Thread: Mrs thesergeant v Halifx

This really is a great site - well done. My wife and I are mulling over the faqs and considering taking action.

The one thing that really gets our blood boiling is the 8 days it takes Halifax to process and clear a cheque payment into a basic account. Strangely, it is no where near this long going the other way ???

Just another money making [problem] to get money out of us?

Are they acting legally? certainly not morally !!

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This practice really does annoy me.

Is it a fair trading term?

The only people this cheque clearance time applies to is those who are only able to open the Banks basic accounts. Therefore those most likley to have some type of financial difficulties.

Therefore the banks know that at some point an extended clearance time will present them opportunities to apply penalty charges.

What is the OFT doing to stop the banks stealing from us ?

It takes the banks EXACTLY three days to clear a cheque.

do a search on the BACS clearing system.

I have had this off the Halifax about taking a longer time with a basic bank account, their feeble excuse was they've had a lot of bounced cheques with basic bank accounts.

In my case it took them ten days ( 2 days bank holiday included) to clear a cheque.

There really is NO excuse for this

regards

Mercedes

There is no excuse, it is simply organised theft. They know that people whose only option due to their credit scoring, are most likley to need quick access to their money to 'financially' live. By putting in place arbitrary rules to penalise such customers makes it highly likely that they will profit from their charges [problem].

I would like to think that the OFT are looking at this aspect of the banks illegal practices as well :-

I have added a bit to the MP letter template to include this issue :-


Dear MP etc .............. >>>


I am writing to you to ask you to let me know what your views are on the serious problem of unlawful penalty charges which are levied against their customers by the UK High Street Banks.

It is a well established rule of Common Law that contractual penalty charges which exceed the actual losses suffered, in this case by the banks when a customer exceeds limits or a direct debit or cheque are returned, are invalid and will not be enforced by the Court. A series of judicial decisions going back over 100 years shows this to be true.

More recently, The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 has confirmed that a disproportionate penalty would be an example of an unfair term and that this would therefore be unenforceable at law.
The Director General of the Office of Fair Trading announced in 2005 that any penalty charge which exceeded actual losses was disproportionate.

Yet despite this, the Banks continue to apply these charges, and of course the vast majority of bank customers accept the banks’ authority that these excessive charges are valid and they pay up without a lot of fuss.
It is not possible that the banks do not realise what they are doing?

I am also very concerned by the application of extended cheque clearance times. The banks only apply such terms to the basic accounts. These accounts are almost exclusively taken up by people with poor credit ratings and/or in financial difficulties. Applying extended cheque clearance times (typically 7 working days) to people in such difficulties can only be done in the sure knowledge that the bank will be able to apply further penalty charges. It is another money making [problem], targeting the most financially vulnerable.

A survey reported this year by the BBC and others, concluded that one in five bank customers suffered from penalty charges in 2005. This is a large proportion of your constituency. Most of these people have incurred penalty charges because they are in difficulty. As I have said the majority of these people are vulnerable and already have difficult lives.

The OFT, which is empowered to investigate, shows signs of being reluctant to do so.

Many people have taken legal action against the banks. The banks almost never go to court. Fearing a formal judgment against them they bluff and threaten, but eventually settle before the day of the trial. Through the Intenet sites at www.ConsumerActionGroup.c o.uk and also at www.BankChargesHell.co.uk I am in touch with many people who are challenging the banks, some of whom are beginning legal actions.

The Unlawful Penalty Charge racket is apparently worth £3 billion per year. It is not surprising that they are not anxious to give it up.

I would be grateful if you would reply to me and let me know what your views about this are, and what steps you would be prepared to take to bring this scandal to an end.

Can you think of any reason why, by their dominant position the UK, banks should hold themselves above the civil rule of law?

Thank you for your time.

Yours sincerely,

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>

I am certainly going to encourage as many people as possible to send such letters to MP's and the OFT.

I had a lengthy conversation with Halifax over their policy on processing cheques.........I am told "when you write a cheque it is cleared immediately the date it is banked by the corresponding bank".....ie I give a cheque to a school for music fees for my son for £78 2 days before pay day, the school banks it the next day and it clears immediately from my bank, over the odraft and £30 charge......so I challenged them why it is that when I pay a cheque into the bank it takes up to 5 working days to clear into my bank? even when the cheque i receive is from a halifax customer..........they were not able to answer my question........so people my advice is be very aware that the banks do their own thing..........now I will think of something to tell you that we dont already know.

Power to the People8)

I've just checked my Halifax internet banking.

I paid cheques into my bank on Saturday 6 May 2006.

They're due to clear on the 16 May 2006.

That's seven bank-working days. NINE DAYS in total!!!!

Why shouldn't weekends count either? If you, for example pay a cheque into the bank on a Thursday, what happens over the weekend? Do they have to do some sort of manual input each banking day to make sure the cheque is processed and they can't do this over the weekend?

Of course not.

I feel a complaint comming on, to the FSA, for what it's worth.

I have been looking on the OFT site, this may be another "unfair contract" issue.

We are looking at other banks, I spoke to Nationwide today. The nice call centre staff told me that they process checks within 3 days on all accounts, even the basic one.

When I explored their website and brought up the terms and conditions - guess what - at least 5 days for basic account holders.

The banks are really making huge profits off of people who are vulnerable and need the small amount of money they have, this tactic only forces people to amass the dishonest penalty charges. They are stealing from the poor to feed their fat cats!

Dear all,

OK so we got up the bottle to begin.

A cheque paid into my wifes account, took 7 working days to clear. On day 6 the 'Crapifax' bounced a direct debit for 17.99 and then charged 39.00.

We wrote a letter 'telling' then to refund it or we would look into all previous charges made on the account. They didn't take the hint.

Therefore DPA form being hand served on the local branch tomorrow morning.

Look forward to updating you as this rolls on ..................

Good luck. They should've listened hey.

Maybe after all this, one day they might.