Bank charges when only income is Benefits

mr_pickles_2

Good afternoon
I apologise in advance if this Query has been answered before.

My sister is receiving benefits as her only income due to incapacity. she has undergone hip treatment and then had a Pulmonary Embolism as a result of a blood clot from her surgery. She has spent most of the last 6 weeks in and out of hospital and therefore been unable to keep track of her bank business but assumed that all would go smoothly as she pays her bills via Direct Debit and she had a £100 overdraft faciltiy.

She checked her bank account yesterday and noticed that at the end of April she has a £28 bank charge and traced it to a £2.00 over the overdraft due to a tv licence direct debit going out the day before her benefits went into the bank.

She has not been overdrawn in at least 2 years so was a bit peeved and then her friend mentioned that she should not get bank charges against benefit income.

she rang her bank and the man said that this was untrue and where had she got that information and she quoted a social security act that her friend had copied for her and he said that it was not true but as a gesture of goodwill they would refund her the £28 this time.

Our query is:

does anyone know if this is true of not...something about benefits being inaliable to bank charges...??

any information would be very helpful

Thank you

real1314

Opinion differs, however my view is that they are not charging against the benefit payment, but are charging against the bank account, within the terms of the account.
Some claim that the higher law prevents a charge being made on benefit payments and that a bank charge is comparable to this (I disagree) however there are laws that prevent any "charge" (in the legal sense of the word) being made on wages without proper authorisation, so that would negate almost all bank charges.
I also see no reason why people who work should be expected to budget or face charges whilst those who are supported by working people can be careless and face no charges.

The bank have refunded the charge, as they often do when asked by "good" customers. Seems fairly reasonable to me.

mr_pickles_2

Hello and thank you for the reply
I asked for a response to a query , not a dig at my sister being on benefits and taking from the working taxpayer
In fact my sister is on IB but employed still, but has been unable to work due to osteoarthritis in her hip and lumbar spine and needing hip replacement surgery which she has had to wait for and soon also needing surgery on her lumbar spine. She also expected to be back at work very soon now but due to a blood clot going into her lung and nearly killing her, a blood clot forming in her foot and infections in her chest , all within the last 6 weeks has been unable to do so , she must stay off work for at least another 6monthes...not her choice believe me
...she is not taking anything that she has not spent the last 10 years putting back into the taxmans coffers....please do not judge without the knowing the facts.

if anyone else would like to give a response to my query...no judgements thankyou...we would be grateful

DaisyFlower

The act is mis-read by many people, what it means it that they cant levy a charge to a benefit - ie direct deduction - however once benefits hit a bank account they are treated as ordinary income and can be subject to bank charges if you mis-use your account to warrant one.

real1314

Jeez, take a pill. I was merely pointing out the anomaly that would exist between those on benefits and those who work. Never mind the problem of those that work but receive some means tested benefits.

mr_pickles_2

Hello DaisyFlower

Thank you that is exactly what I was trying to find out, I suspected as much and I will let my sister know.

Real1314...I am sorry if your response was not understood in the way that it was meant but it still reads to me in the way that I first took it. It is hard to be on benefits and not be judged by so many therefore I only responded in protection of my sister who struggles daily in work and off sick to survive on a very low income as a single person without a partner to help. I have seen many members who are on benefits post a query on the site and end up with someone jumping down their throat and making judgements about them which I find vastly unfair as many (not all, of course) are just trying to manage as best they can and want advice not a litany on being a benefit scrounger.

My apologies if this was not the case.