Financial hardship bank charges reclaiming

amtrakuk

Hi there.

Things seem to be getting out of hand with my bank account. I was expecting a christmas bonus in the Jan pay packet to restore my bank account but the company I work for appear to have made an admin error. This has throw my finances out off course.

For about the last 6 months I have been receiving bank charges. About the time of the court hearing I went to my local branch of HSBC asking direct if they can be reversed to enable me to get out of the rut I was in. I was basically told they were unable to reverse bank charges (but I could appeal :rotfl:) I was basically advised me to stop spending or ask someone if they can lend me some money to rectify me account!

Last months bank charges came in at £150.00. I'm finding it hard to make ends meet, at this rate it wont be too long before I'm in the red on payday! A few days after my pay has gone into my bank account my debit card is stopped. As you may know, very embarrassing when your at the checkout and the words "Transaction Declined" appears on the till and you have to leave the shopping.

Sorry, firstly a rant, but need to get it off my chest!

Anyone can see applying such large amounts month in and month out will result in an ever deepening void and what are banks doing to help their customers? Making it worse by adding more and more charges with no limits or end to these charges in sight. I thought the banks are meant to have super computers that could do things like, see where money is going, see the average balance at the end of the month and alert customers of a pending problems. Thats what I'd call good customer service.

Instead of unreasonable excessive charges put on the account, something like freezing the debit card until the account is back in order will make more sense, "Stop the rot before it sets in!"

Continuing to lend via unauthorised overdrafts has to be bad working practise. How many people, once in the rut of unofficial overdraft fees are able to get their bank account back in order without exploring, sometimes worse avenues (loan sharks etc)? The only bit of customer service I have received was a few months back when during a week off work I walked to my local branch. I was advised to have all my Direct Debits come out on the same day, leading to only one bank charge - that doesn't appear to be the case and is nigh on impossible to do. Other than that the banks haven't been forthwith and offered real solutions to problems I have, they just want the boat to carry on sailing into the sunset, watching and waiting for it to sink.

The way I see it, if you start to have a crackle on the phone line, you complain, problem gets fixed and everyone's happy. The telecoms company don't make it worse! If that was routine standard company practice for a telecoms company OFCOM would come down on them like a ton of bricks for providing unreasonable customer service. Why and how do the banks manage get away with it?

Rant over with, sorry! Back to the real reason I came on here.

What are the chances of reclaiming some or all of the charges back? From flicking through some of the threads it seems banks are reluctant to reverse charges even when claiming under financial hardship.

If there is no change and I am unable to claim any money back and the situation spirals even more out of control what should I expect to happen?

Thanks for reading

hicskis

Well you know why we're all unhappy, and you make some valid points of what the bank's could do - been thinking along those lines for years and years now. Prob is that they want big fat profits and they are hell bent on stealing it from us (legally of course) - and to make matters worse our Gov. seems to be letting them get away with it.

Sorry - just ranting like you - i'll leave it to one of the others to point you the right way.

amtrakuk

Yeah the Government doesn't seem to be too proactive in helping. I don't think the next government will do any more than this one despite them telling us how they listen and understand :mad:

In my opinion it is only a matter of time before someone finds a loophole, if enough people wish hard enough it will come true!

Premier_2

amtrakuk wrote: »

Hi there.

Things seem to be getting out of hand with my bank account. I was expecting a christmas bonus in the Jan pay packet to restore my bank account but the company I work for appear to have made an admin error. This has throw my finances out off course....

Did this affect just you, or did no employees receive their Christmas bonus?

Was the Christmas bonus a contractual obligation under your terms of employment or just something you were expecting but didn't materialise?

If there has been a failure on the part of your employer to comply with their contractual obligations, you should discuss this with the employer with a view to them resolving the situation and meeting any consequential losses. However, as it is almost 2 months since the (non-)event, your employer could argue that you may not have mitigated those consequential losses if you have not yet discussed the issue with your employer.

amtrakuk

Premier wrote: »

Did this affect just you, or did no employees receive their Christmas bonus?

Was the Christmas bonus a contractual obligation under your terms of employment or just something you were expecting but didn't materialise?

If there has been a failure on the part of your employer to comply with their contractual obligations, you should discuss this with the employer with a view to them resolving the situation and meeting any consequential losses. However, as it is almost 2 months since the (non-)event, your employer could argue that you may not have mitigated those consequential losses if you have not yet discussed the issue with your employer.

I'm part of the Christmas bonus scheme my employer runs (i think it is mentioned in the contract as well). To be inline with our european partners the date has been changed from the December pay roll to the January pay run. Approx. 2 years ago Myself and others were TUPEEd over to another department (who don't have the same christmas bonus scheme) but obviously keeping our same Ts and Cs of employment. As there is only a few of us affected it seems we get overlooked when the paperwork is raised for this bonus. I'm not sure if the company will wear paying my charges as a result of the late payment, do I have any legal grounds to demand them?

Premier_2

amtrakuk wrote: »

... I'm not sure if the company will wear paying my charges as a result of the late payment, do I have any legal grounds to demand them?

If, as you suggest, your employer was contractually obliged to pay you and didn't then your employer is in breach of contract.

Have you asked your employer about the missing payment, and the resultant losses you have incurred by their failure?

I think you would have every ground to sue your employer for breach of contract if they don't come to some suitable resolution.

Of course, the issue you have is do you want to sue your employer? If you do, I suggest you start looking for a new job asap if not sooner.
But if you don't get your employer to pay you what you are owed, when you are owed it, (or pay suitable compensation) then your employer may elect not to pay you on time again and again.

Are you in a union? This is the sort of thing a union would normally resolve.

How do the others who weren't paid feel about it? If you are not in a union, acting together as a united front will probably secure a better result ... if the employer doesn't want to consider your grievance sympathetically.


Edit: Think about raising a new thread over this in the Employment, Jobseeking & Training sub-forum, or ask a borad guide to move this thread over there where it would probably be more suited and you'll get more advice

amtrakuk

Good news. I have just heard I will be getting my christmas bonus in the March pay roll. Better late than never I suppose