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Halifax/Bank Of Scotland - Thousands in bank charges
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glasgowm148
Posts: 174 Forumite
Hi all,
I've paid about £2k in bank charges over the past 2yrs, I've emailed asking my bank for these back. They've refused, I opened up a complaint with the ombudsman in Jan, they never got back to me. Emailed asking what the script was, that email was also ignored. Just emailed a third time but not holding my breath.
Anything else I can do? I'm in 4k worth of debt & financial hardship but my bank don't seem to care, sent me a patronising leaflet on how to manage my money.
I've paid about £2k in bank charges over the past 2yrs, I've emailed asking my bank for these back. They've refused, I opened up a complaint with the ombudsman in Jan, they never got back to me. Emailed asking what the script was, that email was also ignored. Just emailed a third time but not holding my breath.
Anything else I can do? I'm in 4k worth of debt & financial hardship but my bank don't seem to care, sent me a patronising leaflet on how to manage my money.
Capital One - 950/1400 :eek:
Barclay Card - 400/1250 :beer:
Overdraft - 1500/2100 :mad:
Personal Debt - 0/2000 :T
nPower - 900/1115 :A
Total - 3724/7900 -- 52% paid off!
Barclay Card - 400/1250 :beer:
Overdraft - 1500/2100 :mad:
Personal Debt - 0/2000 :T
nPower - 900/1115 :A
Total - 3724/7900 -- 52% paid off!
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Comments
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Obviously, your banking activity (gleaned from your statements) does not indicate that you are in financial hardship. I'm guessing you are paying for none essentials regularly via your bank account?glasgowm148 wrote: »Anything else I can do? I'm in 4k worth of debt & financial hardship but my bank don't seem to care, sent me a patronising leaflet on how to manage my money.
Sky TV, eating out, shopping at Waitrose etc?
To be deemed in financial hardship you need to be lacking money to pay for household bills like food and utilities and usually in a spiral of charges.
Simply paying bank charges does not indicate you are in financial hardship.
Unless you have lost your job, £4k of debt is not an unserviceable amount.
The Ombudsman cannot help you because the Banks won their court case on Bank Charges around eight years ago. Since then, any refund of Bank Charges is a goodwill gesture by the Bank and they are not obliged to refund anything.
The only thing I cannot explain is why the Ombudsman has not responded to your E-Mails and explained the situation. Perhaps check the address your are sending to?0 -
They've refused, I opened up a complaint with the ombudsman in Jan, they never got back to me.
The FOS wont take on complaints about bank charges any more unless they feel the bank has not considered the hardship correctly. Even then, they can only ask the bank to take another look.but my bank don't seem to care, sent me a patronising leaflet on how to manage my money.
Perhaps they felt you were not in hardship and the real issue was money management. Lets look at hardship....
1 - What arrears do you have?
2 - What bills are you struggling to pay?
3 - Does your spending on your statement include things like pay tv (netflix, sky etc) or buying clothes in places like Next or sandwiches in M&S etc. Is your mobile phone contract high? Is there leisure spending, such as a gym membership.I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.0 -
Very little coming out of my bank. Was made redundant 2 years ago, tried self-employed. Got into debt. Now back at my parents and back at college. My only outgoings are my phone bill (£15) and £50 a month I spend on food at ASDA - the rest goes towards debt.
I just got back ontop of my debts, at the moment I'm paying £30/mo to npower and put the rest on my credit cards (£300/mo usually). Up until dec I was going over my limit on my cards too and getting charged overlimit charges, late payment charges etcCapital One - 950/1400 :eek:
Barclay Card - 400/1250 :beer:
Overdraft - 1500/2100 :mad:
Personal Debt - 0/2000 :T
nPower - 900/1115 :A
Total - 3724/7900 -- 52% paid off!0 -
Living with your parents means that you have no mortgage or rent to pay and can afford to divert funds to pay off your debts.glasgowm148 wrote: »Now back at my parents and back at college. My only outgoings are my phone bill (£15) and £50 a month I spend on food at ASDA - the rest goes towards debt.
Clearly, the Bank don't regard you as being in their definition of Financial Hardship.
Good luck with your studies.
Head over to the DebtFreeWannabe board for tips about clearing your debt...0 -
To clarify, did you ask for charges back as they were unfair etc or did you specifically put in a financial hardship claim? It seems very unusual that they would simply dismiss such a case if you have a cycle of debts, charges and no regular income
Sam Vimes' Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness:
People are rich because they spend less money. A poor man buys $10 boots that last a season or two before he's walking in wet shoes and has to buy another pair. A rich man buys $50 boots that are made better and give him 10 years of dry feet. The poor man has spent $100 over those 10 years and still has wet feet.
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How is the OP spending £15 on phone bill, £50 a month on food, £30 to Npower and £300 per month on credit card bills if he has no regular income?It seems very unusual that they would simply dismiss such a case if you have a cycle of debts, charges and no regular income
The bank won't have simply dismissed the request for a refundglasgowm148 wrote: »I just got back ontop of my debts,0 -
Moneyineptitude wrote: »How is the OP spending £15 on phone bill, £50 a month on food, £30 to Npower and £300 per month on credit card bills if he has no regular income?
I suppose it you class the £73 odd quid a week on Jobseeker's Allowance and whatever other benefits he gets as regular income maybe. He said he's paying off debts yes but without a salary it could take a long time to pay offMoneyineptitude wrote: »The bank won't have simply dismissed the request for a refund
If he simply asked for a refund of charges, I bet you they will. OP stated he simply asked for the 2k of charges to be refunded, bank will almost certainly have gone down the "unfair charges" response.
If OP had stated he's in financial hardship and spoken to that team, explained the cycle of charges meaning he can't clear the debt it's a different matter
BeneSam Vimes' Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness:
People are rich because they spend less money. A poor man buys $10 boots that last a season or two before he's walking in wet shoes and has to buy another pair. A rich man buys $50 boots that are made better and give him 10 years of dry feet. The poor man has spent $100 over those 10 years and still has wet feet.
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If the op is being supported by parents though a life choice to return to study then hardship is not really the case. That maybe what the problem is. Especially if he/she is now back in control of it.I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.0
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Generally speaking, even a flat out refusal will still result in the Bank offering to look with the customer at their financial situation if they wish it.OP stated he simply asked for the 2k of charges to be refunded, bank will almost certainly have gone down the "unfair charges" response.
I think the issue is that the OP is back living at home with his parents...0 -
To clarify, did you ask for charges back as they were unfair etc or did you specifically put in a financial hardship claim? It seems very unusual that they would simply dismiss such a case if you have a cycle of debts, charges and no regular income
Just asked for the charges back as they were unfair considering they were accrued due to overdraft fee's, not my spending. i,e: regular overdraft fee's would put me £10 over my overdraft, if it took me 10 days to get money to resolve this they would charge me £80 the next month.
Paying it off with my bursary, not being supported by parents - technically living with my gran on paperCapital One - 950/1400 :eek:
Barclay Card - 400/1250 :beer:
Overdraft - 1500/2100 :mad:
Personal Debt - 0/2000 :T
nPower - 900/1115 :A
Total - 3724/7900 -- 52% paid off!0
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