shooter v A&L claiming under hardship rules

[shooter]

does anyone think this would help me get my charges back?


Dear **********

I am writing to you to request that charges you have made to my account be refunded under hardship rules.

I am aware of the criteria for financial hardship defined by the FSA in the updated version of the waiver and feel that I meet a lot of the criteria and I am are suffering from financial hardship. I justify this claim as follows:

1. The firm will be sympathetic and positive when considering any financial difficulties claimed by the complainant. Firms will not subject a complainant to harassment or undue pressure when discussing their problems.

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 lost my husband just over 2 years ago and have been struggling ever since I am unable to go back to work ( haven't been employed since 1997 because I gave up work to care for my husband) as I am unfit for work and have just been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and my mobility is greatly impaired and I am finding it extremely difficult to cope with the excruciating pain as I cannot take pain relief.

b. evidence of the following events:

i. items repeatedly being returned unpaid due to lack of available funds;

I have had items returned on many occasions resulting in charges on the following dates

08/02/2008
11/03/2008
01/04/2008
02/04/2008
12/04/2008
02/05/2008
09/05/2008
10/05/2008
09/06/2008
10/06/2008
09/07/2008
10/07/2008
11/07/2008


ii. failing to make loan repayments or other commitments;

The Lloyds Tsb collections dept have put me on a payment arrangement for my loan with Lloyds Tsb as I was struggling to make my payments
iii. discontinuation of regular credits;

iv. notification of some form of insolvency or court proceedings;

I have had a letter from my housing association stating that I am now in arrears of £1117.53 and they are now considering court action for possession I am already paying £140 per month to them, this has happened because when my husband died it took the housing benefit dept nearly 4 months to sort out my new claim and they had made a massive over payment and are now taking it back at nearly £10 per week off my benefit. As it is I don't get full benefit because I get widowed parents benefit, child benefit and child tax credit, which takes me over the threshold for income support.

v. regular requests for increased borrowing or repeated rescheduling of debts;

I have had to have my OD increased by the Lloyds collections department due to charges being put onto my account. This is reducing by £4 per month. This was done due to my Income and expenditure showing Financial Hardship!

vi. making frequent cash withdrawals on a credit card at a non-promotional rate of interest; and

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).

My charges to date amount to £550 so far and will rise to £630 on 09/08/2008

My charges to date with Lloyds tsb amount to £461 for the year July 2007to July 2008 and I have a case stayed in the count courts for £4621.37

3. If during the handling of the complaint the firm becomes aware (including by notification from the complainant) that the complainant may be in, or heading towards financial difficulties, the firm will contact the complainant to outline their approach to financial difficulty cases and to encourage the customer to contact the firm if the customer is worried about their position. The firm will also provide signposts to sources of free, independent money advice.

4. The firm will make available to complainants straightforward information in plain English on the firm’s procedures and systems for dealing with customers in financial difficulty.

5. If it becomes clear to the firm that the complainant needs specialist assistance, the complainant will be referred promptly to a specialist team that deals with customers in financial difficulties, if one exists. The firm will give a phone number on all communications that will put the customer in contact with a named person or a team dedicated to dealing with cases of financial difficulty.

6. Where the firm does not have sufficient evidence to assess whether or not the complainant is in fact in financial difficulty, the firm will seek such further relevant information as is reasonably required to make that assessment. In the event that the firm reasonably requires relevant information to be provided by the complainant and the complainant does not provide the requested information within a reasonable period of time, the firm shall not be obliged to treat such a complainant as being in financial difficulty.

I trust that the Bank agree with me and will now be able to resolve my claim for return of the charges.

Yours sincerly

belville


What do you think??



Are there any changes I should make? or anything I should add?

[Amy]

Re: shooter v A&L claiming under hardship rules

A very quick edit for you Shooter, see what you think.

xx



Dear **********

I am aware of the criteria for financial hardship defined by the FSA in the updated version of the waiver. As such, I now request that the charges you have taken from my account, which amount to ................., be refunded under these hardship rules.

I have set out below the reasons I feel that I meet the qualifying criteria:-

1. The firm will be sympathetic and positive when considering any financial difficulties claimed by the complainant. Firms will not subject a complainant to harassment or undue pressure when discussing their problems.

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 have been unemployed since 1997. I gave up my job to care for my husband who was gravely ill(?). Sadly, I subsequently lost my husband just over 2 years ago and I have been struggling financially ever since. I am unable to return to full time or part time employment as I have now been classed unfit for work due to being diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. My mobility is also greatly impaired and I am finding it increasingly difficult to cope both financially and with the pain caused by my condition.

b. evidence of the following events:

i. items repeatedly being returned unpaid due to lack of available funds;

I have had items returned on many occasions resulting in charges of ................. on the following dates:-

08/02/2008
11/03/2008
01/04/2008
02/04/2008
12/04/2008
02/05/2008
09/05/2008
10/05/2008
09/06/2008
10/06/2008
09/07/2008
10/07/2008
11/07/2008


ii. failing to make loan repayments or other commitments;

I have entered into a payment arrangement with Lloyds Tsb Collections Deptartment for the repayment of my loan as I have found these payments increasingly difficult to maintain.

iii. discontinuation of regular credits;

iv. notification of some form of insolvency or court proceedings;

I have received a letter from my Housing Association informing me that I am currently in arrears of £1117.53. As such, they are now considering court action for possession. I pay £140 per month (is this inclusive of your arrears?).

When my husband died it took nearly 4 months for the housing benefit department to sort out my new claim. They then mistakenly made a massive over payment. I am repaying this at nearly £10 per week which is taken from my benefit. I do not qualify for full benefit due to the fact that I receive widowed parents benefit, child benefit and child tax credit. This takes me over the threshold for income support.

v. regular requests for increased borrowing or repeated rescheduling of debts;

I have had to have my overdraft increased by Lloyds Collections Department due to these charges being taken from my account. This is also being repaid, but only by £4 per month.

vi. making frequent cash withdrawals on a credit card at a non-promotional rate of interest; and

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).

My charges to date amount to £550 and will rise to £630 on 09/08/2008.

My charges to date with Lloyds TSB amount to £461 for the year July 2007 to July 2008. I have a case that is currently stayed in the county court for £4621.37

3. If during the handling of the complaint the firm becomes aware (including by notification from the complainant) that the complainant may be in, or heading towards financial difficulties, the firm will contact the complainant to outline their approach to financial difficulty cases and to encourage the customer to contact the firm if the customer is worried about their position. The firm will also provide signposts to sources of free, independent money advice.

4. The firm will make available to complainants straightforward information in plain English on the firm’s procedures and systems for dealing with customers in financial difficulty.

5. If it becomes clear to the firm that the complainant needs specialist assistance, the complainant will be referred promptly to a specialist team that deals with customers in financial difficulties, if one exists. The firm will give a phone number on all communications that will put the customer in contact with a named person or a team dedicated to dealing with cases of financial difficulty.

6. Where the firm does not have sufficient evidence to assess whether or not the complainant is in fact in financial difficulty, the firm will seek such further relevant information as is reasonably required to make that assessment. In the event that the firm reasonably requires relevant information to be provided by the complainant and the complainant does not provide the requested information within a reasonable period of time, the firm shall not be obliged to treat such a complainant as being in financial difficulty.

I trust that the Bank accepts that my situation is one of significant financial hardship and will now resolve my claim and return the charges to me.

Yours sincerely

[Budgie]

Re: shooter v A&L claiming under hardship rules

Hi Shooter,

I have also had a go at sharpening your A&L letter, I started this about the same time as Amy ( but she was a bit quicker than me. So I have tried to incorporate her suggestions in here as well.

I have removed all of the waiver bits and pieces as I believe that A&L will be fully familiar with the waiver conditions and there is therefore no need to repeat them all in your letter.

Have a read and let me know what you think. I have tried to keep it along the lines of your original letter so that it appears more like a personal letter rather than a copied template letter. I feel that this approach will make it more likley for your request to get the attention it deserves.

This letter can also be adapted for use as your Lloyds hardship letter, will post up a draft shortly on your Lloyds thread.

Dear **********

I have recently been made aware of the updated criteria for financial hardship which have been defined by the Financial Services Authority in the updated version of the Complaints Handling Waiver.

I believe that I meet the defined criteria and request that you consider refunding the default charges you have taken from my account, which currently total £550 and will rise to a total of £630 0n 9th August 2008.

I have set out below the reasons I feel that I meet the qualifying criteria:-

I have been unemployed since 1997. I gave up my job to care for my husband who sadly passed away two years ago. I have been struggling financially ever since. I am unable to return to full time or part time employment as I have now been classed unfit for work due to being diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. My mobility is also greatly impaired and I am finding it increasingly difficult to cope both financially and with the pain caused by my condition.

I have entered into a payment arrangement with Lloyds Tsb Collections Department for the repayment of my loan as I have found these payments increasingly difficult to maintain.
I have received a letter from my Housing Association informing me that I am currently in arrears of £1117.53. As such, they are now considering court action for possession. I pay £140 per month (is this inclusive of your arrears, add a bit more detail?).
When my husband died it took nearly 4 months for the housing benefit department to sort out my new claim. They then mistakenly made a massive over payment. I am repaying this at nearly £10 per week which is taken from my benefit. I do not qualify for full benefit due to the fact that I receive widowed parents benefit, child benefit and child tax credit. This takes me over the threshold for income support.

I have had to have my overdraft increased by Lloyds Collections Department due to these charges being taken from my account. This is also being repaid, but only by £4 per month.

Lloyds TSB have also applied default charges to the current account that I hold with them which total £461 for the year July 2007 to July 2008. I also have a stayed County Court claim against Lloyds TSB which is for return of default charges totaling £4621.37 which were applied to that account between xx/xx/xxxx and xx/xx/xxxx. I confirm that I have also written to Lloyds TSB requesting that they resolve my claims owing to my financial hardship situation.

I trust that A&L agree that my situation is one of significant and severe financial hardship and will undertake to resolve my claim and return the default charges of £630.

Yours sincerely

[shooter]

Re: shooter v A&L claiming under hardship rules

Thank you Amy and Budgie for your replies.

I think after reading both revised versions that the shorter one posted by budgie would be the best one to start with and then if they don't agree with what I am saying Then I could write outlining each point in the waiver and my reasons for claiming under the new waiver rules

What do you think?

[Budgie]

Re: shooter v A&L claiming under hardship rules

Up to you Shooter, it's your own claim after all.

Either version is fine. Important thing is that the information contained within is correct, so check everything carefully.

Am pretty sure that you will receive a positive response.

Remember the whole point of this is to encourage the Banks to start making you offers of settlement. You can then handle things in a similar manner to that which Ladidi used last week for her claim.

Keep us updated as to how things progress

Rgds Budgie

[scoobydoo]

Re: shooter v A&L claiming under hardship rules

The letter is fine and if they dont agree then post the reply and we can help with another letter which can then be copied direct to the FOS for their assistance.There have been a few success stories recently ( not enough) but fingers crossed you may get some help


Just remember if they do make you an offer dont accept without discussing it here first - sometimes it is such a relief you just want to say yes and everybody has different opinions on whether you should accept.

In some cases they are just freezing further charges and interest - so I am afraid there is no consistant approach to these hardship claims.

Best of luck

Scooby

[shooter]

Re: shooter v A&L claiming under hardship rules

Well the letters posted so now all I have to do is wait to see what reponce they bring.

I have included my mobile no so hopefully they will call me to ask me how I'd like my money back. Well you can only hope can't you!

Good job I'm going away else I'd be like a cat on a hot tin roof!

I'm away from tommorrow lunch time so see you all when I get back and hopefully I'll have something good to come back to.

goodluck to all of you reclaimers while I'm away

shooter

[shooter]

Re: shooter v A&L claiming under hardship rules

Just to let everyone know that I'm back and as yet Nothing from Cap One but have got a letter from NCO saying that they are putting my account on hold until they hear from Cap one

[Budgie]

Re: shooter v A&L claiming under hardship rules

Have you mixed up your posts Shooter ?!?!

Hope you had a great holiday

Budgie

[shooter]

Re: shooter v A&L claiming under hardship rules

Sorry All yep mixed Up I am LOL
What I meant to say was I'm back but as yet nothing From A&L so the long wait continues!!

[shooter]

Re: shooter v A&L claiming under hardship rules

Hi all

Well the postmans been and theres a letter from a Ms Fordman At A&L Customer services

it reads as follows

Dear shooter

Thank you for your recent enquiry, we acknowlege receipt of your request for repayment of charges for your claim of financial hardship.

In Order for us to assess and investigate your claim fully, we require the enclosed Income and Expenditure form to be completed, and returned, in the pre-paid envelope within the next 10 days. Upon receipt of this document, we will refer your details to a specialist team to concider your finantial situation.

Please ensure the form is completed fully, and provide copies (please do not send originals) of three months proof of earnings or other income. when we have assessed your claim, for security and confidentiality reasons, we will destroy and documentation you send to us.

If we do not receive this information within the agreed timescale, we will assume you no longer wish to pursue your claim of finantial hardship and will accordingly close this case. Please telephone 0844 800 9000 is you would like to discuss any aspect of the matter further.The enclosed leaflet explains the steps we take to handle complaints. We will keep your file open for eight weeks and if we do not hear from you then, we will concider the matter closed.

Yours sincerely

Christina Fordman
Customer Services


So even though my letter to them included my Income and Expenditure form they want another.

I have no problem filling in theirs and returning it to them, but would like others views as to weather I should wait and see what they come up with or carry on to LBA stage.

They have stopped me viewing my account online and as it is an internet account I cannot now see what charges they are adding each month!

Had a letter last week while I was away which crossed paths with my letter to them saying that they had closed my account but I could see online any future charges.

Opinions Please

Shooter

[Amy]

Re: shooter v A&L claiming under hardship rules

Write to them and point out that you have already filled out an Income and Expenditure form, that it was enclosed in your previous letter to them and you see no possible relevance in filling out another one.

Also include in your letter to them that you cannot now view your online account as they have removed your access.

[Budgie]

Re: shooter v A&L claiming under hardship rules

Are the form that you sent in to them and the blank copy that they have sent you exactly the same layout and version.

If not, I think they just want you to fill in their version of the form rather than submit an alternative.

This is probably because they have trained monkeys to input the figures from certain boxes you fill in on their version of the form into a computer program that using very sophisticated algorithms will tell them whether you are actually suffering financial hardship or not.

All joking aside. I suggest you do as they request. Even if you were to move to the LBA stage and then file a claim at Court the claim is going to be staye automatically anyway. The financial hardship route is currently still the most likely way that you may get a settlement before final resolution of the test case.

I suggest you follow this process through and hold off on the LBA until we exhaust the financial hardship approach.

Budgie

[Amethyst]

Re: shooter v A&L claiming under hardship rules

They have stopped me viewing my account online and as it is an internet account I cannot now see what charges they are adding each month!

Had a letter last week while I was away which crossed paths with my letter to them saying that they had closed my account but I could see online any future charges.

What was their reason for closing the account? (sorry if you said earlier) was it due to close before you entered the hardship claim ? if not have they offered you a basic account ?

[shooter]

Re: shooter v A&L claiming under hardship rules

Hi Ame,

Sorry for taking so long to reply but I,ve been busy helping my Daughter move.



"What was their reason for closing the account? (sorry if you said earlier) was it due to close before you entered the hardship claim ? if not have they offered you a basic account ?"

I think that they closed the account due to no funds going in for over 2 months! My own fault really!!

It was my supposed to be my Parachute account but when I received an Inheiritance last year I put it in this account and paid off 99% of my debts with it ( Only left the LLoyds loan and a defaulted mobile bill that I was paying back at £5 per month).

I set up 1 SO and some DD's for My Mum when there was money in there ( did this so that I could pay her back money she had lent me to survive on in the past) when the money was running out, she wrote to the companies and when they accepted new account details (My mums account) in writing I cancelled the relevant DD's.

I forgot one and then the charges started. It didn't help that I arranged 2 payments into the account from 2 seperate LLoyds accounts on the same day via internet banking, both left lloyds accounts on the same day but one reached A&L account a couple of days after the other so hadn't cleared in time for payments coming out.
Also although being told in branch that cash payments in would clear the same day, sometimes the money didn't show as cleared until the next day!

Some banks allow a grace period, so that you have until 3.30pm to pay-in cash to cover a payment that day, before bouncing, but I didn't realise that A&L didn't allow this and that funds needed to be cleared atleast 24hrs in advance.

They had suggested I change the account down to a basic but I didn't at the time cause I thought that I could get thing back on track with this account quite quickly and wanted the keep the cheque book facility that came with this account for writting cheques for SARs, CCA;s etc to try and save money on POs. I was naive really cause this account has now spiralled and I'm back to square one.

Hope this helps

Shooter