co-op refuse hardship claim!

bally1208

I recentley sent in a hardship claim to co-op for an account i had with them
between 2005-2008 for overdraft charges amounting to £680. I also sent in
supporting documents with my claim .ie...final demand letters from creditors,bank statments ect...co-op have now sent me this letter:

I write with reffrence to your recent letter regaurding your current finacial difficulties and informal overdraft charges wich have been applied to your above account.

I have reveiwed your account history and i note that your account was closed in febuary 2008. In view of the time scale the bank is unable to assess wether your experiencing finacicial difficulties at the present. as there is no banking relantionship with your self we are unable to offer you assistance. you may find it benefical to contatct your current bank to disscuss your circumstances as they may be able to offer you assistance .

It is important to note that under the FSA waiver . firms have an obligation to address the finacial difficulty aspect of relevant charges complaints immeditaley, although ttis does not include an obligation to process refunds of charges before the outcome of the test case is known. your request for a refund will therefore remain on hold until the legal proceedings ae completed.


Is this true? are they able to do this ? or is this just another stalling tactic?
What do you guys think my next move should be?

natweststaffmember

Yes it is true, Financial hardship claims is about financial hardship TODAY not yesterday not last year not 5 years ago but TODAY. If the account is closed and by that I mean closed with no monies owed to them then I agree totally with them. And to give Co-op their credit, their letter is absolutely bang on. You need to approach your current account provider.

bally1208

i am in financial difficulties now...not 1year or 5 years ago its now. I have enuff documentation to prove the status of my sittuation at the moment and i have already successfully claimed charges back from egg credit card and my bank barclys. yes true my account with co-op was closed in 2008 but if these overdraft charges are unlawfull what difference does it make when they were applied? i mean it was within the last 6 years so am i not entitilled to claim them back ?

natweststaffmember

bally1208 wrote: »

i am in financial difficulties now...not 1year or 5 years ago its now. I have enuff documentation to prove the status of my sittuation at the moment and i have already successfully claimed charges back from egg credit card and my bank barclys. yes true my account with co-op was closed in 2008 but if these overdraft charges are unlawfull what difference does it make when they were applied? i mean it was within the last 6 years so am i not entitilled to claim them back ?

You don't bank with the Co-op so they haven't made the situation worse today by their charges. That is why they said that. It is important for financial hardship claims WHEN the charges were applied because they would make the situation worse and could have lead to priority debt arrears. They are, for a change 100% correct.
The guidance sent by the FSA on 19th March 2009

"v. Firms to provide a range of measures to support customers, and to treat them
positively and sympathetically. These might include; help and guidance about
dealing with FD and avoiding charges; suspending collections and recoveries activity;
suspending the accrual of further interest and charges; and a consideration of a refund
of charges, in particular where the charges may have added to the FD during, or
immediately before, the period of FD. The rationale for why a particular level of
refund has been given should be documented and clearly explained to the
complainant."

As they haven't contributed or add to the FD(Financial Difficulty) then they are correct in refusing the refund as the account was closed.

bally1208

They did contribute to the hardship situation i am in now. my debt issue has been going on for years. co-op actualy passed the debt them selfs to a debt recovery agency whom then collected the monies owed from me. So even though it was a couple of years ago as i said the debt problem has been ongoing for years and if they hadnt applied these unlawfull chrarges to my account it never would have exceeded its limit there fore would not have been passed to a debt recovery agency.....so does my claim still not apply ?

natweststaffmember

bally1208 wrote: »

They did contribute to the hardship situation i am in now. my debt issue has been going on for years. co-op actualy passed the debt them selfs to a debt recovery agency whom then collected the monies owed from me. So even though it was a couple of years ago as i said the debt problem has been ongoing for years and if they hadnt applied these unlawfull chrarges to my account it never would have exceeded its limit there fore would not have been passed to a debt recovery agency.....so does my claim still not apply ?

The question is whether they are impacting on priority debt arrears(mortgage/rent, council tax, utilities)? Priority debts can lead to loss of home/liberty or having essential utilities cut off. Non priority debts do not have those consequences. I'm not sure if I have asked this question, so apologies, but is there any PPI, credit card charges, catalogue charges that could be reclaimed?

bally1208

Yes i am at the moment in the process of claiming back ppi from egg and overlimit fee charges from 2 other credit cards. i have already claimed back charges from egg and barclays successfully. i do have immediate arreas wich i need to pay now ie....rent, utillitie biils etc....i do strongly belive that the co-op have added overall to my finacial difficulties that i am in now if it wasnt for the unlawfull charges that thses banks and creditors have chrarged over the years im sure my sittuaion wouldnt be as bad as it is

natweststaffmember

bally1208 wrote: »

Yes i am at the moment in the process of claiming back ppi from egg and overlimit fee charges from 2 other credit cards. i have already claimed back charges from egg and barclays successfully. i do have immediate arreas wich i need to pay now ie....rent, utillitie biils etc....i do strongly belive that the co-op have added overall to my finacial difficulties that i am in now if it wasnt for the unlawfull charges that thses banks and creditors have chrarged over the years im sure my sittuaion wouldnt be as bad as it is

With Financial hardship whether they are unlawful or not is not the main issue but whether today they are contributing to it, which means additional charges now.
If we had been in December 2007 or early 2008 then it would be different.

For example, many people claim financial hardship with priority debt arrears and they are paying off those arrears(not everyone can) and that would not really be financial hardship since the arrears are being reduced by extra payments.