Fighting a losing battle with a&l

dougieboogie

I have been using the moneysavingexpert template letters to attempt to reclaim unfair bank charges tracing back 5 years. Last month i received a letter telling me that now the court case is over, i must repay the FULL outstanding overdraft balance. I called them to say i was still unhappy but cannot afford to have bailiffs or anything at my door, so arranged a repayment system (which annoys me as they are taking an extra £20ish for no reason)
I have also been informed my credit rating is damaged for 3 years as they are closing my account at a negative balance and I have no further case to reclaim.
Can anyone give me further advice. I have previously written to the bank last year claiming financial hardship which is still the case.
I could seriously be doing with my charges being repaid as my fiance and I are proud parents of a 1 month old baby and need all the help we can get.
Thanks in advance for any help.

Premier_2

You first need to discover why the bank are taking £20ish extra for no apparent reason. I can assure you there will be a reason; you may not agree with the reason but there will be one; Find out what it is.

Secondly, in regards to a claim for financial hardship, the bank are obligated to consider your case sympathetically ... but that does not necessarily imply they will refund all the fees they have deducted from you, sorry.

Thirdly, why are they closing your account? Have you, for example, stopped using the account (i.e. stopped regular credits)?

natweststaffmember

dougieboogie wrote: »

I have been using the moneysavingexpert template letters to attempt to reclaim unfair bank charges tracing back 5 years. Last month i received a letter telling me that now the court case is over, i must repay the FULL outstanding overdraft balance. I called them to say i was still unhappy but cannot afford to have bailiffs or anything at my door, so arranged a repayment system (which annoys me as they are taking an extra £20ish for no reason)
I have also been informed my credit rating is damaged for 3 years as they are closing my account at a negative balance and I have no further case to reclaim.
Can anyone give me further advice. I have previously written to the bank last year claiming financial hardship which is still the case.
I could seriously be doing with my charges being repaid as my fiance and I are proud parents of a 1 month old baby and need all the help we can get.
Thanks in advance for any help.

Do you have priority debt arrears(mortgage/rent, council tax, utilities)?
Have you agreed an amount that is too much btw?
Did A&L take an income and expenditure form either over the phone or via the post?


Premier, I read the extra £20 as being repayment of the overdraft though not sure exactly where this fits into the equation though, so hopefully the OP will clarify later on.

dougieboogie

I believe the £20 pound overpayment they hav created is due to the term and amount of repayments. if they have it shorter by 1 month it would be an underpayment. (hope that makes sense. sorry)

They do seem to have taken the hardship into account, as they stopped charging interest and even when the account went over the limit they applied and then waived the fees.

I believe they are closing the account because I informed them i would not use the account while I was contesting the charges. no debits or credits have been made since the hardship claim.

no priority debts except them now. everyhting else i cleared myself. i still have a couple of small payments to keep up but they are only a few pound each. nothing difficult.

the amount i have to repay is manageable (at least they helped me on that one)

i did get an income expenditure form when i applied for hardship last year.

i owe just over £500 for the overdraft but the repayments calculate to around £523 for some reason.