abbey disgust

whiteroom184

hi all,

after a bit of advice and a bit of a rant

claimed hardship via barclays and abbey this year, barclays no probs really good paid within a week. abbey on the other hand...........

completed self asst and returned, 3 weeks later had letter stating, "they could not agree i am experiencing financial difficulties as i had not priorotised my debts". i then wrote back to them the same day, a 4 page handwritten letter explaining my financial difficulties, lots of heartwrenching stuff, priorotised my debts and copies of all my loan agreements.

today i recieve a letter off them stating that i have not "provided them with evidence of any arrears on my priority bills". as stated in my previous letter the reason i wanted this resolved was because i did not want arrears in on my priority bills and this settlement would enable me to keep upto date with them for at least another 2 months (£917).

in short i am disgusted that abbey will only consider my claim if i fall into arears, i think this sucks:mad:

any advice would be welcome

have thought about going to ombudsman, but by the time it is reviewed etc, i will be back at work, thank the lord!

thefourbennetts

I am in the process of claiming and the letter that have gone back and forth. However, my last letter was Abbey basically saying they are not at fault but the courts have said everyone currently claiming have to be told that the courts may rule in the customers favour etc. Now, I am just a sitting duck.

I would be cross if I were you. Dont give up though. Stick with the standard letter process on this site to follow to the end. Abbey will put up walls at every stage but still, they have to pay out in the end if the courts favour it. I am sure they just hope you will get bored at some stage.

natweststaffmember

whiteroom184 wrote: »

hi all,

after a bit of advice and a bit of a rant

claimed hardship via barclays and abbey this year, barclays no probs really good paid within a week. abbey on the other hand...........

completed self asst and returned, 3 weeks later had letter stating, "they could not agree i am experiencing financial difficulties as i had not priorotised my debts". i then wrote back to them the same day, a 4 page handwritten letter explaining my financial difficulties, lots of heartwrenching stuff, priorotised my debts and copies of all my loan agreements.

today i recieve a letter off them stating that i have not "provided them with evidence of any arrears on my priority bills". as stated in my previous letter the reason i wanted this resolved was because i did not want arrears in on my priority bills and this settlement would enable me to keep upto date with them for at least another 2 months (£917).

in short i am disgusted that abbey will only consider my claim if i fall into arears, i think this sucks:mad:

any advice would be welcome

have thought about going to ombudsman, but by the time it is reviewed etc, i will be back at work, thank the lord!

Priority debts is mortgage/rent, council tax, utilities arrears. I know you said you have loan arrears but they are not priority debt arrears. Did the barclays payout help to clear your priority debt arrears? Did you mention that when you claimed as well?

whiteroom184

natweststaffmember wrote: »

Priority debts is mortgage/rent, council tax, utilities arrears. I know you said you have loan arrears but they are not priority debt arrears. Did the barclays payout help to clear your priority debt arrears? Did you mention that when you claimed as well?

hi natweststaffmember.

currently i have no arrears as last year i overhauled my finances with the help of this site. the point i am trying to make is that i have advised abbey that unless an agreement in my favour is made within the next 4 weeks i will begin to fall into arrears. now i know abbey's status is they have done no wrong, but i am annoyed at their refusal to acknowledge "discontinuation of regular credits" i.e redundancy. i think its disgusting that to gain back the £917, i have to incur charges from arrears probably totaling the same before they even look at it!

but any advice gladly taken

natweststaffmember

whiteroom184 wrote: »

hi natweststaffmember.

currently i have no arrears as last year i overhauled my finances with the help of this site. the point i am trying to make is that i have advised abbey that unless an agreement in my favour is made within the next 4 weeks i will begin to fall into arrears. now i know abbey's status is they have done no wrong, but i am annoyed at their refusal to acknowledge "discontinuation of regular credits" i.e redundancy. i think its disgusting that to gain back the £917, i have to incur charges from arrears probably totaling the same before they even look at it!

but any advice gladly taken

Unfortunately, without priority debt arrears I agree with Abbey and the FOS will do the same. That is how financial hardship claims work. You have to have one factor, redundancy(you have that) and priority debt arrears(you havent got them yet) which means for yourself, you have an element that could indicate hardship but it is not yet hardship.

whiteroom184

thanks natweststaffmember,

just think it sucks big style, surely the financial institutions are meant to help us manage our money, will just have to wait eh!

jos004

whiteroom184 wrote: »

thanks natweststaffmember,

just think it sucks big style, surely the financial institutions are meant to help us manage our money, will just have to wait eh!

D'you know what really annoys me with the hardship exemption waiver, is the fact that the FSA said that it covers loans and cc debt, exceeding an overdraft by £500. It is not meant to be limited to priority payments.

natweststaffmember

jos004 wrote: »

D'you know what really annoys me with the hardship exemption waiver, is the fact that the FSA said that it covers loans and cc debt, exceeding an overdraft by £500. It is not meant to be limited to priority payments.

I think the waiver is badly worded and the £500 plus the other factors are merely indicators that someone could be in financial hardship. I hope that if and when it is renewed in July that these factors are taken into consideration.

hayston

natweststaffmember wrote: »

Unfortunately, without priority debt arrears I agree with Abbey and the FOS will do the same. That is how financial hardship claims work. You have to have one factor, redundancy(you have that) and priority debt arrears(you havent got them yet) which means for yourself, you have an element that could indicate hardship but it is not yet hardship.

Hi,
just to give you some hope.
I rec'd in feb 09 a 6,000.00+ refund of charges on a 10,500.00 claim.
I had no priority arrears but was was way short of meeting my non-prioity every month.
Hang in there.

whiteroom184

hayston wrote: »

Hi,
just to give you some hope.
I rec'd in feb 09 a 6,000.00+ refund of charges on a 10,500.00 claim.
I had no priority arrears but was was way short of meeting my non-prioity every month.
Hang in there.

hi hayston,

what did you do? just keep badgering them?

hayston

whiteroom184 wrote: »

hi hayston,

what did you do? just keep badgering them?

Hi,
Yes, Kept in regular contact by phone.
Have to say no complaints in the way abbey handled it.
Good Luck