Bank Charges Financial Hardship Disussion

Thriftkitten

sheppylove wrote: »

hi

i need some help please??
i wrote to lloyds on the 5th may 09 asking for list of charges stating 40 days to reply! it is 43 days since i sent it, how long should i wait before i complain to the relevent commisioner???

thanks in advance!

Did you send it registered?? as if not then they can easily state that they have not received it, ALWAYS send it registered and keep a copy of everything.

Thriftkitten

xTRIGG3R wrote: »

HEY PEOPLE,

Iv just relised in the past few weeks that i can reclaim my bank charges which im quite please with because since february this year iv had over 200 pound taken from my account because of being a few pound over drawn each time or beacause my direct debit has bounced.Even tho im on a job seekers allowance and every time i get a charge i have no money to live on for two weeks as i have to pay digs and food bills. So iv cancled all my direct debits and taken it in to my hands to send a letter to the bank asking for a list of all the default charges for direct debit, unauthorised overdrafts and standing orders I have paid since the 3rd of april 2004.I got the template from here so fingers crossd will be sending it of tomorrow.

QUESTION:
Do i just send the letter to my local bank ? Or does it need to go higher ?

Anyways im new so if anyone can assist me id be greatful as im not to good at this kind of thing Lol..

No do not send to your bank, use the info on the bank charges reclaiming to find your banks main address, also you need to print off an income and expenditure for which you will find on this site, as they will only slow the whole process asking you to fill one in.
Send a photocopy as proof of your job seekers benefit and copies of all of your debts, if you have rental arrears and utility arrears photocopy these as they will all help for the decision for financial hardship, as much as you can is always best.
For the record which bank are you claiming against as I have had a successful claim with Lloyds so am able to pass on a lot of numbers and hopefully some useful advice about my claim.
Oh and dont forget to ALWAYS send it registered post and make a copy of everything you send, use the financial Hardship thread for any advice and also legal beagles is another free and fantastic site x

mdes

Can anyone help?
i have applied to the alliance&liecester through hardship on the 1st of june 2009. They never responded so i phoned them 2 days ago where i was told that they had a backlog of 6-7 weeks and that i had an income coming in and that i should just cancel some of my direct debits!
i do work but i have 2 children and am married and presently every week our income is approx £100 less than our expenditure.
also my landlord is coming to visit today as we have arrears or just over 2k
what can i do

jadeladine

alcrawford wrote: »

I made an initial claim (HSBC) in July 2007 dated before the original FSA ruling. It was still, however, put on hold quoting FSA as was not dealt with until after the ruling.

I have today sent a letter requesting that my case be looked at again both under 'hardship' guidelines and the fact the original letter/claim was submitted before the original suspension of normality.

They'll also be getting a Debt Management Plan letter shortly so hopefully they will finally realise my financial situation!

I will update when I get a response...

Unfortunately i can let you know it may not go that smoothly. I gave HSBC my expenditure and CCCS budget AND they gave me a managed loan to help me out of my unauthorised OD. But they said im not in financial difficulty as they dont include your credit debts as this is our own fault. SERIOUSLY. Its currently with the FOS and theres a long waiting list.

Jade

jadeladine

campari wrote: »

I am currently defending a repossession action by my lender, having sent copy correspondence clearly showing this to both HSBC and HALIFAx, they both still refuse to action my claims against them!

This is mad because im having the EXACT problems with Halifax and HSBC. Its with the FOS now. Theu just wont except financial hardship at all.

Jade

natweststaffmember

jadeladine wrote: »

Unfortunately i can let you know it may not go that smoothly. I gave HSBC my expenditure and CCCS budget AND they gave me a managed loan to help me out of my unauthorised OD. But they said im not in financial difficulty as they dont include your credit debts as this is our own fault. SERIOUSLY. Its currently with the FOS and theres a long waiting list.

Jade

I gotta say this practice of managed loans to help with financial hardship is ridiculous because it is additional lending or debt. If you are with CCCS then the debt is being managed and may well not be classed as financial hardship under the FSA Waiver.

TheOne

Found this article when searching about penalty charges:

http://www.derbygripe.co.uk/cream2.htm

Abbey sent a 19-year-old into a spiral of debt after taking more than £700 in charges from her account in just one day. Andrea Beaton, who earns £800 a month, is facing a bill of more than £1,320 because she cannot cope with mounting bank charges. The charges have been climbing since August 2005, when Andrea went overdrawn accidentally. Each month since then, charges have been added to the account, leaving her less and less to spend the following month.

Abbey claims that every time a charge was applied, someone monitoring her account approved it. Yet at no stage was she warned about the growing problem. Nor was her account frozen. Andrea, who admits to knowing little about financial matters, overspent in August 2005, but was not charged a fee because her account was normally well managed. However, when she went overdrawn again in October, the bank imposed a £35 charge. This led to her going a few pounds overdrawn again in November, costing her £70 in charges. By December, her budget was so stretched the charges had climbed to £140.

Andrea realised how serious the problem was only when she received her statement in January. She contacted Abbey asking for an overdraft so she could get back on track. But her request was turned down and instead she was advised to contact Abbey's debt management team. Meanwhile, charges were piling up, with another £365 added in January. Andrea, from Washington, Tyne and Wear, contacted the debt management team and offered to repay £50 a month. This was rejected and she was threatened with legal action and debt collectors being sent to her home unless she paid back £300 a month.

Abbey said if Andrea was struggling, she should renegotiate the repayments. Like all High Street banks, Abbey charges customers every time they go beyond their authorised credit limit. For unauthorised borrowing, the interest rate is 28.7%, there is a monthly unauthorised overdraft fee of £20, plus £30 for every transaction while overdrawn and £35 for bounced payments. Under banking rules, charges should only cover the cost of overseeing the transactions.

Abbey says that when a customer exceeds their credit limit and a transaction occurs, a cost is incurred because the credit status of that customer has to be reviewed and a decision made on whether to allow the transaction, bounce it, or freeze the account. This implies someone at Abbey had to be monitoring Andrea's account, allowing her to get deeper into debt and approving the charges every month.

Abbey says it was Andrea's responsibility not to go further overdrawn, but she argues she spent only to cover basic living costs. The bank says the charges were implemented correctly and Andrea had been warned about how to manage her account. It adds that the person authorising the charges would only have seen she had a positive balance at the end of each month because that was when Andrea's salary was paid in. (Source: Mail on Sunday, Apr/06)

I know the exact situation she's in!!!

charlie567

im with halifax bank.im thinking of sending a letter saying im not happy with there decision.and threaten them with court action.see if thay pay up then.

sahj

Firstly an update on last weeks post.... my father had an offer today for one of his accounts.... we were claiming £2100 on the account and the offer is £315.

So my questions now are:
1- Do you think this is a fair offer?
2- What happens if my Father refuses the amount- can he ask for more? Is there a time limit on the bank replying with their final decision if he does not accept this offer?
3- Is this amount in full and final for that account or is it a part payment whilst he is in financial hardship?
4- By offering a sum of money are the bank confirming he is in financial hardship as they have not confirmed anything in writing other than the offer?

He is now unsure what to do and to be honest as he needs the money hes not thinking straight. My worry is that if he accepts this amount on this account the bank may then base the other accounts on the same ratio or even less. As his total claim is many thousands he would be getting back approx 1/7th of his original claim (which we didnt include interest on).

natweststaffmember

charlie567 wrote: »

im with halifax bank.im thinking of sending a letter saying im not happy with there decision.and threaten them with court action.see if thay pay up then.

Any claims in the county court will be stayed so you can threaten them but they won't be that bothered.