Can Banks take Benefits

[pooky2483]

Re: Can Banks take Benefits

In writing?

I would complain to their Chief Exec.... and ask for the precise point of law they're relying on with that kind of response. IMO, the FOS are a waste of space...

Yes. read the letter...

[pooky2483]

Re: Can Banks take Benefits

Hence why I advised you go to the Chief Exec..... and bypass the "legal dept'.

Santander need to be challenged on their interpretation of the law as their "legal dept" seem to have adapted its content to suit their own ends (your other thread).



I doubt they would stick to their stance if pushed for a breakdown of where it comes from though....

I'll wait and see what FOS come back with.

[Diasflac]

Re: Can Banks take Benefits

Yes. read the letter...

That letter is the same bollocks I've had from them in the past, I hate Santander with a passion.

Their system being "automatic" is not an excuse, they use this a lot, just because an automatic system can't tell the difference doesn't mean the person writing the letter cannot.

I would take it further but what she says about the Social Security Administration Act is correct, if a benefit payment is paid into an account with a negative balance, or fees are applied to the account then I don't believe they have to refund the fee's as the fee's are valid. I looked over the wording myself and it does seem to only be if they are taking the fees directly from the payment, which they are not. If you tie up their complaints system enough, someone will eventually cave and give into you though. I once didn't let a complaint drop which was my fault and they credited my account £50.

I would suggest opening a new account and having them paid into there, I'm with Nationwide Flex but on a basic account, you cannot go overdrawn, if you have no money in your account you cannot use your card, I've tried, it's impossible. You can get charges for returned DD's and standing orders but the customer services are really nice and they tend to refund you if you tell them you're struggling regardless of how many times, unlike a lot of banks. I would recommend one of these current accounts to anyone over any of the big fat cat banks.

[pooky2483]

Re: Can Banks take Benefits

I would take it further but what she says about the Social Security Administration Act is correct, if a benefit payment is paid into an account with a negative balance, or fees are applied to the account then I don't believe they have to refund the fee's as the fee's are valid. I looked over the wording myself and it does seem to only be if they are taking the fees directly from the payment, which they are not. If you tie up their complaints system enough, someone will eventually cave and give into you though. I once didn't let a complaint drop which was my fault and they credited my account £50.

So, what youre saying is that if the balance is £0.00 and then your benefit goe in they can take some in charges?
What I'm complaining about is, say I have £15 in and theres a DD for £30, they bounce it. Then when my benefits go in, they take £25 in charges.

I would suggest opening a new account and having them paid into there, I'm with Nationwide Flex but on a basic account, you cannot go overdrawn, if you have no money in your account you cannot use your card, I've tried, it's impossible. You can get charges for returned DD's and standing orders but the customer services are really nice and they tend to refund you if you tell them you're struggling regardless of how many times, unlike a lot of banks. I would recommend one of these current accounts to anyone over any of the big fat cat banks.

We plan on doing that because of the way theyve been screwing us around.
I opened a B&B account in 1995. Satan bought them out in 2009. They opened a new account for me and also gave me a cashpoint card for a seperate account (this was the old B&B account but I didnt know it).

I wanted to make the account a joint account with my wife, they did that fine and also recomended we open another joint account with a high interest. we said yes, They tried opening it but due to defaults in my name, they couldnt put me on the new account (I didnt know at the time or why). So they just opened it as a sole account in my wifes name (again unknown to us as they didnt explain that it was a sole account).

Trying to sort out the mess took over 1 1/2 years.

[Diasflac]

Re: Can Banks take Benefits

So, what youre saying is that if the balance is £0.00 and then your benefit goe in they can take some in charges?
What I'm complaining about is, say I have £15 in and theres a DD for £30, they bounce it. Then when my benefits go in, they take £25 in charges.



We plan on doing that because of the way theyve been screwing us around.
I opened a B&B account in 1995. Satan bought them out in 2009. They opened a new account for me and also gave me a cashpoint card for a seperate account (this was the old B&B account but I didnt know it).

I wanted to make the account a joint account with my wife, they did that fine and also recomended we open another joint account with a high interest. we said yes, They tried opening it but due to defaults in my name, they couldnt put me on the new account (I didnt know at the time or why). So they just opened it as a sole account in my wifes name (again unknown to us as they didnt explain that it was a sole account).

Trying to sort out the mess took over 1 1/2 years.

Yes I believe that's correct, from my experience even if you paid nothing into the account they'd still apply the charges and bring it into a negative balance. So they're taking the fees from your bank account rather than your benefit directly. Its a tricky area, I think they're right from reading the act myself, but you'd need a solicitor to verify it, which I'm not. I don't it's right they do it though, as I said my bank will refund all charges if I'm in difficulty, there's no reason other banks can't follow suit.

I was in the same boat, got a student overdraft from Abbey National, santander took over and demanded full repayment, I couldn't and defaulted. Eventually paid it off had an A&L account that I was really happy with, Santander came in and suddenly my bank charges exempt account (it was a premium account from an offer but I didn't pay for it) suddenly wasn't exempt anymore. So left again and discovered Nationwide. Had no complaints with them.

[PriorityOne]

Re: Can Banks take Benefits

The issue here is for Santander to put what they do or do not believe in writing (which they have) and provide a detailed breakdown of their actions, backed up with the correct legislation (which they haven't).

That's why the door is still open to push this one further (IMO)....

[pooky2483]

Re: Can Banks take Benefits

Well, because of the account fiasco, I've already told them that I will be closing the account due to the way they have treated me.

One thing I did forget but will also bring it to Satans attention when I write a letter telling them why I'm closing the acc.

They wont give my wife a debit card for the joint account but they were happy to change my old B&B account that was turned into a cashpoint card account for me when they took over. When they tried to open a new joint acc, they couldn't as stated above so they made my wife the account holder for the old B&B account and gave her a card. Then WHY cant the give her a card for the JOINT account?

[pooky2483]

Re: Can Banks take Benefits

The issue here is for Santander to put what they do or do not believe in writing (which they have) and provide a detailed breakdown of their actions, backed up with the correct legislation (which they haven't).

That's why the door is still open to push this one further (IMO)....

What do you mean by the bit in BOLD?

[PriorityOne]

Re: Can Banks take Benefits

What do you mean by the bit in BOLD?

Basically.... to say why they've done it and state precise bits of the Act they've relied on to reach that decision. In other words, be less wishy washy about their decision.

In my experience, banks/DCAs don't like doing this..... as it puts them on the spot and the more letters they send out in response to a complaint, the more knots they seem to tie themselves up in.

**Edit** Their paragraph attempting to do this is cr*p.

[Diasflac]

Re: Can Banks take Benefits

Where I think you can push them, regardless of legislation is here:

"Benefits are payable in order to help customers meet their expenses"

They are for basic living expenses ONLY. Reiterate this point in any follow up letter. Even a list of what they're for. Rent, Council Tax, Gas, Electric, Food etc. They are not for debts and other fee's as rightly pointed out by other users.

"and as such it is legitimate for banks to deduct the charges from the balance of on account held in that bank"

When they said "And as such" to follow on from the previous sentence, they have actually seemed to say their fees are legitimate expenses for benefit claims. Although in my opinion what she meant was true, that banks CAN take charges off of an accounts balance regardless of what any payments into it were.

The poor wording here could be confused in this way and I would have something to the affect of "On your letter you said bank charges are legitimate expenses which benefit money should be used for". It will push them into a bit of a corner having to be very careful with their next response, if at any point they clearly claim benefit money should be used to pay bank charges they'll be in a whole heap of trouble, then I'd go to the FOS.

[PriorityOne]

Re: Can Banks take Benefits

Reminds me of a conversation I had with a DCA employee years ago when on Benefits myself.... when he told me that increases in Benefits were to help pay off debts....

Yeah right....

It used to state on the bottom of Income Support letters that "this is the amount the law says you need to live on"... or words to that effect.

Live on. Enough said....

[Sappho]

Re: Can Banks take Benefits

Nice admission from Santander, if i have read this correctly, bank charges are in the "nature of an expense". Surely, worth challenging what they are doing for their £25. Generally, it is for charging for a letter to you to tell you they are putting on a charge. As this letter is automated anyway and merely costing them an envelope, a second class stamp..... A fiver at the most as a real person has to put it in the post bag. Tot up all the charges, ask Santander for them all back, add interest, and take them to the FO if they don't act reasonable. Santander has to pay £500 for every case that is investigated by the FO, so they won't want to act tough for a smallish sum.

[pooky2483]

Re: Can Banks take Benefits

Yep, same argument as used against DCA's - How can they justify the charges? Trouble is, they won't answer the question.

[Sappho]

Re: Can Banks take Benefits

No they won't, but let the clock tick and when the statutory period is up send it on to FO. Outcome is likely to be positive - except it takes about a year....

[pooky2483]

Re: Can Banks take Benefits

No they won't, but let the clock tick and when the statutory period is up send it on to FO. Outcome is likely to be positive - except it takes about a year....

Can't quite figure what you're on about???