Just phoned FOS, am I wasting my time?

connormill

evening all,

I'll set the back story first shall I?

About 6 months ago I lost my job and have started a new one, with much lower wages. At first I thought I'd get by but I am now starting to go overdrawn every month, started with just a day or two but it's getting worse. Today is the 6th and I'm £70 OD, payday is the 29th

With that in mind the charges from Santander are really making this worse, as the time OD increases every month so therefore so do the fee's. I spoke to someone in branch and was basically told that because it's in the T&C's then i have to pay. It's not just OD charges, but missed DD, "paid item fee" and various others. often the same DD being missed several times

Today I phoned the FOS and they said the chance of reclaiming was low, but they'd file a complaint anyway.

I know folks on here are very knowledgeable, so, do you think I stand much of a chance?

DevCoder

You could potentially get one months of fees returned if its your first time overdrawn for a good while (at least 12 months).

If you are looking to prove a hardship case for fee reversal and interest freezing then you will need to be prepared to have your account scrutinised for any non priority spending. For non priority read rent, tax etc. They will even question spends from shops which look like impulse buys (even food!).

If you can prove that you are left with a marginal amount (less than £50) a month after priority debts then you might have a case for hardship. Even this is relying on the goodwill of the bank.

YorkshireBoy

connormill wrote: »

It's not just OD charges, but missed DD, "paid item fee" and various others. often the same DD being missed several times

At the risk of stating the blindingly obvious...cancel the DDs!

With respect to the unpaid item fees, yes you'll possibly have late payment fees with the originators (credit card, mortgage, loan, etc), but it's crazy to pay two lots of fees.

And as for the paid item fees, they did you a favour by paying them, because if they didn't you'd have two lots of fees rather than just one.

Banks are not charities. Why should they lend money (you're regularly asking for an informal overdraft) and not charge? The fees for these services are clearly laid out in your T&Cs. If you make a request, or allow a request to be made, for an informal overdraft you are agreeing to pay them.

The time to say you don't agree with them is before you use them...not afterwards.

Which brings me onto my opening suggestion...cancel the DDs!

McKneff

Do a budget, you have to be overspending.

Or do an SOA on here and we will try to help.

Wywth

connormill wrote: »

evening all,

I'll set the back story first shall I?

About 6 months ago I lost my job and have started a new one, with much lower wages. At first I thought I'd get by but I am now starting to go overdrawn every month, started with just a day or two but it's getting worse. Today is the 6th and I'm £70 OD, payday is the 29th

With that in mind the charges from Santander are really making this worse, as the time OD increases every month so therefore so do the fee's. I spoke to someone in branch and was basically told that because it's in the T&C's then i have to pay. It's not just OD charges, but missed DD, "paid item fee" and various others. often the same DD being missed several times

Today I phoned the FOS and they said the chance of reclaiming was low, but they'd file a complaint anyway.

I know folks on here are very knowledgeable, so, do you think I stand much of a chance?

I wouldn't wait for them - they'll take a month to simply pass on whatever you have provided anyway. (which is probably insufficient to assess your claim fully anyway)

If you want something done properly, do it yourself!
The MSE article explains how:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges

a) the FOS will not consider your complaint until the bank have first had an opportunity to fully investigate it.
(I'm surprised the FOS didn't inform you of this when you called them)
b) the FOS cannot force any bank to refund charges correctly applied, the best they can do if you later complain to them is to ask the bank to look at the complaint again.

Before you do any of this, check out the financial hardship online resources sticky thread to see if you think you would qualify under financial hardship.
e.g. have you any priority debts?

Posting your SoA over on the DFW board is a good suggestion too. You are going to have to submit something similar to the bank anyway, and the people on that board may be able to give you some pointers.

cing0

Wywth wrote: »

a) the FOS will not consider your complaint until the bank have first had an opportunity to fully investigate it.
(I'm surprised the FOS didn't inform you of this when you called them)

If you look at http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/about/video_welcome.htm
the page and the video clearly says they will do the complaint for you. It won't be converted until 8 weeks has elapsed or a final word is issued.

Wywth wrote: »

b) the FOS cannot force any bank to refund charges correctly applied, the best they can do if you later complain to them is to ask the bank to look at the complaint again.

The FOS can pass on your settlement request if you ask.

Wywth

Trust me, from experience, they just send it back (having passed a copy to the relevent institution) and say they'll consider the matter closed unless, after the institution has had time to respond, you do not agree with the response (or don't get one) and you then get back onto the FOS.

cing0

Wywth wrote: »

Trust me, from experience, they just send it back (having passed a copy to the relevent institution) and say they'll consider the matter closed unless, after the institution has had time to respond, you do not agree with the response (or don't get one) and you then get back onto the FOS.

Then you need to put in a complaint about unfiar treatement as per http://www.fos.org.uk/publications/factsheets/complaints-about-our-service.pdf
There is no time limit to starting this if you haven't already. This will resolve the debate.

Little_Mo_70

Personally, if this were me, i would follow the advice in post 5.
As far as I can tell, up to now you have only spoken to someone at the bank.
You have not sent an official complaint which you need to do, in writing, to start the ball rolling.

The FOS are inundated at the moment (I have been waiting 15 months about one of my complaints and still get reminder letters telling me I haven't been forgotten but they are very busy)

Check out all the advice and criteria for financial hardship in the link given and provide as much evidence as you can regarding your situation in your letter to support your case. (send recorded and keep all copies.)

[Deleted User]

Little_Mo_70 wrote: »

Personally, if this were me, i would follow the advice in post 5.
As far as I can tell, up to now you have only spoken to someone at the bank.
You have not sent an official complaint which you need to do, in writing, to start the ball rolling.

Yes, FOS involvement can't start properly until the lender has been given the opportunity (eight weeks) to respond to a formal complaint which has been sent to them. Ringing or contacting FOS prior to this is therefore bound to be a futile experience.

connormill

Just like to post an update, 5 days :eek: after phoning the FOS a lad from santander called and was looking at my account.

They have refunded all of January's fees and already blocked any from coming off for Feb.

This was a massive help to me as now that my pay is sorted with my employer and I don't have £150 of looming fees I can actually pay the bills when they come in and finally sort everything out!


I have to say thought the negative attitude that is getting worse on here does put a lot of folk off. Everyone saying don't bother it doesn't work.
I say, give it a go, all you have to loose is the price of a phone call!


*EDIT*
I'd also like to say that I asked the FOS to make the complaint to Santander on my behalf. so everyone saying don't bother with the FOS until you've contacted your bank need to remember that.

Yes, I could have contacted them myself, but simply phoning the FOS and giving them a few details over the phone was simpler than writing to Santander and proved effective