Financial Hardship - Is my case unusual?

Whalter

Hello, I have read the article, I have looked through the forum and I can't find anyone who has been in the same situation as me!

I wanted to apply for my bank charges but unfortunately I set about it as they were frozen.

I subscribe to the MSE newsletter so when I saw the thing about Financial Hardship, I decided to apply.

I have a fairly well paid job, but we had a baby last year and my partner didnt quality for maternity leave, we were a little short and payments on many things started being missed, we got charges for not having enough moeny in the account, and more for going over my overdraft. (all this on top of MANY charges I must have got while I was a student)

I rang my bank (Barclays) to find out about this, and I asked about sending them a letter, and they said there was no need - they said I could answer questions over the phone. So I answered everything they asked.

A few weeks later I recieved a letter apologising, but informing me that I did not qualify for the financial hardship exemption to claiming back charges.

I decided to cross my fingers that the House Of Lords would find that the charges weer unfair and waited for the freeze to be lifted to re apply in normal circumstances. Until the mail came this morning...

Bare in mind - I have sent them no letters, I have not even asked for statements or added up how much in charges they owe me...

I have just received a letter telling me that because I got in touch with them in August 2008, they have put over £500 in my account as a gesture of good will and they consider this matter closed!

:T

Now while this is a good thing, I don't know what to do next? Does this mean that they do consider me in financial hardship? Does this mean I can now get in touch with them and say this isn't enough?

Do I now need to ask for my statements and work out how much I have been charged?

I am assuming it will take time to get statements from them, do I:

A - Ask for statements, when they arrive, add charges up, then send them a reply todays letter

B - Replay to this letter saying I don't feel it's enough and ask for my statements at the same time.

C - Send a reply to them immediately thanking them for the gesture but saying I didn't feel it was enough and I would be back in touch with them, then ask for my statements in a seperate letter.



Apologies if answers to these are around, but I did look and I couldn't find anyone else who had quite the same situation!

Thanks,

Chris - happy, shocked, excited and confused!

natweststaffmember

I would do (A) Ask for the statements regardless of anything and write back to them and say that you accept their interim payment to you for your bank charges claim but you reserve the right to pursue charges that fall above the £500. The matter is DEFINITELY NOT closed.

esmerellda

If you could possibly type up the paragraph about it being goodwill and the matter being closed it would be very interesting.

Barclays are randomly paying out at the moment and not just on hardship cases either.

Be interested to see if they think the waiver no longer applies to them.

Well done on this hope it helps you out a bit.

And Thank you.

Whalter

esmerellda wrote: »

If you could possibly type up the paragraph about it being goodwill and the matter being closed it would be very interesting.

Barclays are randomly paying out at the moment and not just on hardship cases either.

Be interested to see if they think the waiver no longer applies to them.

Well done on this hope it helps you out a bit.

And Thank you.

I'm a pretty fast typer so here is the whole thing (minus my bank account details, and probably with a few extra spelling mistakes!) Probably would have been faster to plug the scanner in but never mind...


"I am writing to you in connection with your complaint regarding unauthorised overdraft charges and the financial claim you made in August 2008.

As we explained in our previous letters, in agreement with the Financial Services Authority (FSA) all complaints regarding unauthorised overdraft charges remain on hold and will be dealt with once the legal proceedings between the banks of the Office of Fair Trading are concluded. Your unauthorised overdraft charges complaint reference number is ******

With regards to your claim of financial difficulty, we have as part of our commitment to our customers recently, revised our policy for dealing with these claims.

As part of this commitment, I can comfirm that your claim has been re-assessed by our specialist team - Consumer Finance Debt Management. In accordance with our new policy, and having reviewed the information available, we have accepted your claim of financial difficulty.

I confirm the sum of £546.76 will be transferred to your account number ****** as a gesture of good will. I have now closed your financial difficulty claim.

In addition to this gesture of good will, we may also be able to provide guidance, to assist you in other ways to manage your financial situation. Please contact our Specialist team Consumer Finance Debt Management, on 0845 300 0442 should you wish to discuss this with us.

I have also enclosed our leaflet "How To Keep Your Finances On Track". Alternatively you may need to speak with the Debt Counsilling Organisation, and their details can be found in the attached banking code.

In the event that we are ordered, whether by a court or a regulatory body, or otherwise, to make any payment in respect of your unauthorised overdraft charges complaint. Such payment will be made, less he ammount of the good will payment we are making now.

I hope this payment will alleviate any ongoing financial difficulties you may be experiencing. Should you be dissatisfied with the outcome of your financial difficulty claim, please refur to the enclosed Financial Onbudsman Service leaflet which outlines your rights and includes their contact details.

For the purposes f the FOS process we have followed Barclays complaint proceedure, and you may consider this letter to be our "final response" to your financial difficulty claim. You have 6 months from the date of this letter should you wish to refur your claim to the FOS for investigation.

Your sincerely

Customer Relations Manager

Whalter

Has anyone else had letter's like this?

I'm curious to know what esmerellda and others in the know think of it.

Chris.

natweststaffmember

It sounds to me that what they are saying is that it is closing the financial hardship element of the claim while to rest of the claim is on hold.