Reclaim Unfair Bank Charges article discussion Part II

amtrakuk

Good thinking. sorry I forgot about that Will do tonight

vanman7

I have made made 2 claims against halifax recently and have not had my account closed at all.
If anything things have very much IMPROVED with them. I NO LONGER GET CHARGED for unpaid items or unauthorized over drafts and have recently upgraded my account and getting extras such as RAC breakdown cover, mobile phone insurence plus much much more for only £12 per month.

Or are they just creeping to me as i currently have a complaint lodged against them with ICO under Data Protection Act after they lost my common financial statement containing all my personal details. LOL :rotfl:

scottishniki

I have recieved my standard letter from LLoydstsb today statinig that due to the courts etc they will be reviewing in after the court case, would it be better to send in a letter stating financial hardship (I go through a debt agency to control my debts) or do i send the Financial Obs letter?

mister_skint

Hi,
I have browsed this forum often and it has been mosty helpfull.
I seem to have succesfully passed the hardship hurdle and managed to get my claim against First Direct for £3000+ to progress.
I have a £900 over draft and a £12,000 loan with them.
They have offerd me the following In a letter after filling out the income and exp form
" Dear Mister Skint
Thankyou for blah blah blah
---
Presently it would appear that your outgoings exceed your income by xxxx, We sympathise blah blah ---- -
we are prepared to make a payment to you for the sum of £1010 being the present balance of youir 1st account in an effort to provide assistance.
"bit more waffle " then " I am prepared to accept month payments of £110 towards your total first direct debt of £110 at a preferential interest rate of 1% above base rateas oposed to £225"
Bit more waffle basically saying that the bank account will be closed.
then they say
"subject to the receipt of your signed acceptance the following action will be taken
Refund charges amounting to £1010.63 to your 1st account (as mentioned previously we are unable to confirm whether your total current claim will be succesful, however please note your refund will not affect your current claim other than to reduce the final payment made to you by the sum of £1010.63)
All banking facilities will be withdrawn blah blah and therafter you will make payments of £110 at a preferential intrest rate of 1% above first direct base rate to be reviwed after 12 months"

....
It is a confusing offer
I am not sure how to respond I presume they are saying
The reduced loan offer sounds like a good deal but i am coinfused as to what they are saying about the actual charges it seems to say that it will mean any descision on the rest of the claim will be paid or not paid when the court case is decided am i right?
Should i sign as the offer of the reduced loan payments equal to a saving of £1200 over the year on top of the £1010 to clear my bank overdraft.
Should I sign and send it back or ask for more of the charges?

veryannoyed_4

I am about to reclaim my bank charges under the financial hardship, due to the fact that my charges for the last 12 months exceed £500. On the template letter it asks you to state a reason for the financial hardship (unemployment etc). None of these apply to me, and the main reason for my financial hardship is a large loan that I have, which I am claiming back the PPI on. Should I state this on the letter, or should I simply say that I qualify for financial hardship as my bank charges over the last 12 months exceed £500?

greenakd

I have just tried claiming for additional bank charges back from RBS only to be sent a letter from them claiming that their charges are legal and if I wish to claim hardship then I have to fill in an income and expenditure form and that they will close down my account and open a basic bank account for me instead. :mad:

esmerellda

veryannoyed wrote: »

I am about to reclaim my bank charges under the financial hardship, due to the fact that my charges for the last 12 months exceed £500. On the template letter it asks you to state a reason for the financial hardship (unemployment etc). None of these apply to me, and the main reason for my financial hardship is a large loan that I have, which I am claiming back the PPI on. Should I state this on the letter, or should I simply say that I qualify for financial hardship as my bank charges over the last 12 months exceed £500?

You should state as many reasons as possible. It is unlikely you will get through on hardship for struggling with one loan payment, or for charges over £500 in a year. It also heavily depends which bank you are claiming against. When you send in your Income forms include documentation showing your debts, arrears etc, but unless its Halifax, who are quite nice really, the you need serious council tax or mortgage arrears to be thinking of a refund at all at this stage.

esmerellda

greenakd wrote: »

I have just tried claiming for additional bank charges back from RBS only to be sent a letter from them claiming that their charges are legal and if I wish to claim hardship then I have to fill in an income and expenditure form and that they will close down my account and open a basic bank account for me instead. :mad:

If people are in hardship then it can help to move to a basic account - doing that also enables you to work out a repayment plan on any overdraft and lessen the risk of any further charges. The waiver exemption doesnt mean they need to refund you at all until the end of the waiver, but they do have a responsibility to try and help you in some form, thus offering to move you to a basic account.

esmerellda

mister_skint wrote: »

Hi,
I have browsed this forum often and it has been mosty helpfull.
I seem to have succesfully passed the hardship hurdle and managed to get my claim against First Direct for £3000+ to progress.
I have a £900 over draft and a £12,000 loan with them.
They have offerd me the following In a letter after filling out the income and exp form
" Dear Mister Skint
Thankyou for blah blah blah
---
Presently it would appear that your outgoings exceed your income by xxxx, We sympathise blah blah ---- -
we are prepared to make a payment to you for the sum of £1010 being the present balance of youir 1st account in an effort to provide assistance.
"bit more waffle " then " I am prepared to accept month payments of £110 towards your total first direct debt of £110 at a preferential interest rate of 1% above base rateas oposed to £225"
Bit more waffle basically saying that the bank account will be closed.
then they say
"subject to the receipt of your signed acceptance the following action will be taken
Refund charges amounting to £1010.63 to your 1st account (as mentioned previously we are unable to confirm whether your total current claim will be succesful, however please note your refund will not affect your current claim other than to reduce the final payment made to you by the sum of £1010.63)
All banking facilities will be withdrawn blah blah and therafter you will make payments of £110 at a preferential intrest rate of 1% above first direct base rate to be reviwed after 12 months"

....
It is a confusing offer
I am not sure how to respond I presume they are saying
The reduced loan offer sounds like a good deal but i am coinfused as to what they are saying about the actual charges it seems to say that it will mean any descision on the rest of the claim will be paid or not paid when the court case is decided am i right?
Should i sign as the offer of the reduced loan payments equal to a saving of £1200 over the year on top of the £1010 to clear my bank overdraft.
Should I sign and send it back or ask for more of the charges?

It sounds like a decent offer to help you out of your current difficulties. Payments of £110 as opposed to £225 on your loan will help a lot monthly, and wiping your overdraft should ease some pressure too.

You claim will stay in the system and when the test case is finished, if we win, then you will get the remainder of the charges back (ie your claim less the £1010) - the loan part sounds like a way of helping you continue making payments on the loan without defaulting which should help and shouldnt affect your claim at all.

Also if we do 'lose' the test case, then they wnt reclaim the interim payment from you.

I would accept, its fair IMO, you don't lose anything, and sounds as though it will help you out a lot.

BeenieCat

Does anyone reckon Barclays would give me my refund faster if i asked them to take it straight from my overdraft?


(100th post! yay)