Bank charges while receiving benefits

newy16

Hi all
i thought i read somewhere that if you were receiving certain benefits that you may be able to reclaim any charges that you have incurred.

Any help would be great

bengal-stripe

That belief that 'bank charges' cannot be applied to benefit recipients has been doing the rounds for many years. Nevertheless it is wrong: 'Bank charges' are not 'charges' (in the meaning of the law) but expenses.

The Government’s response

The purpose of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 Section 187 and section 45 of the Tax Credits Act 2002 is to prevent people’s benefit money being at risk by it being assigned over to a third party in settlement of a debt. It is not intended to prohibit the application of bank charges. Bank charges are in the nature of an expense, and are incurred by the holder of the account; tax credits and benefits are payable in order to help customers meet their expenses, and as such it is legitimate for banks to deduct charges from the balance of an account held in that bank, whether the money paid into the account comes from tax credits, benefits or other sources, such as earnings.

http://www.consumerwiki.co.uk/index.php/Benefits_and_the_Social_Security_Administration_Act

You'd better contact your bank on grounds of 'financial hardship'.