Bank charges financial hardship claim rejected by ombudsmen

cojo

HI, I intially tried reclaiming bank charges in 2006 with no joy, in March this year I was made redundant and with other financial difficulties included I fitted the FSA waiver for financial hardship. I started by contacting Halifax who refused to send a budget planner for me to fill in my details, I then immediatley contacted the financial ombudsmen, explained my situation and found them to be intially positive about my case, hoorah I thought as we literally can't live on the pitance given by government while Im actively seeking new employment. However, since this time I have in total received 3 letters from them saying the bank has treated me fairly and positively etc etc and don't believe the bank needs to pay me the charges back, at the end of the 3 letters it stated that if I disagree with this then I should email to state that I disagree and could it be looked at again etc, i have done so and after a couple of wweks at a time the same thing comes back again. It was not until the third letter that I realised she wasn't an actual ombudsmen but an adjudicator who's job it was to pass cases on to ombudsmen if she saw fit to, I have now instructed her to pass it on to an ombudsmen to look over my case. I feel as though i'm hitting my head against a brick wall, no-one could be in worse financial hardship the my family and I, we have two young children, I have never been out of work other than now that I have been made redundant, I'm constantly out searching for work but there just isn't anything there, the saying goes 'money goes to money' which I believe is true, I know people who are relatively well off and had bank charges refunded in the thousands, I don't have enough money to feed my family properly and I get kicked down. Does anyone know why the adjudicator for the ombudsmen keep saying no? we have provided all the evidence needed, and if the ombudsmen says no, will that be final? any suggestions would be gratefully heard as I'm totally confused with their reasons

natweststaffmember

Cojo, can we go back one step first on financial hardship.
Do you have priority debt arrears(mortgage/rent, council tax, utilities)?


On the job front, have you gone to all your local job agencies?
I read local newspaper online, had email alerts from uncle tom cobbley and all. etc.etc.
If you have a local hospital they are always hiring(cleaning jobs a job). Everything depends on what you are looking for.

cojo

natweststaffmember wrote: »

Cojo, can we go back one step first on financial hardship.
Do you have priority debt arrears(mortgage/rent, council tax, utilities)?


On the job front, have you gone to all your local job agencies?
I read local newspaper online, had email alerts from uncle tom cobbley and all. etc.etc.
If you have a local hospital they are always hiring(cleaning jobs a job). Everything depends on what you are looking for.

Hi, thanks for your reply, firstly, yes we do have arrears with electric bills, gas bills, we are on a payment programme with council tax and literally can just buy bread and butter to eat.

I have a basic cash account and all the various details have been sent to ombudsmen.

With regards to jobs, going from a £30,000 job to no redundancy payout and a cleaning job won't cover our bills etc, at the moment we are having help with rent etc by taking a very low paid job all that would stop and we would be in the same position as we are now.

The reason for my question is to see if anyone else has had the same experience and is the a hopefull light at the end of thye tunnel??

natweststaffmember

cojo wrote: »

Hi, thanks for your reply, firstly, yes we do have arrears with electric bills, gas bills, we are on a payment programme with council tax and literally can just buy bread and butter to eat.

I have a basic cash account and all the various details have been sent to ombudsmen.

With regards to jobs, going from a £30,000 job to no redundancy payout and a cleaning job won't cover our bills etc, at the moment we are having help with rent etc by taking a very low paid job all that would stop and we would be in the same position as we are now.

The reason for my question is to see if anyone else has had the same experience and is the a hopefull light at the end of thye tunnel??

But the way I am looking at the FOS claim is how you argued it and whether there is any room for movement.
The payment plans kinda knock out some of them. Is the rent in arrears?
Are you being taken to court over Council tax arrears?

ultimatefighter

Halifax are the worst for bank charges despite them being given billions in tax payer money. Makes me really angry. To me, they're pretty much the worst bank out there.

natweststaffmember

ultimatefighter wrote: »

Halifax are the worst for bank charges despite them being given billions in tax payer money. Makes me really angry. To me, they're pretty much the worst bank out there.

It's all about perspective. From the posters here, there are worse banks but no doubt in your mind you have only experienced them.