Taking money out of an ISA to pay Credit Card arrears

[lotus1980]

Hi Everyone

 

This is my first post on CAG and I hope you guys are going to be able share some of the wealth of knowledge shown within this forum. I have read loads of posts and am astounded at what banks are currently doing to their customers but even more astounded at the many positive outcomes many have had purely from the advice and experience sharing on the CAG. So I really hope you can help with the following...

 

I have a client whom is in financial difficulties. I have tried looking at DMP's , IVA's and DRO's ( any more abbreviations possible?)

As it stands it looks as if the a DRO is going to be the best option for her and she has made an appointment to speak to a professional in September to discuss this further. In the meanwhile my client has a credit card with the Nationwide with a current balance of about £12k. As she is a single parent living on benefits , she has not been able to meet her monthly commitment and has arrears of £1100. She unfortunately also made the mistake of having an ISA with the Nationwide at the same time , which her mom had placed £1800 of her money in. Nationwide have decided to freeze the ISA , and take the full balance of £1800 from this account. When my client called up to query what had happened she was informed that they had taken £1100 for the current arrears and a further £350-£400 for the following months payment and charges, as well as the remaining balance of £300. My client then asked why they had taken the full £1800 and not just the arrears, of which the advisor couldnt answer.

 

My question is, even though I know it is legal for them to take payment from the savings account for the arrears (although its hard to believe the law does alow it!) how can they also deduct for future payments and not be able to substantiate the reason for taking and additional £300 without reason? My second question is has anyone ever experienced anything similiar and is there anything that can be done about it. I have trailed the internet for hours looking for similiar experiences and template letters that could be used to fight this but unfortunately without much joy. I have come across a handful of people with similar experiences but none with a conclusive result and would really appreciate any help , advice or guidance so I can help my client give Nationwide a kicking. As I cannot see how it is fair to take £1800 of her mother in laws money (granted it was in my clients account) to pay for arrears, future payments and miscelllaneous!

 

Any help will be hugely appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance

[middenmess]

Has your client reclaimed all of the charges made unlawfully on the credit card as it sounds as she has many.

 

Send the nationwide a SAR with the £10 fee to obtain her last 6 years or more of statements so that she can make her claim.

 

There are many threads on here about reclaiming and it is usually [but not always] reasonably quick and painless.

 

So send off the SAR and have a good read around the forum.

 

As to the ISA issue that needs a much more experienced cagger than me to assist you--hopefully you will get other replies soon.

[middenmess]

PS send off for her CCA at the same time--again plenty of threads to read for information.

[lotus1980]

Thanks very much for the reply. Already have the CCA request and the SAR taken care of , its the ISA aspect Im really trying to resolve. Thanks again and fingers crossed we will get a repsonse from someone who has gone through this ISA issue before.

[yourbank]

Can I just check the wording of something?

 

You said "I have a client"(post 1) can I ask the nature of what you do?

[lotus1980]

No problem, I have a debt management company and this is a client we are not able to help , but I feel she has really been unfairly treated and wanted to see if there is anything that can be done.