HSBC agreed claim but wont send cheque to me

flobblewobble

Hi All,

I wonder if anyone can help.

The HSBC have agreed my claim for £4,500 (loan & credit card) but wont send the funds to me. It states in the agreement that I have to sign that the settlement will be used to “reduce my outstanding debt with the HSBC” and states account details for Metropolitan collection services. I have a loan outstanding that was passed to Metropolitan (part of HSBC) and then bought by Link Financial (who are not at all part of HSBC). I do not have any accounts at all with the HSBC and the loan was sold to a company that has nothing to do with the HSBC. I have spoken to someone at the HSBC who has said that the funds will be passed to Metropolitan and they will then send it on to Link.

I have a priority debt that needs sorting plus two other accounts that I could easily clear (in full, one of which is still being charged interest) with this money and then increase my monthly payments to the loan accordingly. I have a good relationship with Link, everything is in order, and I would like to get rid of two companies, in full, and then increase my payment to Link thus getting that cleared quicker.

Does anyone know if they can do this ie send the money, that I shouldn't have been paying in the first place, to a completely separate company? Is there anything I can quote to them or should I just go straight to the Ombudsmen? I would totally understand if the account was still with Metropolitan as it is part of the HSBC and that I wouldn't have a leg to stand on, but as the account was sold 4 years ago and I have, what I think, is a better use for my money the reduce all of my debts quicker shouldn't I be able to insist it comes to me direct so that I can distribute it?

I have sent back the agreement form un-signed with the Metropolitan account details crossed out and replaced by my bank details. I have also written a letter explaining why I want the money paying to me and sent proof of the other debts. I have asked them to send any t&c's, legal or FSA guidelines that state that I cannot get the repayment direct to me in case they refuse.

I have PPI refunds paid direct to me form banks with whom I have outstanding accounts and then I have paid them off myself, except when the HBOS called me and I asked them to do it. NO other bank (HBOS, LLoyds, BOS) have insisted that it goes to a different account.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks

DevCoder

They have the right to offset the capital element as you defaulted or were in arreas on your other account.

You are entitled to the interest element of the claim.

dunstonh

Does anyone know if they can do this ie send the money, that I shouldn't have been paying in the first place, to a completely separate company?

Yes they can with the capital element of the redress.

Think about it logically. You never paid the debt. So, asking them to refund money to you that you never paid wouldnt be right or fair and the bank is allowed to set the money against the debt you failed to pay. If you had not defaulted, they would pay the money to you. it is only when there are arrears, defaults or amounts written off that they can use the money against those.

Is there anything I can quote to them or should I just go straight to the Ombudsmen?

Your complaint is upheld and the bank is following the accepted rules on distribution of the redress. The FOS wont help you. It will just delay the confirmation of the decision for around 18 months with you still having a debt with the collections agency.

-taff

flobblewobble wrote: »

I have asked them to send any t&c's, legal or FSA guidelines that state that I cannot get the repayment direct to me in case they refuse. .

They don't have to provide anything like that, it may be in your T&C's about setting off, it may not, but regardless, they can do it if they want to.

flobblewobble wrote: »

I have PPI refunds paid direct to me form banks with whom I have outstanding accounts...

Doesn't matter, not all of them will.

[Deleted User]

flobblewobble wrote: »

I have sent back the agreement form un-signed with the Metropolitan account details crossed out and replaced by my bank details.

Waste of your time, you have no right to re-direct this money.

flobblewobble wrote: »

I have also written a letter explaining why I want the money paying to me and sent proof of the other debts.

Waste of time, they have already written to you informing you that the money is going towards debt you owe HSBC.

flobblewobble wrote: »

I have asked them to send any t&c's, legal or FSA guidelines that state that I cannot get the repayment direct to me in case they refuse.

Waste of time, the Bank don't have to justify their actions in this way. Here 's a link explaining why:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/setting-off

flobblewobble wrote: »

I have PPI refunds paid direct to me form banks with whom I have outstanding accounts and then I have paid them off myself

It's a waste of time referring to this as it's irrelevant what other banks chose to do.

flobblewobble

Thank you all for your help, very useful, and I completely understand why the HSBC would want to offset the loan (I'm not a total idiot, although one could argue that I am for getting myself into this financial position in the first place if you don't know my circumstances - redundancy and then nearly a year out of work, I am lucky to still have my home).

Anyway, its about who is owed money now and where the account is, every penny will be used to pay off my debt, but the HSBC have got it wrong, I don't actually owe them any money. Surely it would be like transferring a credit card balance from A to B, and A still wanting to be paid even though B holds the account.

flobblewobble wrote: »

It states in the agreement that I have to sign that the settlement will be used to “reduce my outstanding debt with the HSBC” and states account details for Metropolitan collection services.

I don't have a debt with HSBC anymore or with Metropolitan who are part of the HSBC. The debt was SOLD to Link and they are not part of the HSBC group of companies as far as I can find out. Therefore have HSBC not been paid off and should I not be able to deal with Link by myself?

I wanted to clarify my position as even in a relatively anonymous forum thread I don't want to come across as a total idiot, but this is about which company is owed what, not necessarily about it being offset which is what I will do myself, just in my own way. In asking for T&C's I want to know where is says that offsetting has to happen between two separate companies, maybe it goes something like this If the customer should have money in her HSBC account (or win a PPI reclaim) then the HSBC can remove it and transfer it to a completely separate company as part of their offsetting policy. As far as I am aware this can only happen between groups of companies (after reading the helpful offsetting article).

dunstonh

Anyway, its about who is owed money now and where the account is, every penny will be used to pay off my debt, but the HSBC have got it wrong, I don't actually owe them any money.

You tend to find that the commercial relationship between the bank and the collections agency is that they are required to pass money across. It certainly was in my banking days when we used collection agencies. Where it isnt the case and the bank suffers a loss which is written off, they can actually use the redress against the amount written off which would do you no favours at all as that would not reduce your debt.

Surely it would be like transferring a credit card balance from A to B, and A still wanting to be paid even though B holds the account.

Except A never got paid for the balance. Plus, in your case, B will reduce your amount owed by the redress payment.

~Brock~

flobblewobble wrote: »

although one could argue that I am for getting myself into this financial position in the first place if you don't know my circumstances - redundancy and then nearly a year out of work, I am lucky to still have my home).

Isn't that what the PPI was supposed to cover you for in the first place?

Did you make a claim on the policy at the time?

-taff

flobblewobble wrote: »

I don't have a debt with HSBC anymore or with Metropolitan who are part of the HSBC.

Depends if they sold the debt at a loss, they'll recoup what they lost to start with.

flobblewobble

~Brock~ wrote: »

Isn't that what the PPI was supposed to cover you for in the first place?

Did you make a claim on the policy at the time?

Policy was already cancelled because I was a freelancer (self employed) I went into full time employment a few years later (still fixed term contracts but PAYE and contracts kept getting re-newed - then my position was made redundant). The problem was not the redundancy as such, in that I am used to having short term contracts, it was finding other work later on smack bang in the middle of the recession.

I have never been able to claim on these policies because I was self employed and when I worked on contracts they were always fixed term.