banks need to be brought to book

malc161

yellowduck wrote: »

I really feel for you malc161, I was in tears today after a set to with Nat West, I can't advise you, but I decided to write to my MP about the greed and inflexibilty of the banks and the way they seem to punish and penalise those with the least money, often trapping them in a spiral of debt. Can you open another a\c and get stuff paid into that? Best wishes to you and your family in these hard times

Thank you for your kind words , i sympathise with your plight , its good to write to your mp as we all know they won't do anything until they are forced - i do wish some one could revamp the truck acts and apply it to banks - that would give everyone security.:T

malc161

Hi to all again,
This letter will be sent to my mp and all my local meps, i do hope it is more readable this time.

Dear sir/Madam
I am sending this letter to you to hopefully highlight the plight and despair normal working familys are facing when dealing with banks - the guardians of our finances.

In may this year my wife and i read about - bank charge reclaiming and as we had had bank charges on a recurring basis decided to try to reclaim them from the Royal Bank of Scotland.

We contacted the bank and asked for copys of our statements going back over the previous 4 years - they duly arrived on our doorstep and we set about calculating all charges and and tediously applied 8% interest from the date of charge , At this point i feel it is right to point out - i am a lorry driver and earn £20,000 per year net - my wife does not work due to illness but always has until the illness prevented her, She has a income of less than £134 per month from child benefit - we have 2 children a dog and a mortgage , £20000 does not go far we have very little left for luxuries such has holidays , cars or nights out but we bear it all with a smile for the children, i digress, back to the point

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After we calculated the three accounts 1- joint - 2 currents accounts we were flaberghasted at the amounts the bank had managed to syphen off them , £3680 from my current , £2987 from my wife's current and £2023 from our joint a grand total of £8710 That amounted to more than 10% of our total income in the past four years,We then applied to the bank to reclaim these incredible sums .

It was now that we discovered the true colours of the bank's , their attitude changed right away , we were treated like scroungers and told the test case was still in the debate stage ( we already knew this to be untrue ) and the only way we could possibly get our money back was to prove hardship , i pointed out that they theirselves considered people to be in financial difficulty if they had run up £500 in charges in the past 12 month's which we certainly had , this cut no ice with the hard mannerered clerk , she simply said " we will send you hardship forms , fill them in and return them supported by documents to prove hardship " implying don't hold your breath mate.

My wife was first to try the hardship route , and after a 5 week wait and countless telephone calls to 0845 numbers ( these are expensive and make money for the banks ) was eventually told NO .

This was amazing , she has only £134 per month going into her account each month and quite often got £76 in charges a month - mainly this was due to a difficult financial period - which ever since we have been trying to catch up with, but when your income is low a bank charge often has a knock on effect, meaning another direct debit cannot be paid --it does not take many charges to swallow up £134 child benefit-- after this set back she telephoned the bank in desperation to try and sort it out , they extended her overdraft facility from £100 to £180 on the proviso she repaid it at £20 per month ???.

My attempt (although not sorted) looks as if it will go the same way , again i too have spent hours telephoning the banks 0845 numbers and feel they definitely keep you hanging on to extend the cost of the call , the last call lasted 35 minutes and when i asked the clerk how much it was costing me she became very vague and evasive , i can still just about afford these calls - people on benefits most definitely won't be able to.

As a boy i remember reading of the truck acts dating back to the 1400s when employers paid employees in their own coins which the employee could only spend in the bosses own shop , and took moneys from their wages for essential tools, in short they were bound to the employer and monopolised, the truck acts amended this -

By being paid into the bank and having no option and all banks having roughly the same charges and penalties are we not in danger of drifting back to those draconian days - but rather than unscrupulous employers , unscrupulous banks , perhaps we could revamp the truck act to include banking practises ?.

Although i have pretty much given up on getting back any of my charges , i am still bitter at our treatment by the banks , they seem to forget we are the customer and treat us with contempt , they apply charges at the drop of a hat that are grossly exagerated and somehow seem to get away with it.

Banks have always been the establishment we entrust with our financial matters and our hard earned cash , i personally would not trust a banker with my dirty washing any more , they have become the leeches of modern day society and its being fuelled by greed and the fact we all have to be paid into a bank , which allows the bank to take a slice of our money before we can pay our bills .

I do not think for one minute this letter will make a single politician do a thing, but by writing to you of our plight i have brought it to your attention and if every one in a similar situation does the same - you will have to do something- even if it is only to stop the dirty tricks -such as high charge telephone calls .

your sincerely.

malc161

vaporate wrote: »

With respect, £20,000 is a very good salary in my eyes, although not sure that holds with a mortgage.

Good to get it off your chest.

u
My salary is actually £26000 - £20000 is net ( after deductions ) it may seem a good salary but i work long hours on nights 55 per week on average and have not had a pay rise for some years , when i began this job , it was well paid because it meant working long unsociable hours ,and we borrowed to our means - unforunately my employer has not kept our salary in line with inflation and with cheaper labour prepared to do the job for less it means my wages have significantly reduced in real terms - ten years ago it was very good , perhaps equivilant to £40000 now , These days it seems to go nowhere, i am not really moaning about my wages just the sharks in the bank who nibble away at it without come uppance and their heavy handed deallings with us .