I will send the letter because the incapacity people said they weren't completely sure if they were allowed to pay by giro apart from in exceptional circumstances and thats our main benefit so i will have to be sure with that one. I must say we've never had any dealings with the benefits agencys before dp got signed off work and between them and the banks you really are left with practically no dignity whatsoever. I can't believe how hard it is just to open a normal current account, with no monthly fee, just to pay d/d's out of if you are not employed. It has really changed my views on benefits etc

Hi Just came back to update, I I had a long think about it last night and after talking to the benefits agency today decided not to go to the bank today. The reason is that I am already fully overdrawn, if I had gone in today and they had given me the £200 back this would have taken me further into debt, I would then have had to do the same for all my other benefits thereby just getting worse and worse into it. The benefits office have told me that they will no longer be paying any money into that account. I have cancelled all my d/d and am in the process of setting up another account to deal with these. I appreciate the help you all gave (Hedgey and Kerry) and will be carrying on with my claim against them for my charges. Thanks for your help everyone Mandy

Nobody in the lending department tonight, i've got to call back tomorrow.

Thanks for all your help, I'm gonna give it another go calling them, i'll let you all know how it goes.

Thanks for your help Kerry, I don't think i've got the energy to try explaining this again to them just to hear, we're well within our rights etc etc etc you should manage your account better rah rah rah. I'll try the DWP in the morning and see what they say although now they've paid it in there's not much they can do. As for the lot going in on the 24th they've already said they won't pay by giro we have to have it go straight into the bank (its two different benefits) so i will get that letter off to them to protect that lot.

I had forgotten from last time how frustrating it is trying to talk to them..

Sorry beat the bankers I did see it, I just had a look at the link that you put above I don't think they are allowed to take it for whatever reason. But they just wont listen, they just say they are allowed to take it. I know I should of sent the letter in telling them they couldn't take the money, but the DWP had promised they wouldn't pay the money in and would send a giro I think i'm just going to have to swallow it and borrow some money from parents to get us through.

Oh god, my partner phoned the DWP on tuesday and they promised they wouldn't pay the money into bank and would send a giro instead. But i've just checked my online banking and they've bloody paid it in instead and the bloody bank have taken it and now we're not getting anymore money till the 24th and i have exactly -£4 in the bank. I can honestly say I hate natwest.

Hi All Called the bank and explained that I had already had charges refunded, once again they couldn't of cared less! Re the right of appropriation, they said that they weren't going to be taking my benefits to pay charges, they were taking them to clear the money I have over my overdraft, which of course they took in charges, clever see! So I am firing of my pre lim today I think its about £1000. If I don't want to claim for overdraft interest though do I have to? The reason I ask is that I had a quick flick through the faq's to refresh my memory and it says that you should claim overdraft int if you can prove it's because of the charges. I'm not sure that I can because i've got a £2000 overdraft which is always up to the max. Cheers for reading Mandy

Hi all Well i'm back again for another round with Natwest. I did my first claim against them and got my cheque back in November last year but things have gone downhill financialy since then. My partner has now been signed off on long term sick so the only money we have coming in is benefits and we are stuck in the usual bank charges cycle. We have had more and more charges being put onto our account recently mostly due to having to have direct debits for things that we have to pay by dd. To cut a long story short, in 3 days we have had £184 taken in charges from our incapacity money. This has now tipped us right over our overdraft so that when the next lot goes in £200 will instantly be taken to cover the amount over the overdraft. I did telephone the bank just now and pleaded with them to return some of the money as we have literally been left with nothing, just to be told it was our own fault for misusing our account and they were perfectly within their rights to take it. I did tell them that it was our benefit money they had taken but they couldn't of cared less. So here I am again, i've looked at the faq's etc and everything seems the same as it was last time around. Is there anything I should be doing differently as i've already claimed once? I feel so depressed to be starting this all over again but here we go! Also because I am only claiming from november can I just use the statements on my online banking, instead of sending off for them again? Looking forward to reading the other threads and getting to know everyone. Mandy

Hi All Would really appreciate some advice here, the letter on page 1 is great but what can I use if I want something to take to the bank to ask for the money back that they have already taken this month? Can I use the Scottish letter above or will they not accept that? I know I shouldn't be surprised but I am so angry with the bank right now, it is less than two months since we won our case with Natwest and they gave us over £3000 back in charges which had had illegally taken. I've just looked at my online banking and in the last month they have taken £420 ALONE ALL FROM OUR BENEFITS. I know your probably thinking what did we do with the money we got before but it all went on outstanding debts and the deposit for our new tenancy. From what I can tell they have charged us 3 times for one cheque that bounced (same chq serial number 3 times over) and it can't be that the company has put the same chq in over and over because its in the space of about a week. I really need something that I can take up to the bank tomorrow to demand they give us the money they have taken this month. I am also going to phone the DWP first thing in the morning to see if they can help. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks Mandy

I WON!!!!!! Big fat cheque arrived this morning for full amount but without the AQ fee added on so will drop them a note to let them know its outstanding, but I'm so happy we reeeeallllyyyy needed this money. But more than anything I feel like for once I am not being walked all over by the banks. So cheque is on its way to the bank and a donation will be winging its way to the fab folks here as soon as its cleared. Thanks for all your help guys and can someone change the name of my thread to say I WON!!!!!! Love Mandy

Got to the court too late today, so I'm going to go back tomorrow to hand in my AQ (thanks to Michael, for the ideas for what to right in more info section) I am also going to copy it and send to Cobs with ANOTHER copy of my particulars of claim, acc no etc. Hopefully we are somewhere near the end! Mandy

Thanks for that Michael, it was just what I was looking for as I am sending my AQ in today, sounds good! Mandy

Hi Again Got my AQ today and Notice of Transfer to my local court. Quick question shall I put anything in the extra info bit on AQ form or just put it in with boxes ticked. Also I'm not sure what to do about the defence I have received from Cobs, its about 5 pages long and its main points are POC not disclosing reasonable grounds, no admissions to what charges, plead and prove the clauses, identify the contractual prov regarding UCTA, plead and prove factors relating to SGSA section 15. They are basically saying they cannot defend themselves cause they don't know what I'm talking about! So do I just send an acknowledgement of the defence and leave the rest up to it the court? Could really do with a quick answer. Cheers Mandy