clarification of genuine hardship cases

dinkygirl

I am on Income Support and have been for the past 6 years, i have sent the first letter asking for my fees to be refunded at the end of March. Today i got a reply stating all applications were on hold due to the test case and so on.
What do i do now? Do i send the second letter re-itterating that i am on benefits and have been for the entire period i am claiming for and that this therefore comes under seperate jurystiction (sorry my speling is terrible)?
I could really do with this money back as it will clear my overdraft which it turns out is for almost the same amount as my charges (strange that!!! lol)

Orford

Do i send the second letter

Yes and then file at court. If you are on benefits you may be exempt from court fees. See here:
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/fees/county.htm

What if I cannot afford the fee? You do not have to pay a court fee if you receive one of the following means-tested benefits:

• Income Support; or
• State Pension Guarantee Credit; or
• Income-based Job Seeker’s Allowance; or
• Working Tax Credit provided you are not receiving Child Tax Credit; or
• your gross annual income does not exceed a specified limit. See form EX160A for more details.

If you show that a payment of a court fee would involve undue hardship to you, you may be eligible for a part remission. The amount decided will be based on a detailed means-test to assess your disposable income. Court staff will calculate what contribution you should make towards the fee.
For further information, or to apply for a fee concession, ask court staff for a copy of the combined booklet and form EX160A – Court fees – Do I have to pay them? This is also available from any county court office, or a copy of the leaflet can be downloaded from the internet at http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/HMCSCourtFinder/FormFinder.do
You will have to make a separate application for each fee that is payable.

mikewebs

Hi there

My bank - Natwest - bounced 2 direct debits totalling less than £30 because it wold have meade me £25 o/d. They then charged me £38 per item making memore than £70 o/d!:mad: My question is - can I get these charges back as they are unrealistic/unfair or do I have to suffer this treatment - I won't get an account elsewhere.

By the way - my only income is from state benefits - Income support, Incapacity and DLA so are these inalienable and therefore the banks cannot levy charges against me?

Orford

My question is - can I get these charges back as they are unrealistic/unfair or do I have to suffer this treatment

Yes, but only by following the reclaim procedure

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By the way - my only income is from state benefits - Income support, Incapacity and DLA so are these inalienable and therefore the banks cannot levy charges against me?

Unfortunately, this is a myth.
The two Acts of Parliament that govern how benefits are paid are the Social Security Administration Act 1992 and the Tax Credit's Act 2002. Both of these have clauses which apparently make it unlawful for banks to impose bank charges on benefits:

Social Security Administration Act 1992 Section 187: Quote:
<table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="alt2" style="border: 1px inset ;"> 187.—(1) Subject to the provision of this Act, every assignment of or charge on–
(a) benefit as defined in section 122 of the Contributions and Benefits Act;
[3(aa) a jobseeker’s allowance;]
(b) any income-related benefit; or
(c) child benefit,
and every agreement to assign or charge such benefit shall be void; </td> </tr> </tbody></table>
Tax Credits Act 2002 Section 45: Quote:
<table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="alt2" style="border: 1px inset ;"> 45. Inalienability
(1) Every assignment of or charge on a tax credit, and every agreement to assign or charge a tax credit, is void; </td> </tr> </tbody></table>
HOWEVER by 'charges' they DO NOT MEAN BANK CHARGES. What is meant is things like attachment of earnings and charging orders.

Although there is some ambiguity, if you took a case to reclaim bank charges to court based on s187 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 or s45 of the Tax Credits Act 2002 the court would almost certainly find against you.

No one is saying that the banks have the right to take money from benefits, only that you can't use the Social Security Administration Act 1992 or the Tax Credits Act 2002 to stop them. Money taken from benefits is unlawful - but unlawful by virtue of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999 and the common law on penalties in contracts , not under the Social Security Administration Act 1992 or Tax Credits Act 2002 (unfortunately).

nady

Hi, i really hope someone can help me with this. I am self emplyed but i have not taken a wage for over 2 years. A few weeks ago Working tax credit reduced our money to just £135 per week! I have now had so many charges from RBS that the benifit money i have going in each week has not been covering the charges on the bank or the direct debits, so i have gone further into debt! I have phoned RBS customer relations who have told me its my fault and they will not refund any money to me. I have just phoned and cancelled all my Direct bebits, but all the money i have to live on is getting taken away! Are they allowed to do this? I have had the account for around 8 years and have had so many charges it must be a couple of grand, and i know how stupid it was but i didnt claim and now i know i cant as all the claiming has stoped.
The girl i spoke to said all the charges were for non payment of DD and standing orders so i cant have a refund.

Any words of advice?

Thank you

Xzane

Hi, i put in for a claim last july/aug did all the steps and got the letter saying due to the court case all claims are on hold etc etc..

I am now on benifits due to a recent change, income support, is it worth pushing to get my money back even tho the court case is still up in the air? They owe me £1,480

Thanks anyone..

Tozer

The same principles apply whether you are on benefits or not.

krisskross

I know this is going to be unpopular but why persist with 'self employment' if you have not had any wages for 2 years?

Benefit income is no different to any other income where bank charges are concerned.

dinkygirl

sent off the second letter, took the template from here and added a few bits from the consumer advise group reitterating the 1992 act on benefits. They seem to have totally ignored this fact in their reply which fills me with doubt that they even read my first letter properly at all!

i can but hope that this time they will read it properly and see that i am in dire need of this money seeing as my entire OD is the sum of the claim!

Keep your fingers crossed for me guys

x

nickmack

nady wrote: »

Any words of advice?

Read through Martin's article and the other links in my signature to find out how to make a claim.

As stated above, the charges are not actually taken from your benefit money, so if you choose to reclaim, you need to follow the standard process.