don't know what to do.

mrsdarbs

My husband put in a claim back in 2008 for about £4000 with Halifax. We went under the financial hardship route and was rejected saying we hadn't missed payments etc. He then went to the FSO and they agreed with the bank.

He's received the standard letter giving 8 weeks or the case will be closed.

Is there anything more we can do?! The majority of these charges occurred a few years ago when my husband was posted to Germany. Several charges were made and it spiralled slightly.

I said we was in financial harship as we were struggling to put food on the table and petrol in the car etc as our money was paying the bills and debt and some of the debt payments were late. Had these charges not been incurred or had someone from the bank contacted my husband to discuss the account (like Nationwide do with me) this would not have happened.

Just not completely understanding the new reasons - not a personal contract between the bank and customer?

Thanks

Premier_2

Have a read of the latest MSE bank reclaiming article

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges

Which explains the possibilities and risks if you want to claim after being rejected by the FOS ... although as the article implies, claiming on the grounds of financial hardship is possibly the best chance of success and as that has both been rejected by the bank and the FOS, you need to think carefully before continuing as it will now start to cost you money which you may or may not get back.

Also have a read of the lending code
http://www.lendingstandardsboard.org.uk/docs/lendingcode.pdf
particularly page 20 as it describes what is considered as financial hardship. Note that in general it often occurs when there is a change in lifestyle that results in a lower disposable income, rather than just spending beyound your means.
If you are claiming your husband being posted to Germany was the cause of this, you'll need to explain why & how. Generally, that means with the forces and as a member of the armed forces, that would be a foreseeable posting. Furthermore, most forces members like being posted to Germany because it entitles them to more money e.g. being paid the local overseas allowance plus other benefits.

mrsdarbs

Premier wrote: »

Have a read of the latest MSE bank reclaiming article

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges

Which explains the possibilities and risks if you want to claim after being rejected by the FOS ... although as the article implies, claiming on the grounds of financial hardship is possibly the best chance of success and as that has both been rejected by the bank and the FOS, you need to think carefully before continuing as it will now start to cost you money which you may or may not get back.

Also have a read of the lending code
http://www.lendingstandardsboard.org.uk/docs/lendingcode.pdf
particularly page 20 as it describes what is considered as financial hardship. Note that in general it often occurs when there is a change in lifestyle that results in a lower disposable income, rather than just spending beyound your means.
If you are claiming your husband being posted to Germany was the cause of this, you'll need to explain why & how. Generally, that means with the forces and as a member of the armed forces, that would be a foreseeable posting. Furthermore, most forces members like being posted to Germany because it entitles them to more money e.g. being paid the local overseas allowance plus other benefits.

Thank you for the links I shall look into them.

In Germany it was the lack of communication that caused a big problem, hubby's address for the account was his parents house in England, as that was his place of residence outside of the army and so all statements etc where sent there. He had a standing order set up to go to a savings account so was not lack of funds or overspending, but they had not updated his contact details as requested as he had no internet and no branch in Germnay to check the aco!!!!.

I appreciate it was bad management on his behalf, but had they updated his records and correspondence address as requested he would have known that there was a problem, and due to an error on a direct debit this spiralled way out of control. Not once did he receive a phonecall from the bank asking if he wished to discuss the account with anyone.

I've banked with Nationwide all my life and I once had a direct debit which was going to bounce back as I had transferred too much to my savings - they called me straight away to tell me so I could transfer the funds back to my main account so that this did not happen and I wasn't charged.

He was not in hardship at this point and we did not say in his original claim that he was at this point. He paid all the charges and carried on.

The hardship came later, due to our son being born, me being on maternity leave and a move to Northern Ireland the costs all added up and we had to run a house and a flat and gradually went more and more into our overdraft and had to increase it's limit and our credit card limits.

I know it's not as much of a hardship case as some, but I was still on a lower income and then out of work.

I had written off this money anyway and I manage all the accounts now and check them on a daily basis so that nothing can ever happen like this again, but if there was a chance for arguing this case then I will give it a go.