Have you had big overdraft problems for a long period?
You can make an affordability complaint and ask for a refund of overdraft charges if:
- your overdraft limit was set too high at the start or increased to a level you are unable to clear; or
- your overdraft usage showed you were in long-term financial distress. For example, being in the overdraft all the time, or using an unauthorised overdraft a lot
- your overdraft was originally a student account with no charges, but now interest is being added and you are in the account all or almost all of every month.
This article shows how to make an affordability complaint to your bank, with a free template letter to use. If the bank doesn’t make you a good offer, it is free to take your case to the Ombudsman.
Worried about your credit record? See these FAQs on affordability complaints.
Contents
Overdraft affordability complaints
Overdrafts are supposed to be for short-term borrowing
Overdrafts are meant for short-term problems, not as long-term borrowing. A bank should review a customer’s overdraft usage and limit and if there are signs of financial difficulty, offer help.
One sign of financial difficulty is hardcore borrowing for a long period. The Lending Code defined hardcore borrowings as “the position where a customer’s current account overdraft remains persistently overdrawn for more than a month without returning to credit during that period”.
Some Ombudsman decisions
All cases are very individual. But these examples give you an indication of what the Ombudsman thinks is important.
In this NatWest decision, the Ombudsman decided:
NatWest did have an obligation to monitor Miss K’s use of her overdraft facility.
Any fair and reasonable monitoring of Miss K’s overdraft facility would have resulted in NatWest being aware Miss K was in financial difficulty … by October 2014 at the absolute latest. So NatWest ought to have exercised forbearance from this point onwards.
In this Santander case, the bank didn’t notice hardcore borrowing:
By this point, Miss C was hardcore borrowing. In other, words she hadn’t seen or maintained a credit balance for an extended period of time. Santander’s own literature suggests that overdrafts are for unforeseen emergency borrowing not prolonged day-to-day expenditure. So I think that Miss C’s overdraft usage should have prompted Santander to have realised that Miss C wasn’t using her overdraft as intended and shouldn’t have continued offering it on the same terms.
What points will help your complaint
Are you in the overdraft all, or almost all, of the month for a long while?
This is the most common reason for winning a complaint
Overdrafts are meant to be used for short-term difficulties. Using all of the overdraft for a few months is fine. Or for a few days at the end of a month before you are paid.
Banks should review your overdraft annually. This is in most overdraft terms and conditions. And even if it isn’t, the Ombudsman says this is good industry practice.
So at one of these reviews, your bank should have seen you were in difficulty with the overdraft. For example if you are in the overdraft for all (or almost all) of the month for a prolonged period. Or if you were often exceeding your arranged overdraft limit.
I would say over 2 years is prolonged borrowing, not short term. If you have only been in the overdraft for a few months and can’t manage, ask your bank for help, don’t make an affordability complaint you won’t win.
Did the bank set your limit too high?
This may have been from the start when you were first given an overdraft. Or the initial low limit may have been fine, then the bank increased it to a level which it was impossible to repay.
If the bank saw signs of financial difficulty, it should not have increased your credit limit, even if you asked for it. And it should have considered offering your help instead (the regulator’s word is forbearance), for example by stopping charges.
But what is too high?
This depends on your income and expenses. An overdraft of £2,000 for someone whose income is £1,800 a month is a lot – but if you earn £5,000 a month, then a £2,000 overdraft may be reasonable.
Any other reasons?
You won’t win an affordability complaint by saying the charges were too high.
Instead, you say the bank should have known they were unaffordable for you because of all the financial problems it could see on your statements and your credit record.
Any of the following problems are points your bank should have noticed if you were using your overdraft a lot:
- having direct debits or standing orders not being paid;
- a lot of gambling showing on your statements;
- significantly increasing other debts with the same bank (you may also be able to complain about those loans or credit cards);
- being recently rejected for a loan or a credit card by the bank;
- significantly increasing debts with other lenders showing on your credit record;
- a worsening credit record – maxed out credit cards, new missed payments, payment arrangements, defaults etc;
- using payday loans;
- mortgage arrears;
- a reduction in the income going into your account.
Making your complaint
What you need at the start
You don’t need to know the dates your limit was increased before complaining – my template asks for them.
You don’t need to send statements to the bank with your complaint – the bank already has them!
Your current credit record shows what was happening in the last six years, so download your credit report now and keep it. The sooner you get that report, the further back it goes. I suggest you get your free TransUnion statutory credit report.
Send a complaint by email
I don’t recommend starting a complaint on the phone. It’s too complicated and you will be talking to someone that doesn’t specialise in these complaints.
Email is the simplest way to make these complaints. Here is my list of bank email addresses for complaints.
An alternative is to send a long message in the app. But if this means using a chat facility, it’s not usually a good idea, as you are again talking to someone who doesn’t understand what you are saying and tries to tell you what help is available with your overdraft – when all you want is to have your complaint considered.
A template you can adapt
In the template below, I’ve invented some examples and dates so you can see how a complaint email could read. The bits in italics should be changed or deleted to tell your story. Delete dates if you don’t know them. If a sentence doesn’t sound relevant, delete it.
I am making an affordability complaint about the overdraft on my current account number 98765432.
Your identity details (these are needed if you complain by email, not if you use secure message):
My name is xxxxx xxxxxxxx. My date of birth is dd/mm/yy. The email address I use/used for this account was myaddress@whatever.com.
Your home address (if you know the bank has your current address, ignore this):
My current home address is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Please do not send any letters to older addresses you may have on your records.
If your overdraft was originally a student overdraft with no interest include this, otherwise delete it:
My account started as a student overdraft and no fees were charged. I am complaining about the period afterwards, when you started to charge fees.
START BY SAYING they should have noticed your financial difficulty
Overdrafts are meant for short-term borrowing but you could see I was unable to clear the balance in a sustainable way. I was using the account for long-term borrowing as I could not get out of this. The fees and charges you were adding were making my position worse.
I am complaining that [every year since [20xx] OR for many years] you have failed to notice my difficulty during the annual reviews of my overdraft. You should have offered forbearance eg by stopping interest and charges being added.
By 2017 I had been in my overdraft constantly for many months, not getting back into the black even when I was paid. This “hardcore borrowing” is a clear sign of financial difficulty. My income was only £1,850 a month – after I had paid bills, there was no way I could hope to clear an overdraft of £3500 in a reasonable length of time.
OR
By 2021, although my salary took my account briefly into credit, within a few days, I was back in the overdraft.
add any other points if they show you were in difficulty
You should have seen that I was in financial difficulty because you rejected my loan application in 2022.
You should have noticed that the income going into my account decreased from 2018.
From 2020-24 there was a lot of gambling showing on my account.
In 2022 there were a lot of rejected direct debits on my account.
… or anything else!
Say if the initial limit was too high or it was increased too high
You should never have given me an account with such a large overdraft. When I applied, you should have checked my credit record and income and seen I had recently missed payments to a credit card and had taken several payday loans.
OR
You should not have increased my overdraft limit. When you increased the limit, you should have seen that my debts to other lenders on my credit record had increased a lot
OR (for accounts that had been student accounts)
You should have seen after [2018] when you started charging interest that the limit was too high to be repayable on my income.
In your reply to this complaint, please tell me when any limit changes were and how much the limit went up or down.
Ask for a refund of charges and interest:
I would like you to refund all the interest and charges that were added to my account from 20186 when you increased my overdraft limit.
OR
I would like you to refund all the interest and charges that were added to my account from 2021 when you should have realised that my finances had got worse to the point that I was no longer able to clear the overdraft.
If you have problems on your credit record for this overdraft
Please remove any late payment and default markers from my credit records. (Don’t include this if there are no problems on the overdraft credit record)
Important points to note
Free student overdrafts
You can only win a complaint about these after the bank has started charging you interest. If you are still in the interest-free period, or only just outside it, you won’t win an affordability complaint and there is no point in complaining yet.
But once the bank has started charging interest, they should start doing annual reviews and then notice if you are in difficulty.
You can complain if the account is still being used or if it is closed
These complaints can be made if:
- you are still using the account or you have stopped using the bank account but it’s still open and you are being charged for the overdraft;
- the account is now closed but it has been open in the last 6 years;
- the bank defaulted it less than 6 years ago and sold it to a debt collector (here you still complain to the bank, not the debt collector). If the debt collector has gone to court and got a CCJ, add a sentence to the template saying you want the CCJ removed as part of the settlement of your complaint.
But if you have had an IVA or bankruptcy after these problems, or if you are in a DRO, then you shouldn’t complain – ask in the comments below for details.
Old accounts
Banks may say FOS won’t look at an old complaint, but this isn’t right.
FOS will normally look at a complaint if the bank account has been open in the last six years.
Open and recently closed accounts aren’t a problem – the bank will still have your statements.
If your complaint is about an account that was closed more than 6 years ago, it’s going to be very hard to win.
How much may you get back?
FOS can decide to go back more than 6 years, but the most common FOS decision at the moment is that there should be a refund for only the last 6 years.
A refund for the last 6 years will normally clear your overdraft. In many cases a refund for 4 years or even less may clear the overdraft. Look at how much you are charged a month and multiply that by 48 to see if a 4 year refund will clear it.
It is very unlikely you will get a refund going back to 2009, so keep your expectations reasonable.
Packaged bank accounts and business accounts
These affordability complaints are not about the fees on packaged bank accounts. MSE has a page about packaged bank account charge complaints.
The complaints covered here relate to personal accounts. For business accounts, talk to Business Debtline about your options.
The Bank replies
They want to phone me!
People are often scared if they get this message. But it may be good news! You can just ignore it or say you would like a reply in writing.
If you decide to take the call, it helps to be prepared:
- have a pen and paper handy so you can write down anything
- if they say they are partially upholding the complaint, ask them the date they are refunding the fees from, and how much. And say you would like to see this in writing before you decide whether to accept it.
- if they ask you questions that sound complicated or worrying, ask them to put the questions in writing as you find the phone difficult
- when they say they are rejecting the complaint, ask for this in writing, as you will be going to the Ombudsman.
Rejection/poor offer – go to the Ombudsman , it’s free
Banks reject many good complaints, hoping you will give up. So don’t! You know if the overdraft has caused you a lot of problems.
You can’t go straight to the Financial Ombudsman (FOS), you have to wait for the bank to reply, or for them to have not replied within 8 weeks.
Here are some things banks may say to try to put you off going to FOS:
- you could have declined the increase to your overdraft limit – FOS probably won’t think that is a good reason
- you never let the bank know you were in difficulty – FOS probably won’t think that is a good reason
- your salary was enough to return you to credit each month – this is misleading if bills meant you went into the overdraft in a few days;
- FOS will not look into things that happened more than 6 years ago – if your account was still open in the last 6 years FOS may well look at it.
And the bank may offer to refund fees for the last 2 years say, even though your problems have been large for many more years. Think twice about accepting a low offer – you won’t put this offer at risk by going to the Ombudsman.
If you are offered a refund for the last 6 years but not any further back, think seriously about just accepting it. Although it is possible for the ombudsman to award a refund going back further than 6 years. this is unusual.
If you aren’t sure, post in the comments below.
To send the case to FOS, use this online form:
- you can use what you put in your complaint to the bank;
- if the bank rejected your complaint or made a low offer, say why you think this is unfair;
- use normal English, not legal terms.
You don’t need to send your bank statements – the bank will send those to FOS. And you don’t need the policy documents for your bank account, the lender will supply those to FOS if they are needed.
Do these complaints work?
Yes! In 2026, some banks are making more offers directly.
A Guardian article featured a case where someone used the template letter here. Barclays denied it had done anything but made an £8,000 “goodwill” payment to the customer.
And if your bank rejects your case, people are winning cases at the ombudsman. FOS is a friendly service although it isn’t speedy. It isn’t faster to use a solicitor or a claims firm,
The comments below this article are from other people who have made this sort of complaint. That is a good place to ask for help if you aren’t sure what to do.
Is your credit card limit too high?
Refunds from unaffordable loans
ED says
Hi Sara, I used your overdraft complaint template and hoped to get your view on whether Monzo’s final response is worth taking to FOS.
Monzo have rejected my complaint, saying the overdraft was affordable based on their original checks and that they later sent warnings about prolonged overdraft use.
What I think is not considered is the duration and wider context. This overdraft was not short-term use. It became persistent borrowing over a long period, and was actually one of three overdrafts I had at the time. My primary current account overdraft had been near-maxed since 2018, and Monzo remains maxed and was at/near-maxed for a long time as well.
So although Monzo rely on the original affordability assessment and later warning messages, the real issue seems to be that this had clearly become long-term dependence on overdraft borrowing rather than occasional use.
What has also thrown me is that Starling proactively reviewed a similar overdraft history on my account with them and apologised and refunded the interest, whereas Monzo have taken the opposite position.
Do you think this sounds worth sending to FOS, and is the stronger angle the persistent overdraft use over time rather than the original grant?
Any thoughts would be hugely appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is long term persistent usage that usually is the strongest point to make.
Andy says
I’ve just had the same reply from Santander about my overdraft, with the same reasons. They done their financial checks, they sent letters etc. I went straight online the next day to make a complaint with the financial ombudsman, not sure how long this will take. Based on the date I made the complaint to Santander, and the date on their letter it took then about a week to make a decision! Which seems pretty quick to me.
Floff says
I had a student account with HSBC in 2015 and since then have RARELY been in credit any more than a few days. Most of the time maxing it out or even going into an unarranged overdraft. It was then changed to a graduate account in 2018 with an overdraft of £2000. And then I increased the overdraft in 2021 to to £2500 help me in my financial difficulties. The amount of interest I have paid over that time is ridiculous to have just sent the complaint. Fingers crossed!
Jet says
Hi Sara,
I have just sent a complaint and I now have a feeling of dread that the bank will demand I pay back my overdraft immediately if they don’t hold it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
which bank?
if this is worrying you, you could open another bank account now as a reserve in case your worst fears happen (this is very very unlikely, but if it stops you worrying…)
Jet says
HSBC, they have responded today saying they are looking into the complaint and given a ref. Number. They will be in touch with a resolution…
Sj says
Hi Sara , my case is now with the ombudsman,today I received the following message below. Could you explain what this means .
Our service has received judicial review claims which challenge the way we approach complaints where section 140A is relevant law. Whilst the complaints are not identical to yours, the approach we’ve taken to complaints about unfair relationships is being challenged in the courts, and the outcome of those court proceedings may have the potential to impact the way that we consider your complaint. As a result, I’m afraid we won’t be issuing a decision on your complaint whilst the matter is being considered more widely.
I appreciate this means you’ll have to wait longer for an answer from us, and you’ve already waited a long time to get to this stage. I’m sorry about the further delay. Unfortunately, I’m unable to give a timeframe for when this matter is likely to be resolved, as to a significant extent it rests with how quickly the courts
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you have had an investigator uphold your case, but the lender has objected so it needs to go to an ombudsman decision?
Are you in financial difficulty?
Sj says
Yes, my investigator upheld my case , NatWest replied and objected so now it’s passed to the ombudsman for there decision . I am in financial difficulty which my investigator was aware of , which resulted in her speeding up the case as quickly as she could. Initial complaint sent 10th Jan , took my case on in feb(8th). Just unsure what the judicial review part means ? Has this been slowing previous desicions down in the past ? .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A judicial review (JR) is a special kind of legal case taken against government or regulatory bodies. They are unusual.
I haven’t seen one before about affordability complaints. Some of the larger bad credit lenders such as Wonga are thought to have looked into one, but never went ahead.
This one doesn’t seem to be about affordability complaints in general, so much as how FOS takes decisions when the lending started over 6 years before the complaint, following a supreme court case in 2023 (https://supremecourt.uk/uploads/uksc_2022_0004_judgment_5e152723da.pdf).
if you are in financial difficulty, I suggest you talk to Stepchange about a debt management plan to get your finances into a stable position. A large overdraft problem is often just a symptom of a bigger financial problem, so a DMP gets new interest stopped on all the debts including the overdraft. https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-management-plan.aspx
Sj says
Thank you Sara x
CN says
Hi Sara,
I submitted two affordability complaints to NatWest at the start of February, one regarding persistent use of overdraft and the second regarding a loan I took out in March 2025 with NatWest which in my opinion should never have been approved. NatWest replied within a few days saying they did not uphold my complaint and would not be doing anything further. In their letter, they responded to both the overdraft and loan complaints in one, rather than two seperate letters. To refer to the FOS, should I submit this as one complaint covering both the overdraft and the loan and attach the letter I have had from NatWest, or should I submit two complaints to FOS?
Many thanks,
CN
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would send two complaints to FOS. Attache the rejection to both. In the loan one say “I also complained about by overdraft and I am sending a separate case to FOS about that”, and similar in the overdraft complaint.
Jason says
I had an affordability complaint for my overdraft upheld in August 2024 with HSBC. It was for £4,900 and was upheld. The redress brought it down to £1800 and they then gave a me a new overdraft for £1750 in August 2024 with a 0% interest. October 2025 they started adding interest, without any warning or letter saying that my overdraft was changing etc. HSBC said that they sent me a sole, text in late Oct 2025 just saying that I had gone into my unarranged overdraft. There is a lot of bad history with myself and HSBC and I had received this text before, even when I didn’t have an overdraft so didn’t think anything of it. December comes round and I noticed that they are still adding interest and I am getting calls every day from them, which I cannot answer. I email customer services on December 19th to ask if someone from the Overdraft team can email me as unable to talk on phone but they actually sent it to the complaint team who didn’t respond until 20th February. On 19th February, literally the day before, I got a final demand for the whole overdraft amount to be paid. I replied to the complaints team saying I was just after someone from the overdraft team. They haven’t got back to me since then. I have 4 missed payments on my credit report and I received a total of missed 80 calls in a 90 day periods, so averages about 1 per day when you factor in weekends and the Christmas period. I’m just concerned, but weren’t they meant to tell me my interest rates were changing?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes they should tell you.
What other debts do you have?
Jason says
I have about 6 or 7 other debts including credit cards and loans. I opened a new bank account a while ago so I can use that for all of my money and bills. Some of the other debts are with FOS for unaffordable lending.
I have had about 4 years of continous complaints towards HSBC due to their treatment of me which is too long to go into on here and it’s really affected my mental health. I thought I was finally getting a break from them after the overdraft affordability was upheld but now they’ve put this on me.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
iIt may be a good idea to consider a debt management plan to get yourself into a safe financial situation. I suggest you talk to Stepchange, see https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-management-plan.aspx. This would include the overdraft and get further interest stopped. Winning any affordability complaints will then speed up the DMP.
Jason says
I’d rather not if I can help it as from this month onwards I will substantial disposable income and I should be able to pay off all of my debt within the next 2 years?
Sorry, my initial query was just wondering if HSBC were wrong to just start charging interest despite given a 0% overdraft, with no communication to state otherwise whatsoever, and being called almost every day, also despite me emailing them to ask to be emailed instead and this being sent to completely wrong department and calls continuing for a further 2 months
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It doesn’t sound good. Take the case to the Ombudsman if you don’t think you are getting anywhere
Jason says
Thank you Sara. I will see what happens
Sj says
Hi Sara
Received confirmation from investigator today regarding Barclaycard affordability claim As follows , Barclaycard have now made a offer to resolve your complaint ,
*refund any interest and charges above the £400 credit limit.
*pay compensatory interest if applicable
*set up a affordable repayment plan with the pra group
*pra group to delete the adverse data from credit file on repayment of the debt .
I have accepted the offer , now I’m panicking as I have not been told of any figures . Have I made a mistake .
Debt is for £2800 and I’m now paying £60pm to a third party (pra) as it now has been sold .
Please advise on whether I should contact back the investigator and ask them to look further as it could be a very low amount I’m offered.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when was the account opened? when was the limit increased above 400? when did you default on this?
do you feel the 400 was unaffordable?
Sj says
Account opened in 2015 with £300 limit ,
May 2021 they upped my limit to £2000 even though I was making min payments each month . Payments jumped to £80dd pm which I cancelled as I could no longer afford . I defaulted oct last year.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when was the limit increased to 400?
how much of the 2000 limit were you using?
Jordan says
Hi Sara
Thanks for your help with all of this.
I complained to Lloyds in June last year and had constant delays. Took it to FOS and had a final decision letter within 3 weeks.
The response was underwhelming to say the least. £300 interest refund for just one period between Jan22 to Feb23. They have completely disregarded all the interest paid since I’m far worse financial situation where I have taken out loans, pay day loans and 5 credit cards.
They have also reported to remove what would be the remaining £1200 of my overdraft facility and expect that to be paid within 40 days before reporting it monthly to credit agencies.
In my opinion, this has left me in a far worse financial situation given it’s unlikely I’m to find a spare £1200 in a one month pay day period when I’m paying off cards elsewhere.
Is there any reason you think they have not looked from 2023 onwards or even mentioned it despite the worsening situation? I suspect they may think I will settle with this but have let FOS know I’m not happy with outcome.
P.S.
The FOS are aware of worsening finances from 2023 onwards from another complaint so luckily have ruled in my favour on that complaint but the bank; NatWest challenged that for a final decision but as other complaints is behind due to a judicial review. So will await the outcome of that.
Thanks for your help
Jordan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
is the Lloyds FOS decision from an investigator?
it sounds as though a debt management plan to stabilise your finances would be a good idea. I suggest you talk to Stepchange, see https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-management-plan.aspx. This would include the overdraft and get further interest stopped. Winning any affordability complaints will then speed up the DMP.
Jordan says
Hi Sara
The response was from Lloyds investigator not the FOS. They’re awaiting business file.
The letter was issued as if interest free was offered from Feb 2023 onwards, hence, the offer of refund was too just for prior to that period but since spoke to my investigator at FOS and explained the interest free period was only for 30 days (until March 2023) and hopefully there’s progress from that.
Thanks for your advice
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, you have told the FOS investigator why the offer isn’t acceptable. Good.
Roxanne says
Hi, I had a student account with NatWest with a forced overdraft that would increase quite frequently, despite me constantly being in it. when it eventually was maxed out my student loan would go in and I would only be around £100 in the positive until my rent was paid. when I left University (2016) and started working full time I was still struggling to make any payments. I ended up paying a chunk off with some back pay I was owed (2019) I finished paying the overdraft off in May 2023 after getting a bank loan from Nationwide to cover the remaining £1000 that I couldn’t clear by myself. would I have a claim here at all?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
NatWest reject almost all complaints so it’s a question of what the ombudsman would be likely to decide.
FOS very rarely goes back more than 6 years. So your maximum refund would be what you paid from April 2000 to May 2023. Have you any idea how much that was?
The fact you cleared it with a loan does NOT mean that the overdraft was affordable.
Michael Edwards says
Hi I’m after some advice please?
My claim was rejected instantly by Barclays so I went to the ombudsman who with some push back and forth with Barclays have just let me know they have agreed with there findings. The advise I’m after is can I push for a better offer with the ombudsman? Reason i ask is what Barclays have proposed is a refund and an overdraft reduction. And by there calculations my refund due is the exact amount to the penny of how much they want to reduce the overdraft. It just seems a coincidence. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what has Barclays proposed? A full refund since which date? Or something else?
Miriam says
Hi, I just wanted to let anyone reading this know that I’ve just been refunded charges and interest on my HSBC over draft. Total £1757.00
I sent my first email to HSBC in October 2025 and they pretty much straight away refused my affordability complaint.
So following DC advice, I took it to The Ombudsman. They looked in to it and agreed with my complaint.
Everything was done via email, which made it easier for me as I have some anxiety/shame around debt/talking about money.
Anyway it was so worth the emails and a bonus is, that it’s helped me reflect on my relationship with money and I’m letting go of any debt guilt. Infact I’m now telling everyone about it and it’s amazing how many people have been struggling currently or in the past.
Thanks again!
George says
that’s brilliant! congrats!!!
on my part, I sent my first email to NatWest in June 2025, went to the Ombudsman in August 2025. case and remedy upheld by 2 different investigators (one left the service and the process started again for some reason), but no decision will be made until the judicial review. I really don’t understand what’s going on.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Some background on the judicial review (JR). This is a kind of legal case taken against government or regulatory bodies like the Financial Ombudsman (FOS). JRs are unusual and in 8 years I haven’t seen one about affordability complaints.
The JR is about how FOS takes decisions when the lending started over 6 years before the complaint. FOS changed what it did a couple of years ago to bring it into line with a supreme court case in 2023 (https://supremecourt.uk/uploads/uksc_2022_0004_judgment_5e152723da.pdf).
The court case was held last year but the judgment hasn’t yet been published. Quite a few complaints are now on hold because of this. The timing is not in FOS’s control.
Are you in immediate financial difficulty?
George says
thanks for your reply, Sara.
I am in financial difficulty at the moment and am struggling more than usual with the interest payments every month. I don’t want to go onto a DMP as my credit rating would take a hit, and I don’t want to regret doing so if my situation improves in the next few years. i’m just about managing, but increases in cost of living might change that.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you have to be realistic about whether things will get better. Bills go up next month, energy is likely to jump from July, petrol has gone up a lot
JC says
That’s great. I have one with HSBC that I’m waiting for a reply on, but it’s only been 3 weeks? Did they go back 6 years?
Cal says
Hi,
I used your template and sent it to Santander. I am unemployed, receiving Universal Credit, and have had financial struggles frequently, using my overdraft consistently since 2019 when I graduated from university.
Santander have got back to me saying that they will do a phased overdraft reduction of £45 per month from 30th April. I imagine this will be on top of the £30 monthly overdraft charge. This is unaffordable.
Should I go straight to the Ombudsman with this?
Thanks,
Cal
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Has Santander actually rejected your complaint?
Do you have other debts as well?
joanne says
Hi Sara. My case has been waiting for this current reveiw of the ombudsmans way they look at cases like mine its been going on since January 2024 . The ombudsman has twice given recommendations in my favour against Natwest telling them to compensate me and wipe clear the debt but twice the Natwest have disagreed and now its in limbo waiting for this reveiw outcome. I am still paying over 200 pounds a month interest on this overdraft. If I make an arrangement with stepchange to freeze the interest and pay off the loan in the meantime will it affect my case in any way ie me accepting to pay it off is like accepting im at fault in the banks eyes .Thankyou Joanne.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Going into a DMP with StepChange will not affect this affordability case, it is a sensible step to take if you are in financial difficulty at the moment.
The DMP says you have financial problems now, it does not affect whether the overdraft/loan has been affordable for you over the past years.