Help with Yorkshire Bank Please

[tinkerbella21]

I think my OH qualifys for the hardship route.

He put a claim in with Yorkshire Bank in February last year but they dragged their heels big time, we managed to get it into the small claims court and won but then they suddenly jumped into life and applied to have the judgement set aside which they got.

In the mean time he defaulted on this account due to all the charges and it is now with their solicitors who have wrote to him last week to say they applying for a CCJ on the amount owed.

My OH is not working and I am on Maternity leave so we are really struggling at the minute and are 1 month behind with mortgage and a secured loan as well as having a £800 elec bill we can't pay.

He owes them £300 but they owe him £1500!

Is it worth him asking them to reconsider his claim or will they ignore him now he will have a CCJ?

Can anyone help me with what we need to write to them?

[enaid]

Re: Help with Yorkshire Bank Please

Hi tinkerbella,
I think your OH's claim would be in dispute and they are not allowed to take further action on it while it is in dispute. I will check this out for you though properly and if this is the case then we have a letter that you can send.
As your OH will be on benefits I presume right now and you don't say if you are being paid maternity pay then it may be as well you doing and I and E sheet.
Your priorities are your mortgage and elec bill at the moment, so doing the I and E sheet will help us to see a better picture of your finances. This can be done in private if you wish. Hope this helps for now and you will get the advice you need. Enaid xx

[tinkerbella21]

Re: Help with Yorkshire Bank Please

Thank you very much. My OH is not on benefits as when I was still working he looked after the kids instead when he became unemployed as it was cheaper then child care!

I am getting smp at the moment but am going back to work in October. Any help you can give me is much appreciated.

My OH did tell YB solicitors from the start that he had a claim in for charges but they said that he had to continue to pay on a repayment plan otherwise further action would be taken.

[Tempty]

hi tinkerbella, welcome to beagles
Iwould say if you are behind on your mortgage and loan payments then you would allmost certainly qualify as a hardship case.

poop sorry my pc being a twit

more to come in a min ...lol if it'l let me

[Tempty]

Re: Help with Yorkshire Bank Please

Grrr sorr my pc keeps dropping connection and losing the draft

last attempt

anyway ideas for a letter was what i was trying to get at, best way of doing this is to take a look at the new waiver rules stickied at the top of this forum.

jot down the definitions of hardship rules and write a brief statement explaining why they apply to you for each one. you can then delete the rules themselfs and you have a bases for a letter.

give it a bash and post in here once done, we'll then give it a tweak for you before you send it off. Also as enaid suggested doing a IE would be benificial too .... you can post it to a member of team if you prefer not to post it in open forum.

good luck, let us know how you get on with that
Tempty xx

[Amethyst]

Re: Help with Yorkshire Bank Please

Hi tinkerbella - think I replied to you over on MSE. (((((((hug)))))))))) nice to see you here.

I'll pick up some bits off the Tools v Yorkshire bank thread for you.

Tempts and Nells are right they should default you with a stayed claim in place and certainly shouldn't be claiming against you. I'll nudge Tools over too.

[Tools]

Re: Help with Yorkshire Bank Please

Hi Tinkerbella

Your story sounds quite similar to mine.

I assume the solicitors are Jeremy Sutcliffe& Co. and maybe the person dealing with it is Paul Windle?

Can you tell me if the account is still open and have they entered a claim in court against you trying to recover the amount of the CCJ?

It would help if you could give a brief outline of your income/expenditure and any other debts you may have as this will have a bearing on your hardship status.

Also is the account you are claiming from/CCJ`d against a joint or sole named account.

Jules

PS Why not also come and say Hi in your welcome thread Welcome tinkerbella21

[tinkerbella21]

Re: Help with Yorkshire Bank Please

Hi Tools

The account was closed by Yorkshire Bank about a year ago when it went to a default.
The account was just in his name so do I need to to include my income in an I & E because he doesn't have any income at all?

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;
He has no income being paid into his new account with A&L.

b.
evidence of the following events:
i.
items repeatedly being returned unpaid due to lack of available funds;

All direct debits have now been cancelled out of his account as it is over the over draft limit and now a&l are pilling the charges on as well.
ii.
failing to make loan repayments or other commitments;
Behind on secured loan, HP and 2 Credit cards
iii.
discontinuation of regular credits;
Credit cards have been cancelled
iv.
notification of some form of insolvency or court proceedings;
Only from YB so far
v.
regular requests for increased borrowing or repeated rescheduling of debts;
No One will give any extra borrowing or let us move it about!
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).
Both his credit cards are over the limit and lending facility has now been taken away from him.

I hope that helps a bit.

[scoobydoo]

Re: Help with Yorkshire Bank Please

2a

I would say that your OH was made unemployed (year?) and you suffered a reduction in income .

(they dont necessarily need to know he looked after the children while you worked out of choice - he could have been looking for employment?)


b -ii - problems meeting current mortgage repayments.
Unable to pay basic fuel bills

[Tools]

Re: Help with Yorkshire Bank Please

Yes Timkerbella I would say you have very good grounds for claiming hardship status. Also the fact that they have defaulted you on the account that was disputed as the amount owing was made up of charges is a little naughty to say the least. Your income will have a bearing on determining whether not hardship applies as they ask for household/any other income.

I would contact YB or Sutcliffes (or one of their many other guises Fairhalsen, Brunswick collections etc) whoever is dealing with it. Inform them of your circumstances and your wish to be dealt with as hardship under the terms of the FSA waiver. As you will have seen there are plenty of letters etc around Beagles on which you can base yours. Once you have written something copy it up here before you send so we can advise if necessary.

Good luck and Welcome to Beagles again.

[tinkerbella21]

Re: Help with Yorkshire Bank Please

It is sutcliffes that is dealing with it, our household income isn't that much as I only work 27 hours a week about £11k a year and am on smp at the mo which is £117 a week. I will draft a letter now. Thanks very much for all your help so far.

[tinkerbella21]

Re: Help with Yorkshire Bank Please

Okay heres my letter, I'm not sure if its in the right order but I'm sure you can point me in the right direction with it.

I am writing with regards to the payment plan arranged in order toclear my debt with Yorkshire Bank.

I consider the debt to be in dispute as the majority of the outstanding debt is made up of unlawful charges.

These charges are disproportionately high and therefore they are contrary to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Regulations 1999. In addition I believe that the charges are a Penalty. Penalty charges are irrecoverable at common law. The precedent for this was Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co Ltd v New Garage and Motor co Ltd [1915] AC 79.along with Murray v. Leisure play [2005] EWCA Civ 963 It was held that a contractual party can only recover damages for an actual loss or liquidated losses. It is clear that these charges do not reflect any actual and or real loss.

For your information, I will not be making any more payments to yourself until this matter is resolved.

Currently the amount outstanding on the account is £320.00 .

The amount I calculate you have taken in unlawful penalty charges is£1321.55. On the resolution of this matter I will resume making payments on any outstanding sum.

You will be aware that under the Banking Code, to which you subscribe, you may not default my account or take further enforcement action whilst the debt is in dispute. It is in both our interests to come to a swift resolution.


I would also like to make you aware of The Office of Fair Trading Code of Guidance in which it states: putting pressure on debtors or third parties is considered to be oppressive This includes: Ignoring disputes about whether money is owed and refusing to freeze action if the debt is in dispute.

I therefore hope to receive your full co-operation in this matter and would like to request a written response to that effect.

Your client,Yorkshire Bank, will be receiving a letter requesting the removal of the default on the register, plus a full refund for all charges incurred within the last 6years, should they not honour this request the dispute will be taken to court.

I have also 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 Yorkshire Bank current account, number xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

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

I was unfortunately made unemployed due to being off with work related stress bought on by workplace bullying. This has meant that our household income has been dramatically reduced.

I am continually a month behind with my mortgage and secured loan payments. I have been issued with a default from GE Money Home Lending due to being 2 months in arrears.
I have just received a £800 electric bill and I have no idea how I am going to repay this.
I have also just received a default notice from GMAC and am looking at having my car repossessed.

The two credit cards I hold with Yorkshire Bank and Alliance and Leicester are both over their credit limit and any further borrowing has been withdrawn.

I trust that Yorkshire Bank agree that my situation is one of significant and severe financial hardship and will undertake to resolve my claims and return the default charges of £xxxxxxxxxx.


Yours Sincerely

[Amethyst]

Re: Help with Yorkshire Bank Please

Am working on your letter - is a great start

Just to confirm - was the judgement set aside and stayed pending the outcome of the test case?

[Amethyst]

Re: Help with Yorkshire Bank Please

For the solicitors

Dear Sirs,

I write further to your recent letter in which you indicated your intention to pursue repayment through the courts of an alledged debt to your clients totalling £320.00. Any such claim will be vigorously defended.

You will be aware that I currently have a claim ref XXXXXXXX, totalling £1321.55 which your clients have taken from me in unlawful bank charges. This is in the courts system and is subject to a stay pending the outcome of Office of Fair Trading v. Abbey [2008] EWHC 875 (Comm).

I would advise you that I will be writing directly to your client requesting my case is assessed under guidelines for financial difficulty as laid out in the revised Financial Service Authority waiver regarding complaint handling during the test case, and will also be requesting removal of the default placed on my account and removal of data passed to the Credit Reference Agencies.

You will also be aware that this places my account in dispute, and under the terms of the Banking Code, to which your client subscribes, they may not default my account or take further enforcement action whilst the debt is in dispute. You may also be aware I am currently, under an agreed payment plan, making payment of £XX per calendar month to your client as a gesture of goodwill.

Additionally under the terms of the Financial Services Authority Waiver terms you should not be taking debt recovery action for this disputed amount.

15 (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.

I would also like to make you aware of The Office of Fair Trading Code of Guidance in which it states: putting pressure on debtors or third parties is considered to be oppressive This includes: Ignoring disputes about whether money is owed and refusing to freeze action if the debt is in dispute.


I therefore hope to receive your full co-operation in this matter and would like to request a written response to that effect.

yours sincerely
xxxxxxxxxx


For the Bank - work in progress


Dear Sirs

Further to recent communication from your Solicitors, Jeremy Sutcliffes XXX, to which I have replied as attached, I would ask that you consider my circumstances as Financial Difficulty under guidelines laid out by the Financial Services Authority Waiver.





Do you have an income/expenditure sheet available ? If not there is one in the library, also a full list of your debts and arrears would be helpful in addition to the points you have raised below. Also it will show what you can pay to YB proportionally as a last priority to your other debts - it only needs be nominal to show goodwill really.

also if you want to go through your arrears and car repo, and leccy bills just pop down as much info as you have and we can try see if theres a way of sorting those bits out too.

I have also 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 Yorkshire Bank current account, number xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

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

I was unfortunately made unemployed due to being off with work related stress bought on by workplace bullying. This has meant that our household income has been dramatically reduced.

I am continually a month behind with my mortgage and secured loan payments. I have been issued with a default from GE Money Home Lending due to being 2 months in arrears.
I have just received a £800 electric bill and I have no idea how I am going to repay this.
I have also just received a default notice from GMAC and am looking at having my car repossessed.

The two credit cards I hold with Yorkshire Bank and Alliance and Leicester are both over their credit limit and any further borrowing has been withdrawn.

I trust that Yorkshire Bank agree that my situation is one of significant and severe financial hardship and will undertake to resolve my claims and return the default charges of £xxxxxxxxxx.

[tinkerbella21]

Re: Help with Yorkshire Bank Please

Thank you Amethyst for all your help with the letter.

I have got an income and expenditure form it says we are minus £300 a month currently. Our household bills are the lowest we can get them as I constantly shop around and we don't have mobile bills or sky or any other luxury except internet access.

My Dad is going to borrow us the money to pay the electric arrears and we can pay him back whenever we can afford to which helps! My Partner has phoned GMAC re the car and they have allowed him another 4 weeks to pay some of it off. We have got it up for sale at my cousins garage and are hoping to sell it and clear the finance, it has had a lot of interest so we are keeping our fingers crossed, if not we will just have to let it go.