HSBC Interest

Digital_Lulu

I ended up in a bit of a pickle through illness in 2007/2008. I went to my local HSBC branch and told the new manager that I had no money coming in and need help by freezing the account charges etc.. Apart from cancelling my DDs etc, nothing happened.

In April 2008 I wrote to Customer Services having taken advice from CCCS, business debtline etc and explained I was experiencing extreme financial difficulties etc and asked them to freeze my account and interest.

I had my personal acc, credit card and business account with HSBC, they sorted out the CC and personal account, but completely ignored letters and calls relating to the business account, or replied, but ignored everything I was saying, instead refering to the private acc which by that time was in collection.

It took until Dec 2008 for them to pass the business acc to a DCA and in between times, they continued to charge interes, but no other bank charges after April 08, so they clearly had partially acknowledged my plight.. The interest just between April when I notified them and the end of Dec when they took action and passed me to a DCA amounts to just over £3k.

I finally called in with a complaint this week and today received a letter saying that they believe they followed the correct procedures and therefore will not proceed with my claim.It was the team who screwed up and ignored my original issues who made this decision.

Where do I go from here - is it straight to the FOS or do I write with copies of all my evidence to HSBC?

On top of all this HSBC took me to court and got a CCJ against a £4k business Flexiloan debt (there was no negotiation, I had written to them explaining the circumstances etc, but HSBC just straight in there), that's by the by, my problem is, they won a court judgement for £4k which although it paid into my business account, the monthly paymentscame out of my private account and and somehow HSBC added on my business debt to this judgement so the final judgement papers say I now owe £17k on a CCJ and not the £4k which was determined at the hearing.

How on earth could they do this and where do I go to complain about this one?

dunstonh

Where do I go from here - is it straight to the FOS or do I write with copies of all my evidence to HSBC?

You can go to the FOS but you not to identify any wrongdoing. I cant see anything on first glance of your post to suggest wrong doing.

How on earth could they do this and where do I go to complain about this one?

If you are self employed or a partnership then your personal accounts and your business accounts all come under you as a person. If you are a limited company or an LLP then your business is independent of you. Which were you?

Digital_Lulu

dunstonh wrote: »

You can go to the FOS but you not to identify any wrongdoing. I cant see anything on first glance of your post to suggest wrong doing.



If you are self employed or a partnership then your personal accounts and your business accounts all come under you as a person. If you are a limited company or an LLP then your business is independent of you. Which were you?

Many thanks for your reply Dunston.

The issue I have with HSBC regarding the first part is that HSBC deliberately ignored the letters notifying them of financial hardship and requests to stop interest charges but instead continued to charge interest at around £250 a month, they also did not send this straight to a DCA, but took 8 months following written notice and 14 months after verbal notice to do so. That is why I am annoyed.

The CCJ was solely for the £4k, but somehow the additional sum was added without any formal agreement by the judge.

dunstonh

The issue I have with HSBC regarding the first part is that HSBC deliberately ignored the letters notifying them of financial hardship and requests to stop interest charges but instead continued to charge interest at around £250 a month

There is no requirement for them to stop charging interest. The FOS encourage lenders to look at charges for people in hardship but interest is not included in that.

they also did not send this straight to a DCA, but took 8 months following written notice and 14 months after verbal notice to do so.

It is up to the bank to decide when they refer it to a collection agency.

By all means, refer it to the FOS. However, it does no harm to be aware of the issues you may face.

Digital_Lulu

dunstonh wrote: »

There is no requirement for them to stop charging interest. The FOS encourage lenders to look at charges for people in hardship but interest is not included in that.



It is up to the bank to decide when they refer it to a collection agency.

By all means, refer it to the FOS. However, it does no harm to be aware of the issues you may face.

Thank you for your advice Dunston.

HSBC treated the two other accounts, including a Flexiloan on this exact same business account well, responding within a reasonable time to my repayment proposals, passing to a DCA and freezing the interest.

Is it right that a bank can ignore written and verbal attempts to resolve the matters, including repayment proposals and continue to charge unauthorised overdraft interest for a further 8 months? It seems wrong to me.

In the end, this interest added almost 30% to my business debt burden with HSBC.