Yes you can. send the sar with a £10 cheque/po and watch the fun.

Here's a letter from the Govan Law Centre website. I just altered it and sent to my Bank for repayment of 2 arrestment fees from 2003 and 2004. The letter is based on Scots Law. However most of it relates to the social securities act. perhaps somebody with a bit more knowledge of English Law can change the Scottish Statute bits to English Statute. I changed the ending slightly to demand my arrestment bank charges, interest and £50 for compensation and expenses.

The caselaw - Woods v Royal Bank of Scotland

In the case of Woods v Royal Bank of Scotland 1913 SLT 1 Reports 499, a worker got compensation under the Workmen's Compensation Act 1906 (an early form of benefit) and paid it into a bank account. This case held that the benefit itself could not be assigned to another person. If benefit was plainly identified in a bank account, it should also have statutory protection from arrestment. The money did not change character because it was paid into an account.

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Unlawful bank charges following an arrestment of welfare benefits - request for refund for [YOUR NAME, SORT CODE, and ACCOUNT NUMBER]

 

I write with respect to the application of the following charges to my account: [iNSERT DETAILS of charges applied].

 

I am of the view that your charges are irrecoverable in law. As you know the monies in my account derive from [tax credits, paid to my client by HM Inland Revenue, and/or child benefit paid by DWP, and/or child maintenance from the CSA, and/or social security benefits - income support, Jobseeker's Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance etc. - paid by DWP]. This is confirmed from my bank statements.

 

Both the Scottish Law Commission and Scottish Executive concede that social security benefits are exempt from arrestment in terms of section 187 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (see Enforcement of Civil Obligations in Scotland, Scottish Executive report, at paragraph 5.245). Section 45 of the Tax Credits Act 2002 is an identical provision to the said section 187 of the 1992 Act.

 

It is therefore trite law that tax credits and other such maintenance or social security benefits are exempt from arrestment. The case of Woods v Royal Bank of Scotland 1913 SLT 1 Reports 499 is authority for the proposition that where exempt monies are paid into a bank account, those monies remain exempt from arrestment insofar as such monies can be clearly identified within an account.

 

Accordingly, you have erred in law in arresting exempt monies in my account. You cannot impose administrative or penalty charges for your legal error. I would therefore ask you to refund said charges of £xx my account within the next 7 days, failing which I will commence an action for payment and wrongful diligence without any further notice.

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

 

[sIGNATURE]

 

cheers mate i'll give it a go and let you no how i get on:cool:

I'm confused. Does "benefits are exempt from arrestment" mean that the banks are not allowed to simply deduct charges from my account if it's benefits which go into it? The use of the word arrestment confuses me. I thought that merely applied to wages and when all are arrested.

Most of my money goes on payign for physical help (though this is periodic as my disability is intermittent in severity). However, I am dependent on a variety of natural therapies/treatments etc, which are quite costly, to save me from beign dependent on others most of the time.

"benefits are exempt from arrestment"

In my case there was a court order granted allowing wages arrestment. When they attempted to seize the account there was next to nothing there and the bank refused the arrestment and handed out a charge for admin. The charges were clearly illegal under s.187 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 . I only discovered this last week when I started to examine my bank charges.

On a plus side the Sheriff's Officers/Ballifs who attempted to seize my account folded under questioning and refunded the charges at the time and added some money for expenses. I believe they were in trouble because at the time they were aware I was on benefits. I didn't push the issue as I had received my money back.

I don't know where you stand on charges from the normal day to day running of a bank account. You could try the Bank Templates Library about half way down the page: Right of Appropriation - Stop the bank from taking your money

A few months ago a direct debit was attemted to be taken but refused obviously because 1) we dont have an overdraft facility, 2) we werent even aware it was due to be taken so no funds were left to cover it(the company admitted they took it too early) the bank then refused it shoved a £38 charge on it then announce they were also shoving a £28 quid interest charge on top of that at the end of the month! We explained all of the above to them and the fact it is an account that only benefits go into and the benefits are mine not my partners whos account it is so what are they doing taking them in the 1st place! They said out of good will they would half the £38 fee then they removed the £28 interest fee from being taken.

If from reading some of this thread could I get the rest of the £38 quid charge back which we were in the end charged £19 quid? Oh and it was Natwest!

If the incoming funds are clearly identifiable as being benefit payments then they cannot be taken no matter who's account they are paid into. As remember the benefits can be identified as coming from the DWP so are clearly benefits.

If the incoming funds are clearly identifiable as being benefit payments then they cannot be taken no matter who's account they are paid into. As remember the benefits can be identified as coming from the DWP so are clearly benefits.

Yes they are identifiable as such they show on statements as dwpincap etc maybe a little different but you know they are all benefits. That account only has benefits going in. I was fumming at the time but thought at least they reduced the fee by half and removed the interest that was to go on but im still fumming that they can steal benefits from you for them making your account overdrawn with their charges when you dont even have an overdraft on the account. Wouldnt matter as much if they had paid whatever it was but they refused it then added on the charges and made the account go over. Any ideas how to go about getting these charges back?

If your account doesn't have an overdraft facility or they have allowed you to go overdrawn simply to pay their fees that is unauthorised lending & is illegal as they can only lend to you by agreement with you

If your account doesn't have an overdraft facility or they have allowed you to go overdrawn simply to pay their fees that is unauthorised lending & is illegal as they can only lend to you by agreement with you

JonCris, how come you know so much? :p

Not complaining: NOWAY! I'm so very glad you do but what is your line o work that you know all these intricacies? I'm intrigued.

You, who a come across as young in years are so much wiser than this old in years bird.

I take it from your post that it is illegal for the banks to take charges from my account into which DLA and IS are paid. Of course, there are also, paid into such account, the odd gift from one of my kids/siblings/friend or a repayment for some small sum borrowed. Can the banks use the latter to "GET ME"?

Oh dear, I have a second account into which I transfer money from my main account as this is easier for em to work my DDs and SOs etc. The benefits are not paid into this second account so can they then take charges from that one?

They're such cheeky, sneaky, crafty. sleekit entities, thse banks. They'll be well up on how to take what they want.

Wish I was smarter re finance.

Thank you JonCris and all those others who help. :D

Notwithstanding that their charges are unlawful therefore recoverable any other monies that are not benefits which go into an account can be taken by the bank unless you send a 1st appropriations letter one of which you will find here

I know its only 19 quid they took in the end but to someone on benefits its a lot to take out of a kids mouth. Any suggestions on what I could write in a letter to get that charge back? since their charge when they refused a DD took me overdrawn when we have no overdraft facility agreed and they didnt pay the DD in the end anyways!

midnight send the letter that's on the forum cos even if it is only £19 it's still your money not theirs

Sorry for seeming thick as well as blind but which one do I send, theres one above but its full of Scottish law quotes which does me no good in England.

Its martins post 1 page 1 Also insert my post 21 page 2

Its martins post 1 page 1 Also insert my post 21 page 2

Thankyou JonCris, I got full refund of charges and a personal call from the bank manager to state this and appologising for the delay in the matter being delt with.

Excellent news.

Now go for the interest they certainly added which will have increased your indebtedness

Jon I have tagged your additional info within the first post.

Should make it more clearer.

Excellent news.

 

Now go for the interest they certainly added which will have increased your indebtedness

They didnt add interest, they were going to till I stormed into my branch with letter ready in hand, they agreed under the circumstances to stop the interest from being taken too. Basically everything is fine we are not out of pocket at all now, in a way they are for paying some pen pusher to press a few buttons on a pc and a printer! Its rediculous tho they charge £38 for a unothourised OD which their charges cause then they try charging another £28 on top interest at the end of the month for the privelage of a DD being refused. Will stick to the halifax account for now at least if the inevitable happens you have a £5 buffer zone. I just feel sorry now for all the others out there who dont know their rights as such.

Great........Just a point when they reject your DD there is no human intervention it's all automatic which makes it even more of a scandal.

Also are you sure about the Halifax £5 buffer. I think I read it had been withdrawn.............Thinking aloud it might have been Lloyds. Either way be careful 1p over & you'll get hammered for unlawful penalty charges & you'll have to go through it all again

Hi guys

I've just read this thread and cried the whole way through. 2 years ago I had a nervous breakdown which resulted in me losing my job and basically being put onto Incapacity Benefit. Since then I've been on heavy medication and at times not really been aware of the world.

Now I'm on the mend I've just started to look over my financial records and am dismayed - despite it clearly stating on my statements that I receive a payment fortnightly from the DWP - the bank of scotland have continued to charge me for overdrafts, interest and other charges. Just in December 06 - they charged me more than 5 times - with charges ranging from £39 - to £30.

I'm pulling together a summary of their charges since Jan 2006 - and already it's at £916 - and thats only what I can gather from my online account - I don't have all my statements.

Should I contact them regarding this? Do you think I'd have a chance of retrieving some of my money back. It sickens me to think that there are people like me receiving benefit for being ill and disabled and the banks are just grabbing it all without a second thought.

Any advice appreciated. I'm in Scotland - so the previous template letter would be something I could use.

Cheers

L

x

Spend a little time & read the FAQ's to get an idea on how to proceed. Open another bank account as they will in a state of peek close your present one As you are doing that send a SAR with a £10 postal order requesting all the data on you they hold (letter in the templates library)

Then when you receive that you can calculate what they owe you. The same Social Security Act referred to in this thread that applies in England applies in Scotland

Joncris thank you. I just received my benefit for the fortnight today and the bank took ALL of it.

Will have a SAR off to them tomorrow.

L

x

Joncris thank you. I just received my benefit for the fortnight today and the bank took ALL of it.

 

Will have a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) off to them tomorrow.

 

L

x

Call the benefits agency and tell them what they have done. Then get yourself a basic account at another bank and change your benefits to go there asap. Im sure someone mentioned the BA can grab them back in situations like this. Thats what id do anyways.

The ba will pay you via giro if you want until you can sort a bank ac out. who do you bank with ?