FOS say no banks paying out

novelli

having wasted three months stupidly thinking that FOS were actually there to help- the consumer, this is what they are now saying (pasted below)
I cannot believe this!!!!!!!!
T


hank you for your emails of 6 and 12 November 2007.
Your case has not yet been allocated for further investigation and we have not yet contacted the bank for further infiormation about your account. We have a high number of such cases and each case has to be looked at on an individual basis which can take some time.
However I would explain that the waiver put in place by the OFT is not that the banks must refund all charges when there is a case of financial hardship. Therefore it is unlikely that this office will be asking the bank to refund your charges. As I have previously explained, we will be looking for the bank to put some kind of arrangement in place so that you do not incur any future charges on your account.
The banks are not continuing to refund any charges to account holders, all such complaints have been put on hold until the action is heard in the High Court. The only payments that are being made are those where a refund offer had already been made before the OFT took legal action. This does not apply in your case.
I am sorry that I cannot say when your case will be investigated or what the bank might decide is the most appropriate action to take in regards to your account and circumstances. However I can assure you that we will deal with your case as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely

Edinburghlass_2

They are basically saying what Martin says in his article here...

Q: I am currently having financial difficulties, is there any way to reclaim?
A: The waiver that allows banks to suspend claims does not apply to people who are having financial difficulties, also known as a hardship case. Banks will have to conduct a filtering process to ensure that cases of genuine hardship are still dealt with during the waiver period.
Although there is no firm definition of what genuine hardship is, it generally applies if your income is not enough to cover reasonable living expenses and afford your financial commitments such as utilities, rent and council tax when they are due or if you are struggling to pay your debts, for example you have mortgage arrears and lots of credit card debt that you cannot afford to pay back.
Examples of how you may be in this position include: Loss of employment, disability, serious illness, imprisonment, relationship breakdown, the death of a partner, starting a lower paid job, parental care leave or starting full time education.

If your bank is not able to help, you can also send your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman who will decide if your case can be dealt with before the test case is resolved. For details on contacting the Ombudsman see the main Bank Charges reclaiming article.

The FOS decide on a case by case basis if your circumstances count as financial difficulty. It cannot continue to process all claims but if you give some clear example of how you are struggling it will decide if you are eligible. Courts should also work in the same way. If you are at the court stage and your case has been stayed you can ask for this to be removed. The specialist free bank charges reclaiming website, ConsumerActionGroup, has some good templates on this (you need to log in to read the info).

novelli

Im not sure it does though,

The waiver that allows banks to suspend claims does not apply to people who are having financial difficulties, also known as a hardship case. Banks will have to conduct a filtering process to ensure that cases of genuine hardship are still dealt with during the waiver period.

The above says the waiver does not apply to me, and that cases should still be dealt with if there is genuine hardship. As the bank have already acknowledged that my only source of income is benefits, they know i am recently seperated and a carer for a disabled child, then they should still be dealing with my case.

What FOS are saying is that NO CASES are being dealt with and that they WILL NOT ask the bank to continue with my claim, only to try and prevent me being charged in the 1st place. The only way thats going to happen is if they pay out!!!

loobyloop

i totally agree the waiver that allows banks to suspend claims does not apply so doesnt that therfore mean the claims can continue. I am so confused by this, i rang fos on friday and told them my bank has refused to pay on hardship and was told return your paperwork and we will approach the bank again.I had to wait 8 weeks for fos last time then 8 weeks for bank and now probably another 8 weeks to be told the samething as novelli.Why doesnt the fos clarify this stupid situation where people are living in hope, i have only heard of two people on here who were paid out on hardship.

novelli

Well dont hold your breath with FOS, i too was led to believe that hardship claims should continue and FSA advised me to contact FOS, worst thing i ever did!!! I have now complained back to FSA re what FOS are saying because the originally told me that my claim should continue!!!

Edinburghlass_2

novelli wrote: »

Playing devil's advocate here...


hank you for your emails of 6 and 12 November 2007.
Your case has not yet been allocated for further investigation and we have not yet contacted the bank for further infiormation about your account. We have a high number of such cases and each case has to be looked at on an individual basis which can take some time.

So far they haven't looked into your case as yet and have said they still will.

However I would explain that the waiver put in place by the OFT is not that the banks must refund all charges when there is a case of financial hardship.

Again what they are saying is true, what it says is the bank should look into hardship cases on an individual basis, has the bank looked into your account in detail and asked about your spending and/or asked for a SOA?

Therefore it is unlikely that this office will be asking the bank to refund your charges. As I have previously explained, we will be looking for the bank to put some kind of arrangement in place so that you do not incur any future charges on your account.

As said by Martin you can complain to the FO if the bank haven't looked into your case as a hardship case and ask that the FO contact the bank regarding them doing this but they won't be asking the bank to refund charges on the basis that they once did.

The banks are not continuing to refund any charges to account holders, all such complaints have been put on hold until the action is heard in the High Court. The only payments that are being made are those where a refund offer had already been made before the OFT took legal action. This does not apply in your case.
I am sorry that I cannot say when your case will be investigated or what the bank might decide is the most appropriate action to take in regards to your account and circumstances. However I can assure you that we will deal with your case as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely

.................

loobyloop

well i dont think the bank have looked that closely at mine after 8 weeks not a word from there so called customer support unit, didnt even ask about income and expenditure so what have they been doing for getting on for nine weeks how can they assess the situation without all the facts. Its just so it looks like they are doing something.

moonflower_2

The bank have just written to me requesting an SOA. I have returned these forms.
Does anyone know how long an offer can take?
Maybe it will progress now that have the information. Again!