Novice.....

Miss_Poohs

I'm actually asking this on behalf of my husband - who bless him, has all good intentions , but never actually gets there, and who to put not to fine apoint on it is hopeless with money.

OK - my said DH has recently been hammered with bank charges, late payment charges and the like by both his credit card and bank accounts.

He is now in the situation of having a DAS inorder to repay his debts (we're in Scotland), but I'd like to know in his current situation would he still be able to apply to reclaim bank, credit card charges.

Obviously all interest on his debts has been frozen with the DAS being in place, but I also feel that he's not the banks favorite kind of customer.

Can we try to reclaim and if so how, or do you think we'd be onto plums to even attempt it?

Thanking you in advance.

natweststaffmember

Miss_Poohs wrote: »

I'm actually asking this on behalf of my husband - who bless him, has all good intentions , but never actually gets there, and who to put not to fine apoint on it is hopeless with money.

OK - my said DH has recently been hammered with bank charges, late payment charges and the like by both his credit card and bank accounts.

He is now in the situation of having a DAS inorder to repay his debts (we're in Scotland), but I'd like to know in his current situation would he still be able to apply to reclaim bank, credit card charges.

Obviously all interest on his debts has been frozen with the DAS being in place, but I also feel that he's not the banks favorite kind of customer.

Can we try to reclaim and if so how, or do you think we'd be onto plums to even attempt it?

Thanking you in advance.

Apologies for asking but what is a DAS?

proeleche

DAS stands for Debt Arrangement Scheme, a scheme backed by the Scottish Governement. All interest and charges are frozen and it allows a person to pay off most of their debts within 5 years [up to 10 years but depends on the circumstances of the case]. The scheme also prevents creditors from taking any enforcement action against the debtor.

It is my understanding that you can still claim [same as in any other debt management programme] - any refunds due will be returned to the particular creditor/debt and reduce the balance. Which is still a result and could mean you would be out of the DAS that bit sooner.

Good luck!

Miss_Poohs

Yep that's correct, although my husbands DAS was for 13yrs, he's been paying it for a 1yr now.

He claims he was mis-sold PPI by EGG to - so I'd like a stab at reclaiming that.

Over the last year or so he's paid mega on bank charges to the Halifax and it's those I'm interested in reclaiming if possible.

I'd be happy for it to go towards his debts - so getting the cash in hand isn't an issue, having said that he doesn't actually owe the Halifax anything anyway, so I don't know how that goes.

I'm really not sure where to start with this - so I'd be grateful of any info.

proeleche

Just follow martin's guidelines on the homepage for reclaiming. In my experience:

Credit card reclaiming seems to be rather quick, and any refunds due will be paid directly to the particular account.

PPI can be more lengthy, again, follow martin's guidelines and check the various sections in the forums for advice and moral support.

If he doesn't owe halifax anything and no longer has his account with them, I believe they would issue your husband with a cheque. If he still has his account, any refunds will be paid there. However, do remember that bank charge reclaiming is on hold at the moment, and unless you are in financial hardship and have priority debt arrears[rent/mortgage/CT/utilities], any claim will be put on hold pending the result of the OFT test case.

I hope this helps! If you want any help, give me a shout.

Miss_Poohs

Thank you for that Proeleche - is the DAS proof that he is actually experiencing hardship?

All the debts are his alone, as is the DAS.

Our home is jointly owned and I have made sure that the mortgage is always paid. I work part-time to help make ends meet, but it's very difficult.

proeleche

From posts that I've read, Barclays bank consider DMPs as proof of financial hardship; however, other banks aren't quite so generous.

Generally, the other banks will only award where there are priority debt arrears or there is a monthly shortfall in priority expenses. In addition, other banks may award if you face legal action against you from an unsecured creditor, but by virtue of your husband's DAS, he is protected from such action.

Halifax, from what I've read and heard, are quite stringent, and unless you have the priority debt arrears, or the monthly shortfall mentioned above, I doubt your husband would be awarded anything under the financial hardship provisions. They will just log his case awaiting the outcome of the OFT court case.

I got stick for saying this before, but submit a claim anyway, and see what happens. Again, being awarded anything is unlikely due to the fact that you are keeping your head above water, from what I can gather [even if it's just]. Unfortunately, this is the way the banks are playing it but as I said, his claim will be logged and he will get a refund depending on the outcome of the case.

Hope this helps, sorry if it's not what you wanted to hear.

Are you claiming against any credit cards? Will you be attempting to reclaim the ppi?

Miss_Poohs

Yes I think we'll have a stab at the PPI - might kust log the Halifax and see what happens.

The worst thing they can say in "No" I suppose.

Thank you for your help - its much appreciated.