Want to put in 2nd claim, would we meet hardship rules?

3106catherine

Hi all, back in December 2006 I started the process of reclaiming from HSBC, I requested a total of £4409 be refunded. I receieved a settlement offer of £3595. We could have gone back and pushed for the full amount but at the tim we were just glad of the money.

In August last year my husband was made redundant, he set up as self employed in October 2008, same month as we had our second child. We have aprox £30k of debt, we were 5 months behind on the mortgage with Abbe, this is now 3 and going in the right direction, we were also 2 months behind with a loan with A&L and have managed to bring this up to date. But life is a struggle, we are low income and receive a lot of help from tax credits.

I would like to put in a second claim for bank charges received since February 2007 which total £3298, however what I would like to know is would we qualify under the hardship rules as we have arrears on the mortgage, albeit we have reduced them, my father is also now handling our finances and has mandates signed on all our accounts. I'm sure I read somewhere though that the charges have to have caused the hadship, that just being in arrears alone wouldnt be enough.

Also do I just go for the amount now owed or add on the original missing proportion to or is that pushing it too far!

Any advice would be really appreciated.

natweststaffmember

3106catherine wrote: »

Hi all, back in December 2006 I started the process of reclaiming from HSBC, I requested a total of £4409 be refunded. I receieved a settlement offer of £3595. We could have gone back and pushed for the full amount but at the tim we were just glad of the money.

In August last year my husband was made redundant, he set up as self employed in October 2008, same month as we had our second child. We have aprox £30k of debt, we were 5 months behind on the mortgage with Abbe, this is now 3 and going in the right direction, we were also 2 months behind with a loan with A&L and have managed to bring this up to date. But life is a struggle, we are low income and receive a lot of help from tax credits.

I would like to put in a second claim for bank charges received since February 2007 which total £3298, however what I would like to know is would we qualify under the hardship rules as we have arrears on the mortgage, albeit we have reduced them, my father is also now handling our finances and has mandates signed on all our accounts. I'm sure I read somewhere though that the charges have to have caused the hadship, that just being in arrears alone wouldnt be enough.

Also do I just go for the amount now owed or add on the original missing proportion to or is that pushing it too far!

Any advice would be really appreciated.

With regards to claiming, Yes you can claim the charges back but it will depend what you signed on the last time as to what you claim now. You can certainly claim everything since the last claim went in.
With regards to Financial Hardship, that is a tough one, because there was a time last year when you definitely qualified for it but since you are bringing your financial situation up straight(which I commend you for) it could be seen that you are no longer in financial hardship. However, ask the question and see what they say.

3106catherine

The parapragh in their letter reads 'HSBC is, however, mindful of the management time and irrecoverable legal costs that it may incur in relation to such a claim (ie if i had taken it to court). For those commercial reasons alone and without any admission of liability whatsover, HSBC is prepared to make a pyment to you in the sum of £3595 in full and final settlement of this matter in relation to the accounts mentioned above. This represents our offer in respect of charges debited up to and including 11th January 2007.'

We have filled out an income and expenditure for for Abbey which clearly shows our outgoings are higher than our ncome and we are pretty much being kept afloat by my parents at times, as hubby is self employed so payments can be up and down. I am on a reduced payment to HSBC fr their credit card too.

natweststaffmember

Ok, charges from january 2007 are the ones you can reclaim.
With HSBC you need to complete an I&E form and send in any notices of arrears.
The I&E form should be household income and expenditure and here is a link to their one:
http://www.hbeu1.hsbc.com/ukpersonal/budgetexpensescalc/ins.jsp

And send it here:
The Service Quality Team
HSBC Bank plc
Arlington Business Centre
Millshaw Park Lane
LEEDS
LS11 0PP