Please can someone help i am in dispair

tallyhoh

I was under the impression that banks were not allowed to touch benefits payments. After all its for living expenses not paying greedy banks. Check with one of the debt charities.

robpw2

tallyhoh wrote: »

I was under the impression that banks were not allowed to touch benefits payments. After all its for living expenses not paying greedy banks. Check with one of the debt charities.

you have to inform them first banks do not have crystal ball

jobbingmusician

Hi Jane

I've just popped back to see how the thread is doing - THANK YOU , you lovely people on DFW. I apologise for the lack of understanding shown by some people on GIOL - they are mostly young lads with little life experience or understanding of some of the problems life can throw at you. (They are mostly lovely people tho )

I hope you'll be able to update very quickly to tell us this is resolved, and that Barclay(card) have returned the money so you can pay your carer. It might be worth asking your LA if they can actually manage this money for you, if you've got problems with it going through a bank account run by you. In my borough the Association of Disabled People can manage Direct Payments for clients if necessary. (I run a charity in my 'real life').

I was indecisive in knowing where to move your thread to because I wasn't sure which of your problems to address first. However, the overwhelming problem with this situation, as I see it, is your debt to Barclaycard. Would it be worth contacting CCCS about this debt, as well as about the issue of Barclaycard taking the money? There is a CCCS advisor on this thread who might pick up the issues....

I've also posted a link to this thread on the disability and dosh board HERE.

dmg24

Ames wrote: »

There's something called first right of appropriation, which basically means that certain benefits are there for a particular purpose and can't be used for debts. You need to send a letter (someone else will give you a template) to Barclays saying that the money was given from social services for a particular purpose, and is therefore safeguarded and cannot be used for debts. They should refund it, but might try and argue. Also get in touch with your social worker or whoever deals with the money side and get them to write to Barclays to put pressure on from that side too.

This needs to be done in advance of the money being taken, and in practical terms in advance of the money going into the account. The bank *may* return the monies as a goodwill gesture, but there is no obligation on them to do this. For future payments the OP really needs to have her DPs go into a separate wholly ringfenced account.

starnight_2

Jane,

I know your worried at the minute, is there a way your carer could help you with this? As someone else suggested it may be worth opening an account with another bank for the money to go into though this could take awhile for the monies to transfer.

Please phone the bank again and talk to them about your situation. A few years ago I was in a similar position and my bank refunded the money and took token payments, on my agreement, out of the benefits going in.

starnight
xx

Mupette

Jane

I have Wecil who help me with my direct payment issues.



http://www.wecil.co.uk/

This one is for Bristol and surrounding area's but thought you may have something similar who can help and make calls to Barclaycard on your behalf.

Jane_toms

I would firstly like to say a very big thank you to jobbingmusician for plucking me from that not so friendly or sympathetic board albeit the exceptions of HairY, Purt, Dave 52' and snowman, thank you to them. When I made this very first post, I was in such a state that I didn't think to which board I was posting silly me, what an idiot!!

Mupette I do live in Bristol so thank you I will look into that site.
I do have another account with barclays and when I went in to open the second account, she asked me what it was for which I replied that I have a carer and the local authority said I needed to open a completely separate account purely to be used for the local authorities payments in and me paying the carer and was not to be used for anything else. The person opening this second account said this was fine and we are used to this.so I thought we had an understanding! Obviously not! I was going to pay her by bank transfer, as I don't have the greatest credit rating due to owing to barclaycard and yes I do owe them I used my credit, but in my wildest dreams I did not ever think that something so life changing was going to ever happen to me, then I don't think anyone does. I did have some insurance that being that if I couldn't work at least it would pay me enough to cover my mortgage. Seems that was no good as the consultant in the stroke unit pointed out to me it was not his NHS duty to sign my insurance forms. Fair play to the lender, they did hold off repossession for 4 months. My signed documentation from the consultant came 4 months after that rather too late, my who life and everything I had worked for and built up gone!! Even the estate agents took advantage, when the lender said I could collect all my content (as per their fax) to a friend who I owe a lot to, the estate agent said to the police" if she phones to report a burglary, we were told to take it by the lender" yet when I phoned the lender they told me they told no one except myself to take anything. I was still in hospital when this happened.

I had a letter just today from barclaycard stating there right to take monies from my account. It is not the fault of my carer and therefore I feel obliged to give her all my benefits for this month and will still be short but giving her all I have is better than nothing. Everytime I think my nightmare is over something else happens, yet my way of dealing with it is thinking of all the very poor people in the world that don't have a bite to eat or a roof over their head.

Thank you again to all of you out there that have taken time to care by trying to help

Jane

barbiedoll

Hi Jane.

I know that writing is difficult for you but you should definitely try contacting Barclaycard's complaints department and see if you can get a letter sent off to them regarding this matter. I fully understand that they are entitled to any SPARE cash that you may have sitting around in a bank account but surely they are not allowed to just take money paid by your local authority to pay for your carer. Has anyone been in touch with Citizens Advice for you? Or possibly the banking Ombudsman would be able to help you to get this money returned?

If you like, I would be prepared to type out a letter for you and I could email it to you to print, sign (if able) and send to them. Please PM me if this would help, ok?

I do hope that you manage to get this sorted out. I too have a basic bank account. It is with Natwest and it is called a "Step" account. I was provided with a cheque book, this may be helpful for you if you need to pay your carer by cheque. There are no credit facilities on the account, so you don't need a credit check, or at least you didn't when I applied early this year. As others have said, offer Barclaycard just token payments for the time being, I'm sure they aren't going to go bust whilst waiting for your money and after all the care and consideration they have shown to you then I think they have forfeited any right to your cash for the time being. Take care, let us know how you get on.

Jane_toms

Just when you think it can't get any worse. I have not been very well over the last few days, some days I'm not too bad other days I cannot get out of bed. With this hanging over me and having to find the courage to say to my carer "thank you for all the great care but I'm afraid I cannot pay you" I have found it hard to have her around me especially when The pay packet she is looking forward to is just not going to be so or at least a little short if I give her my benefit money.

As I have been told to pay her monthly I assumed that that I had at
least a little time to sort out a new bank account. All this stress has had me on the loo both ends and I cannot sleep. I feel like a zombie, this is my 3rd night with no sleep I'm so very worried.

Today I checked the balance of the account and to my horror they have taken another £486.40. I thought this is wiered I'm sure it was a
different amount, so I phoned barclays to discuss the one payment that they had taken to find that they had taken this other large sum today making it nearly £1000 in less than 2 weeks. The guy then put me on
hold and my phone said one minute left and it ran out whilst I was holding on the line. I got the LA payment schedule to find that although I pay her monthly they put the money in fortnightly. Yet again I'm. Such an idiot This is a nightmare I'm in a flood of tears. I feel it's finally the straw that broke the camels back. I'm really sorry to offload like this but I'm at the end of by tether and see no way out. I wish my mum was
here, we lost her last year. I've just been so preoccupied lately. my dad is going in for surgery on Monday, the same surgery he had done years ago where he had a cardiac arrest.. He phoned me yesterday to say that if the same happens again he will sign a form to say do not resuscitate so I've been going out my mind with that.

Thank you all you very kind people with problems of your own to take time to listen to me

Jane x

msgnomey

I have no suggestions but wanted to say that Barclaycard have behaved appallingly I hope and pray you get this sorted out as soon as possible xxxxx