Bank Charges Financial Hardship Disussion

hayston

Hi,

Back in feb of this year we rec'd just over 6,000.00 from abbey as they agreed we were in hardship. We had claimed a total of 10,500.00 back in charges. This was a great help to us but sadly did not clear all outstanding arrears.
Although this was paid directly into our account we have still never rec'd any correspondence from abbey to give us a breakdown of the refund.
I have tried on numerous occasions to get this and they promise they will send it but it never arrives. The main reason I want it is so I can reply and say that I accept it as part settlement of our claim.
In one of my many phonecalls to them I was advised that if I was still in financial hardship I could send in an up-dated income/exp form and ask them to re-consider the amount of charges refunded so far.

Thought this might be helpful to those claiming hardship who may already like us have had some settlement.

Also does anyone have any exp of a second claim under hardship.

Thanks.

Goodtimesahead

Hayson,

I guess if the Bank loses their case, eventually all those with claims will be refunded and your remaining sum should be too I guess & with interest. No one knows at this stage how long the Banks will keep fighting the case and how long they will take to pay out, it could take years. At least you have got back some, better than nothing at this stage. Good luck!

Natski

natweststaffmember wrote: »

I am slightly refining the approach now. I think you need to document a few things which will help at ombudsman stage. Firstly, you need to try an write down the cause of your inability to cover priority debt arrears, for example, losing your job, separation(so loss of a second household income) etc,etc, The next part is the effect of the charges on your ability to repay priority creditors(mortgage/rent, council tax, utilities). Once you have done that, you need to state the full amount of your claim going back to July 2001 or from the start of your account being opened.
This is the bit you need to consider, how much money from that claim can be used to clear priority debt arrears and furthermore, put you under your overdraft as well.
So you could argue that you would like x amount paid back to cover priority debt arrears, y amount to cover debts to existing bank plus perhaps suspension of charges for say 3 months to allow you to sort out your budgetting issues.
Once you have negotiated on that basis and they come back with a final response, then we can work through their response.

EDIT: love the username

Hi,

Thanks very much for responding! Ok, from what you've said, I think I'm on the right track; did lose my job a couple of years ago after just taking on a mortgage and have been earning less ever since, so meeting priority commitments has been difficult. Add the effect of charges onto this, and the situation has just deteriorated. This is despite the fact I actually contacted HSBC when I was made redundant, and a number of times since, and they've just told me to get lost, or tried to force me onto one of those 'managed loans' even though I had no additional income to cover the payments.
Anyway, I've already put that info into my previous letter to HSBC (which they've ignored) and on my complaint form to the FOS. I've also got proof of my priority arrears, although I haven't sent these to HSBC yet (but I did email them to the FOS a couple of days ago): a statement from my housing association, court summons for council tax and bailiff threat from gas co - all together, these priority arrears equal £1600. If you minus the £250 they've offered (I'm assuming I do accept this, right?) from the £1880 which is the total amount of charges, that leaves £1630, which basically covers all my priority arrears, so in my new letter to HSBC, I've set all of this out, plus I'll be sending the arrears notices as proof. I do have an overdraft with them also (£900), but to be honest I can work myself out of that if they refund me the full amount so I can clear the priority arrears and stop charging me for a while (I need to add this part into my letter).
I'll be sending the letter tomorrow (payday - skint until then ) but from what you've said, hopefully this will be enough to make them think again...

Thanks very much for your help, will keep you updated!:T

285741

natweststaffmember wrote: »

£300.00 to the ex can be a priority debt if court ordered. £160 to parents is trickier to argue and the rest are non priority debts so not really in the equation. Credit card charges, have you got any of them? They can be claimed now.

Have already claimed them, can you claim them again as i still get them as usually need to miss one payment a month, is the £200 default not a priority as this would then lead me to a ccj if i dont pay this

natweststaffmember

285741 wrote: »

Have already claimed them, can you claim them again as i still get them as usually need to miss one payment a month, is the £200 default not a priority as this would then lead me to a ccj if i dont pay this

With regards to not paying them, do you lose your home by not paying them? Do you go to jail by not paying them? Do you get cut off by not paying them?

A CCJ doesn't stop you working(apart from a bank--who'd wanna work there these days ).
If you have claimed credit card charges and you have got more then yep you can reclaim them again.

mrwhite_2

I am currently trying to reclaim £2700 from TSB but recieved a letter saying that this complaint will be looked at but they advised a time scale of 8 weeks for a response. I'm guessing this is a delaying tactic and i should keep following this up. Could anybody shed some light on this please.

natweststaffmember

mrwhite wrote: »

I am currently trying to reclaim £2700 from TSB but recieved a letter saying that this complaint will be looked at but they advised a time scale of 8 weeks for a response. I'm guessing this is a delaying tactic and i should keep following this up. Could anybody shed some light on this please.

Standard complaint handling timescale before you can involve the Ombudsman. They should respond earlier though.

285741

natweststaffmember wrote: »

With regards to not paying them, do you lose your home by not paying them? Do you go to jail by not paying them? Do you get cut off by not paying them?

A CCJ doesn't stop you working(apart from a bank--who'd wanna work there these days ).
If you have claimed credit card charges and you have got more then yep you can reclaim them again.

but sure i need a car to get to my work i'm £100 a month just for fuel, due to me working a strange shift i cant car share finish 12 midnight so no public transport, the bank were actually trying to push me towards a debt management company but dont want to go down that line as hopefully if i get my debts cleared i will be looking to buy and dont want that on my file its bad enough just now
p.s. can i even claim the charges from the credit card company that i have the default against now as i think that will be the largest amount to claim

mryork

natweststaffmember wrote: »

Do you have priority debt arrears(mortgage/rent, council tax, utilities)?
Do you have any payment plans in place for the arrears?

Yes i have payment plan with Natwest what was set up a few days ago, after i sent in my form, in which i pay £130 per month until my bank account is within its overdraft limit.

I also have a payment plan with both my credit cards. I pay mortgage, council tax the lot.

As i said before with this all in mind i was left with £60 surplus each month but now with this £130 i am £70 in the red each month.

BigAl13

I have just finished my first year as a full time University student during which I was living off at best £25 a week for everything as my student loan only just paid for my accomodation. Before starting University I set up an additional account to my Premier 21 Alliance and Leicester account, which has no overdraft. I set up a Student account with Halifax but didn't receive the full £3000 overdraft I had applied for instead my account had a £500 overdraft. Expecting a gruelling routine of intense reading I searched for bargain books almost buying all of the reading list provided, which wiped out that £500 overdraft, a very stupid mistake. From this point I found it very difficult to keep to my £25 budget and keep my balance out of the red. Eventually I went 79p beyond the agreed overdraft limit and was charged £48 for this by Halifax. Following this the situation snowballed with further charges of £45 from Alliance and Leicester, whih I claimed for and have been refunded the full amount, and an additional £68 by Halifax. The charges on my Halifax account, totalling £116, are currently in limbo. I claimed for these back in March and have since been sent four Common Financial Statements to fill in and return as they say that there is no evidence of hardship or of my income. This is just the problem, I'm on the edge I have no actual income apart from my loan, which goes straight out, and £100 from my parents who can spare no more. If I hadn't been charged disproportionately the first time I went over the limit then further charges may have been avoided.
I keep sending these Common Financial Statement forms but they don't really suit my situation. Is there another form or should I just write to them again? I know the charges aren't in the thousands but being partly refunded would make a significant difference to my financial situation.
Any advice would be great
Thankyou