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

zena2105

well I sent this to natwest on behalf of a a freind:

I have been receiving Incapacity benefit since 2000 and am currently receiving approximately £125.75 per week this is what the government deems I am able to live on, to cover the cost of rent, bills, food and clothing, I have no other source of income.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Whilst I have held my account with you, I have been charged and had levied from my account on numerous occasions fees of usually £28 for being overdrawn; this took about a quarter of my weekly income. This eventually left me down in money, a sum I couldn’t afford to repay, leading to more fines the next month, and so it continues, snowballing. Now I am currently £405.31 overdrawn. At the time I did contact you explaining my situation and asking for assistance but it was denied.<o:p></o:p>
I have recently discovered there is a Law, called the Social Security Administration Act 1992, which says that banks must not levy charges from benefits as this money is needed for a person to live on. <o:p></o:p>
“Social Security Administration Act 1992
Miscellaneous
Certain benefit to be inalienable **

187- Subject to the provisions of this Act, every assignment of, or charge on-
(a)benefit as defined in section 122 of the Contributions and Benefits Act;
(b)any income-related benefit; or
(c)child benefit,
and every agreement to assign or charge such benefit shall be void; and, on the bankruptcy of the beneficiary, such benefit shall not pass to any trustee or other person acting on behalf of his creditors”<o:p></o:p>
I realise that you are likely to quote back to me that I agreed to this in my Term and Conditions, but you tell me if you, or any other bank would allow a customer to become a member without agreeing to these.<o:p></o:p>
This has caused me a lot of financial hardship, of which I see no way out, so I therefore ask that you return all charges/fees levied from my account in the past 6 years, that were wrongfully taken in accordance with the law. Also note that I would like this matter dealt with in a timely matter, as it has no relevance to the current OFT Test Case.<o:p></o:p>
If I do not receive a satisfactory response with an acceptable time, I will have no choice but to forward this matter to Tony Herbert, at the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and/or the Financial Ombudsman.<o:p></o:p>


and they sent back standard OFT test case letter back...do you think they even read the letter...will send another then....think might pass it on to FO or CAB.......

jayja

I sent a letter to L/TSB to say Im on benefits & child benefit & that this was & is the only money that is going in my account.
They sent me the norm letter to say about the test & that they wont do a thing till then.
BUT this week I got a letter to say that they were looking at my account, the letter seemed like they were still going to say no. BUT when I terned the page there it was! WE WILL PAY £**** IN YOUR ACCOUNT WITHIN 10 DAYS. It was in the same day I got the letter. They did not give intrest but gave me at least £500 more than I was looking at! So dont give up they need to pay it back as thin is wot the guv say the min you can live on. I wish your friend gd luck, it should come back soon!

zena2105 wrote: »

well I sent this to natwest on behalf of a a freind:

I have been receiving Incapacity benefit since 2000 and am currently receiving approximately £125.75 per week this is what the government deems I am able to live on, to cover the cost of rent, bills, food and clothing, I have no other source of income.<O:p></O:p>
<O:p> </O:p>
Whilst I have held my account with you, I have been charged and had levied from my account on numerous occasions fees of usually £28 for being overdrawn; this took about a quarter of my weekly income. This eventually left me down in money, a sum I couldn’t afford to repay, leading to more fines the next month, and so it continues, snowballing. Now I am currently £405.31 overdrawn. At the time I did contact you explaining my situation and asking for assistance but it was denied.<O:p></O:p>
I have recently discovered there is a Law, called the Social Security Administration Act 1992, which says that banks must not levy charges from benefits as this money is needed for a person to live on. <O:p></O:p>
“Social Security Administration Act 1992
Miscellaneous
Certain benefit to be inalienable **

187- Subject to the provisions of this Act, every assignment of, or charge on-
(a)benefit as defined in section 122 of the Contributions and Benefits Act;
(b)any income-related benefit; or
(c)child benefit,
and every agreement to assign or charge such benefit shall be void; and, on the bankruptcy of the beneficiary, such benefit shall not pass to any trustee or other person acting on behalf of his creditors”<O:p></O:p>
I realise that you are likely to quote back to me that I agreed to this in my Term and Conditions, but you tell me if you, or any other bank would allow a customer to become a member without agreeing to these.<O:p></O:p>
This has caused me a lot of financial hardship, of which I see no way out, so I therefore ask that you return all charges/fees levied from my account in the past 6 years, that were wrongfully taken in accordance with the law. Also note that I would like this matter dealt with in a timely matter, as it has no relevance to the current OFT Test Case.<O:p></O:p>
If I do not receive a satisfactory response with an acceptable time, I will have no choice but to forward this matter to Tony Herbert, at the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and/or the Financial Ombudsman.<O:p></O:p>


and they sent back standard OFT test case letter back...do you think they even read the letter...will send another then....think might pass it on to FO or CAB.......

chillyears

I wrote to my bank asking them to set aside the stay due to the fact that I am in receipt of benefits. They wrote back saying that the Social Security Administration Act is not relevant to my case as it relates to "taking a charge" as in an attachment of earnings....Is this correct as i took advice from this website on this one!!! lol Please help I am soooo broke and soooo fed up of tryin to claw my own money back......

NoodleBoy

Hi all,

I'm currently unemployed, and unable to work due to illness. I'm getting Income Support (about £58 a week).

A few months ago, I reclaimed a £38 charge for a bounced Direct Debit, I sent them a template letter, and NatWest refunded it as a 'goodwill gesture'.

The only DD that comes out of my account is my car insurance. At the beginning of August I didn't have enough money to cover the DD, or pay rent, so my mother lent me £350, sent from her Natwest account by phone banking. The money arrived in my account the same day the DD was due to go out, but rather than paying it, Natwest bounced it and charged me £38.

The same thing just happened at the beginning of September, my mother lent me £100 from her Natwest account the day before the DD came out, but Natwest chose not to pay the DD, and charged me another £38.

Now, I believe it's illegal for them to take out charges from benefits, but the fact I'd borrowed money from my mother seems to complicate things.

I asked at my branch that the charges be refunded, but they phoned back today saying that their regional office had refused, and I could appeal to their national customer services place.

I'm desperately in need of this money. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can word a letter of complaint to them?

Thanks.

gunnapaul2

Can someone give me some advice here, I am on hardship/benefits and was when Barclays were charging me, what can I do to make this known and who should I make it known to, can i claim because of a different law and if so how do i go about it?

I was meant to be in court yesterday but like most other people it was put on hold because of the test case and I did not need to attend.

thanks.



p.s. i'll probably get moaned at for new thread, but i wasnt getting any replies in the sticky threads.

crawli1

I put in my claim for bank charges ages ago with the FOS. I understand all the test case information that has been given. I just have one question - Some of the money I was trying to reclaim was taken from my account when I was on benefits, should I get in touch with the FOS and inform them about this to see if I will still be able to claim that back too? I have a feeling the charges taken will be outside the six years once the test case/appeal etc is sorted out.

Also, now that I'm on maternity leave, hence getting maternity pay, do I fall into the "hardship case" bracket as my income has reduced?

I hope someone can help me with this as I could do with seeing if anyone can shed some light on it before I ring the FOS.

Thanks in advance.

Edinburghlass_2

The only people with the answers for you are the FO as they are handling your case, so ask them.

rach20uk

Please let us know. Im doing similar but doing it myself against Halifax

k1mmie

I called the FO today to ask what the criteria is for a hardship claim. I was told that there is no set criteria to qualify under hardship - it is purely taken on an individuals circumstances. Therefore I would recommend that you put these circumstances to your bank and let them look into them.

harveybobbles

I'd like to know too cos my partner is on benefits too and they get a lot of bank charges...