the FOS would ask the courts to allow cases where financial hardship is a factor, as indeed they ought to in any case?

Whether you think anything has changed isnt really the point. from posts here and on other sites hardship cases are being offered refunds (between 50 and 70%) on bank charges. This to my mind is the important bit not the words of the FSA waiver.


Borgbaiter

Hillsy19

All i have to do to hopefully claim this is ring the bank and ask to be considered under hardship?

thanks

Edinburghlass_2

No, you need to start a claim as normal and ask that your claim is looked at under these guidelines http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/oft-bank-charges#hardship

rose28454

My 88 year old father went overdrawn by 38p whilst on holiday and as it was overdrawn for 4 or 5 days the charge was going to be £60.00, I went to the bank with him and we had a look at his accounts. He is partially sighted and had obviously used his sole account debit card ( which has very little money in it) instead of his joint account debit card. The girl told us to write a letter of complaint stating all this and 2 days ago they wrote to say they were conbsidering his letter and they wrote yesterday to say that the charges are legal but they would refund the charges as a gesture of goodwill. I think that the banks have a cheed asking for your income and expenditure. What business is it of theirs. If you write to say you are having problems they should beleive you. I worked for Nat West for 16 years and it as an decent job then. The banks had some regard for their customers then.