Thread: Keith vs Halifax - go to the Ombudsman!

On this the 14th day after sending my claim letter (£3363), I received a reply from Clare Dobler, Redress Assessor, Core Business, Customer relations.(08457 253519)
To quote in part:
these (charges) are applied to recover some of the extra costs we ourselves incur as a result of paying an item against an unauthorised overdraft or returning an item unpaid. we believe it is fair to pass these costs on to the accounts affected, rather than absorb them into other areas of our operations and penalising all our other customers as a result.
....In addition, we are committed to complying with the Banking Code, which sets standards of good banking practice for banks and building societies to follow when dealing with personal customers.
Then, if I remain unhappy, she has kindly enclosed info on contacting the Financial Ombudsman.
What is interesting here, is that they must recognise that I am following a templated process, one that they must see many times a day. Therefore they must realise that my next step will be the Small Claims Court. Why do they continue to play silly games when they know that eventually they will pay out?

Just off to the letter box with my Claims Court letter!

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lba sent 14/09/06 claim for £3363
Halifax respond 20/09/06 offer £708 (where do they get these numbers from?)
they remind me blah blah blah about managing my account....and enclose another Ombudsman leaflet (there goes another rainforest).
Don't think so!

Money claim here we come.

I am in the same position as you, just applied on line to small claims after getting bulk standard letter back from the Halifax.
I called them before filing and had a chat with a very terse young lady who told me they worked to a different timescale so would not be looking at my letter until the 29th of Sept even though the first letter was sent 28 days ago !!
Let me know how you get on.

Paul.

keep to your timescale, 14 days after lba file mcol or county court - it's fun - honest!

Today completed MCOL by paying my £120.
A strange mix of elation, power and fear. The first because I have finally reached this point in the process, the second because I am kicking them back but the third because I have just spent 120 on my wife's credit card and we can't really afford it at the moment and what if something goes wrong!
I was stunned when I brought the claim up to date and calculated the interest to add to find that my original £3363 claim has now grown to well over £4500. Just thinking what that could have paid for over the last few years is heartbreaking!
MCOL is really simple as long as you pay attention to all the boxes and YES/NO buttons, but it tells you if you do something wrong or forget to tick something. It took no longer than 15 minutes. I had already prepared the details of the claim, based on others' posting, and simply copy pasted it in place.
Once this is completed we are going to tackle HSBC and my wife's account there. Last month £200 in charges, which is 1/3 of her part time monthly income!!

Hi Keith, I went & handed my papers in to the court on Friday so i am going through the same as you. I clerk on that desk was lovely & said it takes about 5 days for the bank to be issued with the papers so its just a waiting game now. I too had to pay £120 which being on Carer's allowance i could ill afford but thanks to a very loving daughter she helped me out with it.
Good luck with your claim & look forward to us both being able to enjoy what is rightfully ours.

I had to pay £250 to the court but surprise surprise I got a letter offering me the full amount of £6220 which included the court fees and 8% interest !!!
You are right though, strange feeling of elation and trepidation !!

First letter opened this morning, from Halifax:
"As a gesture of goodwill we offered to refund six months worth of charges to your account, which you do not want to accept. I confirm that we will not refund all charges you have incurred on your account over the last six years."
If I remain unhappy I can go to the Ombudsman.
Second letter opened this morning: Notice of Issue of my claim from the court to the Halifax.
Some days it is worth getting up in the morning!

Just in case this was missed anywhere else.

Notice of Issue 02 October
Halifax offer letter dated 03 October offering full amount - £4699 in total!!!!
With usual cr*p about closing the account if we incur charges in future.
This month alone charges are over £250, so I reckon that in another couple of months I will be claiming again.
I politely wrote back to thank them for their kind offer (arf, arf) and suggested that they reinstate the account back to full cheque status, from cardcash, and increase the overdraft limit - that way we will not go over the limit and no DD's or cheques will bounce, therefore no charges. Let's see what they respond.

Power is such a wonderful thing!

Hi,
am I right in that you went to Ombudsman rather than court? I have just received Halifax letter, saying to contact F/Ombudsman... What should I do, Court or F/Om????
Many thanks for any help....

Originally Posted by birmanmad1

Hi,
am I right in that you went to Ombudsman rather than court? I have just received Halifax letter, saying to contact F/Ombudsman... What should I do, Court or F/Om????

This is a standard letter, and one that the ombudsmen require them to send in cases of complaint. It does not restrict your choice of action at all.

Originally Posted by Keith Philips post no 1

she has kindly enclosed info on contacting the Financial Ombudsman.
What is interesting here, is that they must recognise that I am following a templated process, one that they must see many times a day. Therefore they must realise that my next step will be the Small Claims Court.

personally I replied with the following statement in my response....

Originally Posted by Aardvark in rejection of offer letter

I have reviewed the leaflet you kindly sent for the Ombudsman service with interest, but as it states on page 10,

“If you want to inspect all the papers personally, ask your own questions or have a hearing as a matter of course, our approach may not suit you. You may prefer to take your complaint to court instead”

I feel that this approach is the correct choice for my personal case if a satisfactory conclusion cannot be amicably reached.

:grin:

Many thanks for your help.. I am now concerned that in my last letter to Halifax (sent prior to joining this web site forum etc ) I mentioned that I wanted all fees repaid plus interest at 8%.....Think I may of messed up.....not sure what to do now????

No you haven't messed up. Just carry on as normal. You do usually add that in when you apply to court but it shouldn't make any difference.

Originally Posted by birmanmad1

Many thanks for your help.. I am now concerned that in my last letter to Halifax (sent prior to joining this web site forum etc ) I mentioned that I wanted all fees repaid plus interest at 8%.....Think I may of messed up.....not sure what to do now????

birmanmad1, I've posted a response to this question in you own thread.

Cheers,