Bank Charges Reclaiming Guide discussion

natweststaffmember

This may be a problem because the mortgage was changed to one that was better for you.

What did collections do? Did they at that point take an income and expenditure form from you to see if you were in financial hardship? Did they increase the overdraft so that a payment plan could be put in place?

Wispa1

natweststaffmember wrote: »

This may be a problem because the mortgage was changed to one that was better for you.

What did collections do? Did they at that point take an income and expenditure form from you to see if you were in financial hardship? Did they increase the overdraft so that a payment plan could be put in place?

Hi, Collections did not take an I & E form as we were with the CAB and we sent their version of an I&E which was sent in Jan/Feb 2009. The overdraft was not extended so that a payment plan could be put in place at any time. It was only extended once to cover that life insurance direct debit.

Unfortunately everything all happened at the same time ie CAB were involved from FEB 2009, the mortgage changed in April 2009 after CAB's advice, the o/d account went to collections in April 2009. Do you think there may be anyway I could argue that as we saw them in 2006 (proof from the letter) nothing changed on the accounts until April 2009 when the CAB got involved? With many thanks again

toffe

i have just been successfully accepted as financial hardship by NatWest after being refused 3 times.

I received the bog standard reply of "we have reviewed your appeal for financial hardship based on the lending code and have determined that you do not meet the criteria of financial hardship at this time"... the usual template which i think everyone gets just to see if you'll give up and go away.

My response was to reply stating that i found it hard to believe that they had given any consideration to section 9 of the lending code in reviewing my case as i have read section 9 of the lending code and feel i meet several of the given criteria relating to what should be seen as indicative of financial hardship...

I followed this by quoting every definition of the lending code section 9 which i felt applied to my situation and supplied evidence of it where possible, i also pointed out that NatWest had not been sympathetic or cooperative in my case and despite overwhelming evidence of financial hardship on my account, i.e. increased borrowing, discontinuation of regular credits, items repeatedly being returned unpaid, loss of employment etc etc

NatWest failed to identify my account as possible financial hardship and as such failed to take any action to address the problems with the account as they state they will do by subscribing to the lending code, this was not inline with their pledge to make "proactive contact" see section 9 para 141, 142, 143.

Given that i had also taken steps to initiate a positive and constructive dialogue with NatWest with a view to limiting the negative impact of my change in circumstances on my current account i felt i had fulfilled my obligation as a customer to help myself (or at least try), yet NatWest failed to cooperate and dismissed my change of circumstance despite the overwhelming evidence on my account to support my claim for financial hardship.


upon receiving this detailed dispute of their "review" they backtracked and accepted my hardship, i think it comes down to arguing your case based on your own circumstances, you have to spell out exactly why you feel you qualify as financial hardship but more importantly i think if you can show that your bank may not have acted, sympathetically, cooperatively and pro actively in dealing with your hardship and/or change in circumstances then you will have a better chance of them eventually backing down.

Good luck to all who are still fighting to have their hardship acknowledged.

cappucino17

Hi
I have to fill out the Bank form for my incomings and outgoings as part of the next reclaim stage under the financial hardship criteria - im no longer in hardship but was stuck in a continuing cycle at the time and my charges amounted to £3.5K, this is what im claimimg back for but the Bank form only asks for my current situ...am i still supposed to fill this in as per my financial sitiuation now..???

natweststaffmember

cappucino17 wrote: »

Hi
I have to fill out the Bank form for my incomings and outgoings as part of the next reclaim stage under the financial hardship criteria - im no longer in hardship but was stuck in a continuing cycle at the time and my charges amounted to £3.5K, this is what im claimimg back for but the Bank form only asks for my current situ...am i still supposed to fill this in as per my financial sitiuation now..???

Yep but send a letter with it explaining what caused the financial hardship at the time, what the bank did, and the arrears that you built up.

Mole22

Hi

I am new to this, but i have contacted my bank about charges that they shouldnt have charge me for, and they have written back and given me amount that i claim back, does anyone know how i do this now i have got a letter saying how much i can get back?

Thank you!

norm79

Got a letter from the FO yesterday saying HSBC had 8 weeks to reply, however they have already denied my request. Is this 8 weeks again as the FO forwarded on my complaint saying they are now dealing with it?

Does anyone have experience of HSBC changing their stance after the FO have got involved?

daddycoolx3

Hi there and apologies if this question has been answered already. I had a claim on hold prior to the ruling and then got a letter from HSBC in December with the 8 weeks to respond. Having been made redundant and trying to set up a business I did not act on the time scale. What are my options now - can I ressurect my claim or do I have to start a new one? Any guidance would be appreciated.

rosieq

I originally applied to the Halifax for a refund of £600 of bank charges 2 years ago and just received sarcastic unhelpful letters. In July 2008 I was made redundant and struggled by doing temp work until December 2009 when I had to go on to benefits as all the temp work dried up. A year ago I took my complaint to the FOS and after managing to lose all my documentation, then change the people dealing with my complaint twice, it has decided not to uphold my complaint, despite having amended my complaint to one of financial hardship in December. I feel as if I'm being punished because I've tried to help myself. In October 2008 I got in touch with the CCCS and since then have had a Debt Management Plan for 5 creditors. Since I've been on benefits my mum has been paying the DMP to the CCCS every month as well as my food and bills. Now if she didn't and I were starving and lost my rented flat I would probably get them refunded - seems very unfair. I plan to appeal the adjudicator's decision at the FOS but she said it probably won't make any difference. The Halifax meanwhile continue to send me horrible letters and statements every month stating in block capitals YOU HAVE FAILED TO MAKE MINIMUM PAYMENTS, which is untrue because they get the payments through the CCCS. Also, they are still charging me interest but the FOS think they're fair because they've reduced the interest. HELP!

natweststaffmember

Mole22 wrote: »

Hi

I am new to this, but i have contacted my bank about charges that they shouldnt have charge me for, and they have written back and given me amount that i claim back, does anyone know how i do this now i have got a letter saying how much i can get back?

Thank you!

Might be worth a look at Martin's Guide to reclaiming