Bank Charges Financial Hardship Disussion

cande

Hi, does anybody know if you can claim on old bank accounts that have been closed for nearly 2 years or can it only be accounts that are open at the moment. As I had an awful lot of trouble with Halifax keep charging me before I closed my account nearly 2 years ago and having heard about these reclaiming cases was wondering if I am able to claim for those old charges. Any help greately appreciated.
Many thanks
Emma

237

As far as what i have read so far yes you can within the last 6 years in Uk and 5 In Scotland.
Any help on my question above would be greatly appreciated anyone??

bubbles01_2

Natwest have said i am in financial hardship and have agreed to refund my charges not sure how much. They said they will pay the money into my account which is currently not being used is od and is is been paid back through DM payplan who are also helping me pay other debts. i HAVE NOT MISSED A PAYMENT WITH THEM. I would like the money refunded via a cheque so I can pay priority debts such as mortage arrears, gas elect etc. Rang customer realations they said this is not possible as my account is with the debt recovery team of natwest. Surely by paying this money it is preujudice to my other debts and surely keeping a roof over my head is important especially as i have not missed a payment with payplan. Still awaiting letter on how much. But the debt with them will def swallow up what I get. Please help I thought the yes letter may finally get me back on track a little thanks. Di you think when I get the letter I should try and appeal to the banks better nature if they have one, and ask for some money to be paid back via cheque?

bubbles01_2

spacetraveller wrote: »

I am currently trying to claim hardship from Natwest. I have sent off my income and expenditure form and have priority debts (council tax, utilities), they have sent me a letter since, asking for evidence and documentation of other debts/credit cards. Has anyone else been asked for this? Do you think this means they will process my claim - asking for about 3k, since July 2007, this refund would make such a difference!

They did the same to me, sent everything of and just been accepted, not sure how much yet. Good luck, keep fighting and if they do say no appeal. Because they rejected me first time round

EthanPethan

HSBC
CLAIMED £750.00
THEY OFFERED £1017 (must have missed a few here and there).
:T
Took about 3 months but eventually got a letter from them on Friday (after threatening to go to FOS) offering me a full refund. I accepted and sent the signed acceptance back to them today. Does anyone know how long HSBC take to actually pay the money to you and also do they pay dirrect to your current account or by cheque.

Thanks

moneymonkey35

lauraj87 wrote: »

Does anyone have an idea of when this court case may be resolved?! How long does it take really to see that we are being robbed and the charges are NOT justified for the amount of work it causes them??!

As far as I understand it, the House of Lords is looking at the case on the 23rd June and it will apparently be taking 3 days to decide whether bank charges are unfair. I believe the OFT are making a decision about fairness sometime in July.

As to what happens after these decisions have been made - WHO KNOWS?

natweststaffmember

moneymonkey35 wrote: »

As far as I understand it, the House of Lords is looking at the case on the 23rd June and it will apparently be taking 3 days to decide whether bank charges are unfair. I believe the OFT are making a decision about fairness sometime in July.

As to what happens after these decisions have been made - WHO KNOWS?

HoL is hearing the appeal and then it will make a decision. This is the preliminary issues ie whether banks' terms and conditions are assessable for fairness. However, the OFT have identified 3 banks, HSBC, Nationwide and Clydesdale(if memory serves me right) to tackle the main issues on. This bit is the charges terms that is deemed by the OFT to be unfair. Expect further litigation on this matter.

ally663

cande wrote: »

Hi, does anybody know if you can claim on old bank accounts that have been closed for nearly 2 years or can it only be accounts that are open at the moment. As I had an awful lot of trouble with Halifax keep charging me before I closed my account nearly 2 years ago and having heard about these reclaiming cases was wondering if I am able to claim for those old charges. Any help greately appreciated.
Many thanks
Emma

Yes, my application is to the Halifax and included an account that got charged to the hilt, defaulted and closed. It has the most charges to claim back as you can imagine, they have co-operated fully with it. No payment yet but they have not dismissed this account.

sahj

When you apply under the financial hardship rules is there a time limit for when a decision must be made by the bank?

Basically my Father requested his charges back under financial hardship back in the second week of March, received the I and E form and returned it- all done by the end of the month. Now they seem to keep fobbing him off with things such as they are awaiting the paperwork from their branch in Scotland etc.

searcher1

Well I'm going to be a person who could run off so much regarding HSBC.
I'd initially like to mention a specific fact about a 'Financial Hardship Claim' - On the part of the financial institution 'it is voluntary'! With regards to myself HSBC were so quick to bypass all the FSA recommendations and simply give me a phone number for debt counselling.
On reading further there's nothing at all that forces the bank or whoever to give you money. You could resort to County Court but the chances are they will not bypass the 'stay'. To be honest one of the reasons of the OFT being put into a position of taking action was because the court system was getting swamped by claims. Courts work to budgets and targets. We should also remember that about everyone got all their monies back in full when they did make a claim.
Personally I think everyone should open a basic account with another bank. I'd also mention that no matter what you say or do the banks debt system at 6 months (normally) will mean they automatically move you to their in house or external 'Debt Collection Agency'. Most banks operate on a points system and no money being paid for loans or Credit Cards means the points clock up and the Credit Reference Agency files are being updated monthly.
It would be very amusing how they will cope if we all win our charges back (or a good percentage of them). That will probably mean more court rubbish in getting CRA files readjusted. In the end financial institutions are like shops, you pay or they 'get you' one way or another. Imagine them as your average 'loan shark' and it all makes sence. LOL
Michael