Has your bank (esp Lloyds) ignored your hardship claim?

Slinky_Ltd

HSBC.....
HOPELESSLY S**T BANKING CORP :T.... they harass you and when you tell them you have no income they cant grasp it ...! if that's not hardship ... what is...???? THE FSO are now on their case... hope they can make them understand... cause I cant... total idiot's... Claimed years ago too.. they hide behind a debt collecting co who is called Metropolitan... who are they trying to fool... even the answer phone woman's the same and then pass on toi a solicitors ... and wait for it... the same answer phone woman again as HSBC... ! What numpty approved that...?? :rotfl::T

TheBex wrote: »

First reply!

Lloyds claim they rang me to discuss my income and outgoings, but they really never did, I was at home all the time (unemployed) and never heard the phone without answering it.

I wrote to them with details over a month ago and have no received no response at all.

They were similarly bad at responding to my CC charges reclaim.

Should probably write to them again and ask what's happening... although I don't see them as being likely to respond this time either. Wonder if the use of a highlighter over the words "financial hardship" will help the letter get to the right place?

Thanks MSE team for showing me its not me, its them.

Widester

When I first read on MSE about the Hardship exception waiver towards the end of last year I immediatly printed off some literature and headed to my local branch. Once I arrived I spoke to one of the team which knew nothing about it and got i presume there supervisor to come and have a chat with me. He point blank said that no such thing even existed which i said wasn't true and promptly showed him what i had printed out to support what i was saying. Too which he said that he had never heard of it and still dismissed it(absolute madness)! His only reply was to send a letter and try calling a hardship team on a number i was provided with. So I called the hardship team and instead of the reason i was ringing been acknowledged they wanted to remove my overdraft facility and replace it with a £1000 pound loan which in turn would make LLoyds make even more money out of my unfortunate situation and not change my problem with the bank charges at all.

So Anyway my point was Lloyds TSB wouldn't even acknowledge the hardship exception rule a year ago.

just to make it clear i am in financial hardship which is mainly a result of bank charges in the first place a feeling many on here a probably familiar with. Sorry if this just seems like a rant but this charges business really annoys me as i would be completely out of debt with my charges back.

natweststaffmember

Slinky_Ltd wrote: »

HSBC.....
HOPELESSLY S**T BANKING CORP :T.... they harass you and when you tell them you have no income they cant grasp it ...! if that's not hardship ... what is...???? THE FSO are now on their case... hope they can make them understand... cause I cant... total idiot's... Claimed years ago too.. they hide behind a debt collecting co who is called Metropolitan... who are they trying to fool... even the answer phone woman's the same and then pass on toi a solicitors ... and wait for it... the same answer phone woman again as HSBC... ! What numpty approved that...?? :rotfl::T

HSBC and Metropolitan Collection Services are part of the same company as Triton and NatWest are.

colwin

i have also tried to claim back my bank charges twice under hardship from Lloyds and was told i would have to wait till it goes back to the courts. i am very angry as i am on incapacity benifit and finding it imposible to make ends meet

natweststaffmember

colwin wrote: »

i have also tried to claim back my bank charges twice under hardship from Lloyds and was told i would have to wait till it goes back to the courts. i am very angry as i am on incapacity benifit and finding it imposible to make ends meet

But do you have priority debt arrears(mortgage/rent council tax, utilities) not being paid back through any payment plan?

jazz1955

Hi I have had a reply to the bank charges hardship case that I put forward to NAT WEST, there reply was that they think the charges are fair and legal and that they await the next outcome of the case.
where do u go from here?

jos004

natweststaffmember wrote: »

But do you have priority debt arrears(mortgage/rent council tax, utilities) not being paid back through any payment plan?

NWSM, although I agree with your posting re: priority debts; heavy CC debt and loans could also be interpreted as priority debts, as these to, need to be paid. If only the FSA could revise/re-inforce meaning of ' priority debts '.

What is the taxpayer, paying senior staff at the FSA who write the rules, for?.

onlypaddy

I am another victim of Lloyds TSB doing this. My complaint has been in the pipeline since July 2007, however it was only in December 2008 I fell into hardship when my part time job ended. As I was a final year university student and with the financial climate how it was, I could not find another suitable job. With only student loan to live on and with large credit card debts (also from Lloyds) to pay, I calculated quickly that it could not be done.

I first wrote to Lloyds to request them to look at my case under hardship rules in February 2009, and until May 2009 I wrote 4 letters in total stating clearly that I was in Financial Hardship and that I would need them to assess my case. Each time I received the same response, with Lloyds saying that I had to wait as there was a hold in place by the FSA. The first letter also stated (only the first letter) that they would call to assess my financial situation - this never happened. I even completed my own incomings and outgoings for the last letter as an impromptu financial assessment and was still ignored.

I then decided to go to the courts (I know, financial ombudsman would have been better) because I thought if I could get them to see I was in financial hardship it would be seen quicker. I got a letter from Lloyds solicitors stating lots of legal jargon trying to scare me off but replied and gave them all the information they requested, also stating that I would apply to lift the stay put in place by the courts for my case (which, I was very suprised to see, was unsuccessful in Cardiff County Court). The solicitors also said, in writing, that Lloyds would be in touch to assess my financial situation which again did not happen.

I feel Lloyds are the worst bank on the high street and I cant wait to leave them once and for all. Thankfully I now have a graduate job and have got a decent wage coming in again so I can afford to wait a while, but that still doesn't excuse Lloyds for such poor customer service, surely?

natweststaffmember

jos004 wrote: »

NWSM, although I agree with your posting re: priority debts; heavy CC debt and loans could also be interpreted as priority debts, as these to, need to be paid. If only the FSA could revise/re-inforce meaning of ' priority debts '.

What is the taxpayer, paying senior staff at the FSA who write the rules, for?.

They can't be priority debts if you do not lose your home, liberty or essential utilities.
A loan is a non priority debt because the worst that can be done is a CCJ. If the loan is secured against the home then yes it is priority debt. If the loan is HP for the car you used to travel to work then it is a priority debt. No one has complained much in the last 12 months about those rules. It was 18 complaints since August 2008 to July 2009 inclusive(cos I asked them). There was none during the first 3 months of this year when the publicity was at its highest.

Reclaim charges on Credit cards to reduce the overall debt would be another part of the advice as well, jos.

natweststaffmember

onlypaddy wrote: »

I am another victim of Lloyds TSB doing this. My complaint has been in the pipeline since July 2007, however it was only in December 2008 I fell into hardship when my part time job ended. As I was a final year university student and with the financial climate how it was, I could not find another suitable job. With only student loan to live on and with large credit card debts (also from Lloyds) to pay, I calculated quickly that it could not be done.

I first wrote to Lloyds to request them to look at my case under hardship rules in February 2009, and until May 2009 I wrote 4 letters in total stating clearly that I was in Financial Hardship and that I would need them to assess my case. Each time I received the same response, with Lloyds saying that I had to wait as there was a hold in place by the FSA. The first letter also stated (only the first letter) that they would call to assess my financial situation - this never happened. I even completed my own incomings and outgoings for the last letter as an impromptu financial assessment and was still ignored.

I then decided to go to the courts (I know, financial ombudsman would have been better) because I thought if I could get them to see I was in financial hardship it would be seen quicker. I got a letter from Lloyds solicitors stating lots of legal jargon trying to scare me off but replied and gave them all the information they requested, also stating that I would apply to lift the stay put in place by the courts for my case (which, I was very suprised to see, was unsuccessful in Cardiff County Court). The solicitors also said, in writing, that Lloyds would be in touch to assess my financial situation which again did not happen.

I feel Lloyds are the worst bank on the high street and I cant wait to leave them once and for all. Thankfully I now have a graduate job and have got a decent wage coming in again so I can afford to wait a while, but that still doesn't excuse Lloyds for such poor customer service, surely?

I hope you didn't apply to lift the stay because it would have cost you money and you would not have been successful and lost the money to attempt to lift the stay.