help please!!

[M_A_A_B]

I havent started my claim against Abbey yet....I plan on doing this asap.

 

The problem is...I had roughly £180 in my account saved for my rent which is due on the 28th....I have to transfer the money a few days before this though.

 

I have just checked my account and Abbey have taken 5 charges of £35 each....the money was my benefits which I get fortnightly and I had saved that money to add to the money I will be getting for my benefits next week.

 

I know I can claim the money back but in the short term that isnt going to help me pay my rent. Is there any way in which I can get all or even some of these charges refunded?? I am really desperate and I cant believe they have just taken my benefits!

 

please, please can anyone help??

[bish]

Hi MAAB,

 

Bar***ds, I can only advise that you ring them and explain the situation. If you do not get any positive response, then as a last resort threaten them with court action. Try to get someone in authority, rather than a pleb on the phone. They can waive these charges if inclined to do so, be diplomatic but strong. If you have to, remind them of the regulations regarding these charges, and the fact that thousands of people are recovering these charges from their banks. Quote my case if you wish, 6KL01604 £8070.41 settled on 14/02/07. HTH and best wishes.

 

Regards bish.

[dx100uk]

send them one of these:

ia not sure if it will backdate as such but try

maybe fax?

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/42170-right-appropriation-stop-bank.html

 

 

dx100uk:cool:

[bish]

Hi MAAB,

 

As an after thought can you not get your benifits paid in another way, so they are not paid into a bank account. You can also write a letter to your bank dictating who has first priority to your money. At the end of the day in your situation I would stop having money paid into the bank. HTH.

 

Regards bish.

 

PS see someone has given you the right of appropriation section so have a look.

[Guest louis wu]

I can only echo the sentiments made by Bish.

 

Perhaps you could try the complaints dept 0845 600 6014, rather than the 'local' call centre.

 

Feel free to quote my case as well if it helps, 6 QZ 83254, settled 16/2/07

 

To stop this happening again, you may consider the following

 

1. Open a new account elsewhere ( you will be well advised to do this at some point in the near future). There are several 'basic' accounts that almost garauntee acceptance. I know of the nat west step a/c, but there are others if you look around.

 

2. There is a letter in the template section that sets out a method of allocating YOUR money to specific needs (ie bills/rent etc). There is also some legal jargon there which may help in a telephone discussion relating to this process.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/42170-right-appropriation-stop-bank.html

 

On top of this, have a good look around the site before you start your claim for charges, and definately read the FAQ's if you havn't done so already.

Best of luck, and keep us posted.

[Guest louis wu]

looks like I was too slow with my typing lol

[dx100uk]

hehe

i must admit it took me 5 mins to find the link

 

dx100uk:D

[M_A_A_B]

thank you for all your responses.

 

I have tried phoning Abbey on a previous occassion when they took two charges from my account but they said as the charges had already been taken there was nothing they can do....I fear I will get the same response again but I'll give it a go!

 

I'm not sure if I can get my benefits paid in any other way....I believe this is more difficult now since they started paying into banks rather than using giros......having money paid into my bank is easier for me than getting a giro anyway as I'm disabled and cannot get to the nearest post office myself.....plus the benefits people seem to be almost as bad as banks!

 

Many thanks for the links to the right of appropriation info....and for your cases references that I can quote

 

I just hope I can actually get somewhere with it all!

[M_A_A_B]

Just to let you all know....I phoned up today. Took me ages to get through but the guy I spoke to was ok. He's given a reference number and said my complaint will be passed on to the people who specifically deal with bank charges....they will review my complaint and get back to me in two or three weeks *sigh*

 

I told the guy I will be writing to the to claim back all my other charges

 

Looks like I'm not going to get my money back in time to pay the rent though so I'll have to borrow it from somewhere.....I wasnt even warned about these charges coming out

[Guest louis wu]

Maab, are you sure you wasn't warned; they usually appear on the summery page of your statement.

 

If you weren’t told, they have breached their own T&c's

 

Abbey T&C's from website today

 

 

5 Interest and charges

 

 

5.3 Interest and charges will normally be credited or debited, as appropriate, to your Account on the same day each month, unless you have requested a change of statement date. WE WILL GIVE YOU AT LEAST 14 DAYS NOTICE OF INTEREST AND CHARGES FOR STANDARD ACCOUNT SERVICES TO BE DEBITED

 

 

Double check about the notification, but if they haven’t informed you about them create hell.

 

I sympathise with your situation, and really hope you get this bit sorted out. I know its no consolation, but you will be able to have the last laugh with Abbey. Don’t let the bxxxxxs get you down.

 

Best of luck

[M_A_A_B]

Have just checked and found I was notified of two charges in the middle of december.....and another two in january (I'm getting charges because of charges) Can they pile them up like that and just wait until I have some money in my account?

[Guest louis wu]

Unfortunately, its often not what they CAN do, its what the can get away with doing.

[M_A_A_B]

***Update***

 

Had a letter from Abbey today saying they will refund me £50 as a gesture of goodwill....blah blah blah I had a copy of terms and conditions when I opened the account and make sure I have money in the account to avoid charges etc etc

 

They took £175 from my account.....can I still claim back the rest of this money as well as other charges they have taken in the past?

 

They have also said in the letter that my file will be kept open for 8 weeks and I can complain further if I like....should I do that? Or just go for all the charges they owe me at once using the template letters on here?

 

Any advice is much appreciated!

[anney63]

Open up a new bank account elsewhere which shoud be easier notify benefits of new account they only have to type in new details on a competer which generates BACS payment.Start the ball rolling and get ALL your charges back. They did this to my son and his partner and things went from bad to worse and I had to step in and help. Got all their charges back plus interest which will pay for their wedding in August. Don't let them get away with it!!!!

[Guest louis wu]

Couldn't agree more with Anney.

 

You are entitled to claim all your charges back, Abbey have been using the little goodwill £50 line for a long time now. I suppose if I didn't know about CAG, I would consider it a result, now I look upon it as nothing but an insult.

 

Open your parachute account, loads of great info here

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/welcome-our-forum/58685-do-you-need-parachute.html

 

I cannot, and would not tell you what to do, but just look at the successes on this site £8 million in charges refunded in just about 1 year, and millions more currently on the go. Its a pretty persuasive argument. Don't forget, you will get all the support you will posibly need here, and it really does help.

 

Kee us informs M A A B, and best of luck

 

Louis

[adam1976brown]

hi... just started reading this thread and i am sure i read or heard somewhere that any form of tax credits or benifits can not be used to cover charges... i am 70-80% sure i have seen it... might be worth investigating that a bit further...

[raverbaby1]

Hi, just found your thread, that b****cks they gave you about not being able to do anything about the charges because they'd already been taken out is utter crap!!!! I was charged 3 times for an unpaid direct debit and kicked up a stink and as a "gesture of good will" they took one of the charges off there and then.

 

Raver:)

[M_A_A_B]

thanks everyone...I fully intend to get all my money back...I just wasnt sure if I would claim the rest of the £175 back seperately as it has it's own complaint...or can I claim it back along with the rest of the charges outside of this complaint?

[M_A_A_B]

just a quick update.....a month later Abbey have just taken 4 charges of £35 each from my account....there was no money in there and my benefits will be going in next week. So now my benefits will all disappear into this unauthourised overdraft and, again, my rent is due and I cant afford it.

 

The charges are for DDs that couldnt be paid because they had taken charges from my account...I'm just getting swamped with these charges now and Abbey are less than helpful.

 

I'm thinking of opening a new account somewhere else to get my benefits paid into and then claiming back the charges from Abbey in the usual way. This will probably leave my Abbey account overdrawn though....can they do anything about that??

 

Does anyone know if there is anywhere I can get help with my rent as I'm not going to get the moment back for these charges in time to pay it.

[withoutapaddle]

Without hesitation I would phone the benefits agency and have your money STOPPED from going into that account.

At a later date you can make an arrangement to pay off the account at an aggreeable rate.

My advise would be to phone the benefits agency and explain what is happening with the account.

And as the others have suggested get yourself another account.

I'm in the process of claiming back my charges too and went along to the Yorkshire bank and opened up an acc with them. It was simple to easy.

 

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

 

Take Care

[M_A_A_B]

phoned the benefits people...they are sending me a giro instead In the mean time I can set up a new bank account and claim back charges from Abbey.

 

Thank you so much for your help

[Guest louis wu]

I know they are all as bad as each other, but I had a bad credit record and had to go for a 'basic' account. Ended up with Nat West (Step account), pretty certain they didn't credit score me (computer would have said NO), and although no cheque book or O/D, I did get a solo debit card which most places accept.

 

I'm not on commission;) , but for me its ok.

 

Louis

[M_A_A_B]

I was gonna go for the Natwest step account anyway Glad it's an ok one

[bish]

Hi

 

The banks are dictating our lives for us and charging at every oppertunity. Get rid of the DD's if you can, you have internet access so pay your bills through that. Do not let them dictate how you spend your money. You do not need OD facilities or credit cards, they are just a control of your life by the banks, get rid of them. Change accounts and do the minimum of transactions through the bank, they are untrustworthy.

 

Regards bish.

[M_A_A_B]

I dont have credit cards or an overdraft and already do as little as I can through the banks...unfortunatly, I have to have DDs set up for somethings as the only alternative is to pay in full which I can afford (eg contents insurance)