Bank taking your Benefit? Quote this -

willis999

hi, not trying to put a downer on this, but i have recently tried to ask for this back and the bank has refused, saying they have never heard of this, any other help?

real1314

Warriorsith wrote: »

Just to be clear then, it is against the law for any bank to take charges from a government source ie Tax Credits.

Just a YES/NO answer will do.

NO. It isn't against the law.

katscash

:rolleyes:

willis999 wrote: »

hi, not trying to put a downer on this, but i have recently tried to ask for this back and the bank has refused, saying they have never heard of this, any other help?

hi i have claimed back charges from a+l and quoted this i have been refunded monies also said they wont be closing my account:beer:

MC.BINGO

My wife has been getting charged bank charges from our working family tax credit and child benefit for the last 6 years. Today the bank had taken all our working tax credits and left us with nothing. After reading the post in this forum I started to read more into it because I didn’t want the bank to get away with what they are doing. My wife then contacted her bank (ABBEY) and told them that they couldn’t take the charges from our benefits as this was breaking the law, my wife used section 122 of the Contributions and Benefits Act and the bank did agree that they couldn’t take bank charges from any of our benefits but then passed us onto another department. The other department said that we could go down and collect the money from our branch but they then said that they would make it a basic account and could even close the account. The bank wasn’t happy and was trying to make it difficult for us. My wife stated that they couldn’t close the account as they have agreed not to close any account while the banks go to court and stop people claiming back bank charges. The bank was trying its best to get out of it and said that the terms & conditions covered them in taking bank charges from benefits which my wife stated wasn’t true and any terms and condition couldn’t over rule what the law had set out. My wife did state that they was also 2 wages going into the bank each month and the charges could of been taken from them, the banks comments were "How are we suppose to know what is what" My wife then said to them that they should know because they have access to the account and when bank charges are forced then they look at the account anyway and they know from the paying in codes and know what is what. We did complain that the charges are to the extreme and charging us £60 for a £5 direct debit that didn’t go through was just over the top. My wife did accept that we should get some sort of charge but not what the banks are charging now and because of the charges it is a continues circle for people and putting more people into debt.

We have stopped the benefits going into the bank and will be getting it in the form of a giro and also setting up other bank accounts.

it is best to do research before contacting your bank about them taking charges from your benefits because they will try and fire anything they can at you and if you have the right answer to the question then they know that its a no win situation for them. we are going to make a complaint to the bank in the form of a letter and contacting the ombudsmen but because my wife bank has gone to the law courts in order to stop people claiming back bank charges then it will be a long process for us and a long wait but it will be worth the wait if the courts tell the banks that they have to pay back the charges.

danielleindebt

sooooo i have had my bank changed for my tax credits child benefit etc and 6 months later they are still paying it into the account that i have an unauthorised overdraft on and have yet still to agree to my d.m.p.

could i claim the past 6 months in childbenefits back>?
would they add the cost onto my account?

gt94sss2

exil wrote: »

We're getting off track here.

The OP is based on a false reading of the law. It says you can't charge or assign a benefit. This means, unlike wages, they can't have amounts deducted at source. You can have wages arrested to pay fines, maintenance, back taxes etc, but not benefits.

This is NOT the same as saying that people on benefit can't be made to pay bank charges, repay loans etc which seems to be the general impression here.

You are right - the OP is wrong.

I'm not a lawyer, but as someone who used to be responsible for some Statutory Instruments (government legislation) in the past and had to look into something similar for another government department, I can say with some confidence that you are correct.

The act does not say that bank charges (i.e. overdraft/bounced payments) can't be applied to people claiming benefits.

Instead it stops lenders using your benefits as 'security' for a loan or insisting the benefits are paid to them directly instead of the benefit claimant.

Regards
Sunil

vix2000

this thread is very confusing, especially in regard to martins article. Is there any update on this?

Morglin

Banks are not allowed to take all of anyone's benefits for charges, thereby leaving them "without sustenance".

This letter of appropriation is what you should send to the bank:


RIGHT OF APPROPRIATION

Dear Sir/Madam,
ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxx

I am writing to inform you that I am due to have a Benefit payment/Tax Credit(or whatever) payment of £xxx paid into my account on xx/xx/xx, and I wish to use my first right of appropriation for this money, for the following purposes;
Rent £xx
Utilities bills £xx
Housekeeping money £xx
I will withdraw the money on the day that it is deposited for the above use, and I would be grateful if you would ensure that any other payments out of my account do not interfere with this withdrawal.

Yours faithfully,

[signature]

[print name)


Banks know this to be the law, and if you insist that they follow the rules, they will abide by it. Any problems, contact:

http://www.clsdirect.org.uk/index.jsp

Lin

britbranny

I am living on Income Support, DLA and Long Term Incapacity Benefit following a head injury and the development of epilepsy. Priot to that I worked as a nurse in the health service for 27 years and in all that time never had an overdraft! I now have a £350 overdraft purely due to bank charges and still it continues. This month the bank charged me a total of £90 arising from my going over my overdraft limit thanks to bank charges! Double Whammy! It would be really helpful to have a sample letter that we could use to try to reclaim these charges. Can anyone help?
Thanks
Mandy

tiamai_d

Well just spent ages reading through this and thought I would give it ago.

Trying to stop them taking £35 from an account that receives nothing but Child benefit, carers allowance and my sons disability living allowance.

I am going on the assumption that as CA and CB is clearly included, the DLA is included somewhere and it is paid to my son, not me.

Wish me luck. ha.