Bank Charges Financial Hardship Disussion

moneymonkey35

Hi all,

I have just sent my hardship claim onto FOS after having no joy with my bank. Does anyone know roughly how long it could take to hear back?

It sounds like there is a large backlog and PPI claims seem to be taking a long time for some people.... was wondering if this is the same for bank charge claims?

theangelpixiedust

I'm not sure if this is a really stupid question... but do I need to do a financial hardship if I go straight through to the Ombudsman? I'm finding all the different routes available very complicated! Especially as they're saying they're putting a stay on most of the cases.

mum2one

theangelpixiedust wrote: »

I'm not sure if this is a really stupid question... but do I need to do a financial hardship if I go straight through to the Ombudsman? I'm finding all the different routes available very complicated! Especially as they're saying they're putting a stay on most of the cases.

You need to go through the bank first and give them chance to look at your claim if they find u are not in financial hardship, then you go to the obsbudsman for them to look at the case.

I dont know if its worth you haveing a look at the last 3 weekly emails, accessed from home page (i think) as one of those had a real clear explanation of what can be classed as financial hardship.

eg - over £500 of charges in 12 months

natweststaffmember

moneymonkey35 wrote: »

Hi all,

I have just sent my hardship claim onto FOS after having no joy with my bank. Does anyone know roughly how long it could take to hear back?

It sounds like there is a large backlog and PPI claims seem to be taking a long time for some people.... was wondering if this is the same for bank charge claims?

My understanding is that it is the case.

chris_spackman

I have been with Abbey since 2003 and have not always been happy with them. They don't have a great customer service record and the having to speak to 'Pete' in India has not helped their case.

Anyway i am looking to put a claim in with Abbey for the bank charges but have been told that my case does not come under the hardship rules.

I have been out of work since the start of the year and my partner has been since November 08.. She has managed to get a job in her feild but only on a part time basis and our income has dropped to the point where bills are not getting paid in full and we may start to struggle with our rent. My bank account with Abbey is on the overdraft limit and has not had any credits since November 08 so we have been living off one wage for 3 months and now that has dropped by half after the OH lost her job. Does the fact that i have not had any credits to my account and lost my job mean that i would qualify under the hardship rule. I did say to Abbey also that i have a Business account with them that has not had any money paid in since January 09 but has been emptied due to paying off someone who was working for me. I read the rules on Hardship and would say i qualify but are Abbey right?

mum2one

If Abbey refuse your application for Financial hardship, contact the financial obsbumen and get them to look at the case for you.

You need to make sure you have a letter from Abbey saying that ur not a financial hardship case and there should be a leaflet with all the details in there for the obsbumen
x

mercman1969

We have recently written to Halifax asking to reclaim nearing £2k of charges made to the account in the last 12 months

They acknowledged receipt of our letter but stated it was still in the courts

Is there a letter template requesting it be reviewed under the hardship case?

Trilly

mercman1969 wrote: »

We have recently written to Halifax asking to reclaim nearing £2k of charges made to the account in the last 12 months

They acknowledged receipt of our letter but stated it was still in the courts

Is there a letter template requesting it be reviewed under the hardship case?

No but I've included many of the listed aspects in my letter.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/oft-bank-charges#hardship

"I have also incurred over £500 in overdraft charges in the previous 6 months alone."


I've also mentioned:

• Leaving full time education, and losing those financial benefits
• Shift work down to only getting 12 hours per week in the last month
• How my cash flow is hindering moving onto full time/monthly payment employment

I don't know if those three points will help much though?

I am claiming £1750 in just over three years on a Bank Of Scotland student account.

natweststaffmember

Trilly wrote: »

No but I've included many of the listed aspects in my letter.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/oft-bank-charges#hardship

"I have also incurred over £500 in overdraft charges in the previous 6 months alone."


I've also mentioned:

• Leaving full time education, and losing those financial benefits
• Shift work down to only getting 12 hours per week in the last month
• How my cash flow is hindering moving onto full time/monthly payment employment

I don't know if those three points will help much though?

I am claiming £1750 in just over three years on a Bank Of Scotland student account.

"2.
In making an assessment of financial difficulty the firm will take into account:
a.
evidence of changes in lifestyle, including loss of employment; disability; serious illness; imprisonment; relationship breakdown; death of a partner; starting a lower paid job; parental/carer leave; and starting full-time education;
b.
evidence of the following events:
i.
items repeatedly being returned unpaid due to lack of available funds;
ii.
failing to make loan repayments or other commitments;
iii.
discontinuation of regular credits;
iv.
notification of some form of insolvency or court proceedings;
v.
regular requests for increased borrowing or repeated rescheduling of debts;
vi.
making frequent cash withdrawals on a credit card at a non-promotional rate of interest; and
vii.
repeatedly exceeding a credit card or overdraft limit without agreement (and, in this regard, where a complainant has incurred over £500 in unauthorised overdraft charges in the previous 12 months, that is to be treated as indicative of financial difficulty)."

The above is the criteria that is used for financial hardship but the reality on the ground is that it is arrears on essentials ie rent/mortgage/council tax/utilities etc.etc. that sort of thing.

ouija

I contacted Halifax on January 6th 2009 about the £2500 they have taken from me in less than 12 months as unarranged overdraft fees. I've complained about these before (but not claimed) and was told they were fair etc etc. Blah blah.

So anyway, they sent me a form to fill out to show I was in financial difficulty and since they have still refused to process the claim I threatened court action. They sent me their final letter explaining they would not respond to any more communication on this matter.

I've filled in the complaing form for the FOS and enclosed the letters I sent to Halifax, plus a list of all the charges, and a copy of Halifax's final letter.

As I understand, this will take a few months to be processed... will this complaint be processed quickly due to financial hardship, or will it just be added to the end of the queue? £2500 in a year is ridiculous. Anyone looking at my case should surely see that.