jonni2bad v Halifax - Got the money but no default removal

[jonni2bad]

Only just realised I hadn't started my own thread v Halifax, so here it is...

We have an 'account' with Halifax, although the overdraft debt is now in the hands of the marvellous Blair, Oliver and Scott Ltd.

Closed with a default November 2003. Overdraft at time = £715.86

We hold the statements going back 4 years, during which time we had been charged £1,292.00 - a good part of which occured in the few months preceeding the default (April - Nov 2003 = £760) which in itself surpasses the default amount.

Data Protection Act request sent by recorded delivery on 11th March, confirmation of delivery on 13th. Deadline for supply of details is 22nd April.

Have had no response from Halifax - including 6 reminder emails to customer services (to date).

Will be sending letter by post tomorrow, Monday 9th April, to clarify the above...

I'm very tempted to just start the next part of the process, but we will see....

And that's about it - for now!

[Neo]

If you are worried, give them maybe 5 more days and send a letter to them reminding them of the 40 day limit (has the cheque been cashed?) and if you do not receive your statements you will be suing for an estimated amount. that will make them sit up.

Don't rush the process though, you will win.

ps Make sure you say in your Prelim letter you will be wanting your Default removed as it was applied incorrectly - writing in red on template

[kaysamoly]

Exactly what happen to me I was paying blair oliver and scott ten pounds a month then when we remortgaged early last year I paid them off wish I hadn't now they have now refused to pay me any back saying there was no error on their part so the letter before action goes off today giving them fourteen days and then court. They owe me £1660 and most off that was added just before defaulting my account similar story to you.

[jonni2bad]

A quick update -

After sending emails every day for the past week, I finally got a reply, of sorts, today. It was actually from the Bank of Scotland rather than the Halifax arm and this is shown below, along with my last email to them before they responded.

My email.........

Re: Data Protection Act disclosure request

I would like to know the status of my request for a list of charges on my account under the Data Protection Act. This was made, by post, on Saturday 11th March and received by recorded delivery at your Trinity Road HQ on Monday 13th March.

I have sent you 5 reminder emails regarding this subject and have had no response, other than the automated receipt of messages.

There are now just 14 days remaining for you to comply with my request as per the terms laid out by the Information Commissioner's Office. If I do not receive the details I have requested in this timescale, I will have no hesitation to file a complaint.

*****************
Response today............

Please find listed charges to your account since December 2003 when it was
passed to ourselves for administration.

Letter Costs £3.92 which is for 5 @ 0.37 and 6 @ 0.23
These are for the dates 12/12/03 - 26/4/05

Default Debit 1 @ 28.00 from 2/1/04 and 1 @ 10.00 from 10/4/06

Please accept our aplogies for now replying sooner but we have just received the
e mail from another department (***these spelling mistakes are theirs, not mine!!)

Xxxxx Xxxxxxx
Collections Support Specialist
Collection & Recoveries
Arrol House
Viking Way
Rosyth
Fife
Tel 01383 xxxxxx
************************* ***********************

I must admit - they left me a little puzzled.!

This does not relate to my Data Protection Act request in any way - they have simply listed the cost of some letters, and very strangely even listed two debits!

You may notice that the £10 debit was yesterday - since I sent them a £10 postal order to cover the cost of the Data Protection Act request, I can only imagine that they have used this fee to offset against my overdraft.... Is this allowed?

Surely if there is no fee, they should have returned it to me? The only other thing I can imagine they are doing is 'cashing' the postal order in my account and will then be withdrawing it once they send the Data Protection Act details.

All in all, a very weird email.....

[scotia]

Originally Posted by jonni2bad

Please find listed charges to your account since December 2003 when it was
passed to ourselves for administration.

Letter Costs £3.92 which is for 5 @ 0.37 and 6 @ 0.23
These are for the dates 12/12/03 - 26/4/05

Default Debit 1 @ 28.00 from 2/1/04 and 1 @ 10.00 from 10/4/06

does this show 5 letters @ 37p and 6 @ 23p ???? if so surely this is them admitting on how much the letters actually cost them.....first time i have seen this !! maybe of interest to some of the mods..........

[jonni2bad]

I can only presume so - the information you see is exactly how I received it. I'm not sure what else it could be!

They have never shown these charges on the statements I still receive, and the overdrawn amount has never increased - but the rep got this info from somewhere.....

[jonni2bad]

Further update - have replied to this message, as shown below.....

************************* *****************

Thank you for your email sent and received today, 11th April.

I note from your reply that there seems to be some confusion regarding my emails to Halifax customer services, and specifically to my request for information under the Data Protection Act, so I would like to clarify these points.

I wrote to the Halifax on 11th March requesting a complete list of charges made to my account since March 2000, along with any evidence of manual intervention, under the current regulations of the Data Protection Act (199.

There is a 40 day deadline set by the Information Commisioner's Office for this information to be returned, and that deadline will be 22nd April.

Since you are entitled to request a fee of up to £10 for this service, I enclosed a postal order to that value. I am surprised to find that this has been paid into my account to offset the existing overdraft, and can only assume that the Halifax do not wish to charge me for this service.
If this is the case, can you please explain why the fee has been placed into my account?

From your email, I note that there are no charges made to my account since it passed to your control. You have listed the cost of, I presume, sending letters to me - but I do not recall these ever showing on my bank statements. Is this correct?

Finally, since I have not received a single reply from the Halifax, would it be possible for you to check that my information request is being dealt with and that I can expect a detailed analysis of my account shortly?

Your help would be much appreciated.

Many thanks,
Xxxx Xxxxxx

************************* ************************* ****

[jonni2bad]

Further update- do they love me afterall..?

Email response today from same department in HBOS -

************************* *******************
Mr Xxxxxx,

I have contacted the correct department in regards to the list of charges and
have been advised that the statements have been ordered to be sent to you.

I have also been advised that they will be contacting you direct to advise this.

I am unable to offer any explanation as to why the £10 was credited to your
account apart from it being an error.

Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience this has caused yourself and
hope that you will receive the details requested in the very near future.

************************* *******************

Not only, but also..... A PHONE CALL !!

They spoke to my wife, letting her know that the statements had been ordered and that, once ready, they would call to let us know! They would also call us AGAIN once they had been posted... Seems a little like overkill, but that's fine.

Looks like one email every day does cause a reaction.....

[Spiceskull]

jonni,

This is exactly the treatment I have had with HSBC...and my timetable is matching yours. I have written and emailed asking for an update on progress and all I get is gobbledygook.

At the end of the day it is their problem. They have 40 days. If they fail it is time to report them and put in for an estimated claim.

I think they are just hoping we will all go away if they act like ostriches. Good luck.

[jonni2bad]

Got a letter on Saturday.....

Confirmation that copy statements are on their way, soon.

AND - a £5 cheque enclosed as I had sent a £10 postal order...

Aren't they just lovely people?

[chipsandsausages]

Sometimes I think they are only doing that to appear fair!!

We'll call you to let you know we have posted your statements and then call you again to check you have received them....... by the way, we'll clean your car for you while you're on holiday and take your mail in.

Don't believe a word of it!

I'm waiting for my second offer - and going to moneyclaim a week on Tuesday!

x

[jonni2bad]

At last !

Statements arrived this morning, 9 envelopes worth - 91 pages... 3 days inside the limit too.

And I'm so glad that I took the time to get the statements from 6 to 4 years ago, since there was another £800 in charges - a big surprise indeed.

So, ready to write my first letter at last - and the new total is £2,024.00

PLUS the default removal - which will hopefully add a little spice to proceedings.

[Spiceskull]

Good luck...at last.

[snoopy71]

looks like me and thee are at the same point in claim procedure although you have a lot more to gain keep me posted as to your success.

I sent my letter recorded today!!!

Good Luck