How much the law says you need to live on

**Janet-M** · 18th March 2006 00:47

I have just been reading through a letter I recieved about my benefits .One of the pages gives me a break down of how much I get and for what reason.At the top of the page it sates in bold type .... HOW MUCH THE LAW SAYS YOU NEED TO LIVE ON .... yet the goverment are forcing people to have their benefits paid into a bank account and the banks are taking , sometimes , large amounts from it and are saying they are justified to leave people with a less amount then the law says.??

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**BankFodder** · 18th March 2006 05:45

Yes, it is a scandal. Even bailiffs or creditors in bankruptcy icon

have to leave you with enough to carry on and to earn a living. Any other creditor only has access to the credit register after an impartial open hearing before a judge,

The banks by the abusive use of their contractual have a privileged access to your assets and credit reputation and of course they abuse both.

This is an issue which appears to have come to light only since people have had a common forum to express their concerns.

It seems to me that this is a subject for a separate campaign on its own. Ther is a need here for proper regulation at the parliamentary level. The banks have shown that they are not to be trusted when left to their own devices.

**paulson1985** · 18th March 2006 09:43

hi
when the goverment insisted that everybody had to have there benefits paid into the banks there was a hue and cry people were concerned that
this would happen.
the banks said they would not do that and they would have a code of
conduct volanterily to stop this and the goverment agreed.

now when my family was young margaret thatcher was in power
everybody was on the dole there was no work. i was one of them.
if they had taken money from my benefits we would have starved.

people were forced to open bank accounts they did not want pensioners were happy to go to the bank to get there pension in cash so was everybody else the money was always there you could do what you liked with it. wages were the same cash in your hand every friday we were all
pushed into having bank accounts and we were all turned into
bank fodder

**The cobbett slayer** · 28th January 2007 11:52

Try dealing with the CSA!

When Mrs Slayer was assessed for maintenance payments for her 2 children who live with their father, it came to an amount that we simply couldn't afford.

She rang them and explained that we have a young child (Baby Slayer was about 9 months old at the time), a mortgage icon

and all the usual domestic stuff and the amount they told her they had decided to take from her salary would actually mean that expenditure exceeded income. She was given a 4 word answer.

"THAT'S NOT OUR PROBLEM"

**tawnyowl** · 17th March 2007 09:59

Should be made illegal to take charges from anybodys account who is on benefits. The sooner laws are passed to stop these charges the better.Banks must be made to pay peoples charges back automatically for the last 6 years icon

minimum or as long as they have had their accounts.How long before this happens- who is in charge of all these banks- are they politically entwined. Are they all having a glass of champers at their club having a laugh at their latest profits.People power will win. Taking money from peoples accounts who are on BENEFITS DISGUSTING PRACTICE- even if you explained to them i bet they would still take them- saying something like thats your problem -terrible

NATTIE · 17th March 2007 11:14

It is unlawful to stop people from taking their benefits even if they are over the overdraft limit.

**stitch05** · 17th March 2007 11:36

I know I am one of many who have had charges taken from benefits

I wonder is it returned direct debt charges that most people have taken from benefits. I know some companies are going to charge for not paying this way, but how annoying it that?

I was recently charged for an unpaid Direct Debt. I complained to my bank saying this is how much the government says I need to live on etc…and quoted Right appropriation icon

…but they wouldn’t back down. I was deflated! and shocked that they did not take notice. I thought maybe I have got it wrong and they can take benefits.

But I was really desperate, I couldn’t give up. I had no other money coming in that week, so I went into the bank to see some-one face to face. I did get my money back in my account that afternoon, but it felt more like a goodwill gesture icon

than an acknowledgement that they couldn’t take benefits.

I don’t want to have to go through that again so on the advice of CAG icon

members I opened a basic account and I am having all benefits paid into it. Most importantly, I will not be setting up any direct debts with my new account, as these are my biggest problem. Sometimes I only need to wait a few days to have enough to pay a bill, but with direct debts you get no leeway.

As I said though, most companies want us to pay by direct debt, so I may have a problem there. I think watchdog covered this recently.

**enaid** · 17th March 2007 11:53

I have moaned about losing my I.C.A to everyone from the C.A.B to the Prime Minister, but it did me no good. All I did was earn £68 per week instead of the measly £50 I was allowed and they took 15 months I.C.A off me. I have been paying it back at £5 per week now for over 5 yrs I think I have another 3yrs and then I will be paid up I hope.

**tawnyowl** · 18th March 2007 08:57

I didnt know it isnt allowed to take charges from peoples benefits- i had never heard of Right appropriation icon

.I wonder how many people have just been left with no money for the week and just suffered.Must be thousands going back over the years.How many would have given up with phone call icon

to bank-WHY should Stitch 05 have had to go to bank -can only imagine what that must have felt like.As for Direct Debits they dont suit everybody and no doubt you will have to pay more for not paying this way-it does not seem fair.Some low income people have token meters for electricity and more or less pay before they use-i have heard they charge 25% extra for this -wow add that up over a few thousand people-i hope my facts are right with this.Good luck to anybody claiming charges back from banks- or fighting for their rights-draw strength from this site-bye for now Tawny.

bp · 18th March 2007 20:11

I don't know the real answer but i do know that it shouldn't be happening, just over a year ago, i was on maternity leave and i had agreed my return to work with my boss and as far as i was concerned everything was fine. My supervisor however, didn't bother sending my paperwork to payroll so as far as payroll was concerned i wasn't coming back so they only paid me £50 anyway two days later they paid the right amount the following month, the bank took over £600 from y acc. I was in tears and it was just lucky that my child benefit was being paid into a different acc so for a month, i had to live on £28 per week! i was so depressed. Banks really do have a lot to answer for. I just hope that the whistleblower programme is going to show just how much it truly costs the banks and then i hope the OFT takes this into acc when they come up with their ruling.

**Lula** · 18th March 2007 21:25

I read something today about the credit unions wanting to start having basic bank accounts, you can set up direct debits, have money paid in and have a basic bank card, sounds good to me, what do other people think, it is, they said, an answer for people who wont be able to open a bank account elsewhere

**dpick** · 18th March 2007 21:57

Hi all I am on benefits don't get me wrong I get a fair bit due to my wife and I both being disabled, the thing that gets me is while I was able to work for the most part I was able to meet DD icon

,s etc as paid monthly. Though I did bitch about some demands for DD,s to be paid 28th of the month (lazy b*****rs did not know how to write a computer program able to cope with up-to 31 days in a month) when I was paid last day of month. But when I had to stop working and just had benefits I found that could not get DD,s amended to every 2 weeks to co-inside with benefit payments so this resulted in failed DD and charges. I have now stopped all DD,s bar those I can cover with private pension paid at month end. This now means that when I now pay company's that used to be paid by DD,s I have to pay extra for not using DD,s. At this time this cost me an extra 30 every month for admin icon

charges etc.

If someone knows a way of forcing say gas, electric, phone etc to make fortnightly DD,s please reply I know a lot of people on fortnightly benefits want this option.

dpick

**trickytrish** · 19th March 2007 01:22

Hi all I am on benefits don't get me wrong I get a fair bit due to my wife and I both being disabled, the thing that gets me is while I was able to work for the most part I was able to meet DD icon

,s etc as paid monthly. Though I did bitch about some demands for DD,s to be paid 28th of the month (lazy b*****rs did not know how to write a computer program able to cope with up-to 31 days in a month) when I was paid last day of month. But when I had to stop working and just had benefits I found that could not get DD,s amended to every 2 weeks to co-inside with benefit payments so this resulted in failed DD and charges. I have now stopped all DD,s bar those I can cover with private pension paid at month end. This now means that when I now pay company's that used to be paid by DD,s I have to pay extra for not using DD,s. At this time this cost me an extra 30 every month for admin icon

charges etc.

If someone knows a way of forcing say gas, electric, phone etc to make fortnightly DD,s please reply I know a lot of people on fortnightly benefits want this option.

dpick

Hi Dpick

I'm on benefits and get paid weekly! and so therefore pay everything weekly or fortnightly, but not by direct debit icon

, but by standing order! which I think is much better! But some companies will argue with you that they wont accept Standing orders either unfortunatly!

hope that helps!

in the middle of january I was over my overdraft limit and and 2 Direct debits got returned to the bank, the foillowing Friday my Child Tax Credit went in and they took the whole amount of my child tax credit! at £70, 2x £35

I rang them up and complained! and said I needed that money to pay bills and it was the only money I had but the only thing they offered me was to extend my overdraft I have a straight £100 at the minute that comes with the account! So they said they would extend it to £180 and I had to pay it off by instalments every month at £20 per month on the last day of the month! anyway a week later I got my bank charges back (thanks to this site)

and my Account has been in credit ever since! so at the end of January they took there first £20, and reduced it to £160, I rang them up and said because the account was in credit and asked them to take the remaining £60 off since I had the money in the account to cover it! They said they would and it would be sorted by midnight that night! anyway the next day the account was still showing with the extra £60 showing on the over draft limit!

I never bothered again and just thought oh well they must of just left it has it was and they'll continue to take it has a reduced £20 at the end of every month! anyway the end of February and it was still showing has £60 over the limit so they had'nt took it!

I rang them up again a few days in to March to ask what ws going on and to ask them to take the full lot off again! (Bearing in mind my account was still in credit) they said I could keep it if I wished its not a problem! But I insisted I had enough in my account to cover it etc, and wanted it taken off! So they took it all off in the end, just like that and did'nt even charge me!

The moral of this story is that If your struggling and in your overdraft, the banks will charge you more! But if your in credit and not struggling the banks wont charge you! I still cant understand why they did'nt charge me for this overdraft!

**dpick** · 19th March 2007 05:36

Originally Posted by trickytrish

Hi Dpick

I'm on benefits and get paid weekly! and so therefore pay everything weekly or fortnightly, but not by direct debit icon

, but by standing order! which I think is much better! But some companies will argue with you that they wont accept Standing orders either unfortunately!

hope that helps!

in the middle of January I was over my overdraft limit and and 2 Direct debits got returned to the bank, the following Friday my Child Tax Credit went in and they took the whole amount of my child tax credit! at £70, 2x £35

I rang them up and complained! and said I needed that money to pay bills and it was the only money I had but the only thing they offered me was to extend my overdraft I have a straight £100 at the minute that comes with the account! So they said they would extend it to £180 and I had to pay it off by installments every month at £20 per month on the last day of the month! anyway a week later I got my bank charges back (thanks to this site)

and my Account has been in credit ever since! so at the end of January they took there first £20, and reduced it to £160, I rang them up and said because the account was in credit and asked them to take the remaining £60 off since I had the money in the account to cover it! They said they would and it would be sorted by midnight that night! anyway the next day the account was still showing with the extra £60 showing on the over draft limit!

I never bothered again and just thought oh well they must of just left it has it was and they'll continue to take it has a reduced £20 at the end of every month! anyway the end of February and it was still showing has £60 over the limit so they hadn't took it!

I rang them up again a few days in to March to ask what ws going on and to ask them to take the full lot off again! (Bearing in mind my account was still in credit) they said I could keep it if I wished its not a problem! But I insisted I had enough in my account to cover it etc, and wanted it taken off! So they took it all off in the end, just like that and didn't even charge me!

The moral of this story is that If your struggling and in your overdraft, the banks will charge you more! But if your in credit and not struggling the banks wont charge you! I still cant understand why they didn't charge me for this overdraft!

Hi there I have done same as you but my way was to set up payment through internet banking so I pay when the money comes into account, had to prove to some (gas etc) that this would work over a six month period. They were happy after this to accept payments this was. Now all talk of extra work required if not paying by DD icon

,s. So now I am having to pay extra when it's two computers doing the work mine and theirs.

all the best dpick

**stitch05** · 19th March 2007 12:59

Hi,
As Janet-m says people are being forced to have benefits paid through banks. And as we have pay bills out of these accounts, direct debts are not the best option for some people. If like me you have several direct debts, the penalty charges will leave you with even less benefit.

I just looked at the watchdog website, and they have a report about companies charging customers penalties for not paying their bills by direct debt. They also have a useful template letter to challenge these companies if you are being charged.

Sorry I'm still sort of new here, and not quite sure if I am allowed to post links, but the report/template letter is pretty easy to find if you get onto the Watchdog website. I know I will be sending several letters!

**tawnyowl** · 21st March 2007 15:00

It looks like a lot of people are losing all trust in banks and how they treat people.Do benefits have to be paid into bank accounts- i would prefer the old way of payment at the post office. Then the vultures couldnt get their hands on it.I would rather keep any money i have got under the mattress.If anybody is reading this on Wednesday 20TH March you must watch Whistleblower tonight on BBC 1 at nine o clock. The vultures at Barclays sound like they are going to be exsposed for what they are.Anybody with any claims against them put the interest on -they would.On second thoughts check it out first this was written when i was slightly angry. Good luck - keep the claims going in.Tawny

**midge61** · 21st March 2007 23:08

Hi
if you are on benefits you can ask for a post office account. My daughter has been having trouble with HSBC so we have just sent first letter to reclaim. She contacted benefits and said bank kept charging her and that she no longer wanted bank account and they said fine as of next week benefit will be paid by giro until po account set up and she arranged to pay all bills in cash and not had a problem.

**trickytrish** · 22nd March 2007 00:23

Originally Posted by midge61

Hi
if you are on benefits you can ask for a post office account. My daughter has been having trouble with HSBC so we have just sent first letter to reclaim. She contacted benefits and said bank kept charging her and that she no longer wanted bank account and they said fine as of next week benefit will be paid by giro until po account set up and she arranged to pay all bills in cash and not had a problem.

Hi Midge

that sounds great for your daughter but please bear in mind that paying in cash or any other way than direct debit icon

some companies are going to charge you for non direct debit fees unfortunatly very unfair though! I know Virgin media are allready doing this and BT are going to too! just a thought

**midge61** · 22nd March 2007 14:27

Hi

She phoned each company first and checked that they would accept alternative method without penalties first and all agreed. At the end of the day they don't want to loose custom!

**Janet-M** · 22nd March 2007 14:48

I won't pay my bills by DD icon

but I pay by standing order .They are paid on time so if I get charged the extra they are saying they will if you do not pay by DD I will be refusing to pay and asking them to justify the extra charge seen as the payment is not late .
If a firm tells me that they won't accept a S/O then i open the account with a DD get whatever the service is but cancel it shortly afterwards and make it a S/O.I WILL pay my bills in my way and be in control of my money .As long as they get paid there is nothing they can do

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