Awkward Situation

grundie

Hello all,

I am in a bit of a tight situation. I have a Nationwide FlexAccount, but I am a full time carer and I receive just £83 a week in benefits. That is the total amount of my income.

I had to quickly quit my old job to care for my mother who is terminally ill and as a result I was left with debts that just had to be paid. This has left me in the situation where direct debits fail due to my low income and I end up getting charged. I know I can claim these back, but I just don't have the time to do so due to personal circumstance and living in NI means I don't get my court fees waived upfront.

Anyways, this is the third time I have been left with under £20 to live on for a week due to the Nationwide taking charges from my benefit.

I have just been to my local branch and spoken to the manager, he toed the corporate line and refused point blank to even consider refunding any charges. I tried to plead my case and he genuinely did not care, even going as far as saying people on benefits get no special treatment from the Nationwide. In case you are wondering, it's the Londonderry branch.

Can anyone suggest anything I can do? I don't fancy living on noodles for another weeks. All help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Robert Brown

Ken-Dodds-Hairy-Knodule

Goto the jobcentre and get your benefit paid either by girocheque or into another bank account (or a post office account).

Then you can pay the vultures back when you can afford to.

MPH80

Apologies if I say anything out of turn here but ...

Your priorities are wrong. If you only get £83 a week - then you need to work out what you can afford to give to those debts.

So - step 1 - draw up a statement of affairs listing all your income/outgoings (non-debt) - then find out how much you have left. That's how much you pay to your debt.

Then step 2 - either talk to Payplan/cccs or negotiate a debt management plan with your creditors yourself.

The simple fact is - if you're working to a budget - you won't incur charges and you won't be left with £20 a week. But the budget has to exclude the debt to start with and creditors join the back of the queue for your money - if you can afford £1 a week - that's what they get. They will try to get more - they might even take you to court - but a judge won't order you to pay more than you can afford - and providing that you have a realistic statement of affairs - the amount he'll make you pay is the amount you offered in the first place.

Try asking in the Debt Free Wannabe section or on the Motley Fool's Dealing With Debt board for more help.

M.

grundie

I plan to do that ASAP, but I've got so many things left over from when I was working that I need a current account.

I'll get it all sorted out in the end I'm sure.

grundie

The debts aren't as big an issue as it may sound. My creditors have been very good with me and given the nature of the industry I intend to return working in, ironically banking software, I can't afford to have negative entries on my credit file.

All I wanted was a bit of sympathy from the Nationwide.

Chadsman

Grundie, very sorry to hear about your mum.
The charges are unlawful penalty charges that do not reflect the expense they incur and as such are illegal. Write to them stating you will take them to court if they do not repay in full the charges they have levied.
Have a look through the sticky post 'reclaim unfair bank charges' at the top of this forum.
:grouphug:

grundie

Chadsman wrote:

Grundie, very sorry to hear about your mum.
The charges are unlawful penalty charges that do not reflect the expense they incur and as such are illegal. Write to them stating you will take them to court if they do not repay in full the charges they have levied.
Have a look through the sticky post 'reclaim unfair bank charges' at the top of this forum.
:grouphug:

I've actually sent those letters twice, but I have never been able to follow through with the court action due to the fact that in Northern Ireland you don't get court fees waived upfront. Instead you have to pay and then claim them back.

Do protest websites work?

Chadsman

Assuming you win the claim (and if you dont win you can saw off my right arm with a blunt teaspoon) the bank will have to refund the court fee to you.

Ken-Dodds-Hairy-Knodule

Chadsman wrote:

Assuming you win the claim (and if you dont win you can saw off my right arm with a blunt teaspoon) the bank will have to refund the court fee to you.

The problem is, someone trying to live on £83 a week can't really afford to be paying court fees upfront - even if they will be refunded later.

Chadsman

I had charges from NW earlier this year and wrote complaining to their Head Office moaning about how they were supposed to be 'proud to be different' and they coughed up.
Having written to them already you would be perfectly entitled to take the matter to court stright away but I *might* give them one last chance by phoning their HO saying you were going to sue them if they dont refund the fees immediately.

BUT DONT SETTLE FOR ANYTHING LESS THAN A FULL REFUND.

Chadsman

Ken-Dodds-Hairy-Knodule wrote:

The problem is, someone trying to live on £83 a week can't really afford to be paying court fees upfront - even if they will be refunded later.

Indeed.
Do you have a credit card you can use or a friend/relative who can help you out?
Alternatively again, you could conact the local press who will love this story.