Is the bank taking your Benefits ?

[MARTIN3030]

Looks like you may have to think about a second claim,but you do run the risk of restrictions/account termination on notice.
I have heard of a claimant who used the benefits agency themselves to recover the money,but it was a slow process and no quicker than a court reclaim.
If I remember correctly the bank paid up before too long.
If you already have the figures then the timescale for action is reduced to 28 days in fact can be less if they respond saying they will not refund in those periods of your 2 letters.

[therafalution]

I may be wrong on this but can anybody tell me why contributions based jsa is not included in the protection given to benefits. The amount paid is roughly the same as income based jsa but i can't get free prescriptions.

[babybluex82x]

I to have been getting all my benefits money taken by the bank on bank charges, i received all my statements yesterdays and i have over a thousand pound in bank charges and the only money that gets paid into my account is income support,child tax credit,child benefit and housing allowance and the statements clearly show this its unbelievable i have been left struggeling and having to borrow of freinds and family just so i can feed my family and pay the bills, i really hope my claim in getting it all back is successful because the money would help us out so much just now

[JonCris]

Babyblue Go to the front of this thread & cut & paste Martins3030 letter send it special delivery to your bank & demand an immeadiate refund rather than go through the lengthy process of issuing court proceedings

i have skim read the thread and would state 2 things, the charges would not be refunded(but of course there is a way of getting them back) and that regardless of account balance, the benefits have to be given out by the bank regardless of whether the balance is £2 over or £200 over an agreed or unagreed overdraft.

[JonCris]

Nattie agree

The bank have to refund the benefits & babyblue can argue (as we all do)about the unlawful charges later. In the meantime she can stop them taking anymore if she uses the template letter at the head of this thread

do you mean charges or benefit?

[JonCris]

benefits. You get the balance of the charges back later.

thanks

[babybluex82x]

I spoke to a lady in my local benefits office and she was shocked when i told her that since the 9th of january this year i have been charge £232 in charges i got £90 taking off without any notice on the 9th for something which happened in december and because off this i was unable to pay for some bills which were ment to get paid by direct debit then on the 12th i got a charge of £38 then on the 17th i got another charge of £38 then on the 18th another charge of £38 then another £38 on the 22nd i have been left with nothing and all this has been taking off my benefits, instead of getting my benefits paid into my account im going to get a giro until i get another account sorted, i want to phone my bank about these charges but i know i will just end up i tears.

[johnwilsonstorey]

It's a well known fact that 'money goes to money' perhaps it's because the Banks take from the poor and make themseves ritch
Dont get mad get even!

[sar011279]

oh the joy when today I handed a 'right of appropriation' letter to the bank, the lady disappeared upstairs for 10 minutes and then came down and took me to the front of a very long queue and gave me my tax credits HA HA, little man 1 -lloyds 0.

[johnwilsonstorey]

Excellent news,good for you, everybody should do it. I have just heard that someone from CAG is on breakfast tv tommorow, but this is unconfirmed.

[wakenthedead]

Hi there

I've got a parachute account and am now getting the benefit sent to that - the bank I bank with is Bank of Scotland - currently they've taken around £1400 worth of my benefits from me. Sent them the letter that was on this page at the beginnning and got a standard - we'll get back to you in 4 weeks letter.

However....they have stopped charging me..which is odd. I can smell change on the wind!

I'll keep you posted.

WakentheDead

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[johnwilsonstorey]

Dont wait theur 4 weeks if you haven't already send a data protection letter (with your £10 fee) and obtain you statements so you can work out how much you have paid in unlawful charges. Then send in a letter asking for your charges back and start the process.
Dont worry about Court costs as for those of us on benefits they are free but you must remember every time you submit a document which has to be paid, for you are required to apply for fee exemption, although it seems to be an automatic process you must show a DSS letter stating you are on benefits which is not more than 28 days old. Good Luck

[wakenthedead]

Hi there, I already had all my statements so didn't need to apply for them from the bank. I sent them a letter detailing every singly charge they've made to my account - with dates, amounts etc - since I started receiving benefit - which ended up being over £1400 in a twelve month period. Sent it off to the appropriate person at The Bank of Scotland at their HQ in Edinburgh asking for this to be refunded to my account - also included in the letter the paragraphs from the template letter at the top of this thread.

The standard reply came back saying they would look into it and be in touch in 4 weeks, although I did state in the letter that I'd like the matter resolved in 7 days.

So you think I shouldnt wait the 4 weeks then?

WakentheDead

[wakenthedead]

babybluex82x - I just wanted to say I utterly sympathise with your story - I'm in the same position as you, all my benefits have been swallowed by the bank and I've been living on thin air for months now. I'm disabled and can't work for the time being and I find it utterly disgusting how the banks treat people on benefit. I called the bank - only to end up in tears - only to have the bank helpline person cut me off as they said they couldnt deal with a hysterical person. I've had no help from them. Whenever I call they tell me to visit my branch, when I tell them I'm agoraphobic they say that if I can't get to the branch, there's not much I can do.

This forum is a fantastic resource, not only for having people behind you but also for the wealth of information thats on here. Please, private message me if you want to discuss this further, whilst I can't give you advice about what to do (but there are plenty on here who can) - I can help with some moral support as I know just how depressing this situation can be.

I'm sure we'll all get there. Eventually!

Keep your chin up.

WakentheDead
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[johnwilsonstorey]

I may be wrong but from your reply is appears that you are only asking for the charges to be refunded. Did you manage to do a spreadsheat with interest added, and dont forget you can go back 6 years without encounering any problems not just one year Do you have your own thread as it is much easier for ther moderators to keep an eye out to make sure you dont get into difficulties and then they can advise you correctly.
Make them pay - they did it to you!