business account banki charges

bornjoyful

Sorry if this has been asked before and I have missed it but there is so much to look through.

I am helping someone through an IVA and getting DLA, Pension Credit and Housing benefit sorted for them. He stopped opening mail about 18 months ago

Until from September 2011 until July 2013 he was self employed and not bringing in enough money and had not applied for any benefits.
Therefore his average weekly income for the past 2 years (after having filled in his HMRC self assesment )b was £168 and his rent was £138!

He had a personal and a business acount with Lloyds and has been unable to run one never mind two!

he was simply depositnig some of his cheques from business earnings and paying bills and eating from the business account. the personal one lay dormant.

Every time something did not clear he had £35 and £15 fee and I can see £820 of these charges going back 18 months.

I have everything prepared but simply wanted to know if the success for reclaiming bank charges is the same when it is a business not personal account?

The real shame is that his debts have mounted up to £20,000 and if he had someone sit and do the work I have now done (a bit much for the CAB!) he would have recieved £25,000 in benefits from September 2011 :mad::(
Many thanks in advance

dunstonh

I have everything prepared but simply wanted to know if the success for reclaiming bank charges is the same when it is a business not personal account?

You mean is it virtually non-existent for business accounts in the same way it is for personal accounts? the answer is yes.

Since the banks won the court case, you cant just claim your charges back. Especially if you are going down the unfair/too much route as that leads to auto rejection. However, there is the current financial hardship route. Banks will consider charges made over a period of financial hardship if it can be shown that the person has been living on the breadline or in a cycle of charges. If they feel the person meets their hardship criteria, they will consider a range of options. These can be refunding recent charges (6-12 months worth is not uncommon) or suspending interest and charges on the account for the next 6-12 months or variations of those.

Being in debt does not mean you qualify for hardship criteria. For example, gamblers won't. People who live beyond their means but still make consumer goods purchases wont (e.g. mobile phone, sky tv etc).

There is still a lot of money refunded by banks each year under hardship criteria. However, it is at their goodwill. Not due to some legal or other means.

bornjoyful

yes I will be trying under 'finanicial hardship' as he fits the criteria mentioned hereMost of the first set of criteria, sometimes the second and definately the third- charges every single month for 18 months totalling £820

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges

Wywth

If you wish to reclaim under financial hardship, then that is possible if the business is considered a 'micro-enterprise'.

A micro-enterprise is defined as a business that employs fewer than 10 persons and has a turnover or annual balance sheet that does not exceed €2 million.

http://www.bba.org.uk/download/6673 (page 4)

(Of course there is no guarantee of success as the banks are not obligated to refund charges under financial hardship)

If you were seeking to follow the legal route, then no issues (other than no one has ever won since the Supreme Court ruling in 2009 following the MSE article)

bornjoyful

so are you saying that no-one has got any charges refunded at all even by going by the legal route since 2009?

dunstonh

bornjoyful wrote: »

so are you saying that no-one has got any charges refunded at all even by going by the legal route since 2009?

The legal route closed when the banks won the court case. Even the FOS no longer takes on complaints about unfair bank charges. They cant even tell a bank to refund on financial hardship. They can just encourage it to look at a case fairly.

Wywth

bornjoyful wrote: »

so are you saying that no-one has got any charges refunded at all even by going by the legal route since 2009?

No, I said "no one has ever won since the Supreme Court ruling in 2009 following the MSE article". There's a clear warning at the start of the article. Have you even read it???

Update: This guide hasn't been updated since 2010. Very few have tried this system and we've not had any successes

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/oft-bank-charges