Is the bank taking your Benefits ?

[MARTIN3030]

There have been several reported cases of Banks taking charges from accounts that have benefits paid into them by DWP and Social security.thus leaving them with little or no money.
Here is a template letter to take or send to the bank to address this.
It is important to let the bank have this BEFORE you expect to have funds paid in by DWP or the Inland revenue.
A new letter should be sent for each payment that you expect to be protected,customise as required by adding the benefit/type of payment.




RIGHT OF APPROPRIATION

Dear Sir/Madam,
ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxx

I am writing to inform you that I am due to have a Tax Credit payment of £xxx paid into my account on xx/xx/xx, and I wish to use my first right of appropriation for this money, for the following purposes;
Rent £xx
Utilities bills £xx
Housekeeping money £xx
I will withdraw the money on the day that it is deposited for the above use, and I would be grateful if you would ensure that any other payments out of my account do not interfere with this withdrawal.

Yours faithfully,

[signature]

[print name)

	Is the bank taking your benefits You may be able to prevent this by serving them with a letter asserting your right of appropriation. Follow this link to our templates library. The bank are obliged to respect your right of appropriation - but sometimes they need to be forced. Post on the forum if you are having difficulty with this

[Isiris]

Excellent Post Martin

And just some info for perusal
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/nm/c_b...TION%20bank%22

[MARTIN3030]

Likewise a good reference from you.

[Battleaxe]

Does this also apply to my Pension? paid by the Aussie Govt via DWP?

[MARTIN3030]

I would expect this to apply to that too yes.
Its not specifically for benefits.....the nature of the letter is to let the bank know that you need the money for essentials......this would be regardless of where the money is from.

[Isiris]

Martin

Would you read it that it can be any source of income not only benefits ??

[Isiris]

Whoops, crossed in the post

[tarotcards]

Hi. This is BRILLIANT ....BUT....will it work??....and similar to myself with our Bank.. they have taken nearly all our Benefits that are payed into this account directly as charges.....can I claim this back with a little amendment to your letter......They have left us with nothing and not even paying d/d with the monies ther for them but instead has taken it for their charges. I have written to the DIRECTOR of the Bank and have relayed my concerns over the telephone but nothing has happened..YET.. and I am going back some weeks now..havew sent a Thread about this,previously. Thanks for any info

you are champion. had a problem this week with 2 * £30 being deducted because 2 debit card trans for £4.59 and £3.49 debited on diffrent dates and went overdrawn and over the buffer of £5.00.

[MARTIN3030]

Originally Posted by tarotcards

Hi. This is BRILLIANT ....BUT....will it work??....and similar to myself with our Bank.. they have taken nearly all our Benefits that are payed into this account directly as charges.....can I claim this back with a little amendment to your letter......They have left us with nothing and not even paying d/d with the monies ther for them but instead has taken it for their charges. I have written to the DIRECTOR of the Bank and have relayed my concerns over the telephone but nothing has happened..YET.. and I am going back some weeks now..havew sent a Thread about this,previously. Thanks for any info

The only words they understand is those with a legal slant to them
There is no reason why it should not work and has indeed worked for many.
The fact that you have brought this to their attention and informed them as such has an effect.Though I suspect there will be an assesment made as to whether allowing you to have access to your money is preventing hardship
if by taking your money this leaves you vulnerable to your ability to function or causes hardship in your household I think there is a case to allow it.

	Hardship By and large the "harship" provision in the FSA waiver is a myth which is intended to create a sense that the banking industry is sufficiently well-intentioned to act fairly towards its customers even though their right of access to the courts has been blocked. In fact there are very few guidelines as to procedure and very little definition of "hardship". One unfortunate spin off is that many people in difficulty get their hopes up and go to considerable lengths to plead hardship to their bank in order to get a refund or partial refund of their bank charges only to be refused. Neither the courts nor the FOS have the power to order a bank to make a charges refund on the basis of hardship. We hear of some people obtaining a partial refund quite easily. Others have obtained money by being very persistent - but mostly we hear that people are refused. Even benefits claimants do not automatically receive hardship refunds. By all means try to get a bank charges refund on the basis of hardship - but don't bank on it!

[dragonlord002]

I belive that when the banks take bennifits. that the dwp can take back off the back.
as when i had problems and asked the dwp to not make any payments too the bank
I was aske if they had grabed any and if i wanted them to swipe it back.

edited......please we cant use these words !!!

and what ones are they ?

[cadencealex]

Is this true? I am sick of the bank taking money meant for our daughter and child tax credits - we don't see them at all.

[MARTIN3030]

It appears so.
To be honest I was not aware of this until now but my enquires reveal that DWP can indeed have some influence there.

[Battleaxe]

My pension got paid into the bank account we are having problems with, i sent the Letter of Appropriation to the bank,recorded delivery (letter in templates library)they rang me on receipt of the letter to discuss this. Got the pension intact, the bank did not like it, but it worked. I rang DWP and explained what was going on and arranged for my pension to go into my parachute account. DWP said they could help if I wanted the pension still to be paid into the account in dispute, but think having it paid into a different account is better for me.

	Parachute account "Parachute account" describes a second bank account opened expressly in order to avoid retaliatory action by a customer's usual bank once a bank charges claim had been commenced. The term "parachute account" was first used in this sense by BankFodder on the 22nd February 2006 and has since become part of general usage in this context. "parachute account" is used regularly by Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert.com and also by the National press.

	Materials library Follow this link to our library where you can use our templates and other references free of charge. You must be registered to use them - but registration is free.

	Is the bank taking your benefits You may be able to prevent this by serving them with a letter asserting your right of appropriation. Follow this link to our templates library. The bank are obliged to respect your right of appropriation - but sometimes they need to be forced. Post on the forum if you are having difficulty with this

[MARTIN3030]

Good to hear you have got things sorted....

[MCBIRNIE25]

A superb post Martin.
DWP can influence a little if you speak to them.
Also, for benefits, set up a post office account immediately so this source of income is protected if your money is constantly being taken.
This account can be opened upon request in any benefits office/jobcentre.

Post office account good idea. i wrote to barclays it is now 9 days and have had no reply to this letter.

[MCBIRNIE25]

HusbandKhan,
why not make an appointment with the bank to go discuss?
I'm sure they would love that...

[MARTIN3030]

Not really a good idea as its likely that there will be 2 of them in the room with you......they tend to do this as intimidation and know that you wont feel comfortable.
Best keeping things to the written letter,that way you avoid the confrontation but still get the result.
Dont forget a letter of appropriation needs to be sent for every payment you want protecting.

	Is the bank taking your benefits You may be able to prevent this by serving them with a letter asserting your right of appropriation. Follow this link to our templates library. The bank are obliged to respect your right of appropriation - but sometimes they need to be forced. Post on the forum if you are having difficulty with this

[therafalution]

This happened to me earlier this year. I had gone overdrawn with my bank and they took my JSA to cover that and charges. The way they are acting is a dsigrace, this site has really opened my eyes to the abuses these banks are making.