Bank Charges Financial Hardship Disussion

natweststaffmember

mark_ringy wrote: »

well of course i know there are people that in trouble...and i truely sympathise with them. i took action early so i wouldnt get into trouble with my mortgage, which i hate to say, alot of people dont, or leave it too late.
Im not lying to the bank, because that is where i am. I hope the bank does choose people in a worse state before me... Ive seen people in better situations than me post success in hardship so why shouldnt i try?
I didnt write the last post to take the p**s, i just want and need my money back!

As I said the post sounded worse than was intended. And I have seen a few people that on the face of it have had offers where it doesn't appear to be warranted, however, without seeing that person's Income and Expenditure form, it is difficult to judge their hardship or in fact for me to judge yours. The system is there to claim hardship, so there is nothing to stop everyone from doing so. Keep us updated.

lilmissmoneysaver

Well i have sent off the income and expenditure they asked for. Now i guess i just wait

has anyone else had any luck with natwest, i have just come to the comclusion they are going to close my account give me a basic account and take away direct debits etc, which in turn is going to make my life harder.. also take back the overdraft and then arrange for me to pay it back...HOW am i supposed to do that when i have nothing left to pay back, if i did i wudnt always be in my overdraft and overdrawn over my overdraft ALL THE TIME

Does anyone have any advice, do you think its hopefull? anyone had the same letter as me and got their money back?

thanks

Very stressed single mum with money worries.. :wall:

JoJoU

Student in trouble: I have been having a look at this forum as I have discovered my 20yr old daughter has been subject to bank charges for the past few months and advice and support would be very welcome. She is currently a university student who has been taken ill with ME/Chronic fatigue plus anxiety which means she is not managing her affairs very effectively at all. She qualifies as a Disabled Student and has changed to part-time attendance due to her illness and is unable to work in order to get any income other than her student loan. She has her student loan money in a student account with NatWest but she also has a Current Plus account that she opened years back but doesn't use any more and it doesn't have any money in it. Unfortunately, she managed to get her cheque books muddled up and paid her housemate for her share of the utilities from the Current Plus account, the cheque bounced, she was charged and has since been incurring monthly charges on the overdraft she now has, due to being charged in the first place. As she is not able to deal with her affairs herself at the moment, I will be arranging to have my name added to her account so I can try to sort out this mess (I am already named on her student/graduate account). I am initially going to try to plead her case by phone with the Customer Relations people as soon as I am added to her account as they will not speak to me about it until that happens. I am hoping they will use their discretion but, in case they are not helpful, is it likely that she will qualify for the financial hardship category? Jo

Marv_uk

Hi, have just got the reply back from the bank and it reads:

"Thank you for contacting us we're sorry that you have concerns. Let me assure you that your complaint is getting the attention it deserves and one of my team members is looking into your concerns to understand what's happened. We will get a response to you as soon as we can....Our promise: We will do our best to send you a full response within eight weeks of you first raising your concerns with us. Update you on our progress after 4 and 8 weeks if no decision has been reached at that point. Explain the options to you if you remain dissatisfied or if we haven't responded fully within eight weeks."

Would anyone know if this is the standard response from a 1st hardship letter from the banks & is it a case of further wait i.e 8 weeks? I was considering contacting the Ombudsman but will that be better if I wait this 8 week period?

Many thanks for your reply's in advance.

natweststaffmember

Marv_uk wrote: »

Hi, have just got the reply back from the bank and it reads:

"Thank you for contacting us we're sorry that you have concerns. Let me assure you that your complaint is getting the attention it deserves and one of my team members is looking into your concerns to understand what's happened. We will get a response to you as soon as we can....Our promise: We will do our best to send you a full response within eight weeks of you first raising your concerns with us. Update you on our progress after 4 and 8 weeks if no decision has been reached at that point. Explain the options to you if you remain dissatisfied or if we haven't responded fully within eight weeks."

Would anyone know if this is the standard response from a 1st hardship letter from the banks & is it a case of further wait i.e 8 weeks? I was considering contacting the Ombudsman but will that be better if I wait this 8 week period?

Many thanks for your reply's in advance.

Depends on the bank and where you sent the letter and where the response came from?

natweststaffmember

JoJoU wrote: »

Student in trouble: I have been having a look at this forum as I have discovered my 20yr old daughter has been subject to bank charges for the past few months and advice and support would be very welcome. She is currently a university student who has been taken ill with ME/Chronic fatigue plus anxiety which means she is not managing her affairs very effectively at all. She qualifies as a Disabled Student and has changed to part-time attendance due to her illness and is unable to work in order to get any income other than her student loan. She has her student loan money in a student account with NatWest but she also has a Current Plus account that she opened years back but doesn't use any more and it doesn't have any money in it. Unfortunately, she managed to get her cheque books muddled up and paid her housemate for her share of the utilities from the Current Plus account, the cheque bounced, she was charged and has since been incurring monthly charges on the overdraft she now has, due to being charged in the first place. As she is not able to deal with her affairs herself at the moment, I will be arranging to have my name added to her account so I can try to sort out this mess (I am already named on her student/graduate account). I am initially going to try to plead her case by phone with the Customer Relations people as soon as I am added to her account as they will not speak to me about it until that happens. I am hoping they will use their discretion but, in case they are not helpful, is it likely that she will qualify for the financial hardship category? Jo

I think you need to put things in writing to Customer Relations, perhaps tell them that you need that account closing because clearly if there are two accounts with cheque books it is confusing enough at the best of times. Write down the medical condition she has and that it was due to that that this incidence occured. Ask if they can refund charges as a Gesture of Goodwill and then close the account since it is not used anymore. See what they say....

Craggio

I was wondering if somebody could give me some advice. im currently claiming £1417 through financial hardship (interest now added) due to getting more than £500 of bank charges within 12 months of sending my bank the first letter starting off my claim. My bank have since sent me a form to fill in which details my income & expenditure. my worry is that, although my debts are around 4,000 & im always in my overdraft, i am currently in work, living with parents, paying no council tax mortgage ect ect.. and quite happy with paying off my debts monthly. im only claiming financial hardship as i read that if you have more than £500 of bank charges within 12 months, this is deemed to be financial hardship.

If i fill in the form the bank sent me, im 99% sure they will say im not in hardship and tell me to wait until the case is over, but do i still have a case with me getting more than £500 in 12 months? and if i do will the banks recognise this or will i have to go to the ombudsman?

Thanks

JoJoU

natweststaffmember wrote: »

I think you need to put things in writing to Customer Relations, perhaps tell them that you need that account closing because clearly if there are two accounts with cheque books it is confusing enough at the best of times. Write down the medical condition she has and that it was due to that that this incidence occured. Ask if they can refund charges as a Gesture of Goodwill and then close the account since it is not used anymore. See what they say....

Thanks for the advice. I thought it best to close this account too and will write to them today rather than wait to get my name on the account etc. Sometimes the most obvious courses of action don't come immediately to mind! I have now found an address on the NatWest website in their complaints procedure section so hope that's the right one. Do you know if they will communicate by email?
Thanks again. Jo

acey32

Hi could some advise/help please. Sent off my hardship form and received letter asking for proof of certain figures i.e loan statements credit cards etc.
Obviously sent reply with these deatils and havent exaggerated any figures etc so proof etc is as figures on my form.

Does this mean success is imminent or simply still under review??

Thanks

Marv_uk

Hi natweststaffmember,

Letter sent to Lloyds TSB - the info i posted here yesterday (above posts) came from their recovery centre & today a letter came from their solicitor's (i posted them a copy of my hardship letter at the same time) stating:

"They (the bank) won't be discussing the charges covered by the OFT waiver. In the meantime your claim against the bank remains stayed pending the outcome of the OFT Test case. We would like to clarify that our client's instructions at this time is not to settle your claim and that they will not be refunding any penalty charges relating to your claim. Once the legal proceedings between the OFT and the banks finish, Lloyds TSB will offer to resolve your claim as quickly as possible applying the principles established in that case."

Lloyds at their caring best! :rotfl:
Let's just hope all of us in the same boat at present will have the right to reclaim our stolen money back! - (money that we're forced to lend to them, in order for us in return, to gain account's that masquerade as safety nests) via the courts and have the interest paid on top as clearly hardship or no hardship, the puppet masters are hell bent in keeping us down!

Good luck to us all.