Is there any hope of claiming bank charges (financial hardship)?

username_user

A family member of mine raised three children on her own after her partner left her with a half finished extension on their family home and a lot of debt. After things got really bad with debts spiralling out of control and creditors chasing for money, I found moneysavingexpert which was a God send. We sent out letters to all of her creditors and all but one agreed to freeze interest and charges and accept a reduced monthly payment. The only company that would not do this is Lloyds. After many unsuccessful letters and phone calls, we went through the Citizens Advice Bureau and after about a year of persuasion, Lloyds eventually came to an agreement.

Lloyd’s have also been the worst offenders for applying charges to the debts and made the whole situation considerably worse. In 2008 we tried to claim back the charges for the previous 6 years which amounted to over £2800. They would not refund them. We tried again, claiming had been put on hold because of the bank ruling, so they would not refund them even though exceptions were supposed to be made for those in financial hardship.

Fast forward to today, Lloyds are now sending letters saying they want to increase the monthly payment made to them significantly. The family member is still in lots of debt and is still trying to feed and cloth her youngest daughter. If lloyds had refunded the charges, a significant chunk of the debt could have been written off. Is it worth trying to claim again? I can't seem to find much information on claiming now, after the ruling.

Any advice would be great, sorry for the long post!

Wywth

username_user wrote: »

A family member of mine raised three children on her own after her partner left her with a half finished extension on their family home and a lot of debt. After things got really bad with debts spiralling out of control and creditors chasing for money, I found moneysavingexpert which was a God send. We sent out letters to all of her creditors and all but one agreed to freeze interest and charges and accept a reduced monthly payment. The only company that would not do this is Lloyds. After many unsuccessful letters and phone calls, we went through the Citizens Advice Bureau and after about a year of persuasion, Lloyds eventually came to an agreement.

Lloyd’s have also been the worst offenders for applying charges to the debts and made the whole situation considerably worse. In 2008 we tried to claim back the charges for the previous 6 years which amounted to over £2800. They would not refund them. We tried again, claiming had been put on hold because of the bank ruling, so they would not refund them even though exceptions were supposed to be made for those in financial hardship.

Fast forward to today, Lloyds are now sending letters saying they want to increase the monthly payment made to them significantly. The family member is still in lots of debt and is still trying to feed and cloth her youngest daughter. If lloyds had refunded the charges, a significant chunk of the debt could have been written off. Is it worth trying to claim again? I can't seem to find much information on claiming now, after the ruling.

Any advice would be great, sorry for the long post!

I found a great article on reclaiming bank charges written by Martin and his team. Worth a read as it explains in detail who may reclaim and how to go about it.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges

The applicant essentially needs to be in current financial hardship and then the bank may refund recent (up to a maximum of about 6 months) charges and perhaps halt charges for a year.

This is all subject to the bank's goodwill.

Not sure your family member will be too successful in any claim as these charges appear to have been continually accruing for well over 4 years now.
But what have you got to lose by applying?

username_user

Hi Wywth, thanks for your reply.

I did see that article but it's from last year, was hoping to find some more recent information and to hopefully hear from people who have tried to reclaim recently.

She is still in financial hardship yes, which the bank is well aware of.The charges i mentioned were for the 6 years prior to the original claim. I don't think there have been any charges since they agreed to freeze interest etc.