Reclaiming Bank Charges Before or After Bankruptcy?

[DK32UK]

I'm planning on making myself bankrupt in 6 weeks or so, or when I can afford it. I've only recently come across CAG (and what a great find it's been!!), recommended by a friend and am now considering attempting to reclaim bank charges.. and there's been many Does anyone know or can clarify if after bankruptcy bank charges can be reclaimed? OR, excuse the density, is it a case of this matter being non-existent after bankruptcy? I'm guessing so. It 'hurt's knowing that I could have a chance to reclaim and perhaps afford to pay for the bankruptcy with some of the money won instead of having to borrow it.

 

Thanks!

[jezzyjet]

hi there,if you can survive long enough to start claiming before you go bankrupt do it now,you might find that if some of the lenders you owe will have to stop pressuring you if you put the accounts into dispute ,im sure you would be able to claim after bankruptsy but you might find and money recovered would be taken to pay off any other debts if you existing equity does not settle the outstanding liability,i would avoid going bankcrupt unless its your only option,these are my views please take further advise before acting hope ive helped jezzy

[Boobaby]

hi there,if you can survive long enough to start claiming before you go bankrupt do it now,you might find that if some of the lenders you owe will have to stop pressuring you if you put the accounts into dispute ,im sure you would be able to claim after bankruptsy but you might find any money recovered would be taken to pay off any other debts if you existing equity does not settle the outstanding liability,i would avoid going bankcrupt unless its your only option,these are my views please take further advise before acting hope ive helped jezzy

 

I absolutely agree with Jezzy's advice especially the highlighted sentences. Any money acquired form recouping the charges would certainly bu used to pay off your creditors.

A couple of questions:

1. Would the reclaimed charges go some way toward paying off some of your outstanding debts?

2. You say you are going Bankrupt when you can afford it, is this your choice then or is an organisation threatening legal action?

3. Why Bankruptcy - this is an extreme route to go down?

[jezzyjet]

thankyou for your support boobaby its nice to know ones advice is accurate! or at lease i hope so jezzy

[Boobaby]

thankyou for your support boobaby its nice to know ones advice is accurate! or at lease i hope so jezzy

 

I hope so too !!

 

Boo xx

[DK32UK]

Thank you both for your replies

 

I have chosen to go bankrupt because I was advised by the CCCS and CAB. It's a long story, but in short I'm thinking of starting another thread to re-consider my options, especially after your advice. I had a debt management plan with the CCCS and couldn't keep to it. I got myself a long term illness, couldn't/can't work anymore. They told me I was in too much deficit to continue with them and suggested bankruptcy. I went to the CAB and they suggested the same. However, after joining CAG and discovering another way I'm in two minds over bankruptcy, mainly because of acquiring rented accommodation for the near future (I fear my poor credit rating with spoil the chances of finding a place to live. With that and being on housing benefit doesn't put me in good stead with landlords) and my car (very old one) I absolutely need for getting around in. I'm more inclined to go for bankruptcy because I have limited energy and I know the other route is going to take time. I've spent the last year intermitently bed/housebound and have just started receiving treatment and think the onging stress of taking the CCA route together with reclaiming bank charges will fuel my symptoms and slow recovery. It's a tough one! For the past year I've managed to keep creditors off my back by updating with budgets and talk of bankruptcy and no offer of token payment, but the threats are getting heavier and I need to sort it out. My employers SSP has just come to an end and I am entitled to claim benefits which I have done. I expect to hear from them in 4-6 weeks or longer. On this I will only have to pay part of the court fees for bankruptcy which is £335 (which I will have to borrow).

 

Seems such a mess reading back on that :o What do people think? Shall I start the ball rolling on reclaiming bank charges and requesting CCAs or keep a low profile until benefits come through and go bankrupt? Today I went and bought 6 postal orders for £1 with the intention of requesting CCAs. What to do!!??

 

Any further advice most welcome..

[jezzyjet]

hi there,the fact the creditors have kept off your back for so long without taking action MIGHT be due to the fact they havent got the valid cca"s you have nothing to loose by requesting them to supply the cca"s only a pound a time and they will be off your back in a matter of weeks if they havent,do you own your own home at present? what is the size of the debts? jezzy

[DK32UK]

Thanks jezzy, now would'nt that make it a breeze It's sounding even more appealing... I rent and have to move in August so would need to go into rented accommodation again so haven't much time at all.

 

CURRENT DEBTS

Barclaycard 3746

Barclayloan 4294

Intrum Justitia (don't ya just love 'em) 1879

Student Loan Company 551

Powergen (now with DCA Buchanan Clark & Wells) 292

Water Bill from previous tenancy 51

Council Tax from previous tenancy 300

 

TOTAL

11113

[jezzyjet]

ps.cant remember were i heard it,

 

"i dont regret the things i did,just the things i didnt do"

[jezzyjet]

if you rent then they havent got anything to take from you anyway!my uncle owes 20k to half a dozen lenders and pays back a pound a month he lives with my nan, mabey you can get the debts written off be cause of your situation, "JUST HIDE YOUR VALUABLES"

 

JEZZY

[DK32UK]

ps.cant remember were i heard it,

 

"i dont regret the things i did,just the things i didnt do"

 

Indeed!

[DK32UK]

I guess the only way to get them written off is to start by requesting CCAs. They're fully aware of my personal circumstances and that counts for NIL

[Boobaby]

Thanks jezzy, now would'nt that make it a breeze It's sounding even more appealing... I rent and have to move in August so would need to go into rented accommodation again so haven't much time at all.

 

CURRENT DEBTS

Barclaycard 3746

Barclayloan 4294

Intrum Justitia (don't ya just love 'em) 1879

Student Loan Company 551

Powergen (now with DCA Buchanan Clark & Wells) 292

Water Bill from previous tenancy 51

Council Tax from previous tenancy 300

 

TOTAL

11113

 

Hi honey

Sorry to hear of your ongoing problems lets hope that this forum can, in conjunction with you, alleviate some of the stress. The reason I asked about the Bankruptcy choice is that it is the last option and does not come with out it's long term problems which I am sure you are aware.

A couple of points -

 

1. As far as I am aware then the following you would have no redress over, in other words they will need to be paid:

a. Water bill from previous tenancy

b. Council Tax from previous tenancy (double check that you have had all the discounts you are allowed on this e.g. single person discount if applicable etc.)

c. Student Loan account - speak to them regarding the repayments as due to the fact that you are now in receipt of benefits might make a difference.

 

2. Are you aware of any charges being incurred on your Barclaycard if so then can I suggest you first tackle that one with a DPA/SAR unless you have copy statements etc. see below for details etc. You will need to send £10 for this request however.

 

3. Before you do anything else including the above you need to read the FAQ's as a matter of urgency. You need to understand what you request from each of the above i.e. DPA/SAR or CCA etc...

 

Boo x

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[DorsetStrider]

I hate to be the bringer of bad tidings....but

 

I myself went bankrupt several years ago. When i found out that these bank charges were "unenforcable" I looked into claiming them back.

 

The responses I got were all along the same lines...Although I was then discharged from bankrupcy these monies now belong to the official receiver.

 

I would like to point out that I am NOT a solicitor so dont take this as gosspel. If you do find out for definate that you can claim it back after bankrupcy please let me know as I'll start a case against Barclays to try to get my £7000+ back.

 

Oh one last thing.... if you or anyone else is thinking about bankrupcy you could do worse than visit this forum... full of people that are going throu or have been throu the same situation....

 

Debt Questions Forum | Debt Questions

 

Hope all this helps.

[gizmo111]

All good advice from Boo - I wouldsay hold of on the BR for now and just make token payments to these debts until your future is more clear.

The student debt is how old?

[DorsetStrider]

Oh and for the record Student debt.......(course fees).... CANNOT be writtern off in bankrupcy! They will remain and have to be paid off after the bankrupcy.

[DK32UK]

Thank you for your kindly words, I'm quite convinced the 'only way is up!'.. the optimism is just tucked away in an out of bounds area at the moment ;-)

 

OK..

 

1. a & b. I will start by offering token payment of £1 to start with and when up and running increase the payment. c. I've had SLC on deferment for a while so can address that a little later on.. or again offer a £1 token payment whilst still on deferment and again, with a view to increasing the payment when up and running.

 

Does that sound like a good move?

 

2. I have to check out the balance and bank charges for Barclaycard. I don't get statements anymore. They take my housing benefit payments out of my account which I no longer use, so they are now continuously calling for payment. After reading through the threads today, and on receiving a call from them today I replied, "I'm sorry, I don't discuss financial matters on the telephone, please send something in writing" repeat x 2, "Thank you" and hung up. I expect some reading matter through the post. You're right I need to tackle this one ASAP, but not before reading up on Data Protection Act/SAR.

 

Thanks Boo, I'll go do the research and report back :grin:

[DK32UK]

Oh and for the record Student debt.......(course fees).... CANNOT be writtern off in bankrupcy! They will remain and have to be paid off after the bankrupcy.

 

Yeh, shame about that one, it's one of the smaller debts and a bit more managable if I don't go for bankruptcy, so doesn't hurt so much!

[DK32UK]

All good advice from Boo - I wouldsay hold of on the BR for now and just make token payments to these debts until your future is more clear.

The student debt is how old?

 

1996/97 ... a bit old, but has only been on deferment for the past 9 months, I've paid one off already and the 551 is the last of it.

[DorsetStrider]

Bl**dy politians making sure their behinds are covered! lol

 

Can you let me know if you get a definate response on claiming back bank charges after bankrupcy? as I'm very interested to get a definative answer on this (assuming it's different from the one I already got).

[DK32UK]

I will indeed if I finally go for bankruptcy. I have a friend who has just gone bankrupt and she is in the same position as you and trying to find out as to whether they can be reclaimed. If I find anything out I will post it, although I can't see the official receiver not taking an interest in ANY monies being deposited or received..

 

I'll keep you posted.

[DorsetStrider]

The only thing I would add is that I KNOW my official receiver didn't claim the money back from barclays...

 

However as I said that's irrelivent since (I was told) that the only person that can make a case for that money now is the OR.

[DK32UK]

I've stumbled across a few threads about this situation and they're all pretty much saying the same thing re: it's down to the official receiver. Is it something you can discuss with the OR? I'll keep browsing the threads here anyway and keep an eye open for something more solid..

[DK32UK]

I've just had a thought, am I right in thinking I can claim charges incurred by Barclaycard (for non-payment and interest) and on my Barclays current account?

[Boobaby]

I've just had a thought, am I right in thinking I can claim charges incurred by Barclaycard (for non-payment and interest) and on my Barclays current account?

 

First things first - thanks for the confirmation Gizzmo how are you doing honey?

 

Right now then lets look at this logically.

 

1. As I said earlier there are some of these debts that will need to be paid but if you offer a nominal sum as long as they can see you are making an effort to clear them they will be happy with that.

2. The student debt as also advised will need to be paid back and will not form part of the bankruptcy debt (which again as stated earlier I do advice you to think seriously about)

3. As far as I am aware it makes no difference who the Official Receiver is dealing with your case the rules are the same - and I quote

"By law you must inform your trustee (who will be appointed to work on your behalf by the Official Receiver) of any property which becomes yours during the bankruptcy. Such property includes lump sum cash payments that you may receive, e.g. redundancy payments, inheritence monies" This would also include large Lottery winnings, bank charge credits etc.

 

The Official Receiver looks at your incomings and outgoings and your life style etc. and then considers what you need to reasonably live on. They would then take any additional monies you have to pay off your Creditors etc.

4. If you think there might be charges on your current/bank accounts etc and you do not have the statements to hand you will need to send Data Protection Act/S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) letter requesting the details etc (as stated earlier).

 

I think that's enough to be going on with at the moment, see how you get on with that and if you need anything further then please post again.

 

Boo x