Benefits And Bank Charges Help

Wicked_witch

Okay, the bank are allowed to take charges out of your benefits, although some people think there is legislation against it. There has also been a ruling in court that bank charges are not unfair and don't have to be refunded, so there is no point going down that road. Go over to CAG (consumer action group) forums and see what they can do to advise you. They have letter templates and so on. Good luck.

Fire_Fox

I don't mean this to be harsh or judge, just realistic. It is your responsibility to manage your finances or get an agreed overdraft, charges are in the terms and conditions you signed up to when you opened the account. Could you use online banking on your computer or a smartphone if you have one? Or could you phone up for a balance regularly? Could you use cash for almost everything?

Can your hospital help out with transport costs or even transportation? Is there a charity that can help out some of the time? Does your local public transport company have a journey planner so you can see what combination of routes gets you there the quickest? If you are on benefits you may be eligible for cheaper bus and rail tickets, you may have to get a photocard. It's not always easy to find out about this, sometimes you have to speak to a lot of people (bus company, council, DWP, Jobcentre Plus, etc).

ETA for Sheffield
http://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/journeyplanning/
http://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/viewticket.aspx?id=1012&terms=low++income

skintandscared_2

OP - google "first right of appropriation". If they are taking bank charges that use your BENEFITS money, you can send them a letter showing your essential bills such as rent, utilities, etc, and can claim a right of appropriation against those essential bills. They are then not allowed to use your benefit money to pay bank charges that leave you without enough for the essentials.

In relation to bank charges, look at the top of this website and the 2nd tab along the top says "reclaim". If you hover over that, a menu appears below and you need to choose "bank charges". I believe the template letters you need are in there.

Good luck!

GlasweJen

OP is your child eligable for hospital transport? You wont be allowed to take all of the kids with you, just you and the child being treated but as dad is out of work at the moment could he look after the other kids while you attend hospital with your youngest?

Not all hospital transport involves long waits and if there's a volunteer service in your area you could find that it's exactly like ordering a taxi only you get the same person each time.

DanielJam

The dad does look after them, but the hospital only give transport if its just for the child pathetic i know.

When i say ive paid my dues to goverment meaning ive paid my taxes all my life until now, The situation im in stops me from working at the moment. Which is quite hard without a car if i was working i could get back on my feet but what will be will be.

Im fighting the bank all the way with this, they are by law NOT allowed to take money out of benefits no charges etc, its there responsibilty to stop the Unagreed Overdraft, alot of people have also advised me on this.

Thanks alot for your help ive done a letter and sending it off tommorow

GlasweJen

You don't need spare children hanging about a hospital and it probably distracts other patients if it doesn't distract you or your sick child. Hospital transport is scarce and only for very sick people, they won't refuse a parent to accompany a sick youngster to the hospital, they are quite within their rights to ask that you get the other kids looked after!

And it's not the banks fault that you spend money that isn't there, would you rather they withdrew your account and asked you to pay up your overdraft and go elsewhere? You're the one making these transactions not the bank, if budgeting is such a problem you could try withdrawing cash and not using your bank card?

Fire_Fox

DanielJam wrote: »

The dad does look after them, but the hospital only give transport if its just for the child pathetic i know.

This sounds very unlikely, are you sure you have not misunderstood? A toddler cannot travel to hospital unsupervised, they couldn't understand or make any decisions, a parent or guardian would normally accompany them.

Can't you use public transports as per my post/ links? Can the kid's father walk or cycle the other children to school or could you share the effort with another parent at the school? Children are meant to do at least one hour of physical activity every day anyway, and adults are meant to do at least 10,000 steps each day which is several miles.

It worries me how negative you are, are you getting help from your family doctor about your mental state? It can be very hard to remain positive but you are being given possible solutions yet continuing to use unpleasant language about the hospital, bank, state, other posters. Many people who are in debt find it really helpful to start taking some responsibility and control back, plenty on MSE live well on a low income or without a car.

ILW

DanielJam wrote: »

The dad does look after them, but the hospital only give transport if its just for the child pathetic i know.

When i say ive paid my dues to goverment meaning ive paid my taxes all my life until now, The situation im in stops me from working at the moment. Which is quite hard without a car if i was working i could get back on my feet but what will be will be.

Im fighting the bank all the way with this, they are by law NOT allowed to take money out of benefits no charges etc, its there responsibilty to stop the Unagreed Overdraft, alot of people have also advised me on this.

Thanks alot for your help ive done a letter and sending it off tommorow

If dad is not working and you have a job lined up, he could look after the children and you go to work.

BigAunty

DanielJam wrote: »

I know this might sound rude, but would someone please help me write a letter to the bank do a rough template of what to put, im going to do this differently.

the bank is : HSBC

charges in total: £3000

Unagreed overdraft.

Just a rough letter of what to say and what to put that could win this back? Thanks in advance!

Perhaps the Citizens Advice Bureau could help you with this? I believe they help to draw up letters for the creditors of those in debt and arrange repayment plans with them? - to other posters, is that the case that CAB help with debt communication and management?

Nonetheless, the debts are really a private issue between you and your bank and while it looks like some banks do write off some charges, its up to their discretion. They've already turned you down before, haven't they?

Have you popped to the Debt free wanabee board yet? The posters there are very experienced at dealing with debt management and will help you come up witha solid strategy to either get it written off or paid back at a token sum, something a bit more tangible should your 'pretty please' second letter fail again, a good back up option.

The Direct Gov website also has a good section on Debts and Debt management, including links to charities that help clients sort out their debt problems free of charge (do avoid companies that charge for their services).

help4help2013

shedboy94 wrote: »

Not necessarily. Regardles of what rate of DLA you get for a child, you also get the disability element of CTC and possible carers allowance as well. It all adds up.

and that money is for the child weather it adds up or not its a lot harder bringing up a disabled child