Starting a claim for hardship

[lisaevans1302]

Hello!

I have got to here after links from MSE or CAG, not sure which!
I am glad I came across it as I am in serious hardship and didn't realise how much I had paid in charges the last 5 years. Possibly not a great deal compared to some, but a huge amount to me (almost as much as I owe to my creditors that are being paid via PayPlan!)

So I am trying to get around £3700 of charges back from Natwest, these are charges made since 2005.
I have explained my situation in the letter, a template i found on here - I hope I have added the relevant bits in at the right points, and I hope what I have written is correct.

I would be VERY grateful if someone could look and see if its okay.
ON CAG & MSE I am getting advice about £852 of charges (they are currently included in this letter) which were due to British Gas taking un authorised letters - I should know by the end of the week if BG will reimburse these - if not then they will remain on this claim (as I am unsure of the legality of claiming them twice?) .

I going to try not to rush into this, even though my finances are a mess lately (due to the British Gas situation!) , would rather get it right first time.

I can fill out the I&E for myself easily - my partners income is a different story - he is a director of his own company (just him employed) which although is making a decent income now, it really struggled the last 12 months (he does architectural drawings) and so his company got in arrears on its VAT & Corp tax (now in hand and payment instalments sorted) - we got in a pickle because the company wasn't making enough money to pay him enough to pay the bills - and however bad it is, i know it is, we had to take money from the company (which was put aside for its own bills) to keep us fed and in a house etc (hence it now owing tax and vat) - so I need to get the accounts sorted before I know his income figure.

Here is my hardship letter

''Refund of Insufficient Funds Charges Request

ACCOUNT NUMBER (S): ###

I request a refund of the various "Insufficient Funds" charges which you have taken from my account over the last 5 years.

Further to recent publicity covering the High Court Test Case between the Office of Fair Trading and the Banks, I am now aware that these charges may be considered unlawful at Common Law and Statute.

The High Court has decided that recent charges applied to my account can be assessed for fairness under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

I note the FSA’s definition of Financial Hardship as detailed in the updated Waiver and believe that I meet these criteria and wish you to deal with my refund request accordingly.

I am currently on Maternity Leave, I receive £523 per month of Maternity Pay – previous to this I had been taking home £1200.

I am behind on many essential payments, water approximately arrears of £376, electricity approximately £800 arrears, gas approximately £600 arrears and council tax approximately £1300 arrears. (in total around £3000). I have been threatened with court action for nonpayment of my council tax bill and utility bills.

I am on a debt management plan with PayPlan, currently I can only afford to pay £1 to each of my creditors – my total debt being managed is around £4500.

I have incurred more than £500 of charges in the previous 12 months due to exceeding my overdraft facility – this is indicative of financial difficulty.

I believe these charges to be unfair as the terms which apply them fall under the remit of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, Schedule 2 - paragraph (e) which states that contract terms which have the object or effect of ''(e) requiring any consumer who fails to fulfil his obligation to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation'' may be regarded as unfair.

Additionally, I believe that older charges applied to my account are unlawful penalty charges and as such are irrecoverable at common law. Precedents for this include, but are not limited to, Dunlop Pneumatic v New Garage [1915] AC 79, Murray v. Leisure play [2005] EWCA Civ 963 and CMC Group Plc And Others V Zhang [2006] EWCA Civ 408.

If you believe that these charges are not unlawful penalties then I would be grateful if you would demonstrate this by providing me with a full breakdown of the costs you have incurred as a result of my breaches of contract, in order to satisfy me that your charges really do reflect your actual costs.

I calculate that you have taken £ 3796 from my account in unlawful charges. Additionally, you have charged me interest on those unlawful charges which I estimate at £300 (i just did 8%) . I also consider that I should be compensated for the "time value" loss of my money, unlawfully taken from my account, I consider a suitable compensatory payment to be £500 (i have no idea what is a reasonable amount to put?!)

Therefore the total that I require you to repay to me is £4596

I have attached a schedule of the charges you have taken and which I require refunding to me.
You have 14 days to reply to me, accepting unconditionally my request in principle and letting me know a date by which I will receive my refund.

If you fail to respond, or fail to respond positively within this time period, I shall send you a letter before action giving you a further 14 days.

At the expiry of the second deadline, I shall commence a County Court claim against you without further notice and my claim at that time will include Court costs and interest.''

Many Many Thanks for anyone that helps and advises me!

[natweststaffmember]

Re: Starting a claim for hardship

Lisa, you need to remove the penalty charges argument from the above cos it is irrelevant.
Have you included the income and expenditure form for NatWest?

Link was definitely from MSE.

[Amethyst]

I calculate that you have taken £ 3796 from my account in unlawful charges. Additionally, you have charged me interest on those unlawful charges which I estimate at £300 (i just did 8%) . I also consider that I should be compensated for the "time value" loss of my money, unlawfully taken from my account, I consider a suitable compensatory payment to be £500 (i have no idea what is a reasonable amount to put?!)



hi Lisa and welcome to Beagles

The estimate for interest they have charged you sounds about right, maybe a little high but quite feasible.

The compensatory payment seems too low. How you should work this is 8% per year per charge from the date you were charged it.

So a charge in December 2004 could be worth £50 interest and one in Jan 2009 could be worth £2 (extreme examples).... Did you use the spreadsheet (or calculator if you did it on MsE), I think its worth spending an hour doing it could add a bit more to your claim.

This 8% is the statutory interest amount a court would award you and probably what the FSA defines as a compensatory award.

regarding the rest of the letter, yes the common law / penalty arguments need removing and i would be tempted to make it more personal and less templated - a hardship claim is a complaint about charges adding to hardship rather than a direct claim against the legalities of charges, although both need including. If you have a look through this forum theres a few other peoples letters which might help. ( example HARDSHIP claim letters - Legal Beagles some there)

You havent mentioned anything about the circumstances you are in financially that have put you in financial difficulty.

Hope that gives you some ideas, happy to help you with it.

Your IE sheet does it show a negative at the end of each month ?



this kind of thing - less legal and more plea for assistance.

Also I think, if you and your OH share finances/bills etc and his situation with the business impacted on you then I would include this information, does his income/anything other than your £500 odd go into the account you are claiming on ?

Also regarding BG, if they refund the charges to your account for you then you would enter those refunds on your spreadsheet as credits when you receive them which will adjust the figures and interest for you. but as they havent agreed yet keep your claim at the full amount.


This is the formal info on natwest claims - Legal Beagles - View Single Post - Hardship - Individual Banks Requirements Who to contact - includes their 'preferred' IE sheets.

''Complaint about Charges in Financial Difficulty

ACCOUNT NUMBER (S): ###

I have held the above account with you since xxxxxxxx, over this time my financial circumstances, despite my best efforts, have worsened considerably and I am now writing to ask if you can refund the various "Insufficient Funds" charges which you have taken from my account over the last 5 years.

Further to recent publicity covering the High Court Test Case between the Office of Fair Trading and the Banks, I am aware that these charges may be considered unlawful as The High Court has decided that these charges can be assessed for fairness under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 and the OFfice of Fair Trading have already indicated to you that the charges are unfair.

I understand that complaints about charges are on hold pending the final decision in the OFT vAbbey Test Case, however I am aware that due to my financial situation you must process my complaint regardless.

I have enclosed my income and expenditure sheet which shows an overview of my circumstances.

My income has recently reduced by at least 50% as I am currently on Maternity Leave, I now receive just £523 per month - previous to this I had been taking home £1200 per month.

Despite my best efforts I have fallen behind on many essential payments, water arrears of £376, electricity £800 arrears, gas £600 arrears and council tax £1300 arrears. I have been threatened with court action for nonpayment of my council tax bill and utility bills.

In an effort to keep up with my obligations to creditors, I have contacted PayPlan, and have started a debt management plan. I can only afford to pay £1 to each of my creditors – my total debt being managed is around £4500.

My overall arrears on my priority debts and outstanding credit is around £7500.

I have incurred more than £500 of charges in the previous 12 months due to exceeding my overdraft facility – I believe this is indicative of financial difficulty and has certainly not assisted me in keeping up payments to my priority creditors.

I have calculated that you have taken £ 3796 from my account in unlawful charges. Additionally, you have charged me interest on those unlawful charges which I estimate at £300. Additionally as indicated by the courts and the Financial Service Authority I will be claiming an amount I consider a suitable compensatory payment of £500.

Therefore the total that I require you to repay to me is £4596. I have attached a schedule of this charges. I also request you put a hold on future charges to enable me to get things straight.