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Lloyds have set up a new dedicated department to handle cases of hardship regarding overdraft and unauthorised transaction charges under the waiver conditions currently in place due to the test case between the OFT and the Banks.
The new department, set up in Brighton, has a dedicated team who are currently being trained to identify cases of hardship .
They have signaled their intention to apply the new FSA waiver guidelines with regards cases of financial difficulty fully to all appropriate cases.
This includes a block on all future charges during the waiver period, a freeze on overdraft interest alongside the standard change of account to basic account.
Cases will be considered for refund of charges on their merits as before and will still remain stayed in the court system and complaints departments until the outcome of the test case.
However we have seen a number of banks offering partial settlements to hardship claimants recently to fulfill their obligations under the waiver.
Our source said that
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Shooter V Lloyds - Page 2 - Legal Beagles
We are also aware that other banks involved in the test case are currently orgainsing departments for the handling of cases of financial difficulty and we expect to see an increase in partial settlements pending the outcome of the test case, and better consideration of claimants individual circumstances when deciding on the handling of their accounts in future.
The new department, set up in Brighton, has a dedicated team who are currently being trained to identify cases of hardship .
They have signaled their intention to apply the new FSA waiver guidelines with regards cases of financial difficulty fully to all appropriate cases.
This includes a block on all future charges during the waiver period, a freeze on overdraft interest alongside the standard change of account to basic account.
Cases will be considered for refund of charges on their merits as before and will still remain stayed in the court system and complaints departments until the outcome of the test case.
However we have seen a number of banks offering partial settlements to hardship claimants recently to fulfill their obligations under the waiver.
Our source said that
........the banks have been heavily criticised for not complying with the terms of the waiver with regard to claimants in hardship. They have failed to fully implement the filtering system for identifying people most affected by the Test Case waiver and lack of records kept to meet targets set by the FSA. The Banks are now having to comply for fear of losing their current comfort zone created by the waiver, if they do not it could be a multi million pound mistake for them.
Shooter V Lloyds - Page 2 - Legal Beagles
We are also aware that other banks involved in the test case are currently orgainsing departments for the handling of cases of financial difficulty and we expect to see an increase in partial settlements pending the outcome of the test case, and better consideration of claimants individual circumstances when deciding on the handling of their accounts in future.
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