Bank Charges Financial Hardship Disussion

Orford

Marv_uk,

Have you actually filed a claim at court. If you have, how much were just your charges (without interest) and what date did you file at court.

Marv_uk

Hi Orford,

Thanks for getting back - yes I filed my claim on 2/07/2007. My charges without interest are 1155.50 pounds(haven't got pound sign it's US keyboard).

Marv_uk

Orford

The s69 8% interest on £1155 would be @ £0.2541p per day, which is multiplied by the number of days since 02/07/2007.

0.2541 x 670 days = £170.25

So the total interest as of today should be £255 + £170.25 =£425.25

Marv_uk

Thank you Orford for your hard work in supplying me with the information re the interest amounts as of today's calculations I very much appreciate your effort here.

So would I be correct in guessing that I should put the new amount into my first hardship letter to the bank anyway - as the banks are only obliged to pay this to us only in the event of a win in the courts - or does it not matter and therefore I would not be acting illegally by stating the modern day interest amounts as compared to the amounts that have been filed with the courts and set in concrete back in 2007 so-to-speak?

Thanks again

Orford

So would I be correct in guessing that I should put the new amount into my first hardship letter to the bank anyway

Yes that's fine, no harm in reminding them

baitman2k

Dear Money saving expert,


I have recently gone through the process of attempting to reclaim bank charges from:
The Abbey for £2809.70 and the Halifax for: £1054.00.
A grand total of £3863.70p.

I sent both letters on the 21-04-09 and I have had a reply from Halifax requesting I complete financial form (V3), in my letter I stressed I was recently made redundant and was now claiming Job Seekers Allowance at £65.00 per week, and requested that they discontinue imposing charges on my account.
They replied stating that it was legal and fair to impose these charges even though I am on state benefit.
I now find myself in a position whereby, I am £200.00+ O/D solely due to the Halifax’s charging system. This now means that every time I have my JSA paid into my account it is immediately eaten up by the overdraft, but the Halifax have now started to impose charges because I’m O/D due to the bank charges they made to my account in the first place, and this is going to be a compounding situation, and until such time that I get a job I will be paying my JSA straight to the Halifax….this is sheer madness, and in my opinion, tantamount to legalised embezzlement, how can this possibly be fair and equitable?

I have yet to hear from the Abbey, but if they are to adhere to the 14 day rule they should reply by the 05-05-09.

Cant wait till for the end of June this year, and seriously hope that the House of Lords response is in our favour, and hope that the banks get exactly what they deserve, they have for years profited from the less well off, and together with the recession that they have caused, they should be made to pay the piper.

Baitman2k :mad::mad::mad::mad:

bankkiller

ok well i was just on the phone to my case worker at FOS he sounded very in favour of the banks like hes getting a cut out of the money, very strange.

Well i have decided to go full out and complain about his descion and would am also thinking of going the court route again does any body have any ideas on this !.

As i can lift the stay on the court as i come under finacial Hardhsip i think i might have a better chance as FOS are really content in not helping me and not taking the case further ... I mean im really in hardship ,

Also the banks did not send me a finaancial hardship form to fill out when i contacted them is it worth asking for it now ? after ive been thorgh FOS

natweststaffmember

bankkiller wrote: »

ok well i was just on the phone to my case worker at FOS he sounded very in favour of the banks like hes getting a cut out of the money, very strange.

Well i have decided to go full out and complain about his descion and would am also thinking of going the court route again does any body have any ideas on this !.

As i can lift the stay on the court as i come under finacial Hardhsip i think i might have a better chance as FOS are really content in not helping me and not taking the case further ... I mean im really in hardship ,

Also the banks did not send me a finaancial hardship form to fill out when i contacted them is it worth asking for it now ? after ive been thorgh FOS

You have 0% chance on getting a stay lifted in court. If the FOS have said no then its a no. Financial Hardship is to do with arrears on the account rather than paying a bill late. For example, if you are 2 months behind on utilities that is one element of hardship. I would say as well, that without going through you I&E form it would be difficult to say whether you are in severe financial hardship/skint/ overspending/not claiming enough benefit, etc,etc. It wouldn't harm you to complete and I&E form and to include evidence of arrears.

natweststaffmember

baitman2k wrote: »

Dear Money saving expert,


I have recently gone through the process of attempting to reclaim bank charges from:
The Abbey for £2809.70 and the Halifax for: £1054.00.
A grand total of £3863.70p.

I sent both letters on the 21-04-09 and I have had a reply from Halifax requesting I complete financial form (V3), in my letter I stressed I was recently made redundant and was now claiming Job Seekers Allowance at £65.00 per week, and requested that they discontinue imposing charges on my account.
They don't have to at all. Make sure you complete the I&E form.
They replied stating that it was legal and fair to impose these charges even though I am on state benefit.
State benefits or otherwise is irrelevant. There is nothing that states that banks cannot make charges if you are on state benefits. You need to open another account, perhaps Post Office, to get your benefits paid into.
I now find myself in a position whereby, I am £200.00+ O/D solely due to the Halifax’s charging system. This now means that every time I have my JSA paid into my account it is immediately eaten up by the overdraft, but the Halifax have now started to impose charges because I’m O/D due to the bank charges they made to my account in the first place, and this is going to be a compounding situation, and until such time that I get a job I will be paying my JSA straight to the Halifax….this is sheer madness, and in my opinion, tantamount to legalised embezzlement, how can this possibly be fair and equitable?
Charges are the consequence and not the cause. The cause can be failing to cancel a direct debit, budgeting issues, overspending, etc,etc, The bank charges are the consequence of it.
I have yet to hear from the Abbey, but if they are to adhere to the 14 day rule they should reply by the 05-05-09.

Cant wait till for the end of June this year, and seriously hope that the House of Lords response is in our favour, and hope that the banks get exactly what they deserve, they have for years profited from the less well off, and together with the recession that they have caused, they should be made to pay the piper.
Decision is unlikely until October perhaps due to the recess of the law courts in July.
Baitman2k :mad::mad::mad::mad:

Send back the I&E form to the bank asap with as much information about any arrears.

turbostar_2

turbostar wrote: »

I too wrote to Lloyds TSB during November. I've had over £2.2k in charges (and counting) in the past 18 months and these charges have repeatedly taken me over my agreed overdraft limit. I earn a decent wage. By decent I mean that I earn enough to live on, but over the last few months Lloyds TSB charges have been approx £300/£400 a month and as a consequence I'm defaulting on mortgage, credit card payments etc and struggling to afford the very basics. I explained all this in my letter to Lloyds TSB and asked my case be looked at under the financial hardship waiver.

Lloyds TSB wrote back to say that my details had been passed onto the Customer Support Unit and that I would be contacted within 7 days. The next I heard from Lloyds TSB was a letter 10 days later to say they had "carried out an assessment on my account" and had attempted to contact me by phone to discuss. They actually made no attempt to contact me by phone as claimed.

I then called up the Customer Support Unit with details of my income and expenditure ready, as the letter suggested to prepare. I was on hold for 20+ minutes before getting to speak with an advisor. Again I tried to explain my financial circumstances, but the advisor wasn't listening. She was only interested in finding out if could afford to pay £65 a month to clear the arrears. I should probably have just said no. Then I was told what Lloyds TSB were going to do to "help me" and this is the gist. 1: Freeze all future charges (good). 2: Increase my overdraft to cover all outstanding charges (more debt). 3: Place me on a repayment plan (£65 a month) to clear the outstanding charges (they are seriously missing the point here). 4: Assuming I keep paying the £65 each month, I will have paid all the outstanding charges by May 2009, but will still be left with a £3,500 overdraft, which Lloyds TSB are then going to simulataneously reduce to a zero overdraft facility (boy, that's taught me to mess).

My attempts to explain that I can not afford to pay these charges (past and present) fell on deaf ears. No assessment. No discussion. Where am I suppose to find £3,500 in May when my overdraft facility is taken from me.

This week I sent in my complaint to FOS but don't hold out much hope for getting this resolved anytime soon. Still, won't be giving up until i get every last penny back.

Good luck Terry

:j

Here's an update: My case is STILL being looked into by the Financial Ombudsman. They have advised me that they, of course, can not force Lloyds TSB to repay any charges until the court rules the charges to be unfair - and can only make reccomendations to the bank. This doesn't fill me with much confidence.

The adjudicator who is dealing with my case has had problems getting Lloyds TSB to cooperate and provide the Ombudsman with the information they have been requesting relating to my case. I was also told that Lloyds TSB are notoriously tough to deal with.

My bank account: Lloyds TSB froze all further charges, providing I keep paying £100 per month into my account. Since then backdated bank charges have been added to my account - and £65 of the £100 is interest. How do Lloyds TSB think making a customer pay £65 per month in interest helps with financial hardship? I haven't used the account since December 2008 and the overdraft is still at a sickly £4700. The majority of this overdraft stems from bank charges and interest.

During February Lloyds TSB did, however, offer me £150 as a 'goodwill gesture'. I told them i'd rather go hungry than accept this pitiful amount.

The Financial Ombudsman told me this week that Lloyds TSB now have 2 weeks to respond to a latest request for information. In the meantime, I am considering stopping paying the £100 per month towards the 'repayment plan' because I simply can not afford it. I could take the chance that a debt collection agency might freeze the interest if i refused to pay?

The battle continues...