A Big Victory

Just over a week ago I lost my temper a little. Best I explain the back story a bit.

I have a friend, yes a real person not a figment of my imagination, who, like me, is an ex-serviceman. We watch out for each other. He doesn't have depression but does have PTSD as well as physical disabilities. They all come from his time in the Army.

Some time ago he split up with his partner, or more correctly she kicked him out. |He was homeless. The local council would not give him a homeless case officer, as they thought he could be a danger to them. They put him in a hostel. He couldn't claim housing benefit for this for reasons he didn't understand.

At that time he had a mobility vehicle. He needed to move it, but all his benefit money was going to pay for the hostel. He used his authorised overdraft to purchase some fuel, in order to move the vehicle. On the day his next benefit payment was made his bank listed the charges for overdraft usage before the benefit payment. This meant that for much less than 1 second he was 6p over his overdraft limit. You know what banks are like. They wrote to him, and charged him accordingly.

Now, with everything he was dealing with at the time, this was just too much. He went to the Citizen's Advice Bureau. They wrote to his branch of the bank twice. Telling him to open a new account elsewhere and not pay the old bank. This he did. Both letters were ignored. The branch closed shortly after. As is the way with our local CAB, they then dropped it. As soon as any matter shows the slightest hint of being problematical they stop doing anything with it.

In March the lease on his mobility vehicle was up. He returned it. It was his hope to purchase an adapted vehicle he had found offered at a discounted price for military and ex-military people. His payments for mobility would cover the monthly instalments but he needed a small loan to help with the deposit.

By this time he had found a new home and was rebuilding his life. He went to his new bank, and found he could not get a loan. Investigations revealed that his old bank had listed a default in his name for the sum of £265, for a debt of 6p that only existed because of their accounting process.

The CAB showed little interest in trying to deal with this. I helped him draft a letter to the banks head office, explaining what had happened, that the CAB had advised him and written, and that, on advice of the CAB he didn't have to pay. However, he would pay the £265 so long as the credit default was lifted. They refused.

That was the situation the other day when I went on to the banks Facebook page, to see they had posted a picture of a poppy saying "We will remember them". I was incensed!

You can imagine the reply I posted to that. Fortunately I took a deep breath first. The language was strong, but not offensive; I did not swear at them. 

Well it seems it has worked. Apparently, though I do not yet have the full details, this matter has now been fully dealt with. Strike one for peer support!

There is going to be an ironic sting in the tail of this for the bank. My local MP is a friend of mine. I did all the photos for his campaign for the election. He has had several meetings over the last couple of months with the chief executive of the same bank. Just so that they know exactly how much damage I could have done I will get him to pass on our thanks, through their chief executive.

Wow it feels good to have helped someone with something this big.

Cheers,

Alan. (Crackaig)