I have read this thread with considerable interest, and would like to seek advice regarding my financial situation. I am registered disabled and in receipt of both DLA and Incapacity Benefit, my wife is my carer; although we are being told by the Benefits Agency that we need to complete a form to make this official (we had informed the relevant people at the BA and were told they had "sorted" it out for us - they havent!).

We are a family of three who are on benefits, our daughter is at school and is 13. I am classified as chronically ill and am on first name terms with my GP's, who have written me a wonderful letter supporting my situation healthwise and regarding financial matters.

I admit to having been foolish to apply for four credit cards, a storecard and a loan. Everything has now caught up with me and I have been dealing with the relevant parties (banks and Credit Collection Agencies),including a financial statement. Add to this I have run into difficulties with a couple of my utility payments, and an old Council Tax bill has reared its ugly head. I have written to and offered monthly payments of £10 which have been accepted by all parties barring the Council Tax arrears; they want me to pay £90 a month! Threatening me with a bailiff if I don't comply. I have so far made one payment, the next is due soon.

I was told that I have to meet the payment of £90 which is to be paid for in five monthly payments, and inform the others that until I have cleared the Council Tax arrears they will be paid £1 a month; as Council Tax is deemed an essential need. I have received two letters informing me that I am now in default!

Another I am having problems with is MBNA, who I have written to and spoken to on the telephone; and have just received a letter from MBNA charging me £25 for the privilige! It made me laugh and I jokingly said to my wife that I'll respond in kind and ask them to donate my charge to a charity of my choice!

With what I've now read about the social security situation I would like to enquire as to were I stand! When I applied for my credit cards/store card/loan I informed each party of my financial situation, and that is that I was and still am in receipt of benefits; they were more than happy to award me the aforementioned credit facilities! Can I reduce the monthly payments on the strength of this, and maybe even have them erased!!! I know I'm asking a lot, but these forums are a brilliant source of information.

I thank you in advance of your responses.

seeker27:grin:

Hi seeker

You need to pay off the council tax bill before everything else as it is a priority debt (MBNA can go ....)

You need some proper advice on managing these debts - if you have not done so, go to CAB or contact National Debt Line (National Debtline – Free, Confidential Debt Advice – Call 0808 808 4000, phone 0808 808 4000) ASAP.

The income and expenditure statement you have already is a good start. You then need to budget to pay off priority debts first. THese are

Rent/mortgage

secured loans

Council Tax

electricity/gas (not water)

fines (if any - may not apply but others may find this useful)

maintenance arrears (as above)

hire purchase debts

in that order.

Anything left over can bve offered to non-priority creditors at £1 a month. THis includes MBNA however loudly they shout. Do not speak to them on the phone but keep detailed records of when they call. THey are particularly nasty to deal with. THe reason they harass and bully you is just because they are non-priority creditors - they hope to bully you into paying them money that would otherwise be used to feed your family or pay priority debts.

Hi seeker

 

You need to pay off the council tax bill before everything else as it is a priority debt (MBNA can go ....)

 

You need some proper advice on managing these debts - if you have not done so, go to CAB or contact National Debt Line (National Debtline – Free, Confidential Debt Advice – Call 0808 808 4000, phone 0808 808 4000) ASAP.

 

The income and expenditure statement you have already is a good start. You then need to budget to pay off priority debts first. THese are

 

Rent/mortgage

secured loans

Council Tax

electricity/gas (not water)

fines (if any - may not apply but others may find this useful)

maintenance arrears (as above)

hire purchase debts

 

in that order.

 

Anything left over can bve offered to non-priority creditors at £1 a month. THis includes MBNA however loudly they shout. Do not speak to them on the phone but keep detailed records of when they call. THey are particularly nasty to deal with. THe reason they harass and bully you is just because they are non-priority creditors - they hope to bully you into paying them money that would otherwise be used to feed your family or pay priority debts.

Steven,

Many thanks for your reply, it is very much appreciated. I am now quite efficient at dealing with these non priority creditors on the telephone, but will in future, ask them to contact me in writing.

Steven, regarding the credit collection agency writing to me and telling me I have defaulted on my payment arrangements. I did write to the credit collection agencies concerned informing them of this new debt that I had to pay, yet they responded negatively! How should I proceed?

Also since first writing to the CCA's my gas/electric has gone up, and due to my disability I am having to use the private hire to get me about; which has affected my income and expenditure drastically. I am contemplating writing to the CCA's concerned and informing them of my aforementioned changes, and reducing my monthly repayments.

seeker27

My jsa got eaten in bank charges today. But it was lloyds bouncing of a payment that would have sent me £10 in debit if they had paid it but sent me £20 in debit by bouncing it. This is the 2nd occourance this year and now ive got £4 to live on for a week ( me/wife/3 kids) where the gov say i need £90. 2 people at lloyds say they must refund the charge as its not my money but the governments, last person said phone back at 8 in the morning. Oh well kids dry bread for tea..

Last year November 2008, I had sky direct debit set up from my Nationwide a/c... I was not working then as i was on maternity, the only income into my a/c were tax credits, and child benefit, the amount which sky should have deducted should have been £23.00, but they 've tried deducting £30.00, this amount bounced, they tried the second time, after which I notified Nationwide to cancel the direct debit, but somehow it happened the 3rd, of which natinwide told me it was too LATE to stop it then, in total , i was charged £90.00, by the bank , can i reclaim ? if so which is the best way/approach pls ???

i know that the banks cant take benefit any forms of benefit to pay for charges or when an account is overdrawn, they have a legal right to pay the money back to the customer, in fact if you go into the jobcentre there is a letter they can send to the bank requesting this. however the jobcentre do offer post office accounts which may be a good route for now - tey are free.

If this is the case that we cant claim back our charges under the social security act 1992, then shouldnt the template letter stick for claiming bank charges back when on benefits in the template letter section be removed?

i know that the banks cant take benefit any forms of benefit to pay for charges or when an account is overdrawn, they have a legal right to pay the money back to the customer, in fact if you go into the jobcentre there is a letter they can send to the bank requesting this. however the jobcentre do offer post office accounts which may be a good route for now - tey are free.

If this is the case that we cant claim back our charges under the social security act 1992, then shouldnt the template letter stick for claiming bank charges back when on benefits in the template letter section be removed?

Both - please see post #21

I have managed to sort out quite a lot of my financial mess, until recently. I have a current account with NatWest and a overdraft limit of £750.

Until recently all my benefits used to go in to this account, but I was unable to control my finances so had all of my benefits transferred in to my savings account so I could keep track on what was coming in and what was going out.

Now my problem is that NatWest have charged me extortionate fees and I am currently nearly £950 overdrawn. They have charged me almost £200'ish. I have been charged £76 Unpaid Item fee, Guarantee Card Payment Fee £70, Unpaid Item Fee £15, Guarantee Card Payment Fee £15.

Can I be charged so much money in fees, I am a single mother and on benefits and I am also a carer for my sick mother. I am very worried as I owe so much money to NatWest and I do not think I will be able to pay so much money back.

I went to my local branch and spoke to the manager about the excess fees, and he told me that there was nothing that he could do he said. Please could someone help me please?

can anyone please clarify, if im being chased for debts, but am on benefits, pensioners etc, can the court make an award for payments of these debts against my income, which is below the accepted standard and therefor paying benefits to me to ensure im at at that standard,

Seems any award made against my income would in effect bring me back below that minimum, and if they did, could i then apply for more benfits as its been taken by the courts??

This has been posted elsewhere on the site,but its needed in here too.

A friend of mine was in despair following Santander not only charging him for a failed direct debit,but then continued to add further daily charges.

He informed me that he had called them and emailed them,explaining that the charges were punitive since his only income is Jobseekers allowance.

The fees stood at £55 and were rising.

He asked me if I could help,and duly wrote him a letter.

I was finding it hard to understand,how a bank like Santander,were openly flouting their obligations.

My friend had pleaded with them and explained his situation.

Santander of course could see from the account too-that he was in reciept of benefits since they were paid into this account.

No excuses then...lets get to work.

Account number xxxxxxxxxxx Sort Code xx xx xx

letter before action

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am very disappointed in your response to my complaints which were made to you today, and that you have chosen to ignore my request for hardship, I therefore have no alternative but to seek recourse through the county court system. I believe that Santander have treated me unfairly under the following BCOB rules of which Santander should be compliant with,since Santander is a firm regulated by the FSA.

Rule 5.1.1 R states “A firm must provide a service in relation to a retail banking service which is prompt, efficient and fair to a banking customer and which has regard to any communications or financial promotion made by the firm to the banking customer from time to time.”

Rule 5.1.4 G “Principle 6 requires a firm to pay due regard to the interests of its customers and to treat them fairly. In particular, a firm should deal fairly with a banking customer whom it has reason to believe is in financial difficulty.”

Santandar have been informed that I am in reciept of state benefits and that I need these to cover essential living costs including food and heat/lighting.

Santander have not at any point acknowledged that this is a hardship case despite me notifying you.You have levied charges of £55 in recent days,and have refused to refund these in your return call to me on 6th.June. For these grounds I feel that I have been treated unfairly.

In order for this claim to be settled without the need for court action I require that the full amount taken of £55 returned to me by way of a credit to my account.

If I have not received a satisfactory response within 14 days then court action will be commenced without further notice and further costs will be incurred.

A judgment for a breach of BCOBS is very serious and the FSA would be empowered to act.

Yours Faithfully

Mr V. Upset

Would the recipients of his email to Santander actually know what the letter was about ?

You bet they did!

He got a reply quite swiftly...in fact in the space of 30 minutes.

Message:

Good Afternoon Mr V. Upset Thank you for your email.

I am happy to reverse the amount of £55, which have been waived due to exceptional circumstances.

To ensure no further charges are incurred on your accounts, we would ask you to monitor your accounts throughout the month. This can be completed through Online Banking, Local Branch and Telephone Banking.

I hope this information is useful and if you have any other queries, please do not hesitate to contact me via Secure Messaging or my colleagues on 0845 9724724.

Kind Regards,

The nice man (who knows his BCOBs from his bankcharges)

Santander Customer Services

So the message to all those who believe they have been treated unfairly,is to give them a taste of their own famous words when they fob you off with sorry we cant refund the charges..... "This may not be the reply you wanted"

Edit.

The banks get letters and emails from people threatening them with Court action every day.

We know this and so do they.So its essential,that you are willing and prepared to act on any threats if the bank do ignore your letter/email.

I did this a few years ago, if you say you will accept a lower amount than what's owed they will be more likely to give you a refund. Since then though I have always lived within my means and never go overdrawn, five years and counting.

Accepting anything less than whats owed is not something CAG would ever advise.

Of course they will be more likely to agree if you do.

I opted to ask for 90% back and got it.

This is interesting, I have had several bank charges since I went on Jobseeker's Allowance in April 2011, how far back can you claim?

bcobs came in nov 2009

dx

Does it matter if you didn't notify them at the first instance that you were on benefits? I've been on DLA for 4.5 years now. I dread to think how many times i've been charged the £22 personal reserve usage fee from barclays, but i never notified them. Do i stand a chance of claiming them all back?

Does it matter if you didn't notify them at the first instance that you were on benefits? I've been on DLA for 4.5 years now. I dread to think how many times i've been charged the £22 personal reserve usage fee from barclays' date=' but i never notified them. Do i stand a chance of claiming them all back?[/quote']

 

start your own thread in the Barclays forum

 

see video below

 

dx