Lloyds/Conkers/Hardship Claim

[Misscynical]

Thanks for your support guys. Hardship went recorded post yesterday so will wait for the wotsit to hit the fan. I'm going to set up threads on each of the credit cards so will try to sort them out there. Guess I might as well CCA Lloyds re the credit card as it's up to its hilt. Suppose there's not a lot I can do about the loan with them as I only took it out in January this year. Hopefully I can come to some arrangement with them. Anyway, will let you know how it all goes. Cheers, MissC

	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!

[Mr lex]

I'm going to set up threads on each of the credit cards so will try to sort them out there.

LOL, you serial litigant you

It's always good when someone starts to take the control back

Good work MissC.

Lex

[HONESTKNOB]

I claimed hardship against Lloyds. Weeks after I sent my letter they replied saying I had to ring India. All they did was extend my overdraft to cover any charges coming out so I didn't get any new ones. They refused point blank to refund any. If you want the no for the collections department to set up a temporary overdraft it's 0845 6006283

	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!

	Are you letting your bank keep your money Are you giving away thousands of pounds?? Many people aren't claiming all of the money they are entitled to when they make their bank charges claims. You have been forced to pay unfair bank charges. Have you forgotten that your bank has charged you inteest on those charges? If you are overdrawn and the bank owes you charges - then your overdraft is made up of charges - money which you bank owes you. Yet you are paying interest to the bank - on your own money!!! Follow this link to see the discussions on this. You might even double th size of your claim.

[Misscynical]

LOL Mr Lex! Here's the update!

Lloyds sent a letter dated 24 November daying how sorrying they were that I felt the need to complain. They expect their enquiries to be completed in 4 WEEKS and sooner if they can. Then they'll give me an IDEA of when I may expect a rull response to my complaint.

They then go on to say that if my complaint is about level, fairness or lawfullness of overdraft bank charges, then a different process that they've agreed with the FSA will apply. They'll write to me shortly to explain how they'll handle that and what steps they'll take to protect me rights - (huh, bet there won't be many of those!)?? And that they'll consider the further info that they have about my financial circumstances.

My Ma has just ordered me a printer/scanner for my birthday so hopefully I can start scanning instead of bashing out a brief version of their half-ar*sed letters

In my dire straights four weeks+ seems a long time to wait. I could be starving and weigh 4 stone by then!

Comments on a postcard please... or on here will do nicely. Thanks all. Miss C

	Bank Charges You should have started your claim for your bank charges by now. Don't wait. You should send your bank a Subject Acess Request asking for all personal data they hold on you - not just statements. You should calculate all of your bank charges and related interest as far back as 1995. You should send your bank a demand for a refund giving them 7 days. You should commence your legal action adding 8% statutory interest. If you wait for the outcome of the test case, you may not be able to claim like this. you may not be able to claim interest. You may only be offered the difference between the charge and the OFT "fair charge". The repayment scheme will try to limit you to refinds from 2001 only. A repayment scheme will not deal with any bank charges related defaults on the credit register whereas in a court action you can ask for these to be removed and to be compensated for the damage caused to you and your family by them. You should also write to the bank and to the CRA and put all charges related credit entries in disupte and warn them that you will want them removed from the Register when the test case is over. Warn them also that you are likely to be seeking compensation for these wrongful data entries. Full and final settlement Have you previously accepted a partial repayment of your bank charges in full settlement? You will still be able to claim the rest of your money back after the Test case is decided. Get all your information back to 1995 and put in your claim now.

	Are you letting your bank keep your money Are you giving away thousands of pounds?? Many people aren't claiming all of the money they are entitled to when they make their bank charges claims. You have been forced to pay unfair bank charges. Have you forgotten that your bank has charged you inteest on those charges? If you are overdrawn and the bank owes you charges - then your overdraft is made up of charges - money which you bank owes you. Yet you are paying interest to the bank - on your own money!!! Follow this link to see the discussions on this. You might even double th size of your claim.

[Misscynical]

In relation to a hardship claim should it really take them 4 - 8 to reply in full? MissC

	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!

[Mr lex]

You might like to give them a little kick in the pants.

The Financial Ombudsman will still process claims where people are suffering from hardship. Furthermore they have considered and settled cases where a claim has been started in the courts but the case has been stayed. It might be worth bring your case to their attention. Make sure you mention that you have done this to Lloyds

Lex

	The Financial Ombudsman Service For the most part, don't bother. The Ombudsman is an industry arranged service which is under-resourced, takes too long, lacks clear transparency. You have no idea what evidence the FOS has received from the bank or how your complain has really been handled. The FOS is the preferred complaints route for the banking industry. The county court is to be preferred by consumers for its speed, openness, the quality of its awards and also because it will award 8% interest on top of any damages won by you. The Ombudsman should normally be used to solving little technical difficulties or customer service problems which you have expereinced with your bank.

	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!

[Misscynical]

Feels like I'll be spending the next 10 years of my life thanking you for your invaluable flow of information!

Shall I give them a little kick wearing my hobnails or my ballet pumps?? Any idea what I should send to the Financial Ombudsman ie. wording etc? I could send them a copy of what I sent to Lloyds, a copy of Lloyds reply and then say that I feel that 4 - 8 weeks for their response is a bit steep in a hardship case? Will the FO then take it up with Lloyds?

I did deal with FO in relation to Egg PPI a few years ago regarding a sickness claim but can't remember if there was one national address or regional addresses. Anyway, can track this down but any pointers on the above would be great help. Thank you... again!

	The Financial Ombudsman Service For the most part, don't bother. The Ombudsman is an industry arranged service which is under-resourced, takes too long, lacks clear transparency. You have no idea what evidence the FOS has received from the bank or how your complain has really been handled. The FOS is the preferred complaints route for the banking industry. The county court is to be preferred by consumers for its speed, openness, the quality of its awards and also because it will award 8% interest on top of any damages won by you. The Ombudsman should normally be used to solving little technical difficulties or customer service problems which you have expereinced with your bank.

	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!

[Mr lex]

My mate Martin3030 had this to say on the FOS:-

The procedure with the FOS is this;

Call them and explain briefly your situ-they will allocate you a complaint number.You can ask them to write to the Bank ...within a couple of days you will get a complaints pack from the FOS.In the meantime the Bank must respond to you following the FOS letter to them.
The complaints pack should be filled in and sent back to the FOS with any proof or docs.If you already have had a final response from the bank you can return it right away with a copy.
If the bank have taken adverse action while you are disputing the account,such as selling on debts defaulting or closing accounts-then this is in breach of banking codes criteria and also OFT guidance-you should complain about this too.

Many Courts are refusing to lift stays making decisions without hearings-its better to apply on notice using N244 and requesting a hearing-there is a charge but free for those who are eligible under fee remission.
Its advisable to submit the detailed waiver agreement which can be found on the OFT website.

I would also inform the FOS if the banks are opposing your lift of stay after you have made them aware you will be citing hardship.

And I found this bit all on my own !!

F.O.S Contact details.

0845 080 1800
(calls cost up to 4p a minute for BT customers – but are likely to cost more if you use another phone provider or call from a mobile)

020 7964 0500
(this number may be cheaper if you use a mobile phone or a phone provider other than BT – and will be "free" if you pay a monthly charge for calls to numbers starting 01 or 02

complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
(we will usually be able to deal with phone queries on the spot – so phoning might be quicker than emailing us)

Financial Ombudsman Service

There you go !!

Lex

	The Financial Ombudsman Service For the most part, don't bother. The Ombudsman is an industry arranged service which is under-resourced, takes too long, lacks clear transparency. You have no idea what evidence the FOS has received from the bank or how your complain has really been handled. The FOS is the preferred complaints route for the banking industry. The county court is to be preferred by consumers for its speed, openness, the quality of its awards and also because it will award 8% interest on top of any damages won by you. The Ombudsman should normally be used to solving little technical difficulties or customer service problems which you have expereinced with your bank.

	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!

[Misscynical]

Many Courts are refusing to lift stays making decisions without hearings-its better to apply on notice using N244 [OK, I found BankFodders link to N244 (thanks to him/her) At what stage do I send this? And when completing it what exactly am I asking for?? It looks quite daunting If need be I will definitely go down this route and gladly accept offered support. It feels like every man and his bloody dog are taking a chunk of me at the mo so will be nice to get in first for once!!] and requesting a hearing-there is a charge but free for those who are eligible under fee remission.
Its advisable to submit the detailed waiver agreement which can be found on the OFT website. [Will have a look for this but is it something that goes to the court with the N244?]

I would also inform the FOS if the banks are opposing your lift of stay after you have made them aware you will be citing hardship. [I guess if I have to go to court it'll take a lot longer than the 4-8 weeks I'd wait for the Lloyds reply...?]

Will phone FO to log my complaint tomorrow and ask them to contact Lloyds. Shall I also write to Lloyds to tell them I've been in touch with
Financial Ombudsman?

Phew! Well, with grim determination... Apparently I'm like a dog with a bone when I go on a mission... trouble is... I think someone's pinched my bone! I've just got my first CCJ (by default) from dodgy spreadbet company who are now trying to get a charging order on my home and that was just my first introduction to the court process... it can only get better

Thank you to everyone. This is all a learning curve at the mo but the more info I glean the more I'll be able to contribute to this site in the future. MissCx

	The Financial Ombudsman Service For the most part, don't bother. The Ombudsman is an industry arranged service which is under-resourced, takes too long, lacks clear transparency. You have no idea what evidence the FOS has received from the bank or how your complain has really been handled. The FOS is the preferred complaints route for the banking industry. The county court is to be preferred by consumers for its speed, openness, the quality of its awards and also because it will award 8% interest on top of any damages won by you. The Ombudsman should normally be used to solving little technical difficulties or customer service problems which you have expereinced with your bank.

	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!

[Mr lex]

Before we go down the N244 route, it would be good to see what the FOS have to say.

Form N244 is here and we will give you a hand when it comes to completing it :-

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...on-notice.html

More reading for you here :-

Guidance on Applying for Removal of a Stay on the Grounds of Hardship

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...y-hearing.html

The OFT waiver agreement can be found here :-

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Doing/Re...sp_monthly.pdf

There, that should keep you out of michief for a bit

Lex

	The Financial Ombudsman Service For the most part, don't bother. The Ombudsman is an industry arranged service which is under-resourced, takes too long, lacks clear transparency. You have no idea what evidence the FOS has received from the bank or how your complain has really been handled. The FOS is the preferred complaints route for the banking industry. The county court is to be preferred by consumers for its speed, openness, the quality of its awards and also because it will award 8% interest on top of any damages won by you. The Ombudsman should normally be used to solving little technical difficulties or customer service problems which you have expereinced with your bank.

[Misscynical]

Thanks Lex. Have scanned the threads and it did indeed keep me out of mischief for a fair few minutes!! Anyway, I'm now spitting feathers!! I had a busy day yesterday and didn't get to call the Financial Obudsman but in the post today I had a Notification of Charges from those bloody wotsits, Lloyds. Since putting in my hardship claim regarding the charges the sympathetic lot have charged me another £176.26 in charges! This is more than I've spent on my childrens christmas pressies! It has been taken from income comprising of benefits and the childrens maintenance payments.... nice!

I'm am going to phone the FO right now to get this moving, grrrrrrr!!!

	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!

[Mr lex]

Since putting in my hardship claim regarding the charges the sympathetic lot have charged me another £176.26 in charges! This is more than I've spent on my children's Christmas pressies! It has been taken from income comprising of benefits and the children's maintenance payments.... nice!

This really gets me mad

You can send them this letter, I doubt it will do much, but it's more ammunition to use for you 'Hardship' & FOS claims

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...stop-bank.html

Sorry to hear about this

Lex

	The Financial Ombudsman Service For the most part, don't bother. The Ombudsman is an industry arranged service which is under-resourced, takes too long, lacks clear transparency. You have no idea what evidence the FOS has received from the bank or how your complain has really been handled. The FOS is the preferred complaints route for the banking industry. The county court is to be preferred by consumers for its speed, openness, the quality of its awards and also because it will award 8% interest on top of any damages won by you. The Ombudsman should normally be used to solving little technical difficulties or customer service problems which you have expereinced with your bank.

	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!

[Misscynical]

Cheers, Lex, will send them appropriation letter and hope it keeps their greedy little fingers of my dosh. Not quite sure how I should word it as the payments go in on different dates ie. child tc every 4 wks, incap benefit every two weeks, child benefit and DLA every 4 wks. Shall I then list mortgage, healthcare (necessity in my case, not luxury!) etc as essentials to come out of my account? I pay gas, electric and utility by debit card when I get quarterly bill through in post, so do I list these? Yikes!

The FO are sending me a claim pack but warned it could take 3-6 months to get it sorted. She gave me the number of Consumer Credit Counselling Service to get help with my other 'millstones' but I told her about this site and said we were doing a good job between us all here I told her I had only included an income and expenditure document with my hardship letter and hadn't gone into detail about my circumstances in it. I asked if I should now write to Lloyds-the-Fleecers and include them but she said not to bother at the mo. Yipeee, one less thing to do!

I phoned Lloyds-the-Moneygrabbers and although their letters come from Andover Customer Service Recovery Centre I was only allowed to speak to the Collections Centre as apparently they don't have a number for Customer Service Recovery Centre and they only correspond in writing! I told the woman to expect a call from the FO and asked if they would get the same treatment. I said that it didn't appear that they had considered my case under the hardship rules and was surprised to get a Notification this morning informing me that I was being charged another £176 this month. She could only say that my case was on hold and so were my charges and to ring back at the end of December to see whether they were going to physically take the charges out of my account. She said there was a possibility I would get the charges back so I jumped in asking if she meant for the last six years but she said that she couldn't tell me anything else as it was being dealt with elsewhere and she didn't know anything more. Arrrghhhh! T'is so frustrating!

	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!

[Mr lex]

Hi MissC,

Cheers, Lex, will send them appropriation letter and hope it keeps their greedy little fingers of my dosh.

It's unlikely, I'm sorry to say, to keep their fingers out of your bag of Penny's, but the fact you have sent it might add some weight to the FOS appeal and also the bundle for a N244 order to lift the stay.

Shall I then list mortgage, healthcare (necessity in my case, not luxury!) etc as essentials to come out of my account? I pay gas, electric and utility by debit card when I get quarterly bill through in post, so do I list these? Yikes!

Yes, you must list everything that is essential to you living, food, roof over your head, heat, power and travel to and from work, school etc.

(To deprive folks of these basic necessities though the pure greed of 'charges' should be a hanging offense, IMHO. If it ever is, I'm selling the tickets, OK)

I phoned Lloyds-the-Moneygrabbers and although their letters come from Andover Customer Service Recovery Centre I was only allowed to speak to the Collections Centre

I found this and thought it might come in handy for you sometime

The main address for the section dealing with debt recovery is:
Consumer Debt Recovery Team
Lloyds TSB plc
Queens Road Quadrant
Brighton BN1 3XJ
BLS Collections have confirmed to me that they deal with debt recovery issues, on behalf of Lloyds TSB plc. They informed me that any request sent to BLS Collections, PO Box 467E, Oxford, OX4 1WA, is forwarded to the Consumer Debt Recovery team.

Yours sincerely,

Bert Pridgeon
Consumer Advice Officer
Oxfordshire County Council
Trading Standards Service

Keep up the good work MissC, your doing grand !!

Lex

	The Financial Ombudsman Service For the most part, don't bother. The Ombudsman is an industry arranged service which is under-resourced, takes too long, lacks clear transparency. You have no idea what evidence the FOS has received from the bank or how your complain has really been handled. The FOS is the preferred complaints route for the banking industry. The county court is to be preferred by consumers for its speed, openness, the quality of its awards and also because it will award 8% interest on top of any damages won by you. The Ombudsman should normally be used to solving little technical difficulties or customer service problems which you have expereinced with your bank.

[Misscynical]

Cheers, Lex. When you take away money issues life's not so bad. My gorgeous daughter was 15 today so we splashed out on some new mollies for her tank. More mouths to feed - will add the fish food and weed to our list of necessities for Lloyds as I'm sure they won't want a death on their conscience... if they have one

[Mr lex]

Oh Bless, Please give her all our best regards. I much perfer 'Sailfins' myself but 'Mollies' are nice people to have in a tank.

Your family will know where they stand when they see how much you are standing up for them. Sometimes, just keeping a roof over their heads may not seem enough, but that is all they need. They will know this, and love you for it. You are doing a great job for your kids and I wish you all the best for Christmas.

Take care,

Lex

[MARTIN3030]

Good that you have got your claims pack.
What will happen now is that the FOS will have written a prelim to Lloyds telling them youve been in touch.
Lloyds will almost certainly write a slightly different worded letter back-again saying they are sorry test case bla bla bla.
Once you get this-send it with the forms the FOS sent you,along with copies of yours and Lloyds prev responses.You can send straight away-but the FOS will send it back to you and you have to repeat the process again when Lloyds reply !!
I am assisting a neigbour-so far Lloyds have sent 5 letters-all pretty much the same templates.
What they fail to acknowledge is that their charges ARE STILL being looked at by the test case Judge-but also that the current waiver does not end until 29th January !!
In contrast to the other banks Lloyds appear to be getting away with it.
Once the 8 weeks is passed,your case is then looked at by an adjudicator at the FOS-its this final process that can take up to 3 months.
My neigbours is now into 12 weeks.
I will keep you posted on the progress.

	The Financial Ombudsman Service For the most part, don't bother. The Ombudsman is an industry arranged service which is under-resourced, takes too long, lacks clear transparency. You have no idea what evidence the FOS has received from the bank or how your complain has really been handled. The FOS is the preferred complaints route for the banking industry. The county court is to be preferred by consumers for its speed, openness, the quality of its awards and also because it will award 8% interest on top of any damages won by you. The Ombudsman should normally be used to solving little technical difficulties or customer service problems which you have expereinced with your bank.

	Bank Charges You should have started your claim for your bank charges by now. Don't wait. You should send your bank a Subject Acess Request asking for all personal data they hold on you - not just statements. You should calculate all of your bank charges and related interest as far back as 1995. You should send your bank a demand for a refund giving them 7 days. You should commence your legal action adding 8% statutory interest. If you wait for the outcome of the test case, you may not be able to claim like this. you may not be able to claim interest. You may only be offered the difference between the charge and the OFT "fair charge". The repayment scheme will try to limit you to refinds from 2001 only. A repayment scheme will not deal with any bank charges related defaults on the credit register whereas in a court action you can ask for these to be removed and to be compensated for the damage caused to you and your family by them. You should also write to the bank and to the CRA and put all charges related credit entries in disupte and warn them that you will want them removed from the Register when the test case is over. Warn them also that you are likely to be seeking compensation for these wrongful data entries. Full and final settlement Have you previously accepted a partial repayment of your bank charges in full settlement? You will still be able to claim the rest of your money back after the Test case is decided. Get all your information back to 1995 and put in your claim now.

[Mr lex]

Morning Martin

Yes, I agree Lloyds seem to be one of the slowest in facing up to their responsibility's under the waiver, well them and Barclays

Do you think MissC will get anywhere quicker going down the N244 route ?

At the moment my view is to let the F.O.S take it's course, but be ready to try to lift the 'stay' by way of the court.?

I know you feel the same, but I am so sick of the abuse that this Waiver is open to by the banks. The rules are clearly laid down and yet, they continue to flaunt them.

The FSA rules are here MissC,

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Doing/Re...sp_monthly.pdf

I like this bit, pity the banks can't see it :-

In making an assessment of financial difficulty the firm will take into account:
a. evidence of changes in lifestyle, including loss of employment; disability; serious illness; imprisonment; relationship breakdown; death of a partner; starting a lower paid job; parental/carer leave; and starting full-time education;



b. evidence of the following events:

1. 1. 1. items repeatedly being returned unpaid due to lack of available funds;
      2. failing to make loan repayments or other commitments;
      3. discontinuation of regular credits;
      4. notification of some form of insolvency or court proceedings;
      5. regular requests for increased borrowing or repeated rescheduling of debts;
      6. making frequent cash withdrawals on a credit card at a non-promotional rate of interest; and
      7. repeatedly exceeding a credit card or overdraft limit without agreement (and, in this regard, where a complainant has incurred over £500 in unauthorized overdraft charges in the previous 12 months, that is to be treated as indicative of financial difficulty).

Lex

	FSA Waiver The FSA has granted a waiver to the finance industry in respect of bank charges claims. The waiver has been in place since July 2007 and will continue until the OFT test case is decided. The OFT test case will be heard by the House of Lords in June 2009. We are likley to get a decision before the end of the year. Under FSA rules, banks must normally deal with all complaints within 8 weeks. The FSA waiver has allowed banks to put bank charges claims on hold pending the outcome of the Test case. The FSA waiver is expremely one-sided as it allows banks to put claims on hold but it allows banks to continue levying charges. It also allows banks to continue enforcement action even in relation to disputed bank charges. The FSA waiver has been assisted by a general stay on charges-related County Court claims. You are still permitted to begin a County Court claim for the refund of your charges but your claim will be put on hold pending the outcome of the OFT test case. Despite this, we recommend very strongly that you begin a County Court claim now!! If you are on benefits, you will not have to pay court fees. You should start a County Court claim to recover your money straightaway.

	Are you letting your bank keep your money Are you giving away thousands of pounds?? Many people aren't claiming all of the money they are entitled to when they make their bank charges claims. You have been forced to pay unfair bank charges. Have you forgotten that your bank has charged you inteest on those charges? If you are overdrawn and the bank owes you charges - then your overdraft is made up of charges - money which you bank owes you. Yet you are paying interest to the bank - on your own money!!! Follow this link to see the discussions on this. You might even double th size of your claim.

[MARTIN3030]

Well having a stay lifted takes time too-I mean in my cases its taken me almost 3 months from submitting to N244.
Theres nothing to lose if theres exemption for the fee.
Strangely from the beginning the FOS would not become involved if Court had been started-but that changed after .
If you apply to lift the stay, and Lloyds oppose it,its clear grounds to use with the FOS-that was my other point.

	The Financial Ombudsman Service For the most part, don't bother. The Ombudsman is an industry arranged service which is under-resourced, takes too long, lacks clear transparency. You have no idea what evidence the FOS has received from the bank or how your complain has really been handled. The FOS is the preferred complaints route for the banking industry. The county court is to be preferred by consumers for its speed, openness, the quality of its awards and also because it will award 8% interest on top of any damages won by you. The Ombudsman should normally be used to solving little technical difficulties or customer service problems which you have expereinced with your bank.

[Misscynical]

Hey chaps, didn't want you to think I wasn't paying attention by not replying. I'm still here letting all the information soak in and appreciate everything your doing.

The FO claim pack must be stuck in the Christmas post but will fill it in and return it as soon as it arrives. Will look forward to updates on your neighbour's case Martin, thanks.

PS Lex, don't think I've seen any sail fins yet but will look out for them when we next go for provisions! Variety is the spice of life We get a lot of pleasure from the fish tank and can spend hours gazing at it - may sound sad but true! I find them very calming and what cheap entertainment!! Am sure the Official Receiver would be most impressed to see it listed in our entertainment budget but I'm determined to keep a roof over the childrens heads and this is why I'll battle on. Best wishes to you and yours at Christmas and a big thank you to them for sparing you to help on here.

Have a good weekend all. MissC