Got a letter from Lloyds re: Hardship Claim!!

bossdog

I am trying to gte my charges back from Lloyds TSB, we have been rallying letters back and forth for about two months now, each time I reply to them they send me a letter saying they are looking into my complaint and will be in touch.

I spoke to them on the phone about financial hardship (which they conceded I was in having lost my job) but didn't offer anything further. So i wrote again and received a reply on Friday where they acknowledged I was in hardship but at the end of the letter they have written

"we appreciate that you may have wanted to have your complaint dealt with more quickly, however let us assure you there is little point in writing to us again regarding your claim - as we will be back in touch following any important develoments in the test case."

Is it just me or is that really rude?! I was quite cross about the tone of the letter and it's made me more determined than ever to get my money back but I'm not sure what the next stage is? Should I threaten them with the ombudsmen or go straight to them? Hope someone can help!

carlos1973

Banks have 8 weeks from the first letter to deal with a hardship claim.
I would reccommend contacting the FOS especially as their last letter implies that they are waiting for the conclusion of the test case.
You say they admit you are in hardship, have they sent you income and expenditure forms, do you have any priority debts?

bossdog

I completed an income/expenditure assessment with a guy at LLoyds over the phone in March and he said at the time that I was in hardship (lost my jobs after living on maternity pay for 9 months) and that he would make a note on my account.. Lloyds definatly seem to be the most difficult, I can't find any success stories for hardship claims?!

carlos1973

IMO if they have admitted you are in hardship then they should consider your claim under the hardship provision. If they are not doing this and 8 weeks have passed I would definitely refer it to the FOS

Debt_Slayer

I'm claiming with Lloyds too. Have been since late 2007 and i have recently gone to claiming hardship as i've taken a substantial drop in salary and have priority debts, thebank charged me for being overdrawn once, then took a DD return charge which left me short. I cant pluck money out of thin air and the following debit was returned, leaving me overdrawn and i was charged again.
I have proved their charges directly had a detrimental effect on my finances but all i got was the same letter you got.

I think they look at each claimant and say, "if you're gonna use template letters, so are we" and thats what they do.

My claim is for just short of £6000, in their letter they say from their investigations i MAY be experiencing financial difficulties. Note that their wording of that isn't agreeing i'm in financial hardship.
I've drafted another letter up, along with my CCCS expenditure list, i'm also going to include a copy of the Annexe 2 section of the waiver, highlighting the FOS recommendations to assess my claim regardless of the test case.

Every other bank is paying out when you're persistant.

natweststaffmember

bossdog wrote: »

I completed an income/expenditure assessment with a guy at LLoyds over the phone in March and he said at the time that I was in hardship (lost my jobs after living on maternity pay for 9 months) and that he would make a note on my account.. Lloyds definatly seem to be the most difficult, I can't find any success stories for hardship claims?!

Do you have any priority debt arrears(mortgage/rent, council tax, utilities)?

natweststaffmember

Debt_Slayer wrote: »

I'm claiming with Lloyds too. Have been since late 2007 and i have recently gone to claiming hardship as i've taken a substantial drop in salary and have priority debts, thebank charged me for being overdrawn once, then took a DD return charge which left me short. I cant pluck money out of thin air and the following debit was returned, leaving me overdrawn and i was charged again.
I have proved their charges directly had a detrimental effect on my finances but all i got was the same letter you got.

I think they look at each claimant and say, "if you're gonna use template letters, so are we" and thats what they do.

My claim is for just short of £6000, in their letter they say from their investigations i MAY be experiencing financial difficulties. Note that their wording of that isn't agreeing i'm in financial hardship.
I've drafted another letter up, along with my CCCS expenditure list, i'm also going to include a copy of the Annexe 2 section of the waiver, highlighting the FOS recommendations to assess my claim regardless of the test case.

Every other bank is paying out when you're persistant.

I think I might have asked this before, do you have any priority debt arrears? Have you made arrangements with creditor of priority debts through CCCS?

Debt_Slayer

natweststaffmember wrote: »

I think I might have asked this before, do you have any priority debt arrears? Have you made arrangements with creditor of priority debts through CCCS?

All CCCS have done is provided advice, i'm not on a dmp as i have a deficit so have no money to pay creditors. I've contacted the priority debts and arranged repayments.
I'm going to telephone Lloyds Andover tomorrow and see where i get though i suspoect nowhere. I just want them to know i'm not going to go away and i will continue to pursue my claim until i am successfgully paid out.
It seems all the other banks have been awarding claims so they must know they're gonna lose their appeal? I just think Lloyds are dragging their feet due to their losses last year, government bail out etc

bossdog

I try to keep everything up to date but it means I have little money left for food and I am struggling to keep up with my sons nursery bill every month, I still owe them about £100 from last months bill.

natweststaffmember

Debt_Slayer wrote: »

All CCCS have done is provided advice, i'm not on a dmp as i have a deficit so have no money to pay creditors. I've contacted the priority debts and arranged repayments.
I'm going to telephone Lloyds Andover tomorrow and see where i get though i suspoect nowhere. I just want them to know i'm not going to go away and i will continue to pursue my claim until i am successfgully paid out.
It seems all the other banks have been awarding claims so they must know they're gonna lose their appeal? I just think Lloyds are dragging their feet due to their losses last year, government bail out etc

Unfortunately, the above might be the bank get out clause because you have made arrangements for repayments. Hardship and bank bailout/losses are not interrelated.

natweststaffmember

bossdog wrote: »

I try to keep everything up to date but it means I have little money left for food and I am struggling to keep up with my sons nursery bill every month, I still owe them about £100 from last months bill.

The bank may well not see that as financial hardship.