Bank Charges Financial Hardship Success Stories

lauraj87

stormcreator wrote: »

Hi all,note that there has been no new htread regarding claiming back bank charges under financial hardship for sometime,I'm currently trying to help my partner claim back via this method and wondered if anyone has been successfull recently?

I am currently trying this method, just so you know, you have to take into account the household income, not personal income so if you live together he has to give details of your incomings and outgoings too. Also if you have credit cards or loans they do not take these into account, only bills that litterally have to be paid to keep the roof over your head.

hayton2k3

natweststaffmember wrote: »

Laura, really you need to get the list of charges cos you have no idea how much of the charges in total is owed and what will happen when the OFT test case issues are resolved? How can you negotiate a higher amount if you have no idea how much you have been charged?

I do understand what you are doing but I personally think it is a mistake to accept an amount without even knowing how much you are owed. Good luck and anyone else reading this, please do not go this route for the reasons I have outlined already.

where did she say she never knew charges amounts?
i wrote it because ALL letters are upstairs,and i know amount if i go up and check,
it was spare of the momeny i phoned so didnt have time to go and get it,
they said once court is over you can get remaining amount minus what they give if its in our favour,
most of the people here know their amounts like i said was a argument over £6 caused me to phone them up

natweststaffmember

lauraj87 wrote: »

I called and although they said they could see more was going out than coming in, because they do not take into account credit cards and loans I still had a slight bit of disposable income so they could not offer me any refunds. They did waiver the £50 charges that were due to come out of my account next week so that's good, but I have approx £500 in charges to claim. I am now calling them to explain that I have a £2000 British Gas electric bill due to the fact that BG messed up as we are in a new property and have now landed us with a huge bill. So if they add this to my owing outgoings this may add up to be financial hardship. Just waiting to speak to someone now.

Thanks for your advise natweststaffmember, I know how much I have owing to me and have written several letters in the last few months to try and claim it back, and now I am calling to see if I can get a better response!

Don't forget to reclaim the credit card charges as well

natweststaffmember

hayton2k3 wrote: »

where did she say she never knew charges amounts?
i wrote it because ALL letters are upstairs,and i know amount if i go up and check,
it was spare of the momeny i phoned so didnt have time to go and get it,
they said once court is over you can get remaining amount minus what they give if its in our favour,
most of the people here know their amounts like i said was a argument over £6 caused me to phone them up

hayton, on your post you put amount offered £174.00
amount: didn't take a note.
I merely read your post. I answer literally hundreds of posts each week so I can only infer from what is written what someone is doing or has done . Apologies, but I don;t agree with a telephone approach to reclaiming bank charges unless any offer is specifically sent out in writing for an agreement to be reached.

EDIT: on Laura's post, it didn;t say she did know the amounts either so again I can only infer or guess what is written on a post.

hayton2k3

yes i sent a letter,
i have copies of all letters in a file upstairs,
like i said it was just a moment of frustration in which i phoned,
i claimed hardship via letter and filled the form in and was denied,

you actually think the "BEST" approach is sit and do nothing?
thats not the right attitude in life,

what ever way gets results is the way to go,
less than 2 hours and i had a decision and was told i will receive te letter in upto 5 days

what do people have to lose by phoning up?
nothing

i know where your coming from though

natweststaffmember

hayton2k3 wrote: »

yes i sent a letter,
i have copies of all letters in a file upstairs,
like i said it was just a moment of frustration in which i phoned,
i claimed hardship via letter and filled the form in and was denied,

you actually think the "BEST" approach is sit and do nothing?
thats not the right attitude in life,
The approach I have always had is to argue the case in writing and see whether the offer can be increased based on the individuals circumstances. Furthermore, some people can be talked into things that they wouldn't be in writing ie managed loans for example which is not in their best interests. While you are awaiting for their offer can you check how much you are owed in total?
You are aware that they pay it into the account where the funds have been take from, right?
Are you receiving charges today?
what ever way gets results is the way to go,
less than 2 hours and i had a decision and was told i will receive te letter in upto 5 days

what do people have to lose by phoning up?
nothing

i know where your coming from though

Appreciate your post

hayton2k3

no i dont get charges,
im with NATWEST now and dont go overdrawn or anything,
i still have HSBC bank but choose not to use it,
yes they said they will pay into my account once they receive my signed letter,
funds without interest took out are £230(not a lot),
im currently on JSA and £174 is approx 1months funds for me in hard times,

obviously if we "DONT" get refunded im £174 better off and if we "DO" get refunded i will get £230 + interest - £174 as said on the phone,

mooooo

With the help of Legal Beagles I have been refunded £1039

Natwest
Claim Amount:£917
Received £1039

I had to send letters and my proof in three times before they acknowledged me on 11th September, I then resent my proof and filled in their IE the very next day. To be clear I had already sent a very detailed letter about my situation and included proof of all my arrears.
I was declined hardship and sent to collections, despite having a 2.5k deficit in finds every month and £917 in charges in 3 months.
I then sent around 100 red collection letters, default notices, etc to collections and again to customer response unit. I also emailed the ceo about my case.
They reviewed my case and then asked for my cards to be sent back (i had already chopped them up and was using a parachute acc)

3 weeks after i sent my cards back I received an offer letter stating they wanted to make me an exceptional offer lol (it was - I was only expecting 60% of my charges back)

All I can say is everyone claiming hardship must not give up, be very detailed, very prompt and ask for a review if denied hardship and if all else fails go to the fos.

If it wasnt for the support and help received by the beagles I would have given up and filed for bankruptcy.

raybeb2005

first time on here but has anyone else registred with a company to get their charges back??i have and have had no joy as of yet, can i stop using them and go for it myself or will they still charge me???

leemrobinson

raybeb2005 wrote: »

first time on here but has anyone else registred with a company to get their charges back??i have and have had no joy as of yet, can i stop using them and go for it myself or will they still charge me???

I cannot understand why people would register with a company and pay them to claim charges back on your behalf. Its a free process that consists of sending a couple of letters to your bank (you don't even have to think up what to write as the template letters on this site are already written) and then you need patience.

All that these companies will do is exactly the same as aboce but will take a massive chunk (upto 60%) of any refund.

Madness.