What can we do if we are on benefits (merged)

debtdestroyer_2

Hey, my first post - im in the exact same position as u off work long term and on incapacity. Theres defo legislation stating that banks cannot take penalty charges out of your account if your sole income is state benefits. I never had to use this myself tho as I had all my claims sorted before the test case put everything on hold. Im not sure about this site but if you look through the letters library on www.penaltycharges.co.uk theres a letter template you can use for this.

Hope this helps,
Nick

CrystalGecko76

Thanks for the info so far...my eyes feel sore from all the reading I have been doing and I doubt I will sleep well tonight. I am going to the bank tommorow and taking a letter I have drafted (and a copy to get it stamped as proof they have recieved it) I have proof of my Incapacity Benefit, some info I found on a CAB website...do you think it is worth me getting in touch with the DSS about this? As the one piece of info I found is regarding Social Security Administration Act 1992. I am just wondering if they would be able to strengthen my claim on the other hand I don't want to effect my benefits or loose them...
I am tired, confused and really ill now - was nearly sick twice tonight whilst trying to eat my dinner - and that is because of the stress I have been put under with the bank.
Speak to you all in the morning...
Crystal

a1974red

is there any extra 'allowance / rules' for not being charged on an account that i only use for child benefit?
we also claim wftc and child tax credit (and get free nhs prescriptions etc) but with a different bank....and i didnt want to give the building society all this info if there was a general ruling on a account only used for child benefit


basic background on why.... i have an alliance and leicester acc that i pay my child benefit into.....i ended up having to write a cheque from that account as someone wouldnt accept my card from my main bank acc(?didnt think we used cheques anymore)....and only had my a&l cheque book on me (as its the only one i use.... to pay for school meals etc)...so wrote the cheque with that knowing id have to put the money back in.
put the money back in at the post office (told , wrongly, it would be in that day)and thought no more of it until i got a £25 fine letter for not having funds....called them and apparantly the p/o takes up to 4 days to clear which they didnt tell me.... then i looked on my online statement and i'm getting another £25 fine for going overdrawn (their charge of £25 was put on the day the cheque was presented, so it put it £8 overdrawn) and then another £25 after 5 days as it was still £8 overdrawn

i had called them up to tell them what happened and they didnt say the charge was debited THAT day, nor offer me a temporary overdraft ....when asked at the branch apparantly they cannot offer it...i should have asked....but i didnt know i was to be fined £75 for paying cash in the same the day the cheque was drawn. they cannot /wont take off the charges until this court case is going through the courts about bank charges is finalised( and lost i assume!)

so i closed all my kids accounts, stopped my child benefit being paid into it and have taken ALL money out of this one and told them im not using it as i CANNOT lose money from my CHILD BENEFIT account due to this (i have since had another cheque that did not go through that would have had the money for if it wasnt for their charges....)although on the last phone call the woman was a bit more sympathetic and said as it was a benefit account they will get someone to look at it asap.... they promised me a call back on monday and i have not got one, just a letter asking me to fill in all our income to see if we qualify as a hardship case:(

each time i have spoken to a&l i get told a different thing, and no one explained about the charges on any of my calls....i have never gone overdrawn before so didnt know anything about all this.... must admit i'm also cross with the payee on the 1st cheque as i did ask her to not pay it in for a couple of days (although stupidly wrote it for that date:mad: )

oh and is it correct that they allow a cheque that didnt have any of my card details on the back through if there werent sufficient funds???? (i always thought it would bounce if there were no funds) or is this just a ploy to charge me?

Thanks in advance!

CrystalGecko76

Just some follow up data,

Havn't heard from the bank yet but had a letter confirming that Financial Ombidsman Service have sent a letter.

Also I recieved a call from CAB (I had got in touch with them previously) seems that DWP are contacting CAB's asking if anyone has made enquiries/complaints due to bank charges & benefits, they refered my enquiry & contacted me. If you are on benefits and are not getting the answer you want apparently the DWP are possibly able to help. I won't give out the number I have due to the fact this just might be a local number for me to call but it could be worth you looking into your local CAB and asking for advice. You need to ask about Benefits Payment Centre...I am in Wales so it may be different around the country...

I am not going to be online much next few days as my grandfather passed away this week (due to this new superbug that has been invading hospitals) so my head is all over the place...

Keep pushing,
Crystal

srp69

:mad: :mad: :mad:
I am absolutely sick to death of giving halifax the benefit of the doubt last week they sent me a charges letter demanding another £39 pounds of my benefit, so , I wrote a letter stating the ssa 1992-187 inailiable deductions and hand delivered it to my branch where upon speaking to a manager i was told they would not stop this charge and i would have to speak to customer relations about it,now, considering the letter contained the information required to stop appropriation of my benefits and indeed the point of law required to reclaim previous charges i was told point blank by the girl on the phone that no effort would be made to avoid making this and further charges on my account, to which i informed them that they would be acting unlawfully,they were unmoved.as the girl was obviously becoming bored with me she promised that someone would get intouch 'later today' (friday) they did not. the charges are due from my account tomorrow and if they are removed from my account i intend to take immediate action but am undecided as to wether to report them to the ombudsman or take them to court, i have threatened this before but now feel that the bank are being uncongruess in there dealings with me so any advice as to what course of action would be most productive would be welcome.

techspec

srp69 wrote: »

:mad: :mad: :mad:
I am absolutely sick to death of giving halifax the benefit of the doubt last week they sent me a charges letter demanding another £39 pounds of my benefit, so , I wrote a letter stating the ssa 1992-187 inailiable deductions and hand delivered it to my branch where upon speaking to a manager i was told they would not stop this charge and i would have to speak to customer relations about it,now, considering the letter contained the information required to stop appropriation of my benefits and indeed the point of law required to reclaim previous charges i was told point blank by the girl on the phone that no effort would be made to avoid making this and further charges on my account, to which i informed them that they would be acting unlawfully,they were unmoved.as the girl was obviously becoming bored with me she promised that someone would get intouch 'later today' (friday) they did not. the charges are due from my account tomorrow and if they are removed from my account i intend to take immediate action but am undecided as to wether to report them to the ombudsman or take them to court, i have threatened this before but now feel that the bank are being uncongruess in there dealings with me so any advice as to what course of action would be most productive would be welcome.

The Halifax are the worse company i have dealt with on any charges or PPI issue, as they just ignore everything you say or send. It seems to be company policy.

You say that you hand delivered the letter. This may seem the best option, but to take matters further, you will need proof of delivery, so i hope you got a receipt. I would recommend sending everything recorded delivery.

As the previous poster mentioned, you could also try contacting the benefits agency, if you have not already. Why not arrange for future money to be paid via a different method, whilst this is sorted.

I would always recommend the Financial Ombudsman first. If this fails, you can still go to court. If you go to court first, and fail, then thats it. You cannot ask the Financial Ombudsman for help. Also, there is always the chance that a judge will see the words bank charges and stay the case. Don't forget to inform the Ombudsman that you are a 'hardship case'.

I have been writing to the Halifax for a friend since June, and all 6 letters have been ignored. I have now referred them to the Information Commissioner and Financial Ombudsman.

How this bank can continue to trade without a HUGE fine, and still claim to follow the Banking Code, is beyond me. A total disgrace.

srp69

well guess what dropped through my letterbox yesterday, a letter from the halifax citing the court case pending and that any action either through the courts or the ombudsman would in a nutshell be fruitless due to the fact that they will ask either or both of the above to stay any proceedings, which of course they would, according to the halifax.
the letter also contained a statement that the halifax does not believe that the ssa act applies to banks removing monies from peoples accounts because it is owed to the bank for services rendered, and so they will not fully consider my hardship case until the test case is settled, which may take 'many months'. so today i am going to contact the dwp for clarification and any advice they may be able to offer and will present this to the ombudsman tomorrow. oh yeah and the charges they said they would not stop from going from my account yesterday-never went-and no mention was made about this charge in the letter they sent,-so if they dont believe that the ssa act applies why did they not remove the charges, i suppose they'll call it 'good will ':mad:

srp69

well guess what dropped through my letterbox yesterday, a letter from the halifax citing the court case pending and that any action either through the courts or the ombudsman would in a nutshell be fruitless due to the fact that they will ask either or both of the above to stay any proceedings, which of course they would, according to the halifax.
the letter also contained a statement that the halifax does not believe that the ssa act applies to banks removing monies from peoples accounts because it is owed to the bank for services rendered, and so they will not fully consider my hardship case until the test case is settled, which may take 'many months'. so today i am going to contact the dwp for clarification and any advice they may be able to offer and will present this to the ombudsman tomorrow. oh yeah and the charges they said they would not stop from going from my account yesterday-never went-and no mention was made about this charge in the letter they sent,-so if they dont believe that the ssa act applies why did they not remove the charges, i suppose they'll call it 'good will ':mad: NO WAIT THEY HAVE TAKEN THE CHARGES BUT NOT YESTERDAY AS THEY STATED IN THEIR CHARGES LETTER, it looks as though they have waited an extra day because as of 1830hrs yesterday they had not taken the charges but as i have just been to get a mini statement from the machine it shows it has gone from my account WHAT CHEEK i will contact the OFT forthwith.

MonkeyMad

Elise1309 wrote: »

It's ridiculous to suggest that an overdraft could somehow be classed as 'income' - it's a negative balance and has to be paid back to the bank in full and complete with interest usually - you are never 'in credit' when having one, unlike a standard loan on an in-credit account.

As for the idea of people on benefits somehow getting 'special treatment' by being exempted bank charges - I never heard anything so ridiculous. The government say that benefits such as JSA are the minimum for subsistence. Therefore banks are not allowed to take charges from people who have no other income. The quotation about banks having to consider the issue of charges relates to those in general financial hardship ie whether one is on benefit or not, and is a separate issue from the govt regs regarding bank charges and benefits recipients.

Lastly, anyone who has ever been out of work and on benefits will know that it is a very difficult circumstance indeed - you are beholden to the DWP who can take months to process and pay out on even quite straightforward claims, leaving people with huge debt through absolutely no fault of their own. To suggest that someone existing on as little as £57 a week (or possibly even nothing whilst claims are first processed) should be as liable for charges as someone earning 60k a year is ludicrous.

But you are talking about special treatment. As a harsh question, does it cost less to administer the account of someone on 65K? I earn less than this, but am not on benefits so should I pay something in the middle?

JSA and other benefits are the minimum given by Government for basic subsistance, agreed. However the Act quoted does not prevent that money being taken by any group other than those named ie the benefit cannot be transferred to another, and it cannot be charged i.e the recipient cannot be prevented from receiving the benefit (see below). Charge in this context has a specific meaning.

It is an obtuse chain of events: technically the claimant does receive their benefit (into their account), and the bank then uses it to recoup its (not yet unlawful) charges. Same way as the gas company still expect to be paid.

Banks are not precluded from charging for their services in the same way that cornershops are not prevented from selling cigarettes to people unless they prove they are not on benefits.

Similarly courts will and should be expected to levy fines on law-breakers who are also claimants.

Twinkly

Those who run into trouble repeatedly over bounced DD's (for whatever reason, no fault judgement here) could stop having their benefit paid into the account or cancel the DD mandates.

An alternative is to have your benefit paid into a savings account and put the money into the bank when the DD becomes due. It takes some management and a bit of time to set up but when payments are running into the account on a regular basis at least you are in charge of your finances and not entrusting it to someone else. Personally I have no faith whatsoever in the banks to manage a p*** up in a brewery, never mind a DD, and always pay by another method. It does cost more but its a hell of a lot less than a bank charge. I KNOW it got paid and always have a receipt as proof.

If you have any problem with money going into the savings account due to circumstances out of your control then the simple option is to immediately cancel the direct debit.

I dont think many of us were aware of the rights of banks until the issue of reclaiming charges came to light but the bank can not control your finances and take charges if you dont let them. There are ways and means