Advice on hardship claim please...

[nowayjose]

Hi another letter received from Abbey this morning:

 

Dear Mr ****

 

As you know, we are currently investigating your complaint that you raised with Abbey four weeks ago. I am sorry for the delay you are experiencing and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued patience.

Our research is taking longer than expected because we want to make sure a full investigation is done. If we are unable to complete our investigation beforehand, we will write to you again in four weeks time to let you know how we are getting on.

I am sorry that it is taking longer than originally thought and would like to reassure you that you complaint is very important to us.

 

 

I dont know what to make of this letter as it doesnt say anything really:confused:

Is my claim under hardship rules classed as a complaint:confused:

 

Any help appreciated;)

 

NWJxx

[Mr lex]

I am afraid they have up to eight weeks to look at your hardship case

 

It might be time for a little kick up the pants, you might like to report them to the FOS.

 

My mate Martin3030 had this to say on the FOS:-

 

The procedure with the FOS is this;

 

Call them and explain briefly your situ-they will allocate you a complaint number.You can ask them to write to the Bank ...within a couple of days you will get a complaints pack from the FOS.In the meantime the Bank must respond to you following the FOS letter to them.

The complaints pack should be filled in and sent back to the FOS with any proof or docs.If you already have had a final response from the bank you can return it right away with a copy.

If the bank have taken adverse action while you are disputing the account,such as selling on debts defaulting or closing accounts-then this is in breach of banking codes criteria and also OFT guidance-you should complain about this too.

 

Many Courts are refusing to lift stays making decisions without hearings-its better to apply on notice using N244 and requesting a hearing-there is a charge but free for those who are eligible under fee remission.

Its advisable to submit the detailed waiver agreement which can be found on the OFT website.

 

I would also inform the FOS if the banks are opposing your lift of stay after you have made them aware you will be citing hardship.

 

And I found this bit all on my own !!

 

F.O.S Contact details.

 

0845 080 1800

(calls cost up to 4p a minute for BT customers – but are likely to cost more if you use another phone provider or call from a mobile)

 

020 7964 0500

(this number may be cheaper if you use a mobile phone or a phone provider other than BT – and will be "free" if you pay a monthly charge for calls to numbers starting 01 or 02

 

[email protected]

(we will usually be able to deal with phone queries on the spot – so phoning might be quicker than emailing us)

 

Financial Ombudsman Service

 

There you go !!

 

Lex

[nowayjose]

Hi Lex thanks for that info, I will get to grips with this over the next couple of days, I think I might go down the email route as I really dont like dealing with people over the phone,

I will let you know how I get on

Might be back for more help

 

TYVM

NWJ -x-

[nowayjose]

Help need asap please....

 

 

Received today 2 letters from Abbey.

 

1st letter says

 

Dear ****

 

Thank you for providing us with the details of your current financial circumstances.

 

We have carefully considered all of the information you provided to us to assess your current situation.

 

We appreciate your current financial situation and that, in particular you currently have an outstanding Abbey and mortgage arrears etc. In this instance we have arranged to refund £3234 of charges.

 

We have arranged for the payment to be made by cheque to assist you with your current mortgage arrears this will be sent direct to you. In addition we will also arrange for a cheque to be sent direct to the Collections & Recovery department to clear your debt.

 

Our Collections and Recoveries team are available to help to discuss how you can manage your finances going forward. To assist you with this we have a dedicated team available to take your call on 0800 0113 142. This line is open 9am - 5pm Monday - Friday.

 

I hope you feel we've reached an appropriate outcome regarding your financial difficulties claim.

 

I have enclosed a leaflet about the Financial Ombudsman Service if you are not happy with my investigation or decision. You should contact them within six months of the date of this letter, enclosing a copy of it, as they would need this for their investigation.

 

Your complaint (******) about the level, fairness and lawfulness of bank charges remains on hold pending the outcome of the test case. We will keep you updated appropriately about the proceedings with the OFT. You can check the latest position on our website at www.abbey.com

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Christina O'Reilly

Senior Customer Resolution Manager

 

 

 

 

Can anyone advise me on this matter.... Are they allowed to pay my outstanding bank charges before the case has been heard???

 

The 2nd letter dated on the same day says:

 

Dear ****

 

We are in receipt of your claim under Financial Hardship and are currently reviewing your Abbey Account listed above. While your claim is under investigation Abbey will suspend debt collection activity on your account which means we wont write to you or call you about any arrears.

 

Following our investigation Abbey will contact you again to confirm if your claim was successful and if so will advise you of the amount we are going to refund to your account.

 

In the meantime, could you please read the following advice on avoiding future fees on your account or call us on 08000113142

 

Then they list ways on managing my account

Yours sincerely

 

C Jones

 

 

Now Im totally confused... my account has been closed for a long time...Do these letters mean that they will clear the outstanding balance on my account and give me whats left over.... which will be a nominal amount and will not help me in the slightest..

 

Advice please

 

Thanks very much

 

NWJ -x-

[nowayjose]

bump anyone;-)

 

Is there any chance this thread could be moved to DCA forum, doesnt seem to be noticed as much on the Abbey thread.

[Mr lex]

Hi NWJ

 

Sorry to be so slow, it's not been a good day, Your better off here for the moment, we'll see how it goes.

 

How does the first letter affect you, will it make things better for you?

They can make an offer any time they like for a hardship case, they don't need the test case to end.

 

The second letter is just a template, standard reply to any request like yours, my advice is to ignore it !!

 

Like I say, I'm slow off the mark today, please let me know how you feel about the first letter. It would be useful to know the total value of your claim.

 

Lex

[nowayjose]

Thanks for getting back to me...

 

Ive checked my court claim and it is actually £3127 but my questions is are they allowed to pay off my outstanding balance to themselves with the rest of the money, they are saying in the letter they will be sending a cheque to us and paying off their collections department, I think I read on here that someone received 10% of their claim and the rest went on paying their overdraft..... I have an attachment of earnings on my council tax, I am behind on my water rates, I am struggling to pay my electric and gas, surely all these are classed as priority debts, and not the outstanding balance I owe to Abbey??... they seem to be putting themselves before anyone else??

NWJ x

[yourbank]

They can but I have to say I hate the practice that some banks are taking by making themselves priority debtors when clearly they are not. It's great to see that they are making a payout since I first caught your posts a few months ago when things seemed very very bad for you.

How much are they actually sending to you and does this help clear the mortgage arrears?

Attachment of earnings means arrears are being cleared from source so technically the bank may not look at that as part of the claim. Are you in arrears with the water and will the refund help to clear the arrears?

 

 

Personally, I'd move it to hardship applications forum. If you're thread hadn't got hardship in the title I would have missed it.

 

Very pleased that you have got this offer from Abbey.

[saintly_1]

To me that reads that they are sending a cheque for £3234 and clearing your debt with them.

[nowayjose]

Sorry Im getting confused my outstanding debt is £3127 and the amount I am claiming in charges is £2700 plus interest, so where they got the figure of £3234 from I dont know?????

Saintly, I wish that was true but I dont think so... I havent been notified the amount they intend to pay yet Yourbank, but I have received a summons this morning for this years council tax bill and a DCA letter from Bryan Carter for my water bill of £900... no chance of paying either

Edited June 13, 2009 by nowayjose

[nowayjose]

I ve just phoned Abbey complaints this morning because I couldnt wait any longer to find out the situation.... I was told that the outstanding balance on my account will be cleared in full £3127 and the remainder sent to us... all £106 I was told that in these circumstances Abbey make theirselves the PRIORITY debt before anyone else... mortgage, council tax/water rates....I really feel like it wasnt worth the effort of claiming under hardship because the only one who benefitted was Abbey:mad::mad:

 

Anybody got any advice

 

NWJ -x-

Edited June 18, 2009 by nowayjose

[42man]

Moving to HS forum...

[nowayjose]

Thanks very much 42man:D

[yourbank]

I ve just phoned Abbey complaints this morning because I couldnt wait any longer to find out the situation.... I was told that the outstanding balance on my account will be cleared in full £3127 and the remainder sent to us... all £106 I was told that in these circumstances Abbey make theirselves the PRIORITY debt before anyone else... mortgage, council tax/water rates....I really feel like it wasnt worth the effort of claiming under hardship because the only one who benefitted was Abbey:mad::mad:

 

Anybody got any advice

 

NWJ -x-

 

How much are the priority debt arrears?

[nowayjose]

Thanks YB, around £1200, as a rough estimate...

[nowayjose]

I have received a cheque today from Abbey for £106, they have sent the rest to their recovery dept to pay themselves off.... fat load of good thats gonna be....Im sooo angry:mad::mad:

Edited June 29, 2009 by nowayjose

[yourbank]

I have received a cheque today from Abbey for £106, they have sent the rest to their recovery dept to pay themselves off.... fat load of good thats gonna be....Im sooo angry:mad::mad:

Did they also clear your mortgage arrears?

[nowayjose]

Nope... only that cheque...to assist with your current mortgage arrears

[yourbank]

Nope... only that cheque...to assist with your current mortgage arrears

How much was the mortgage arrears?

[nowayjose]

Well that depends... on my spreadsheet I sent them it was around £500 but to date it is more like £800 and growing by the month

[yourbank]

I don't know if you have queried the amount but if not query it on the basis that is doesn't cover priority debt arrears, ie Mortgage and send a copy of any arrears notices. Ask for a Final Response and then we can see whether we can argue this one.

[nowayjose]

Ive only queried it over the phone and was told that Abbey make themselves the priority debt... the same parrot fashion answer over and over:sad:

[yourbank]

Ive only queried it over the phone and was told that Abbey make themselves the priority debt... the same parrot fashion answer over and over:sad:

I know they are allowed to do so as the right of offset over rides the right of appropriation for other debts. But the issue is about more to cover Priority debt arrears rather than whether they can pay themselves because unfortunately(I still don't like this rule either) they can.

 

 

If it helps mortgage arrears will be discounted in hardship payouts for the first three (I think) months of arrears. This is because lenders can not take recovery action before that point. This may be why.

Edited June 30, 2009 by yourbank

[nowayjose]

Ok YB thanks for that... doesnt make me feel any better though:cry:

[yourbank]

no, it's crap. Still you are out of debt with Abbey now?