halifax bleeding me dry!!!! HELP !!!

[lucy.c40]

hi all ,was wondering if i can claim under hardship grounds as im on benefits and last few weeks have seen most of my benefits (income support,child benefit and child tax credits) being taken in charges sometimes leaving me with £20 to live on and have tried phoning them but they just said basically tough .its mainly because they take a charge and it leaves me overdrawn so they then charge me again so cant get out of the situation. i am so down about it as i feel im letting my 2 kids down so can i claim under hardship .they owe me hundreds now and feel i should get that back sooner rather than later as i cant live on £20 wk.sorry ive gone on a bit just so mad so any advice would be really great x

[hilaryfrances]

as far as I understand they are not allowed to touch benefits. I hope a site helper contacts you soon

[lucy.c40]

when i spoke to guy on the fone and explained that it was benefit money he said it didnt matter, the fact is the charges still apply .

[yourbank]

hi all ,was wondering if i can claim under hardship grounds as im on benefits and last few weeks have seen most of my benefits (income support,child benefit and child tax credits) being taken in charges sometimes leaving me with £20 to live on and have tried phoning them but they just said basically tough .its mainly because they take a charge and it leaves me overdrawn so they then charge me again so cant get out of the situation. i am so down about it as i feel im letting my 2 kids down so can i claim under hardship .they owe me hundreds now and feel i should get that back sooner rather than later as i cant live on £20 wk.sorry ive gone on a bit just so mad so any advice would be really great x

 

Hmmm, let's take this back a notch. Have you done a SAR yet? You haven't let your kids down because you have sort help here. They should be proud of you for that.

Have HBoS sent out an income and expenditure form to you?

[TUTTSI]

Hi Lucy

 

The best way to find out if you come under the FSA waiver rules for hardship is to :-

1 Complete and Income and Expenses summary

2.Have you done a complete list of all your charges on a spreadsheet!

3.You will need to gather all your evidences as proof of your hardship - this can be arrears on Mortgage/Rent, proof of all your benefits, Utillities arrears any court documents!

4. Then you need to do a letter enclosing 1 to 3 above explaining to Halifax bank why you should be considered.

 

Have a look in the library for the Income and Expenses sheet and also the spreadsheet for your charges summary.

 

If you need any further help just shout.

 

Please let us know how you get on.

 

Tuttsi xx

[jansus]

in post 1 of this thread there is a letter you can use to try and stop them taking benefits. But I suggest this as a temporary measure the main thing is to open an account such as the Post office account so they can not get access to your monies and then start the claim under hardship using the new waiver guidelines

 

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/36790-bank-taking-your-benefits.html?highlight=are+the+banks+taking+your+benefits

[lucy.c40]

hi all ,sent a letter of RIGHT OF APPROPRIATION to halifax as i was due to have £70 of charges come out and it would have almost swallowed up my benefits so thought i would try.yes they did leave my money alone but next day they added them to my account and now have gone overdrawn and any money i have going in from benefits will be swallowed up completely and i have d/ds to come out next week as well .is there anything i can do other than close my account .any help would be very helpful thank you x

[lucy.c40]

anybody !!!

[maroondevo52]

Two threads merged, only thing I can think of is to reclaim the charges.

[suzieblooz]

Go and open a basic account at another bank or Post Office (not Lloyds or Bank of Scotland as they are part of Halifax). Get your benefits paid in there then Halifax can't touch them and you will have money to live on. Your Halifax account will continue to accrue charges, but you can try to reclaim the charges under hardship/ come to a repayment arrangement with them that you can afford.

The important thing is to get your money somewhere Halifax can't get it, then you can sort the rest out from there.

[jansus]

Exactly as I said.

 

If you have control of your money in the Post office or similar account ( or credit union) then you will have a choice about your priorities - which will not be the charges .

 

Then start action to reclaim the charges through the halifax then the FOS as a hardship case.

[jansus]

Are there letters on CAG that would ask them to freeze the account or put it in dispute when they start chasing the debt?

[maroondevo52]

is there anything i can do other than close my account .any help would be very helpful thank you x

 

I have to agree with suzieblooz and janus, If you do not open a new account, they will continue to add charges.

 

You will find a letter in the library, regarding janus's question.......

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[lucy.c40]

thank you all for getting back to me yes will open another account with p/o have cancelled all my d/d as will be charged for everyone of them , im sure i saw a thread on here about asking for the charges back as it was all benefit money and they are not allowed to do it but i cant find it anywhere , but anyway shall continue to claim under hardship and see what happens ,thanks again to everyone x

[maroondevo52]

im sure i saw a thread on here about asking for the charges back as it was all benefit money and they are not allowed to do it

 

Yes, they seem to ignore certain rules

 

Continue with your claim, keep us posted.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[lucy.c40]

ok ive just checked my online bank account and another £35.00 has been added to the existing £70.00 they took out a few days ago ,thats 3 bloomin charges in a matter of days ,now im gonna have to beg ,borrow and steal nxt wk just to eat .im so bloomin mad now good mind to phone em up and tell em i want my money back NOW!!! lol. i wont thou coz they wouldnt give a damm and make me look like a pratt.well folks i know what i will be doing this wkend so expect a few posts as i go on my journey lol.

[suzieblooz]

keep us updated, will watch with interest. Once your money is going elsewhere it will make such a difference. They were taking £500 a month off me in charges at one point, that was nearly all my wages. Once I opened a new account I was amazed at how easy it was to manage my money.

Be prepared - Halifax will get nasty over the outstanding amount on your account. Don't speak to them on the phone, put everything in writing. Do an income and expenditure sheet so they can see you are offering a realistic amount to them, and definitely use the hardship route. They will add interest and charges for months, but will eventually get the message and stop. At least this puts you in control of your money, not them.

Edited April 25, 2009 by suzieblooz
spelling

[yourbank]

Yes, they seem to ignore certain rules

 

Continue with your claim, keep us posted.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

Slap yourself mate, even you have read Steven4064 and that there are no such rules on direct payments into an account. come on, you can think when you are here

[lint]

thank you all for getting back to me yes will open another account with p/o have cancelled all my d/d as will be charged for everyone of them , im sure i saw a thread on here about asking for the charges back as it was all benefit money and they are not allowed to do it but i cant find it anywhere , but anyway shall continue to claim under hardship and see what happens ,thanks again to everyone x

 

Have they given you any money back lucy? All they said to me was to contact money management team but i could manage fine if they didnt keep taking my money.