Income Support Paid Into Old Account - No Money!

Boppy_2

I phoned income support on 29th October to change my bank details over, they said it usually takes 4 days and so the payment on 3rd November may go into our old account. 3rd November it hadn't gone into the old or the new account so I phoned them to be told that we would be getting a giro in the post because we hadn't given them enough time to change the bank accounts over.

Today we went to go food shopping and there's no money in our bank account, signed onto our old bank account online and they've paid our income support into there this has all been swallowed up by bank charges and there is no way they'll let us have the money, we have no money at all for this week.

I've phoned income support and couldn't get a straight answer about what they'll do they kept going on about claiming bank charges back which is all well and good in the long run but doesn't help us NOW does it?

Does anyone know what we can do? We're waiting for someone to phone us back, it's not even our fault.

lil_me

From Martin's webpage

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/oft-bank-charges#otherQ. I think the financial hardship guidelines apply to me, what should I do?
A. Contact your bank urgently and tell it that under the FSA’s waiver rules you believe you fit the financial hardship criteria and would like your case to be dealt with straight away. This applies whether you've already started your reclaim and it's on hold or if you haven't started it at all.
It is likely to send you a financial statement to complete before deciding if you fit the criteria, so fill this in and send back as soon as you can.
If the bank does decide you’re having financial difficulties all it has to do is consider your reclaim. If it does of course, it could still argue that the charges are lawful, but in the current climate this is unlikely and it will possibly offer you a partial payout as a ‘goodwill’ gesture.
Importantly this does not stop you chasing the remaining charges once the test case has ended so you’ve nothing to loose by trying this route. The FSA has also suggested banks consider stop adding future charges and/or stop any debt enforcement action against hardship cases which are futher reasons to give this a go.
Some success stories to give you some inspiration:
IG from Harrogate says: I’ve just received £5,014 for 6 years of charges from the Halifax after claiming financial hardship. I applied on 30 July and the decision came in the post on 1 August. The money will clear my overdraft and credit card first but is still very good.

I have just won my claim against HBOS for charges since 2003 up to date. Althouth they did not offer any interest they did agree to repay £4,307 of charges under the financial hardship clause. This inturn halved my debts in one go.
It’s also mooted that taking charges out of benefit payments, such as Income Support or Job Seekers Allowance, breaks another law called the Social Security Administration Act 1992, yet this doesn’t actually cover the deduction of bank charges.
If this applies, tell your bank you are living on benefits and ask that it considers your complaint now. Banks are obliged to deal with all cases of financial difficulty under the Banking Code, so if it doesn't you can also try the Financial Ombudsman.




So looks like you can also try taking it up with your bank.

Boppy_2

Still waiting for a call back, i just don't know what to do. I will be claiming bank charges back from that account but in the mean time my electric will run out if I'm lucky tomorrow morning but could be tonight, we have potatoes and veg to eat but if electric runs out then we'll literally be having bread and butter in the dark. I have a toddler to feed as well as us and this just isn't fair

SomeBozo

Boppy

Why did you change the account from the old one to a new one?

I ask, because someone in your financial circs cannot afford to be have a mix up with banks, sort codes and account numbers?

You need to be down the benefits office tommorrow asking for hardship loan, and you need to contact your energy provider to ask for help.

Why on earth did you change the accounts?
Bozo

viktory

Have you nothing you can sell or pawn? Jewellery, the TV, games consoles, hi fi etc, etc. Cash converters have helped us out many years ago.

It may not be fair, but your toddler is your resposibility and you should ensure s/he has food, light and warmth. If there has been a mix up with your benefits then it is down to you to do whatever possible.

Boppy_2

SomeBozo wrote: »

Boppy

Why did you change the account from the old one to a new one?

I ask, because someone in your financial circs cannot afford to be have a mix up with banks, sort codes and account numbers?

You need to be down the benefits office tommorrow asking for hardship loan, and you need to contact your energy provider to ask for help.

Why on earth did you change the accounts?
Bozo

We changed accounts because the old account was just in my husbands name and it was causing problems and I couldn't be added onto it, also because Halifax kept charging us and charging us and we couldn't afford to pay them, everytime they charged us we went back overdrawn so they charged us again. In 3 days they wanted to charge us £98 for going £1.50 over and £3.40 over, we explained this to the benefits people when we phoned to change accounts, they have it on record. I was told last Monday that it would be paid into the new account this week.

The fact of the matter is they have screwed up which has left us screwed and i don't think they know what to do. I'm hoping they have suggestions tomorrow so we don't have to get a crisis loan which we can't afford to pay back and in all honesty don't see why we should when it is their fault.

Boppy_2

viktory wrote: »

Have you nothing you can sell or pawn? Jewellery, the TV, games consoles, hi fi etc, etc. Cash converters have helped us out many years ago.

It may not be fair, but your toddler is your resposibility and you should ensure s/he has food, light and warmth. If there has been a mix up with your benefits then it is down to you to do whatever possible.

Whilst i understand what you are saying here the mix up isn't our fault it is theirs and so therefore they should be sorting it as priority, we need income support to live on. Unfortunately everything got pawned when it took 2 months for income support to be sorted out, we've tried pawning the computer before but they won't accept it as its too old Thanks for your suggestions.

SomeBozo

Boppy

You cant just abandon the old account because its overdrawn. That needs to be sorted.

You can't just walk away and blame bank charges/benefits mix up for your dilemma, you had a role to play.

So. Your priorites are the next 24 hours. Then the longer term.

For the next 24 hours you need to go to the benefits office and explain your terms.

For the longer term, you need to get the interest halt on the OD and then go via the "hardship" route to bring it to and end and pay it back and close it down.

Bozo

SomeBozo

Whilst i understand what you are saying here the mix up isn't our fault it is theirs and so therefore they should be sorting it as priority, we need income support to live on.

Poppy, you need to get out this mindset.

You are on benefits, they are there to help you when you have nothing. The bank screwed you because you could not manage money.

Its not the benefits or societies fault.

Bozo

viktory

Boppy wrote: »

I'm hoping they have suggestions tomorrow so we don't have to get a crisis loan which we can't afford to pay back and in all honesty don't see why we should when it is their fault.

Of course you should pay back a crisis loan. You are not entitled to extra free money because of an error - even if it is an error on their part, the original error was yours (ie the bank account scenario).

I understand you say you have nothing to pawn or sell, that is unfortunate. Nonetheless, your attitude needs some work - yes you are in receipt of benefits but you should be doing everything in your power to make sure your family have food and warmth. At the end of the day, the people that work for the DWP will go home to a hot meal and a hot bath - and will not give you or your family a second thought.

krisskross

Are you getting child benefit and tax credits paid into your new account? When that goes in it will tide you over. I assume you have them paid weekly.

No one who can lend you £20? You could all eat well with that much for a week.