Bank Charges Financial Hardship Success Stories

natweststaffmember

paulthedude34 wrote: »

hi all can any 1 please advise me from hear in dispute with ltsb they admititted that im in hardship so ive taken my complaint to the fos and they are looking into it has any 1 had any success with there claim from the fos cheers Paul

Apologies Paul, hope you don't mind me taking your case back one step.
Do you have priority debt arrears(mortgage/rent, council tax, utilities)?
Are any of the arrears being paid off?

Did LloydsTSB state you weren't in hardship and why they felt that you didn't qualify?

georgiabloggs

hi i am new to money saving expert so dont have a clue what i am doind i have bank charges of over 1000 so i used the template letter from here to reclaim under financial hardship a few days later i recieved a letter to say my complaint had been logged and they would be in touch within 4 weeks although they aim to do this sooner. however after reading stories on here regarding looyds tsb they seem to be trying to put people on hold from claiming charges even once hardship has been approved. where do i turn from here do i try and phone my bank to see where its at or wait and see what becomes after 4 weeks please someone advise me of stories regarding lloyds tsb thanks all xxxxx

natweststaffmember

georgiabloggs wrote: »

hi i am new to money saving expert so dont have a clue what i am doind i have bank charges of over 1000 so i used the template letter from here to reclaim under financial hardship a few days later i recieved a letter to say my complaint had been logged and they would be in touch within 4 weeks although they aim to do this sooner. however after reading stories on here regarding looyds tsb they seem to be trying to put people on hold from claiming charges even once hardship has been approved. where do i turn from here do i try and phone my bank to see where its at or wait and see what becomes after 4 weeks please someone advise me of stories regarding lloyds tsb thanks all xxxxx

Well, they haven't said you are in hardship yet so if you have priority debt arrears(mortgage/rent, council tax, utilities) then I would have sent an income and expenditure form as well but they have acknowledged the claim to start with which at least means that they have received it.

kenstu64

Nationwide will do anything to avoid refunding the bank charges that they have caused me. I had to complete their Income & Expenses form twice, and a month later they told my my earnings were too high! I was and am on £59.88 per week, how on earth can my earnings be too high? It turns out they have used money I had saved for my wedding in August, and had been forced to use to cover my charges, was included as income as it was recredited to my current account. They also used money being paid-out in Direct Debits, and then recredited to my current account becuase there was not enough money, as additional income because it was shown on the "credits" column. They even included a £2.20 credit, which clearly was shown on my bank statement as travel expenses refund from DWP. I have involved the FOS, but so far they have laughed in their face, and continue to refuse to give me my money back. As such my fiancee and I have now had to downscale our wedding quite considerably as all of my savings has been spent Nationwide fatcat bonuses. It isn't entirely true therefore that banks give in once the Ombudsman have been involved.

Debbyr63

This is a bit late sorry!!! :embarasse

My husband lost his job end Nov last year & I was already long term sick & on Icap.

I had already reclaimed with Woolwich/Barclays just as the hold came into force :huh:

I called them straight away & asked they look again because of financial hardship, I recieved an income & expenditure form the next day!!!! I sent it back & waited !!

2 weeks later I checked my account on line to see what money I didnt have! I was shocked to find £1250 in my account!!! I got the letter the next day to say they had considered my request & felt that £1250 was fair - I had claimed £3750 inc interest!!! So I had been given 1/3! I have also been told they will consider the outstanding amount at the end of the waiver!!! & I have kept my account & got a £150 for 'emergency's'

I then decided to go after Abbey who's charges amounted to £4800 inc interest. I called them & they also sent income & expenditure form.

This was now Feburary & we were behind with the mortgage, at the end of March they credited my account with £3200!!!!! :j & the plus bit was they didnt close my account!! they reduced my ovedraftt from £1300 to £850 but hey - who cares!!!!

I recieved a letter to say the payment was to 'help with mortgage arrears'

So far I have reclaimed £7650 in bank & credit card charges!!! :j:j

Debbyr63

My brother is also claiming from the Nationwide & they are also saying a simular thing to him!!!

He is a lorry driver & has expenses like fuel, meals, nights out etc even tho his employers have confirmed his wages & also confirmed by P60 - Nationwide are saying basically he is lying about his wages cos the credit each week is for more than he has told them he earns!!! he has prove that expenses are not part of his earnings but they are refusing to budge.

I am helping him as I have had a few successes & dont intend to give up!! dont you give up either the more the FOS sees of their unfairness the more likely it is they will take action!!!!

Keep going it'll be worth it in the end !!!!!!

techtitch

Bank: Natwest

Amount Reclaimed: From about £300 in the red to £226 in credit

Amount they paid: £226 cheque and closed the account

How long did it take: 7 months, although it took 10 days once the Ombudsman had accepted our claim, even though we wrote to them before Natwest's 'final response' (which they refused to issue until we'd involved the Ombudsman).

The story:

I unwittingly went 33p overdrawn in 2006 due to overseas withdrawl charge, they stopped sending statements and started charging £28 per month. Returned to the UK 2008 and queried and was told I was over £300 in debt, and they were insulting and aggressive on the phone blaming me for not checking my (non-existent) statements. Over 6 months I wrote to them following their instructions, my claim was taken by two departments who refused to talk to each other and issued conflicting demands, referred me to a debt agency who threatened bayliffs, they lost my letters, asking me the same questions many times, etc, whatever they could to avoid giving me a 'final response' the Ombudsman needs, all the time charging me £28 a month plus considerable interest. Then they tried offering to close the account. I said not good enough - it should be £210 in credit. When they asked me to fill out a hardship form the third time and I'd read here they are just delaying, I contacted the Ombudsman. Within about 3 weeks the Ombudsman wrote accepting the case (because it was clear I'd done my part attempting to resolve the issue), and asked Natwest directly for a final statement. 10 days later Natwest called to say they would close the account and send me a cheque for £226 - this includes interest charged on charges and exceeded my highest hopes, (as by refunding interest, it included what I would have earnt had my account been in credit).

They repeatedly attempted to intimidate me, then force me into premature closure, they referred me to an aggressive debt agency, they threatened bayliffs, set deadlines for me to repay, continued to take charges and interest, and their phone staff were clearly told to intimidate. PERSEVERE. If it wasn't for this website I'd have caved in, now I'm over 500 important pounds better off.

tomtita1

update .
im a fairly happy bunny today , having received offers on my 2 accounts . went for £4300 odd and received offers of just over £3000 .
i might add that natwest were more than efficient in processing my complaint ,in fact under 3 weeks !! ok im still £1300 or so short , but i believe if the test case goes our way , well its money in the bank to retrieve it again .

so this has got the bulk of my debts paid now .
everybody just keep at them !!

jimthediver

Bank: Abbey
Amount reclaimed: £1975.88
Amount they paid: £1635.81
How long did they take: First letter to Abbey 10/05/07, FOS referral: 08/04/08, Hardship claim: 21/05/09, Paid out on 20/07/09.

The total payout thus far clears my outstanding unsecured overdraft to Abbey.
1 down, 2 to go. Abbey's letter to me following this decision states that the remainder of my claim will be processed following the decision on the test case.

Bank: Barclays
Amount reclaimed: £1075.96
Amount they paid: £292.71
How long did they take: First letter to Barclays 10/05/07, FOS referral: 08/04/08, Hardship claim: 21/05/09, Paid out on 15/07/09.

I owe Barclays nothing at the moment, about the only bank that this is the case! They have also said that pending the test case decision the remainder of my claim is on hold. When this is paid out (as in my opinion they are only delaying the inevitable, unless they manage to buy a couple of peers!), that will clear one of my outstanding credit cards completely!

Stick in there money savers! Its taken me nearly 2 years but they are finally paying back what they stole. I would be interested to hear from any legally qualified money savers as to their opinion if the banks actions would constitute an offence under the Proceeds of Crime act
:money:

MSE_Jenny

The News of the World is doing a story on complaints to the Financial Ombudsman.

The journalist is looking to interview people who’ve complained to the ombudsman about any of the following three areas: payment protection insurance (PPI), bank charges and credit card charges.

If you would like to take part, please send me a private message, including your name and the best telephone number to get you on.

Thanks very much.