Bank Charges Success Stories II

natweststaffmember

TwinsMum wrote: »

I think we all need to be realistic here, it is extremley unlikely that anybody will be getting their bank charges back any time in the near future, unless you are in financial hardship. If what I have read is true the banks can appeal to the European courts and that will delay things for a possible further 2 years. I just think its unfair to get peoples hopes up, I hope everybody does get them back but I think it is extremley unlikely.

They can't appeal to the ECJ without the Supreme Court referring it there. Furthermore there is a fast track method which is 3 to 6 months but the ECJ is more consumer friendly and the banks' would almost certainly lose. Remember the current decision is not about whether the banks' terms are fair which consequntially means that they are not deciding if banks' have to refund charges. The current decision is on whether the charges themselves can be assessed for fairness under UTCCR 1999. The next stage is the nitty gritty on what is fair, how far back they refund, what is a fair charge and how they refund.

TwinsMum_2

Yes I sort off understood that part, but in the mean time banks are taking what they want and when they want, and loving every minute of the fact that charges are on hold and whooping even more charges out for good luck, all this has done is given the banks a bigger excuse to be greedy, becasue we are powerless to get them back, so by the time we stand any chance of reclaiming them we will all be homeless and broke (slight exaggeration) either way its still going to take months and months more and all this is just giving people false hope.

annered22

Hi all I really need some advice and guidance at the moment as I really don't know what to do next. This might be a little long and I do apologise for this.

Ok firstly, about four months ago I put in a claim with Natwest to reclaim £3500 in bank charges under the financial hardship, so much money had been taken out of my bank account I was virtually bankrupt, the only way Natwest would help was by raising my overdraft as I was desperate I agreed only to find out that the overdraft was only given to me for more charges to be put on my account.

At this point I contacted the CCCS who were really helpful and advised me to claim back my charges and to offer to pay Natwest back at £1 a month for the overdraft. CCCS provided me with a template letter and budget sheet showing that I was actually in debt by £280 a month by my hardship. I received a letter from Natwest saying they were considering etc and with that, a financial statement for me to fill out and send back, I filled this out and sent it back. Then another letter asking me to do the same, again I filled it out and sent it recorded delivery this time, then yet another letter saying they had not received my statement and asking to explain how I pay for gas, electricity and water. That was about 3 weeks ago.

Fast forward to today where I have received a shocking letter saying "following our review of the information you have provided we have determined that you do not fall within our criteria which classifies financial hardship, because your statement is incomplete and have no provided sufficient information to allow us to assess your claim, therefore at present we will not look to take your case further."

I am absolutely devastated and don't know what to do next, I'm desperate and getting more into debt. If anyone could shed some light please I would really appreciate it, really sorry this is so long winded.

Regards

natweststaffmember

annered22 wrote: »

Hi all I really need some advice and guidance at the moment as I really don't know what to do next. This might be a little long and I do apologise for this.

Ok firstly, about four months ago I put in a claim with Natwest to reclaim £3500 in bank charges under the financial hardship, so much money had been taken out of my bank account I was virtually bankrupt, the only way Natwest would help was by raising my overdraft as I was desperate I agreed only to find out that the overdraft was only given to me for more charges to be put on my account.

At this point I contacted the CCCS who were really helpful and advised me to claim back my charges and to offer to pay Natwest back at £1 a month for the overdraft. CCCS provided me with a template letter and budget sheet showing that I was actually in debt by £280 a month by my hardship. I received a letter from Natwest saying they were considering etc and with that, a financial statement for me to fill out and send back, I filled this out and sent it back. Then another letter asking me to do the same, again I filled it out and sent it recorded delivery this time, then yet another letter saying they had not received my statement and asking to explain how I pay for gas, electricity and water. That was about 3 weeks ago.

Fast forward to today where I have received a shocking letter saying "following our review of the information you have provided we have determined that you do not fall within our criteria which classifies financial hardship, because your statement is incomplete and have no provided sufficient information to allow us to assess your claim, therefore at present we will not look to take your case further."

I am absolutely devastated and don't know what to do next, I'm desperate and getting more into debt. If anyone could shed some light please I would really appreciate it, really sorry this is so long winded.

Regards

Ok, a few questions first. Do you have priority debt arrears(mortgage or rent, council tax, utilities)?
Do you have non priority debts(credit cards, store cards, loans, catalogues)?
Are any of the arrears being paid off?
Have you cancelled all non essential Direct Debits?
Have the charges increased or made worse priority debts?
What caused the financial hardship ie what event caused income to be insufficient to meet essential outgoings?

annered22

Hi many thanks for your quick reply, firstly I have no priority debts as such, did have hire purchase but the items were repossessed because I couldn't pay and that's now been cancelled. I do not have a mortage(I am lucky to get housing benefit) I was working but had to stop due to ill health, I now get DLA but it's the lowest rate of £18 a week(paid monthly however) I also get a war pension and that is what I live on. I am struggling to get ESA because they count my war pension as income, and that's why my income is so low. So my total income per month is £390, outgoings substantially more.
I do not have any credit cards, but I'm constantly borrowing from friends and family to make ends meet.

I have cancelled all the direct debits on the Nawest account, I also opened a new bank account with Barclay's for my war pension to be paid into which the CCCS advised.

Hope that helps and again thank you.

natweststaffmember

annered22 wrote: »

Hi many thanks for your quick reply, firstly I have no priority debts as such, did have hire purchase but the items were repossessed because I couldn't pay and that's now been cancelled. I do not have a mortage(I am lucky to get housing benefit) I was working but had to stop due to ill health, I now get DLA but it's the lowest rate of £18 a week(paid monthly however) I also get a war pension and that is what I live on. I am struggling to get ESA because they count my war pension as income, and that's why my income is so low. So my total income per month is £390, outgoings substantially more.
I do not have any credit cards, but I'm constantly borrowing from friends and family to make ends meet.

I have cancelled all the direct debits on the Nawest account, I also opened a new bank account with Barclay's for my war pension to be paid into which the CCCS advised.

Hope that helps and again thank you.

Is that your total income after bills being paid?
Can I clarify, that you are not behind on your mortgage, council tax, gas, water and electricity and you have no non priority debts?

annered22

Hi, well that is my income before anything is paid, I pay £10 per week gas and electricity, by pre-payment meter, my water rates are paid in the post office with a card, 17.50 per fortnight
I get housing benefit and council tax benefit thanks to my local authority!
I have no mortgage and no non priority debts, only what I owe my family.
As I put on the form to the bank, my total monthly debit after buying food etc is -280, it really is an impossible situation!

natweststaffmember

annered22 wrote: »

Hi, well that is my income before anything is paid, I pay £10 per week gas and electricity, by pre-payment meter, my water rates are paid in the post office with a card, 17.50 per fortnight
I get housing benefit and council tax benefit thanks to my local authority!
I have no mortgage and no non priority debts, only what I owe my family.
As I put on the form to the bank, my total monthly debit after buying food etc is -280, it really is an impossible situation!

Is that the figure excluding money owed to family?

annered22

Yes it is.

natweststaffmember

Did the figures you gave the bank include or exclude loans that family/friends gave?

One further question: are you still getting charges on the account today?