Dear Sirs,
I am writing to make an official request for compensation / recovery of bank charges regarding the above account.
The bank charges were accrued after all payments to us stopped on 11th July 2006, due to an error on our account. I enclose a copy of a request for payment from the bank which specifies the exact amount.
With regards to compensation, I believe we are entitled to this because we were never informed of any problem by the Inland Revenue and did not discover the error until 27th July- both a day in the middle of our holiday, and my youngest Son?s birthday. We found this out when our bank card was refused making food purchases.
We had to borrow money to feed ourselves and the children, for then and the next several weeks. We also had to cancel our plans for a birthday celebration for X, and on a few occasions we as adults even had to forego a meal. This was because the problem took so long to sort (over a month), the bank froze the account, and we could not afford the petrol to go to see any family, as we live away from them.
We also had to survive without a fridge for five weeks, as ours broke down and we could not afford to replace it. This was during some of the hottest weeks of this year, and should not have been a problem if our money had arrived on time.
This error has not only robbed us of a holiday this year (our trip being ruined by lack of money / having to sort out the bank), and of a celebration of a birthday, but it came immediately after our eldest son was diagnosed with a disability and awarded the higher rate of DLA, indeed this was the reason for phoning WTC initially, along with renewing our claim.
I have spoken to our Assembly member who is happy to support our claim if it necessary, however I hope this can be sorted smoothly and as such restore some of our confidence in tax credits.
I look forwards to a swift response,
Yours faithfully,