Query about A&L letter

fisherman7

Hi, has anyone had this before? I wrote to A&L and they sent statements for me, with no charge, as I'm a hardship case, then when I sent back to request the money (only about £400, but a lot as far as I'm concerned) they sent a letter saying that because the A/c has been closed for a couple of years, it is not a cause of my hardship, so I will have to wait for the result of the court case to see if I will get anything or not.

As far as I'm concerned, this was part of the start of my hardship, even though the A/c was closed later. Have I any recourse to try and get them to pay out now? I'm behind with rent, Council Tax and utility bills, so I need it.

Any help gratefully received.

natweststaffmember

fisherman7 wrote: »

Hi, has anyone had this before? I wrote to A&L and they sent statements for me, with no charge, as I'm a hardship case, then when I sent back to request the money (only about £400, but a lot as far as I'm concerned) they sent a letter saying that because the A/c has been closed for a couple of years, it is not a cause of my hardship, so I will have to wait for the result of the court case to see if I will get anything or not.

As far as I'm concerned, this was part of the start of my hardship, even though the A/c was closed later. Have I any recourse to try and get them to pay out now? I'm behind with rent, Council Tax and utility bills, so I need it.

Any help gratefully received.

Are you reclaiming from your current account provider because I would agree with A&L that they have not caused your priority debt arrears.

jos004

natweststaffmember wrote: »

Are you reclaiming from your current account provider because I would agree with A&L that they have not caused your priority debt arrears.

I would not agree with A&L. Any old excuse methinks, not to payout.

I recently applied under the hardship route; although my a/c is closed; to a high st. bank, with proof of priority arrears and yet they want to talk to me regarding my claim, on the phone.

I'll keep you posted.

I believe eventually that UK banks will capitulate, it just takes time. You see its a bit like TUPE legislation - when TUPE law was adopted throughout the EC or the EEC countries, as they were back then, Britain ( unsurprisingly ) was the last country in the EEC to ratify the agreement.
TUPE - transfer of undertakings, protection of employment law, simply set out to safeguard jobs, insofar as if one was working for, let's say a service company, who then lost the contract to another company, staff jobs would be protected. That is to say, staff will be given the option of transferring to the new company, with their T&C's intact. Why should they lose their jobs?

But like I said before, Britain was the LAST country under Maggie Thatcher to adopt this new law. Just shows how slow we are! Some people in this country, ought to realise, the 1950's are well and truly behind us now.

natweststaffmember

Jos, his priority debts have not been made worse by the bank charges from a few years ago so can you clarify then why you don't agree with the basis for it?

jos004

natweststaffmember wrote: »

Are you reclaiming from your current account provider because I would agree with A&L that they have not caused your priority debt arrears.

I would not agree with A&L. Any old excuse methinks, not to payout.

I recently applied under the hardship route; although my a/c is closed; to a high st. bank, with proof of priority arrears and yet they want to talk to me regarding my claim, on the phone.

I'll keep you posted.

I believe eventually that UK banks will capitulate, it just takes time. You see its a bit like TUPE legislation - when TUPE law was adopted throughout the EC or the EEC countries, as they were back then, Britain ( unsurprisingly ) was the last country in the EEC to ratify the agreement.
TUPE - transfer of undertakings, protection of employment law, simply set out to safeguard jobs, insofar as if one was working for, let's say a service company, who then lost the contract to another company, staff jobs would be protected. That is to say, staff will be given the option of transferring to the new company, with their T&C's intact. Why should they lose their jobs?

But like I said before, Britain was the LAST country under Maggie Thatcher to adopt this new law. Just shows how slow we are! Some people in this country, ought to realise, the 1950's are well and truly behind us now.

natweststaffmember

natweststaffmember wrote: »

Jos, his priority debts have not been made worse by the bank charges from a few years ago so can you clarify then why you don't agree with the basis for it?

STILL waiting for you to explain why you would advise this?

jos004

Fisherman's debt from his A&L a/c caused his financial hardship. They exacerbated his money problems: roll on effect!!.

You give a lot of good advice NWSM but sometimes I wonder who's side your on? No offence intended, of course.

natweststaffmember

jos004 wrote: »

Fisherman's debt from his A&L a/c caused his financial hardship. They exacerbated his money problems: roll on effect!!.

You give a lot of good advice NWSM but sometimes I wonder who's side your on? No offence intended, of course.

Fair do's so can you tell me how many arrears it takes to be evicted from your home?
To be taking to court over Council tax arrears?
How long does it take to be cut of as a result of arrears?

natweststaffmember

I am going to add where I get some of the stuff:

"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."
This is guidance sent out by the FOS in March 2009
Link to quote: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/showthread.php?t=18047

fisherman7

Hi, and thanks to both of you for your replies.

It actually goes back to 2005, due to a variety of things, I had a run of going o/d because of items coming out of the a/c either the day before or the same day as I put the money in to cover them, for reasons like no money available or weekends, that sort of thing, so I had a string of charges which kept putting me in the same position again because I might put money in to cover the next D/D or something, and they drop a charge on me and not leave enough in to cover what I had put money in to cover ( still with me? ) Anyway, I got fed up and ddecided to change banks. I had been able to get some of the charges overturned beforehand, but I still ended up still in debt to the council and so on and have still, despite having previously worked, not been able to catch up. So, the way I see it, I am still in hardship which they were partly the cause of. Admittedly, I had hoped, by now, to have been able to get straight, but life seems to have itself set on being as bloody difficult as possible!!!

Thanks for your help, anyway, even if it doesn't look as though I will get anything back before the court case.

Incidentally, I had a letter from them a few weeks ago, thanking me for the Financial report form being returned, and saying the I was not going to get anything yet, but I had not been sent the form. Then, last Friday, I received a letter, including the form dated 02 June 2009, so it had taken 6 weeks to get to me. I am writing to them about this, when I finish talking to you.
Cheers for now.