Is the bank taking your Benefits ?

[surprise]

In our area we have got contact details of how and when to contact the MP. If you don't have such a thing I would go to your Library and they will tell you. Our MP does a surgery once a month. He was seeing Lloyds and he told me he was going to raise the issue with them. I would take the letter of Appropriate into the Branch tomorrow.

Good luck

[standingupformyself]

I found a link to my MP via the houses of parliament website, they have a link to the MP's

try this UK Parliament - alms

my MP's email can be found so hopefully yours will too.

Good Luck and dont give up, if the money is due to come out of your account on Friday, and your benefits go in on Saturday, then you might be able to do something about it tomorrow..... What about phoning up Family Tax credit or whoever is paying you, they should have some advice for you too.....

Good Luck,

[archer_66]

thanks for that both.i shall be printing the letters off today and taking them up and then on saturday ill phone tax credits to see if they can step in .banks need shooting in my opinion!

[standingupformyself]

I agree, it's totally unfair.

This won't help you for this week, but if I were you I would contact your benefits and explain your banking difficulties, and ask them to temporarily send you payments by giro, whilst you sort out another bank account. Then try to get your overdraft (or whatever it is) paid back at a realistic payment per week.

A friend of mine has just done this, due to banking issues and she found the benefits people very obliging.

Good Luck, you don't deserve to go through hardship because of the banks.

[archer_66]

well just spoke to tax credits she said there was nothing she could do except put it in a different account and this weeks has already been issued! the bank have so far taken £256 since 27th april!!!! ever feel like screaming!

[standingupformyself]

regularly..... and I am screaming with you here !!!

So frustrating for you, my mate had a nasty overdraft and was loosing her benefits regularly, she managed to get them to send a giro while she changed her accounts, don't know why it didn't work for you.... sorry......

[archer_66]

i know but i suppose its like evrything else it depends who u talk to on the phone some are more forthcoming than others! ah well ..............

[southyorksman]

Lloyds TSB took £50 of my benefits this week to pay arrears on my lloyds TSB credit card as they have been doing at irregular intervals and without any prior notice of dates and amounts since January. This left me with £2 to survive on for the next 10 days.

 

I have spent hours on the phone to the Customer Support Unit, The Credit Card Concerns Department, In my branch and have told both the Credit card dept and my branch to stop them taking the money out of my account. Lloyds Bank said that the LLoyds TSB Credit Card people were entitled to take the money as it was in the Credit Card T&Cs. I have checked my original agreement and there was no such clause in it, they have added that clause last year!! They advised me to open an account with another bank and have my benefits paid in there, I said this was unnacceptable advice from my own bank.

 

I discovered this thread and went in to my branch armed with

1) The Social Social Security Administration Act 1992.

2) The Secretary of State's Letter to the Head of the BBA.

3) My bank statements showing the clearly labelled DWP Incap Benefit payments and no other form of income.

 

I spoke to the manager who went on the same wild goose chase I had been on speaking to their credit card call centre in India asking them to refund the money, guess what.... they refused!

 

I explained to the manager and showed him the "benefits to be inalienable" section of the SSAA 1992 and the paragraph of the Sec of State's letter which said it was illegal for banks to do this. He rang someone else who said it was the bank's view that I had "pre-spent" my benefits!! Totally ignoring the fact money was transferred out of my account to pay another account.

 

My bank manager said there was nothing more he had the authority to do.

 

I dispair!!!!!

 

IAN

 

 

I discussed the issue with the manager

[Vital Spark]

Don't mess around anymore & oh! claim the contractual rate not just the 8%

What's teh contractual rate of interest? Is this the same as compounded interest?

[petcat]

hello everyone just discovered this thread im fairly new forgive the typo errors .im about to start case against abbey please see my thread and wa s due to file n1 at court today. is it realy easy to get your money back if all charges came from benefit. will file monday now as i need to find out whether to claim on these grounds as well as the usual stuff. any advice welcomed. thanks to you all for getting me this far.

claiming 2585 plus 8%. dont know how to divide interest so that seemed simpler. Told abbey of revised grounds for claiming by phone today waiting for a phone call from mandy thomas manager at milton keynes complaints dptmt. Please help.

[Pliny the Penuriosus]

You can claim on both grounds. They shouldn't be taking your benefits period!

 

Now take the time & read the whole of this thread. It will answer most of your questions

[petcat]

thankyou will do that later when my little one is in bed realy complicated to explain.

[pugsley]

would this apply to CSA payments coming into my account?

[Pliny the Penuriosus]

would this apply to CSA payments coming into my account?

 

If they are for child maintenance definitely as the money is not yours but the childs/childrens as it is for their upkeep.

[pugsley]

glad I know about this now as I have had it taken away lots of times, although wish I had the knowledge years ago, thanks xx

 

 

btw don't add the 8% to letters, this should only go on to your court claim at N1 stage.

[archer_66]

i didnt know about the benefits thing when i filed my N1 a while ago.how would i bring this to the courts attention? all charges were and still are being taken out of my WFTC benefit.they take about half of my money eachweek and its been getting worse for 6-8 weeks im behind with everything! ive told the bank about the benefits and taking money from them but they dont want to know.theyve said theyll look into it in 14 days but its been 2 weeks already without another 2 weeks.and theyve took £76 again last week and another one due out the end of may for £28!

[Pliny the Penuriosus]

Send the letter at the start of this thread. Then come back after their response. If you have hearing date coming up soon brush up your knowledge on the SS Act.

 

Make copies (1 for the JUdge & 1 for the defence) of your skeleton argument, seek the courts permission & introduce at the hearing

[Vital Spark]

Is the contractual interest the same as compound interest and how is it/are they calculated?

[Pliny the Penuriosus]

NO!

 

CI is the same interest that they charge you for unauthorised borrowing which can vary by as much as 25% to 35% from bank to bank.

 

Compound is that interest calculated on a daily basis.

[blue.pricey]

Hi sister in law is thinking of going after tsb and natwest both accounts only used for different benefits going in will she still have to request statements and go the way everyone else has to or can she just say about not being able to take against benefits

[Pliny the Penuriosus]

Hi sister in law is thinking of going after tsb and NatWest both accounts only used for different benefits going in will she still have to request statements and go the way everyone else has to or can she just say about not being able to take against benefits

 

She will probably have to do both but 1st she should cut & paste the template letter at the start of this thread not forgetting to amend it accordingly

[Edal]

Hi, I have mounting and unpaid debts against several credit card companies including LloydsTSB. Last year I became ill and unable to work and I am currently receiving income support of £56 per week. This is my only income and is paid fortnightly into my Lloyds current account. I have just gone to draw out some money and I've seen that Lloyds Credit Card have withdrawn my income support payment in lieu of my failed payments. What can I do to stop this? Would it be easy to open a new bank account with my current bad credit rating? I am despairing.

[standingupformyself]

Yes, you must open a new account and inform the DSS immediatly, as soon as you have an account number. There are basic accounts that you can get regardless of your credit rating. Barclays have one, so do the Nationwide (I know this for sure, because you can even open their basic bank account if you are a bankrupt) They just have basic facilities,but at this point withdrawing your benefits through a hole in the wall, or over the counter is the only important thing.

You can also request that DSS pay your benefits in giro form whilst waiting for the account to be set up, I do know people who have done this, but it's not always possible.

There is a template letter at the begining of this thread that you can write to the bank if you know there are more charges due to come out....

 

Do not despair, keep asking questions,,,,, just because you are going through a sticky patch does not make you a 2nd class citizen, you have rights, and on this site there are people with much more expertise than myself that can help you.

If it is possible for you to go to a branch of Barclays in the morning, they will process your application for a new account, and if you ask they will give you the account number there and then, although you know what it is like, it can take a week or thereabouts to get the card etc through the door, then with this account number phone up the Benefits people and give them the new number.

 

Goo luck and keep us posted xx

[Edal]

Thanks for that encouraging advice. This evening I've applied to the Co-operative bank for a basic 'cashminder' account. I told them I was in trouble with other cards etc and the guy I spoke to said it shouldn't be a problem. They'll let me know within 10 days if I can have an account. I'm on my knees financially at the moment (like many people here I guess) and I couldn't believe that banks could simply dip in to your account and syphon off benefit payments. Maybe it was in the Terms & Conditions but stupidly enough -like many of us- I never read them that closely.

 

Thanks.

[abroadgirl]

i have just found this letter so i have added the social security acts paper with my AQ

as it was my dwp they took the charges from. ive now moved to the po so they carnt get there hands on it again ty martin

abg