Bank Charges Financial Hardship Success Stories

psychicgary

yes i just receved my full 1.3k for hardship interim payment from barclays 19 june 2009

spacetraveller

I have received a letter from natwest this morning saying they will refund my charges. They want my servicecard back, not a problem though as already have a basic account with them. When that has been returned they will send me an offer letter. I'll keep you updated and hopefully it will all work out!! :beer:

scotslass123

I recently received £4220 from Abbey through the hardship criteria and still have my Abbey account with no problems - I initially sent my template letters to London address yes, although you could send a copy to your local branch who will forward it on to the "hardship team" - remember recorded delivery though ! Good luck !!

LUCY1979_2

I was just wondering if anyone has had any real problems with their bank after being successful with a claim? I have heard that on occasion they have just shut acounts down. I really want to make a claim but I am a little concerned about what would happen with my overdraft etc- could they just shut the account and demand the overdraft to be paid straight away?

chris_spackman

Had a payout from Abbey today for £584.13.

I am claiming just over £1k and am sending a letter off to say that i acknowledge the payment but will expect the remainder to be paid out at the end of the test case.

awalker58

The Royal Bank of Scotland

Reclaimed:- £1,108.14

Offered:- £1,198.00

Hey guys, I just want to thank you for all your help.
Using your templates I have today received a letter from RBS offering the above amount.

Background:-

I had previously used your original claim template to claim back £1,004.00; a few days later I had a reply from my branch stating that all claims were on hold pending the test case outcome and that my claim had been 'filed' with the rest.

Following this letter I decided to go down the hardship route as I'm now on state benefits, and just for the cheek of it decided that because I felt RBS were being difficult, I would also include interest as would be awarded by the courts if I were to go down that road.

On the 8 May 2009 I sent out a letter, your template for hardship claim, and a few days later was sent a financial hardship form to complete.

On 20 May 2009 I returned the completed hardship form along with a copy of the original claim letter, a copy of the hardship claim letter and a photocopy of my Jobseekers card (signing on book) and a photocopy of my payment book for a Provident loan I have.

On 11 June 2009 I called the RBS customer response services unit and spoke to an advisor named Jo who told me that my claim was still under review but I should hear something in the next couple of days; I called back again on 15th June 2009 and spoke to Pam, she told me that I should hear something soon.

Last Friday (19 June 2009), Pam phoned me on my mobile to inform me that a decision had been made and that I would be getting a letter and today (22 June 2009) I got a letter which is as follows.............................

"Dear Mr Walker,

I refer to previous correspondence regarding charges applied to you account.

You will be aware that the bank (along with a number of other banks) has now become involved in legal proceedings with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in relation to bank charges which we believe will resolve the legal issues regarding the fairness and legality of bank charges.

We (together with the FSA and OFT) believe that it is necessary to resolve the key legal issues before we decide how we should respond to your complaint. However, concious of how this affects your financial in light of the information you have provided, I am keen to resolve your complaint an am happt to make an exeptional offer of £1,198.00.

If you wish to accept my offer, please let me know by completing the attatched form and returning it to us in the reply paid envelope provided.

Obviously, exactly what will happen in the test case is dependent on the courts. We can assure you that once the legal proceedings are completed we will apply the findings to your case and ensure that your acceptance of this payment does not prevent you from benefiting, if the legal decision is more advantageous to you.

Your right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is not affected. The FOS provides a convenient alternative to the courts and is free for consumers. However, the FOS has, at our request, decided not to determine complaints about the fairness or legality of bank charges for the time being until the court case is decided.

Yours Sincerely,

Lyn Kirkland
Senior Centre Manager "


I apologise for such a long post but this explains what I did and gives you an exact response.

As I said before, thank you very much for your help, if I can follow your processes and win then so can anybody- don't waste time, or money by going through a reclaiming agent, you really can do it all yourselves.

Another one in the bag for Martin and his Team. Cheers!!! :beer::money::T

jos004

AWalker58, well done!

debz1989

Halifax
Agreed to pay 112 into account
Less than a month

Story - not a huge amount of money, but success none the less! Wasn't too difficult, followed hardship templates and after completing incomings and outgoings form over the phone recieved letter to say they are paying full amount. So pleased! Now just need to see if they actually do! And hope for same success with TSB eventually!

songbird2

Hi is there anyone who could offer some advice please,
I went into Halifax branch and called customer relations explaining i am trying to avoid bankcrupcy, amin sever hardship the bulk of my debt is with Halifax Current account (good percentage is a years worth of bank charges alone), a Halifax visa Card, and misold CPI. i explained even though I was paying for this cover and sought advice from my branch no one ever informed me that I could have used this to cover payments - plus i had to stop work in 2003 due to long term ill health. Within a week I recieved a letter saying they thought their charges were fair but to complete their incoming and outgoing expenditure form. Q: Should I enclose relevant template letters and include the CCCS On-line Dembt Remedy Form. I also have letters from relevant supporting health profffessionals i.e Drs and Consultant letters. Has anyone gone down this route i.e making phone call first. Any suggestions, do I stand a chance based on sitiuation. I owe:
Halifax Current £1,340
Halifax Visa £900
Many thanks

lilmizsaver

Hi all, this is my first post but wish to thank everyone for their help. Been reading these pages for a while and decided to take the plunge with Natwest 4 months ago. I asked them to pay back £772.00 and I finally got a letter yesterday 22/6, Offering £1205.00, this was being considered as a hardship case. Did i want to take up the offer? hell yes, But they did downgrade my account to a savings account with a maestro card, but am not to bothered anyway about that, there bank charges are ridiculous anyway and I have switched banks aswell ( just in case). So thanks alot everyone once again, cant believe how fast its happend. Lets see how long it take them to pay out????