Co-op hardship case refused - help pls

[c1nders77girl]

Hi, was wondering if anyone could give me some advice, been through lots of threads tonight but cant find the anwser. I followed the correct proceedures & wrote to the co-op got all my statements then send my preliminary approach for repayment & put the section in as in the doc library about "In considering this request for repayment, your attention is drawn to the Press Release issued by the FSA on 27th July, which states:

"Consumers who are in very difficult financial circumstances - 'hardship cases'

Banks and building societies will have to conduct a filtering process to ensure that cases of genuine hardship are still dealt with during the waiver period. Cases of hardship would still be entitled to be referred to, and dealt with by, the FOS."

Advised the bank i have been diagnoised with a medical condition & i am no longer able to work & the only income I have is disability living allowance & benefits. I also have small children under 2 who I am financially responsbile for. Received a 2 page standard letter back today stating in short that they dont have to consider my request until the test case is completed, and put a leaflet in refering me to the FOS. Has anyone since May 08 received their charges back on a hardship case? I have looked in the co-op successes section & i dont seem to be able to find one. Many thanks

[Guest Old_andrew2018]

You will find hardship successes in other banks threads, this is one such link to an Abbey hardship claim by poppynurse http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/150423-fos-abbey-hardship-claim.html#post1593044

IMHO you should complain to the FOS, however you will need to have exhausted the complaint with the co-op, and received their final response.

[c1nders77girl]

Hi, thank you I have read through this useful link. I have called the Executive Feedback Officer who wrote me the letter, & they said they will re-look into it today as a standard letter shouldnt of been sent out to me & will call me back before 5pm today.

[c1nders77girl]

Just an update, the Co-op have called me back to say they haven't paid anyone out on a hardship case & the guy I spoke to said everything is stayed until the court makes a decision, that is their final decision at present so i am going to now try the Ombudsman.

[phatram]

Send the letter before action and then take them to court.

[c1nders77girl]

Ok, all typed up will post it first thing tomorrow morning, thanks

[poppynurse]

I would go to the FOS with this, the Coop are breaching the banking code and the terms of the waiver. Have you provided them with an income/outgoings statement that demonstrates you cannot afford your committments? You will need a final response in writing before the FOS will deal with it - and there is a backlog at the FOS so it may take time to resolve.

 

I would hold off issuing the court claim unless you get the court fees free due to benefit entitlement as the case will be stayed.

[fleeced_by_rbos]

Co-Op have a habbit of lieing when it comes to their legal obligations. I've had harrasing phone calls from them for going about £20 over my overdraft limit. After telling them it will be repaid the same week as I was waiting for an invoice to be paid, they informed me that they can still call me as much as they like as the "Debt Management Team is a phone based department" and I owe them money.

 

This is supposed to be the ethical bank! Very unethical I think. I've informed them that legally they cannot continue to harass me but they ignored me but are now investigating my complaint.

 

Anyone who is lied to on a legal basis, such as c1nders77girl, to report them to the relevent authorities (FOS in c1nders77girl case), OFT and OfCom in my case.

[c1nders77girl]

I am up to here with the Co-op, just came off the phone with them & I need to have a cuppa or i am going to explode! I wont mention names but the Co-op came back to me just to say the manager has re-loooked at it, and even though they are now acknowleding I am in hardship they have spoken to the FOS & been told I am wrong that at the moment they still have to wait for the court case. They said they could give me an overdraft facility to cover a 1/4 of the charges. I asked for a final response letter & he said they cant due to the case, they will wait until the court directs them. So can I go to FOS without a final response letter? Or am I wrong in all of this? I said to him that I know other people who have got their charges refunded whilst deemed to be in hardship & he said & (i wish my phone was recorded) "if you are looking at those websites helping people with charges - then it is all wrong, giving people a false sense of what is right & wrong" told me not to beleive everything that is written is these sites.

[fleeced_by_rbos]

Hi c1nders77girl,

 

Yet again, they are lieing. They have to deal with hardship cases. Call the FOS (and possibly OFT too) yourself and tell them exactly what Co-Op have said to you. Tell them it is urgent and tell them about your circumstances. Someone will have to deal with this. While FOS have plenty of cases to deal with re the banking charges, the hardship cases are supposed to be effectively fast tracked.

 

They are also lieing about "those sites". Read Martin Lewis' site regarding the issue and you'll see that he has in plain English, explained the outcome of the OFT case. He is not lieing, they are. Co-op seem to be very unethical at the moment.

 

I have a complaint currently in progress with Co-op for their harassment and lies. I've also stated that I want the full name and position of the person who originally called me with an abusive attitude as I will be reporting them individually as well as the company. They are still investigating but I have informed them that since they treat me with utter contempt and that my complaints fall outside of the banking code and within general harassment and administration of justice laws, I will be reporting them immediately rather than waiting for their investigation to complete.

 

I suggest that in order to show these organisations that they cannot treat their consumers with such contempt, that we the consumers should do everything we can to fight back within the laws provided.

 

If we roll over or simply moan to each other without taking action, then nothing will change. Look at what Martin Lewis started with action rather than just words and it kickstarted the OFT case!

 

Good luck c1nders77girl - don't be put off by their lies. Inform the relevant authorities and tell them what lies they have told.

[fleeced_by_rbos]

Btw, c1nders77girl, while many people on these forums, myself included, are not legal experts, most of the advice I have seen is the same advice I have seen on Martin Lewis' site (and he tends to get advice) as well as on more reliable sites such as Citizens Advice and some legal sites.

 

All of the advice I've seen is always consistent and from trustworthy sources (including the outcome of the court case from Judge himself and I've read myself!). Compare that to the comments made by an organisation which has everything to gain by lieing and everything to loose by bowing down to consumers - who do you believe?

[c1nders77girl]

Hi, thanks for your reply, I will do some reading up tonight once the kids are asleep & take this further. I am really angry with the way the co-op are treating me & I am frustrated by standard repeated replies.

 

Wish you luck too with your problems with them, I will be following your plight to see how you get on.

 

Take care

[fleeced_by_rbos]

Oh I had a load of standard replies. In fact each time I responded to a message on the Smile online banking system I was told my complaint would be escalated, even though I was replying to a question from one of the people in escalation! They are pretty dumb as well as trough dwelling I think!

 

The best of luck to you c1nders77girl. Try the Citizens Advice, they can probably tell you exactly how to go about your case. I am now lawyer, I just have a few lawyer friends who love the fact that I am on a crusade to bring these nasty organisation to justice and point me in the right direction from time to time.

 

Btw, I am starting another thread which I will post the link to once I finsh writing the first message. It is titled "WARNING: Co-operative/Smile lie about their legal obligations" and includes a link back to this thread since you have been told a pack of lies. This new thread I hope will be a talking point for their lies and a place for us to encourage each other to take firm action of every kind we can take.

 

Take care

[fleeced_by_rbos]

Also refer to this thread:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/smile/148686-smile-overdraft.html#post1691539

[fleeced_by_rbos]

Go to Bank Charges Reclaiming News: Result in the High Court test case!... and scroll down to "Latest News 22 July 08". It says "The revised waiver does contain some clarification on what counts as ‘financial difficulty’, meaning some may be able to get a part refund before the test case ends."

 

No although it is hardly definitive, take that as meaning their is provision in the outcome of the case to deal with financial difficulties. You say Co-op have already acknowledged your hardship so even better!

[fleeced_by_rbos]

My new Co-op/Smile are liers thread is at http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/smile/158165-warning-co-operative-smile.html

Edited September 2, 2008 by fleeced_by_rbos

[saintly_1]

Also have a look here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/154154-hardship-stayed-claims.html

[c1nders77girl]

Oh I had a load of standard replies. In fact each time I responded to a message on the Smile online banking system I was told my complaint would be escalated, even though I was replying to a question from one of the people in escalation! They are pretty dumb as well as trough dwelling I think!

 

The best of luck to you c1nders77girl. Try the Citizens Advice, they can probably tell you exactly how to go about your case. I am now lawyer, I just have a few lawyer friends who love the fact that I am on a crusade to bring these nasty organisation to justice and point me in the right direction from time to time.

 

Btw, I am starting another thread which I will post the link to once I finsh writing the first message. It is titled "WARNING: Co-operative/Smile lie about their legal obligations" and includes a link back to this thread since you have been told a pack of lies. This new thread I hope will be a talking point for their lies and a place for us to encourage each other to take firm action of every kind we can take.

 

Take care

 

 

Hi, you have been great thank you. Will take my further action with them. I was lead to beleive they were a ethical bank - far from it! I have some questions to ask but first will look through the links to see if I can anwser them myself instead of putting on any one.

Yet again thanks for your support

Cinders

[fleeced_by_rbos]

No worries Cinders. I always thought Co-op was supposed to be ethical too, but I think the financial group is run by the same kinds of people who run other financial organisations.

 

They just love the greed and chasing money far too much I think. Evil little critters in my opinion! They often remind me of the old bankers in Mary Poppins (long time since I've seen it but the resemblence I think is uncanny!)

 

Keep us informed as to your progress.

[sallysas]

If they call you again tell them you want all communication to be in writing. That way they can't deny what is written.

[fleeced_by_rbos]

I don't answer any of their calls anymore as the last person I spoke to was rude and trying to be quite threatening with no good reason. I have blocked all of their numbers and now force them to communicate via the secure messaging facility on their online banking system.

 

They still attempt to call but to no avail.

[sallysas]

Have you complained to the OFT etc yet? Good idea to block their 'phone calls. The following letter you may find useful.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/37006-harassment-telephone-response-letter.html

 

Address for OFT is:-

 

Enquiries Unit

Office of Fair Trading

Fleetbank House

2-6 Salisbury Square

London, EC4Y 8JX.

 

 

They must be getting worried if they are attempting to harrase you like this.

[fleeced_by_rbos]

Not yet, I am waiting to see what else they say by secure message, but I will do.

 

It is rather silly of them as the recent calls related to me being £20 over the overdraft limit, which according to their own Web site is "...an essential, real and identifiable service provided by banks for their personal current account customers" - which you can see at help: unauthorised overdraft charges

[c1nders77girl]

Hi,

See your still having problems too, I have received another letter from the Co-Op today, not sure what they are trying to say again as it is almost the same as the last one telling me that they do not have to consider hardship cases, although they agree I am in that bracket. What they are inviting me to do is call a number they give & see if i can apply for an overdraft facility to cover the charges amount until it is all sorted out with the court cases. I think this is morally wrong to advise me to get into more debt & at the same time to incur more interest. I too was getting phone calls - it was starting to really upset me so I have changed my home number last week!

[fleeced_by_rbos]

Wow, c1inders, they seem to be digging their heals in.

 

How about following the court process which, while now on hold for everyone who is not a hardship case, for such real hardship cases it will be up to the court to decide if you qualify, not the very people who may be charging you unlawfully. It would make sense that Co-op try to wriggle out of it as they don't want a flood of hardship cases any more than the other cases.

 

I'd also go to Citizens Advice to see if they can tell you definitively what to do in your particular circumstances. They really helped me when I was a student and told by Barclays to pay back my overdraft in full within 48hours or else!