Banks granted unfair charges waiver

[Amethyst]

Re: Banks granted unfair charges waiver

Indeed yet again people are penalised for 'coping' when they are in a dire financial situation.


Jester has a good case (though he probably doesn't think its very good ) at the moment I think......plus he already previously applied to the court to lift his stay.



FOS havent updated their site, nor have the OFT.

[Budgie]

Re: Banks granted unfair charges waiver

I think it is worth a try for anyone currently in serious Financial difficulty to write to their Bank and attempt to get classified, under these conditions, as being in Financial difficulty. Even if it means the stopping of any additional charges being applied or avoiding debt enforcement it's better than nothing.

However, I don't think there is a snowballs chance in hell of anyone getting any past charges back until the Test Case is finally resolved.

To my point of view the revised waiver is "FSA"

For the Sake of Appearances


Louise Hanson, of the Consumer Group "WHICH" has summed things up correctly.
"Scrapping it ( the waiver ) won't get people their money back - only the banks can do that by conceding defeat and paying up instead of continuing to string out the process."

[Jester]

Re: Banks granted unfair charges waiver

Ummm...I think you will find that I have done far more than that in the past.

Yes, I did apply to have the Stay removed on grounds of Financial Hardship. This was denied by the court

Yes, I did apply to the FOS on the same grounds. Again, this was denied.

Furthermore, First Direct closed my account down last October. They even set a DCA on me for the monies they claim I owed. Until I pointed out to both FD and the DCA that the account was in dispute and therefore they could not pursue me on that count. I also informed the FOS what was happening and the FOS issued a strongly worded letter to BOTH parties to back off. I even got an apology from the DCA !!

In regard to the assessment of financial hardship listed above, my answers are the following:-

2.
In making an assessment of financial difficulty the firm will take into account:
a.
evidence of changes in lifestyle, including loss of employment; disability; serious illness; imprisonment; relationship breakdown; death of a partner; starting a lower paid job; parental/carer leave; and starting full-time education; I became unemployed last August so surely I qualify under this count (especially as I am still unemployed and fast becoming ill through stress and worry).
b.
evidence of the following events:
i.
items repeatedly being returned unpaid due to lack of available funds; FD have evidence of this, as do Alliance & Leicester who I also had an account with for a short while
ii.
failing to make loan repayments or other commitments; My finances are in the hands of a DMC. Furthermore, I am struggling to meet my mortgage payments, let alone find money to actually live on.
iii.
discontinuation of regular credits; All of my credits cards have been discontinued and are in the hands of the DMC
iv.
notification of some form of insolvency or court proceedings; Well, I am being taken to court next week by RBS who want to repossess my home. I am pretty confident that this is firm evidence of court proceedings
v.
regular requests for increased borrowing or repeated rescheduling of debts; Not repeated requests, but evidence that my finances are being handled by the DMC is surely evidence that I have had to reschedule my debts
vi.
making frequent cash withdrawals on a credit card at a non-promotional rate of interest; and Doesn't apply to me as all my credit cards have been stopped
vii.
repeatedly exceeding a credit card or overdraft limit without agreement (and, in this regard, where a complainant has incurred over £500 in unauthorised overdraft charges in the previous 12 months, that is to be treated as indicative of financial difficulty). As my claim against First Direct was for the original sum of £8184 over the previous 6 years, then I certainly have had charges of more than £500 per years applied. With the interest accrued since I made the original claim, I suspect that amount to be closer to £9K. Furthermore, I have not yet pursued FD for further unfair charges accrued after I started my claim to reclaim the unfair bank charges from them (Feb - August 2007) which I estimate at a further £900. I've also incurred late payment charges from RBS over the infrequent mortgage payments I have able to make.


Anyone think I might have a case ?

[Amethyst]

Re: Banks granted unfair charges waiver

errrrrr its a close one. lol.


incurred over £500 in unauthorised overdraft charges in the previous 12 months,

hows that one on the FD account?

[Jester]

Re: Banks granted unfair charges waiver

errrrrr its a close one. lol.


incurred over £500 in unauthorised overdraft charges in the previous 12 months,

hows that one on the FD account?

As stated above, I incurred what I estimate (I've not actually added it all up yet) to be around £900 in charges simply from February to August 2007. That happened AFTER I started my original claim against FD and hence was not included. As those charges only happened last year, I was (and still am) happy to leave that particular claim until the OFT Test Case is finally resolved as it is not a huge sum of money (certainly not when compared to the £8184 claim I already have against FD !!). It's the £8184 claim that I want processed as I could stop my house being repossessed with that money.

[Legal Beagles]

Overdraft complaints frozen again

Banks will not have to deal with complaints about overdraft fees for another six months, regulators decide.

More...

[Bluebell]

Re: Banks granted unfair charges waiver

Don't think there's any doubt Jester!!!!! They can't possiby find a way to wriggle out of it!!!

[Jester]

Re: Banks granted unfair charges waiver

I'm gonna sift through my past mail this evening and find the letters I had from the FOS, as they will have a reference number on them that I refer back to. Then I'll draft a letter to send to the FOS and see what they have to say on this matter.

I'm not going to appeal to the Court to have the Stay lifted as these Judges seem to live on Planet Zarg and have no comprehension of what it is like to be in Financial Hardship. I suspect I'll get more change out of the FOS.

It's gotta be worth a try. Once I have found the FOS letters, I'll draft what I think to be a valid communication to them and post it on here for comment before I finalise it and send it off to them. I might even give them a call just to 'test the water' as to how they are viewing this Waiver extension and the terms applied to it.

[Amethyst]

Re: Banks granted unfair charges waiver

Yep I'm looking literally at it, July 07 to July 08 is that over £500 ?

I'm in no doubt personally that the rest of the circumstances equate to hardship, I do agree with Budgie in that it is a very long shot towards getting charges actually refunded, but has to be worth a shot in your case with the repo hanging over you. If it doesnt then at least it should stop FD and A&L taking any action against you if theres any debts there and quash further charges.

I'd love to say its brilliant news and they should repay you meaning you can pay off the arrears on the mortgage and quash the repo...but even with the new conditions it is still a long shot.

I do think maybe you should contact FOS in the first instance find out their take on things ?

[Amethyst]

Re: Banks granted unfair charges waiver

Cool crossed posts but yep agree with you.

[Amethyst]

Re: Overdraft complaints frozen again

Overdraft complaints frozen again


Mr Justice Andrew Smith will preside over further hearings later this year

Banks have been given another six months grace to put off considering demands from customers who want their overdraft charges refunded.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has extended a decision which it first put in place a year ago.
The FSA said it had done this to help the courts decide the fairness of bank overdraft fees.
Bank charge campaigners said they were not surprised but claimed the situation was grossly unfair to customers.
'Unhappy'

It's about time that there was some reciprocal obligation on the banks to stop their enforcement procedures


Marc Gander, Consumer Action Group

Marc Gander, of the Consumer Action Group, said banks should be stopped from continuing to levy overdraft fees on customers who had lodged complaints.
"It's about time that there was some reciprocal obligation on the banks to stop their enforcement procedures," he said.
"They should be stopped from defaulting people on disputed sums and instructing debt collection agencies on a matter which the banks are likely to lose," he added.
It is thought that thousands of bank customers have had their complaints put on hold pending a resolution on the legality of overdraft charges.
The FSA explained that it was extending the suspension of its normal rules, which require banks to deal with complaints promptly, because the High Court has still not decided if bank overdraft charges are unfair or not.
Banks "will not be required to handle complaints relating to unauthorised overdraft charges within the time limits set out in the dispute resolution manual," the FSA said.
The second round of planned High Court hearings involving banks and the Office of Fair Trading, which may finally settle the issue, is expected to start before the end of the year.
But any appeals could drag out the issue far into next year which may lead the FSA to further extend the waiver from its rules.

[Amethyst]

Re: Overdraft complaints frozen again

"It's about time that there was some reciprocal obligation on the banks to stop their enforcement procedures," he said.
"They should be stopped from defaulting people on disputed sums and instructing debt collection agencies on a matter which the banks are likely to lose," he added.



Well I agree there....

They have taken minute steps for hardship cases but its all MIGHT

15.
When dealing with complainants in financial difficulty, the firm should consider the following steps in respect of the period during which they are assessed as being in financial difficulty:
(a)
the firm might waive future unauthorised overdraft charges; and
(b)
the firm might not enforce debts against complainants in financial difficulty to the extent that these debts are made up of unauthorised overdraft charges.
16.
Before closing a personal current account of a customer in financial difficulty, the firm might offer the customer a basic bank account, if this is a facility that the bank offers.

We need to bring behrens up a lot more me thinks. ed ?????????

[Jester]

Re: Banks granted unfair charges waiver

Oooh...interesting. I found my original complaint against First Direct that I put in with the FOS.

I just called the FOS and they said they WOULD deal with this in regard to Financial Hardship. They have asked me to put it all in writing and to resubmit my complaint based on the new guidelines in the waiver and that they WILL deal with it. The nice lady told me that as I am due in Court next week due to Financial Hardship then it WILL be dealt with !

Sooo, I guess I need to start thinking about how to word this whole thing and get something drafted up.

Ame - Would you rather I started a new thread on this when I have drafted my first letter (which I intend to do tonight) ?

[Budgie]

Re: Banks granted unfair charges waiver

Jester,

Try to factor a request into your letter for some assitance from the FOS in respect of your RBS Court hearing.

Even if you can just get some form of letter from them confirming that you are considered to be officially undergoing financial hardship it might assist you in getting the repossession proceedings stayed for a while. That in itself would be a remakable result.

A new thread would be a great idea, I am sure many, including myself would like to give you some assistance with this. Start a thread and get some basic details up on it. Maybe just copy some of your posts from here across.

Budgie

[Jester]

Re: Banks granted unfair charges waiver

Budgie - I've just loaded up MS Word and am going to start drafting the letter. Once I have it, I'll start a new thread with the letter and link to it from here and link back to here from it. Thay way we will have reference to both this thread and the new one to show they are inter-related. The basic crux of the letter are already contained within this thread. It's just about how I word it now.

Cheers (I'm excited LOL)