Reclaiming Bank Charges if I'm no longer in Financial Difficulty

Ryanreid

Hi, I wonder if someone could give me some advice very quickly.

I've been charged a fortune over the years in Bank Charges, most notably when I was a student. I now have a job, and am no longer in what I would class as financial difficulty, although I'm by no means rolling in it!

There seems to be a lot on here about financial hardship, and I was wondering if it would be worth my while trying to reclaim my charges now?

Sorry, don't have time to read through all the posts on here, any help would be appreciated.

Now, back to work!

Ryanreid

I'm with the Clydesdale bank, if that makes any difference.

McKneff

No, no point at all. You cannot claim historically.

Now back to work again. lol

Goldie4711

Can you please tell me the source of your information for your specifying that financial hardship claims can not be made if you are no longer in financial hardship?
In my opinion, if someone was in financial hardship in 2008 (say, on benefits) and incurred lots of £35 charges, I believe the spirit of the law relating to financial hardship has not been broken by making a claim - in any way.
Definitive legal source, please?
Thanks from Goldie.

Goldie4711

McKneff wrote: »

No, no point at all. You cannot claim historically.

Now back to work again. lol

Can you please tell me the source of your information for your specifying that financial hardship claims can not be made if you are no longer in financial hardship?
In my opinion, if someone was in financial hardship in 2008 (say, on benefits) and incurred lots of £35 charges, I believe the spirit of the law relating to financial hardship has not been broken by making a claim - in any way.
Definitive legal source, please?
Thanks from Goldie.

meer53

There is no legal source. It's banks goodwill when they agree to refund financial hardship cases.

If you were in financial hardship years ago, then the time to claim was then, not now. The banks are wise to people now apparently claiming to have been in financial difficulty years ago. It's mainly people jumping on the "claim everything you think you can" bandwagon.

Any sensible person wouldn't have waited years to contact their bank for help would they ? They would have asked when they needed it.

bengal-stripe

Goldie4711 wrote: »

......the spirit of the law relating to financial hardship......Definitive legal source, please?

There is no statutory right to 'financial hardship' claims. It is a goodwill gesture of the bank to help those who are financially at sea to reach terra firma again. Typical financial hardship settlement would be a refund of the charges for the last six month and a stop on new charges for the next three months. Enough to enable the claimant in question to sort-out his/her financial affairs.

Financial hardship can only be temporary by it's nature, not permanently. If you have fallen on hard times (for whatever reason), you might have initial difficulties to scale down your previously comfortable life style, to one that confirms to the new reduced income. If after a reasonable time you have been unable to cut your coat according to your available cloth, you have nobody but yourself to blame. That is the reason why a financial hardship claim will scrutinize your current spending habits. If you spend money on things that are considered 'frivolous', your hardship claim is likely to fail.

You cannot go on forever and ever to spend more than you have coming in.

Goldie4711

meer53 wrote: »

There is no legal source. It's banks goodwill when they agree to refund financial hardship cases.

If you were in financial hardship years ago, then the time to claim was then, not now. The banks are wise to people now apparently claiming to have been in financial difficulty years ago. It's mainly people jumping on the "claim everything you think you can" bandwagon.

Any sensible person wouldn't have waited years to contact their bank for help would they ? They would have asked when they needed it.

1 - The legal sources are detailed in Martin Lewis' Guide to reclaiming.
2 - With all respect, any sensible person can't see into the future, can they? - (The Lending Code legislation is very recent - from 2011) .
3 - Also, I'm not trying to "rip off" the banks, as you imply - I was in genuine financial hardship for nearly 10 years on benefits.
Let's agree to disagree and I thank you for your response.
Anyone else have any thoughts?
Thanks. Goldie

stclair

Is their a reason why you did not claim them whilst you was in financial difficulty?

The best thing to do is attempt to claim them back under financial hardship, then when the bank tell you take a long run and jump take the concern to the FOS if you think you have a case.

Goldie4711

stclair wrote: »

Is their a reason why you did not claim them whilst you was in financial difficulty?

The best thing to do is attempt to claim them back under financial hardship, then when the bank tell you take a long run and jump take the concern to the FOS if you think you have a case.

Yes. the reason I didn't claim in 2003 was that the provisions for financial hardship only came into force in 2009 (Banking Code) and 2011 (Lending Code).
I am certain I have a case. Thanks for your reply.

Goldie4711

bengal-stripe wrote: »

Typical financial hardship settlement would be a refund of the charges for the last six month and a stop on new charges for the next three months. Enough to enable the claimant in question to sort-out his/her financial affairs.........

That is the reason why a financial hardship claim will scrutinize your current spending habits. If you spend money on things that are considered 'frivolous', your hardship claim is likely to fail.

Thanks for the response. I have barely been able to feed myself for a decade on £120 / fortnight -so there's no issue of "frivolous expenditure" on my bank statements.
When you say "typical settlement", do you mean it's done on a case by case basis and (more importantly) that there is no legal provision for length in years (mine would be 10 years) of financial hardship, which forms the basis of a claim?
Thanks,
Goldie.