Hardship claim rejection. Please help.

JibTeenuc

I submitted a claim for between £800 and £900 to my former bank (£500+ in charges and £300+ in interest @8%), which was rejected - despite my being in genuine hardship, having suffered two strokes and having been unemployed since 2005.

My monthly benefits do not even cover my basic rent, power, transport (nevermind food, clothes etc).

The rejection letter cites:

"The Supreme Court considered bank fees and issued its judgement in November 2009. The Supreme Court, which is the highest court in the United Kingdom, decided fees cannot be challenged on the grounds that they are too high and that they are not considered penalties. This judgement did not make any exception for customers who are suffering financial difficulties".

I was of the understanding that not only did the Supreme Court mention that a claimant should not necessarily be put off claiming, despite their verdict, but also said that it expected banks to behave responsibly and positively towards claimants suffering financial hardship.

1) Any advice and/or experience would be sincerely appreciated.

2) Should I appeal to the bank, go straight to Financial Ombudsman Service or simply even drop my claim?

3) Despite submitting and receiving the results of a SAR (Subject Access Request) there is no signed agreement between myself and the bank to the bank's terms and conditions - only a generic, unsigned, set of TAC's. Does this make my case any the stronger?

Many thanks for taking the trouble to read this and I look forward to advice from those better placed than myself, hopefully.:)

Jib T.

dunstonh

I was of the understanding that not only did the Supreme Court mention that a claimant should not necessarily be put off claiming, despite their verdict, but also said that it expected banks to behave responsibly and positively towards claimants suffering financial hardship.

The banks do consider financial hardship cases. However, did you make sure your request for considering a refund was made clear that it was financial hardship? You must not use words like "unfair" or similar. That will result in auto rejection.

3) Despite submitting and receiving the results of a SAR (Subject Access Request) there is no signed agreement between myself and the bank to the bank's terms and conditions - only a generic, unsigned, set of TAC's. Does this make my case any the stronger?

No. By using facilities, you agreed to them. When debit cards were introduced, the banks got people to sign new credit agreements.

2) Should I appeal to the bank, go straight to Financial Ombudsman Service or simply even drop my claim?

FOS wont consider complaints on unfair bank charges. It cannot force the bank to refund either. You need to get the bank to look at it as hardship and not unfair as they currently are.

Wywth

JibTeenuc wrote: »

I submitted a claim for between £800 and £900 to my former bank (£500+ in charges and £300+ in interest @8%), which was rejected - despite my being in genuine hardship, having suffered two strokes and having been unemployed since 2005....

Really?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4020793

:cool:

antrobus

JibTeenuc wrote: »

....I was of the understanding that not only did the Supreme Court mention that a claimant should not necessarily be put off claiming, despite their verdict, but also said that it expected banks to behave responsibly and positively towards claimants suffering financial hardship.....

I believe that you understanding is quite wrong. The Supreme Court said no such thing. I think you're confusing them with the FOS who do expect banks to "deal positively and sympathetically" with customers in financial hardship. However, "If you are in genuine financial hardship, this does not affect the legality of the charges".

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/faq/bank-charges.html

JibTeenuc

dunstonh wrote: »

The banks do consider financial hardship cases. However, did you make sure your request for considering a refund was made clear that it was financial hardship? You must not use words like "unfair" or similar. That will result in auto rejection.



No. By using facilities, you agreed to them. When debit cards were introduced, the banks got people to sign new credit agreements.



FOS wont consider complaints on unfair bank charges. It cannot force the bank to refund either. You need to get the bank to look at it as hardship and not unfair as they currently are.

Thanks for the great and detailed advice.

You are correct in reading between the lines that I did couch my claim as both on Hardship and on Unfair-Charges grounds.

I guess I'll just have to take my cap in hand and appeal their decision on the grounds of Hardship, alone (not holding out too much hope for a sympathetic response, though - the bank being the notoriously callous Lloyds).

Thanks again.:beer:

JibTeenuc

Wywth wrote: »

Really?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4020793

:cool:

LOL. Are you the MSE police? :rotfl:

FYI information, I'm guilty of impersonating my daughter who had that offer from her employer and asked her dad (me) for advice.

Not wanting to shatter her lifelong-held-belief as to my infallibility, I posed the question on her behalf and gave her the benefit of my (MSE's) advice. .

Great detective work, by the way.

PS you can stop stalking me now (I'm sure there must be a life out there, somewhere, just waiting for you to embrace it).

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

JibTeenuc

antrobus wrote: »

I believe that you understanding is quite wrong. The Supreme Court said no such thing. I think you're confusing them with the FOS who do expect banks to "deal positively and sympathetically" with customers in financial hardship. However, "If you are in genuine financial hardship, this does not affect the legality of the charges".

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/faq/bank-charges.html

Thank you very much for clearing that up. You're right in that I was likely confusing the FSA with the Supreme Court.

bengal-stripe

JibTeenuc wrote: »

I submitted a claim for between £800 and £900 to my former bank.......

Hardship claims can only refer to your current situation, you cannot put in a claim for some historical hardship. As you do not bank any longer with Lloyds, they do not know about your current financial situation and are under no obligation to consider the hardship you might have experienced a number of years ago.

JibTeenuc

bengal-stripe wrote: »

Hardship claims can only refer to your current situation, you cannot put in a claim for some historical hardship. As you do not bank any longer with Lloyds, they do not know about your current financial situation and are under no obligation to consider the hardship you might have experienced a number of years ago.

That sounds perfect, then, as it is now I'm under severe financial hardship. But the rejection letter refers to "historical hardship" (although I wasn't claiming under historical terms) and appears to take no account for my current situation at all.

Do you think I should point that out to them and suggest that, perhaps they misunderstood the grounds upon which I originally submitted my claim?

If they reject such an appeal, what (if any) are my options, do you know?

Many thanks.

noh

JibTeenuc wrote: »

That sounds perfect, then, as it is now I'm under severe financial hardship. But the rejection letter refers to "historical hardship" (although I wasn't claiming under historical terms) and appears to take no account for my current situation at all.

Do you think I should point that out to them and suggest that, perhaps they misunderstood the grounds upon which I originally submitted my claim?

If they reject such an appeal, what (if any) are my options, do you know?

Many thanks.

As pointed out by the previous poster. If you no longer bank with Lloyds then they have no obligation to consider a hardship claim.

jacques_chirac

As others have stated, Lloyds are under no obligation to consider a hardship claim on a closed account. Have you not put in a claim with your current bank?