Fiancial hardship question

Gavzee83

Hello there. I have been reading your fiancial hardship pages with interest.
Can I claim for fiancial hardship if I have received over £1000 in charges over 9 months between 2007-2008, but I am currently managing to make ends meet?

natweststaffmember

Gavzee83 wrote: »

Hello there. I have been reading your fiancial hardship pages with interest.
Can I claim for fiancial hardship if I have received over £1000 in charges over 9 months between 2007-2008, but I am currently managing to make ends meet?

There is nothing that stops you reclaiming bank charges but if you do not have priority debt arrears then they may well decline to look at it until after the OFT test case issues have been concluded.

cyril82

natweststaffmember wrote: »

There is nothing that stops you reclaiming bank charges but if you do not have priority debt arrears then they may well decline to look at it until after the OFT test case issues have been concluded.

natwest certainly will decline it thats for sure, i had a nightmare last year, my import business was killed off when the pound took a dive against the dollar, my construction based business was hammered by the housing market crash (caused in no small part by natwest and its parent bank the multi billion pound black hole for tax payers money that is R.B.S) as my business was working on new build houses.

i ended up with no work for severeal months and money got really tight, i quickly got through my savings as i was not entitled to any job seekers as i had two businesses, even though they were not doing any trade youre still classed as a "going concern" luckily seeing that prior to getting well and truely credit crunched to within an inch of my life i was highish earner with excellent payment records with my creditors most of them gave me some leway until i eventually, early into the new year pulled myself back from the brink.

I'm now back working and one of my businesses is trading again but during the few months of financial hardship i was in where i ended up penniless and unable to pay the mortgage, just about keepin the lights on and food on the table there was one bank there to kick me while i was down and that was Natwest, charging £800 in fees for a couple of missed direct debits and overlimit fees, (i wasn't over limit untill they applied those unlawful charges) and i contacted them to claim financial hardship and ask that they stop applying these unlawful charges, and do you know what i was told by natwest? you've still got your house so you must be getting money from somewhere which means your not in financial hardship. Checky b**%**d.

what if gordon brown took that attitude when the banks went begging?? they would't even still exist let alone still becharging people unlawfully.

These banks would do well to remember, you are not high and mighty, you are low down, on your knees, begging for money bankrupts saved only by us, your customers, the tax payer, not mr brown, it was our money he gave you now show some respect for the fact we saved your no good bankrupt backsides AND PAY BACK THOSE CHARGES!! you theiving little..............:lipsrseal

Sorry, that turned into a vent, but what i meant to say was, to the op, if there is a way out of considering your case they'll find it and according to my phone conversation with natwest when i tried to claim financial hardship, not living on the streets counts as not being in financial hardship, so unless your posting on here from a bus shelter, they probably think you're fine

natweststaffmember

Are you claiming the charges back? Is the account sole trader or Ltd company? NatWest are paying out and are not as bad as others are but the definition of Financial Hardship is so disjointed across the board that it is difficult to say what is FH and what is not.

cyril82

natweststaffmember wrote: »

Are you claiming the charges back? Is the account sole trader or Ltd company? NatWest are paying out and are not as bad as others are but the definition of Financial Hardship is so disjointed across the board that it is difficult to say what is FH and what is not.

it was a personal account and i am not claiming them back at present as i only paid 250 of the £800 before i decided i'd rather dispute now than pay and reclaim so thats what i'm doing.

i now do my personal banking with barclays where i do my business banking and who were excellent and far more flexible with me during the difficult period i experienced than i could have ever imagined, they even paid some bills for me when my account maxed out its overdraft and yes they charged me, but they also paid the bill for me and allowed me a month to repay it, thats a service as they did something to justify the charge, i.e pay the bill and essentially loan me the money for a month, that i don't mind paying for.

But £800 for two missed direct debits that were then cancelled, Natwest, your having a laugh.

(by the way when i say natwest, i mean the bank i'm not directing my rant at you natweststaffmember despite your obvious sins)

natweststaffmember

I don't take offence and I don't work for the bank now cos I sinned against them

Gavzee83

natweststaffmember wrote: »

There is nothing that stops you reclaiming bank charges but if you do not have priority debt arrears then they may well decline to look at it until after the OFT test case issues have been concluded.

I have already sent a letter reclaiming my banks charges, but got the typical, 'we are waiting for the OFT test case to be concluded'.

I could always send a fiancial hardship letter to Halifax anyways, nothing to lose. Could I just use this websites template letter, but say that I am in financial hardship due to over £500 in charges over a year?

natweststaffmember

Gavzee83 wrote: »

I have already sent a letter reclaiming my banks charges, but got the typical, 'we are waiting for the OFT test case to be concluded'.

I could always send a fiancial hardship letter to Halifax anyways, nothing to lose. Could I just use this websites template letter, but say that I am in financial hardship due to over £500 in charges over a year?

Here is the exact wording of the FSA Waiver on bank charges with regards to financial hardship.

"2.
In making an assessment of financial difficulty the firm will take into account:
a.
evidence of changes in lifestyle, including loss of employment; disability; serious illness; imprisonment; relationship breakdown; death of a partner; starting a lower paid job; parental/carer leave; and starting full-time education;
b.
evidence of the following events:
i.
items repeatedly being returned unpaid due to lack of available funds;
ii.
failing to make loan repayments or other commitments;
iii.
discontinuation of regular credits;
iv.
notification of some form of insolvency or court proceedings;
v.
regular requests for increased borrowing or repeated rescheduling of debts;
vi.
making frequent cash withdrawals on a credit card at a non-promotional rate of interest; and
vii.
repeatedly exceeding a credit card or overdraft limit without agreement (and, in this regard, where a complainant has incurred over £500 in unauthorised overdraft charges in the previous 12 months, that is to be treated as indicative of financial difficulty)."

The key word above is "that is to be treated as indicative of financial difficulty" and not this is financial difficulty so you have to refund now.
You need to find one from 2(a) and as many as you can from 2(b).

Thriftkitten

natweststaffmember wrote: »

I don't take offence and I don't work for the bank now cos I sinned against them

SIN.... Sscmin!!
A sin that you will most defo be forgiven for!