As soon as our bank took charges from us I changed all the benefits to another bank till it was sorted out. Drastic but means they cant touch any more.

Thanks will try that, Im guessing I should address it to their data controller I think it is?

I had an account with a book club which I have cancelled after thinking ive got enough. Never had a problem with the acount but they store details online so you can log in to pay your bill etc. I thought when the account was closed this information would be removed from the website. Apparently not! I then requested since the account is closed for them to remove the online account/information held on me. Ive recieved an email back saying they cannot do that and its permanent records which will be held there indefinatly! Anyone know where I stand on this and if the Data protaction act can be used in some way? I dont want those details kept there forever!

The above query was me dealing on someone elses behalf, I got more advice on another debt help forum. I sent a CCA request to lowell and they didnt contact us again after that nor supply the requested info. Ive still to report them to OFT for non compliance but aint got a clue what to write:-? Im dealing still with defaults being added to my CRF and one of my bankrupt debts was sold last month which made me laugh! All fun with stupid DCA's and CC companies who wont listen to legal documents and think they are above the law! But thats another thread.

Just found this thread from the "bank taking your benefits" thread, its really disgusting considering the age of the debtor but I guess they dont care its pound sings in eyes to them! I was in this situation in 2005 and for a few years previous and I eventually went bankrupt at the end of 05 to escape it all. If id have been aware of all my rights at the time claiming back all charges and benefits they had took from my accounts would have cleared the balances and id still had pocket change for a nice holiday. Its disgusting how they use peoples lack of knowlege for profit gain and someone somewhere with the authority should be doing something about it. You cant tell me they dont know what goes on cos theres threads like this all over the internet brought to the attantion of people from all walks of life every minute of the day! Anyway I wish you all the best in this case and tell your friend we are all behind her!

Whats getting me is there must be 1000's of people who banks are taking advantage of in this way due to their lack of knowlege on their rights. Why are the banks geting away with this when they know its wrong and they know the funds going in are benefits because they say so on the payments? Isnt it about time one of the governing bodies felt their collars over robbing the poor to line the fat cats pockets?

yep they changed no bother but its the child benefit section they took over, you gotta do it by post/forms etc and tbh I CBA at the time with my health. Im house bound nowso really cant be bothered with the agro.

I did claim charges back recently and nothing has came of it no closed account nothing. We both have other accounts as back up anyways and if theres ever a problem the BA will issue giro's till its sorted, our benefits now go into the other account anyways since they charged us except the inland revenue ones because trying to change them is like pulling teeth.

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.

Ive just done this, send a cover letter to the 3 seperate CRF's each with a £2 postal made out to the CRF, state you would like a copy of your credit reference file sent to you and include your address, previous addresses within the last 6 years and your D.O.B., full name maiden/married etc. Once recieved you can call them to discuss anything you dont understand and they are very helpful.

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.

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.

Id take it to be a CCA request letter to the DCA or creditors with a £1 P.O. or cheque whoever own the debt, it requests under the Consumer Credit Act for them to supply proof that you owe the debt, proof you have admitted to oweing the debt in writing signed by you if its in dispute and they should be able to supply a copy of the original credit agreement under the consumer credit act(correct me if im wrong anyone lol)

Keep dated copies of all letters sent and when you send them recorded delivery staple the proof on delivery part onto the copy of each letter and you can check on the royal mail site a few days later to check its been recieved and signed for.

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.

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!

If the DCA send a letter advising they have bought the account from your bank, cc co etc then you send the CCA to them, if the DCA still say they are acting on behalf of blah blah then its blah blah you send the CCA to as they are still the creditor. In the latter situation I think you would send a letter to the DCA advising them the account is in dispute with the creditor so they then refer back to whoever they are acting for for further instructions.

Yep but like I said ive heard others say the OR wrote to the bank saying they had no interest in the said account which wasnt overdrawn/in arrears etc and yet the bank still closed it. I think its up to the banks discression if they will risk your custom as a bankrupt or not although I think Nationwide are one of the few who will deal with them as long as theres no fraud involved.

Ive heard that sometimes the OR can mark an account as them having no interest in it but the bank still go ahead and close it as most will not deal with undisclosed bankrupts except with basic accounts. I also wouldnt like getting caught hiding any accounts from the OR for obvious reasons.

As long as you pay your rent then I dont see there being a problem with your landlord if you go bankrupt. When you submit all your outgoings for living expences etc rent etc is included in that as you need that to live with a roof over your head. If you have a joint account at the bank id advise your better half to get their own current account before you file for it if that account has you as the main account holder. Your accounts in your name will be frozen once the bankrupcy order goes through and anything in them used by the OR to try paying some of the debt. I know they cannot touch benefits anyways now, if you are in reciept of benefits change them to go into someone elses or other halfs account till everything is sorted. Bankrupcy is anything but an easy descision or route to take as I well know but I had no choice as it was making me even more ill than I already am. I hope everything gets sorted and once you have your bankrupcy remember to check that all your creditors recieve a copy of your bankrupcy order unlike I did so they stop adding defaults to your credit file and mark the accounts as satisfied or settled but they will still remain on your CRF. I was discharged in about 4-5 months through early discharge due to my circumstances but usually its 1 year I think. If you are on benefits there are charity funds you can apply to for the fee for your bankrupcy and depending on your circumstances.

Dont admit to anything, if the letters get demanding then id ask them to send proof but never admit to anything. Also if you comunicate in writing type your name at the bottom as you would but DONT phisically sign it with your signature, Ive read they can use this to their own means and add it to other documents. We sent a cca letter and a £1 postal order stating we didnt admit to any alleged debt and for them to send proof that it exists. Still waiting for a reply which will probably disregard what the letter said, they are good at that! The debt was also over 6yrs old but they say otherwise so they have to prove that also before we will admit anything or not. We were also told a telephone convo cannot be held as an admission of the debt if you enquire about it and letters recieved.

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?

Nope always summit to do with 3 we also get these leeches at the door and just close it in their faces!

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!

Im on O2 and used to get these a lot one cheeky git tried chatting me up to keep me on the line:confused: all I do now is ask how the hell they got my number as its unlisted they usually hang up instantly. The way I see it too you usually know its a sales call instantly so I tell them if they are trying to sell or get me to sign up to anything then just bog off now! Wonder why ive not had any calls in agges:D