New member needing help!!!!

[carolinetaylor]

Hi

I'm Caz and need some help regarding bank charges. To cut a long story short my bank Abbey have taken out a total of £1,700 in bank charges in the last 6 months, creating a spiralling effect with regard to my financial status. I was a single parent on benefit and due to Abbey taking out bank charges before my loans were taken out, when my two loans were requested there was insufficient funds in my account to cover the loans therefore creating more charges again the next month and so on......

This has been going on for six months but in March i reached my lowest and broke down in tears to one of their operators because i called them to try and get some help but was told there was nothing they could do. I was paying upto £300 per month on charges which is more than i was getting in benefit, therefore leaving me with no money for living........ this was hard!!!

I have since written to Abbey following your programme on bank charges but they wrote back and said they would investigate it but it will take time. As far as i see it there is nothing to investigate, i've printed off a list of the charges from the last 6 months and it is quite clear to all plus you can see the total amount paid in each month.

Can anyone suggest my next move?

Many thanx

Caz

I'm sorry to read that Caz together (all of CAG) we'll hit them where it hurts. Chain up dear things are never as bad as they seem.

Ashley

[dolly]

What exactly have you sent? Do you know the exact figure taken out for the past 6 years? If you can let us know what you have done we can advise you on your next step.

[Bookworm]

MOD: MOVED TO RELEVANT FORUM.

[lisamellor]

hi caz,

welcome, cheer up love things can and will only get better.!!

first things first, you need money to live off now, so may i suggest getting in touch with the benefits agancy and get your money paid into a different account. open one of your own, or put it in someone elses account that you can trust. i know that the benefits agency can send giros out still, speak to them, tell them what has happened and see what they say.

then if you have only occured charges since having your money paid into your account by the benefits agency, as you seem to know how much you have paid out in 6 months on charges. if you have not occured charges previous to this then i would go straight for the jugular, send them the letter demanding they refund the whole amount, within 14 days or you will see them at court.

as i said DO NOT LET THEM GET AWAY WITH THIS. you have kids for gods sake, they dont care, but we do. get your butt in gear. tomorrow, get the ball rolling, hand deliver the letter to the branch if you have to request the statements otherwise, there are addresses on this site of abbey.

GOOD LUCK, KEEP YOUR CHIN UP !!

Lisaxx

[Darren]

Hi Caz,

I had the same problem with Abbey about five years ago, I called in to my local branch, told them I could not afford the £300+ per month they were charging me and asked for help, they said there was nothing they could do and I would have to my account back in order. I left the bank and walked accross the road to another bank to see if I could open an account with them, I was explaining the problem when the said "why dont you cancel all Standing orders and direct debit, that will stop your monthly chages". I went straight back to Abbey made a big fuss in the middle of the bank cancelled all outgoings, demanded to see the Manager and got £240 back that day. So start by cancelling all your outgoings(this will stop the £32 charge for each one) and do as Lisa said with the benfits agency. Dont worry about standing in the middle of the bank shouting, I now know this is not how things are done, I also know that part of one months charges returned is not enogh either.

Good Luck

Darren

[Movingon]

I would say that that is absolutely NOT the way things are done. A carefully worded letter or two will NEVER get you arrested... and are FAR more likely to get you your money back than standing in the branch shouting. Was the person you were shouting at personally responsible for levying those charges on your account? Why on earth would you cancel all your outgoings thus getting you into trouble with all your other creditors?! Darren, I would really advise that you read around this place for a while before giving people advice; yours here was simply bad advice in my opinion.

Caroline; your next move:

1. Is your only source of income your benefit? Banks are NOT ALLOWED to take charges from benefit; it's simply not permitted.

2. Has it been only the last six months? If you think there has been more than this, have a look in the FAQ, the step by step guide, and start from the Data Protection Act Subject Access Request letter... unfortunately with Abbey it may be a long road, but eventually you WILL get your money back. All of it.

3. If it HAS only been the last six months and you're certain that you've not been charged before that, then (again in the step-by-step guide) use the "Preliminary Approach for Payment" letter.

[Darren]

Tom, cancelling all outgoings on my account (10 direct debits) stopped 10 x charges (at todays rate £320) per month plus over limit fee and extra interest. sounds like good advice to me and came directly from a Barclays Business Account Manager. When I asked Abbey why they didn't suggest it themselves they said it would only be advice given by their Credit Control dept. If your bank returns a direct debit unpaid, you are in trouble with the other creditor anyway, and they charge you £32 for the privilege, why wouldn't you want to cancel yourself and save a load of money, there are other ways of paying for things

[comanche]

Originally Posted by Darren

. So start by cancelling all your outgoings(this will stop the £32 charge for each one)

No, I'm sorry, this is an exceptionally bad idea unless you arrange other ways to make payments to them (through another bank account perhaps).

[caro]

Originally Posted by Darren

Tom, cancelling all outgoings on my account (10 direct debits) stopped 10 x charges (at todays rate £320) per month plus over limit fee and extra interest. sounds like good advice to me and came directly from a Barclays Business Account Manager. When I asked Abbey why they didn't suggest it themselves they said it would only be advice given by their Credit Control dept. If your bank returns a direct debit unpaid, you are in trouble with the other creditor anyway, and they charge you £32 for the privilege, why wouldn't you want to cancel yourself and save a load of money, there are other ways of paying for things

This is a really dangerous thing to do and could lead to all sorts of other problems if you don't pay your bills, and cause long term damage to your credit rating.

I would suggest that you open a basic account elsewhere and get your benefits moved to that account. I don't know how your credit rating is but everyone seems to be able to get a Nat West Step account. I would transfer all the DD's, SO's etc there, and then you can make a fresh start. I suggest that you write to Abbey and tell them that you dispute the charges and then they can't take any action while you are sorting your claim out.

You have taken the first steps with Abbey, so stick to the timescales in your letters so you will be doing things on your terms then. If they don't deal with it on time go to the next stage.

Keep us posted on how you get on or need more help.

Keeping everything crossed for you.

[Darren]

Originally Posted by seminole

No, I'm sorry, this is an exceptionally bad idea unless you arrange other ways to make payments to them (through another bank account perhaps).

Why is saving yourself £320 a bad idea?, and you do NOT have to pay everything by direct debit, like I said there ARE other ways of paying. I have not had direct debits on my account for since that day, I pay most through my account through direct transfers either online or telphone banking, therefore my charges have gone from £300+ per month to zero.

Wether the bank returns debits unpaid or you cancel it yourself makes no difference to the other creditor, only your bank (they cant charge you).

Darren

[carolinetaylor]

Hi Lisa,

I've now sent the prelim letter off to Abbey with the total figures for bank charges and the interest charges separately. I also enclosed a copy of my bank statement with all the charges highlighted and the interest charges highlighted in a separate colour and attached another sheet with each months charges listed individually, so hopefully they'll see i've done my homework and all their investigations are already done for them.

I've also marked off on my calendar when to contact them again and we'll see what happens from here. I also made sure i addressed it to a named person in the complaints department rather than just addressing it to the manager that way i've got a point of contact to speak to in the future.

Appreciate you input and glad of the support!

Many thanx

Caz
xxx

[carolinetaylor]

Yes it is at the moment! I get JSA, child tax credit and child benefit. Whether Abbey are allowed to do this or not the point is they have already done it!!!! I'm now in the process of starting the ball rolling by sending them the prelim letter yesterday!

Let's hope it works! Will keep u informed how things go... but not holding my breath just yet.

[carolinetaylor]

Cheers Tom for your input! I've sent the prelim letter now! Will let u know what happens next.

Watch this space....................

Caz

[Movingon]

Caz; your case is slightly different to the rest of them then; you can claim yours back as it's all benefit. If they do not respond positively to your prelim, send them a new letter advising them of this and demanding the return of your money giving them a further 7 days to respond; THEN send your LBA.

I think the phrase "you are not permitted to sequester state benefits in pursuit of banking charges" would be appropriate in this second letter.

[monkey_uk]

Originally Posted by Darren

Why is saving yourself £320 a bad idea?, and you do NOT have to pay everything by direct debit, like I said there ARE other ways of paying. I have not had direct debits on my account for since that day, I pay most through my account through direct transfers either online or telphone banking, therefore my charges have gone from £300+ per month to zero.

Wether the bank returns debits unpaid or you cancel it yourself makes no difference to the other creditor, only your bank (they cant charge you).

Darren

Darren, whilst a can see the sentiments of your advice, it is incorrect and quite dangerous.

What if the OP's creditors then issued her with 10xlaterpayment fees? What if this meant 10xdefaults...?


However, your point about not having to pay by DD is valid and a VERY good point. Direct Debit seems to be pushed down our throats all the time, so people may not realise there is usually a choice....