MrIncredible v Halifax ***settled***

[mrincredible]

Hi everyone,

 

What an excellent site! I registered on here a while back, and have spent a lot of time reading through the 'how to claim' and 'template libraries' sections. I didn't want to rush it, as I've been warned about trying to make a quick claim.

 

Anyway, I paid Halifax £5.00 for copies of my statements from the last 6 years. They actually only go back to Oct 2003 (to the opening of account).

 

There's 92 pages of statements, but pages 36-40 & pages 66-70 are missing (lost in the post, perhaps).

 

I've added up the charges I've paid during this period, which totals £460. Not a vast sum in comparison to some figures I've seen on here, but still enough to make a big difference in my pocket!

 

I've drafted a prelim letter, courtesy of the template library, and also a schedule of my charges.

 

The pages missing constitute approx 2 months of statements. Should I request these pages are sent to me before sending my prelim letter?

 

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

Regards,

 

MrIncredible

[stevesj]

welcome to the forum MrIncredible!

You could estimate (as a reasonable average)the charges if the statements are missing, or contact the bank and request them - sometimes thay can give a transaction listing for specific dates. If they can't supply them, go with your average (but not over the top...).If you send in your prelim, you're showing you are serious about your claim, and you may want to consider putting the fact that although you requested the statements, they didn't appear, and being reasonable you are estimating the missing bits. They will either ignor this and accept it, or get the info to you pronto.

 

Anyway, Good Luck. Regardless of the amount, the principal is the same, it's your money, go get it!:grin:

[Outacash]

Hi MrI, and welcome to this fantastic (Incredible?) site!

 

Personally, I would point out their "error", and ask that they send the missing statements ... as you have made a payment for their supply and you have obviously not received them. See what they say.

 

If they don't supply them, then you have no way of knowing accurately what charges have been applied during these "missing" periods, and you might be losing out on being able to claim for a further substantial sum.

 

If they don't respond positively, then you have given them a reasonable opportunity to send this information and can become more forceful about getting it ... send them a SAR letter to force disclosure - you will see this highlighted in the Step-by-Step instructions at the head of this forum.

 

As you said earlier you haven't been in a great hurry, so a little more time invested in getting the process just right will be a bonus, and ensure you fully get what you're entitled to!

 

All the best ... and enjoy the journey!!

 

Outa

[mrincredible]

Thanks for the helpful advice! I'm going to request the missing information. After all, I have paid for it!

[Outacash]

This may also be a useful link .... http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/site-questions-suggestions/53182-cant-find-what-youre.html?highlight=step-by-step+instructions

 

All the best!

[mrincredible]

Today I received my first letter from the Halifax, dated 14th Feb.

 

Dear ***

 

Thankyou for your letter, which was received at this office on 13th February 2007.

 

I am sorry to learn that you are unhappy with charges applied to your account.

 

We're keen to deal with your concerns as quickly as possible. A customer Relations Manager will investigate the points you have raised and you will receive a reply shortly, but certainly no later than 4 weeks.

 

You will find enclosed a copy of our leaflet, which tells you how we handle your complaint.

 

Your concerns will be dealt with as quickly as possible, but to help us deal more efficiently with your enquiry, please quote 'ref' when writing or telephoning the number at the top of this letter.

 

Your sincerely

 

Customer Relations Officer

 

********

 

Forgive me for being sceptical, but does this seem like a standard letter to you?

[Josamolly]

yes it is.. stick to your timescale for now, and send the next letter after the 14 days is up..

[stevesj]

Very much so! Standard as standard lamp in a standard lamp shop, down a standard street! Verrry Halifax;)

 

They have this mentality of expecting all and sundry to wait for them (usually 4 weeks).

 

You have a time scale - 14 days - (if you have and know your charges prior to your S.A.R - (Subject Access Request)) - stick to it!!

 

I think personally they are overrun with us lot persuing them, and can't keep up. If you have done a prelim letter outlining what you want, then I suggest you intervene after 14 days, and go for a letter before action, give them another 14 days and perhaps telephone them if no reply. This is because they will no doubt try and ignore you, hoping you will go away, and not go to court or they will try to fob you off! When you call them you may want to ask them if they intend to settle prior to you going to court? - this of course would save them paying interest and court costs.(don't want to dip into anybodies profits do we??)

[mrincredible]

Oops! I posted my LBA today (by recorded delivery), but also received this letter today (they must have crossed in the post)...

 

Dear MrIncredible,

 

Your Bank Charges

 

Thank you for your recent letter about charges to your account. I am sorry you are unhappy, but pleased I may be able to help.

 

I am arranging for a payment of £391.00 to be made to you in full and final settlement of your complaint. I'd like to explain what accepting this means to you.

 

Why You Have Been Charged

 

We offer free banking, which means your account is free to run, as long as your account is in credit or within an arranged overdraft limit. I enclose a leaflet explaining when charges will be incurred for your information.

 

You asked how we calculate the amount of the charges. As this is commercially sensitive information, please understand that I can't break this down for you.

 

You also referred to The Office Of Fair Trading statement on credit card charges. As this statement did not apply to bank account charges, I can't comment on it in connection with your complaint.

 

I enclose a list of your bank charges. This is free of charge and it tells you how much we have charged you since your account was opened.

 

How We Can Help

 

You're responsible for managing your account to prevent any more charges. You need to know that if the way you use your account means you are charged again, we won't give you the charges back and may close your account.

 

We want to help you manage your account to avoid future charges. Our free services make it easy for you to do this. We have benking advisers available on the phone and in Branches and you can see all your account activity online and at the cash point.

 

For more information about these services, you can ring Telephone Banking on 08457 20 30 40, visit www.halifax.co.uk or you can call into your local branch or agency.

 

Accepting My Offer

 

The payment of £391.00 is a gesture of goodwill and is made without an admission of liability to resolve your complaint.

 

If you do not wish to accept this payment, in full and final settlement of your complaint, please contact me within this timescale on the above number.

 

You recently received a copy of our leaflet explaining our complaints procedures. Should any of your concerns remain unresolved please let me know what you'd like me to do to put matters right. We are keen to resolve your concerns, if we are unable to do so we'll provide you with details of how you can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service for help. If I don't hear from you in the next eight weeks I will assume you are happy.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Review Manager

Customer Relations

 

I'm in a bit of a dilema now! My fianceé will be over the moon to have £391.00 credited to our account. But my LBA (sent today) is demanding £520 (the total taken from my account).

 

What should I do?

 

Please help/advise. I've read the templates library and other cases on the forum, and the general opinion is for me to NOT accept their offer.

 

However, I've heard elsewhere the law is changing in April, and that the banks may not pay back any more charges as more and more people are claiming them back. I'm worried if I don't accept their offer, I'll lose out on £391.00

 

Any help/advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

Many thanks,

 

MrIncredible

[stevesj]

not really profess to be an expert but (in no particular order)-

 

from April the Financial Ombudsnan and OFT will make suggestions to the financial sector as to how much they could charge....but it is not law!

 

You could accept the payment as a part settlement, and explain you are pursuing for the rest of your claim - I'm impressed by their letter, I'm claiming less and haven't had an offer, yet!! (the LBA is sent so give it a couple of days, then phone them)

 

Explain that you want to avoid loading the claim with court costs, and would want to settle amicably, but the whole amount plus SAR costs please. (there is a template for part settlement in the library) - by not accepting the amount offered will prejudice any future litigation you make.

 

So, accept in part payment using the template suggestion, give it a couple of days, and phone them (Saturday / Monday)

 

Steve

[sea-sidelady]

Why dont you phone them first as a lot of people manage to haggle the full amount, especially when they know you are serious about court action, as they have to then pay interest and fees.

Might be worth a try.

 

There is nothing to say anything is going to change in April, it is all heresay at the moment.

 

If you dont accept the offer you wont lose it.

[JSchoey]

You can also accept the amount as part payment and continue to fight for the rest. There is a standard letter on this sie for acceping part payments from them.

[mcuth]

Please help/advise. I've read the templates library and other cases on the forum, and the general opinion is for me to NOT accept their offer.

 

Well you have 3 choices really:

 

i) Accept it as full settlement and lose out on the extra £129 (definitely not recommended )

 

ii) Accept it as partial settlement, advise them of such, and make it clear that you'll pursue them for the other £129 and if they don't, you'll be issuing court action for it on the date you set out in your LBA, and then they'll be liable for costs & interest.

 

iii) Reject it completely and insist on full settlement in the terms of £520 and if they don't do it, you'll be issuing court action on the date you set out in your LBA, and then they'll be liable for costs & interest.

 

Personally I see nothing wrong with either ii) or iii) - but I'd probably take them up on their offer of "If you do not wish to accept this payment, in full and final settlement of your complaint, please contact me within this timescale on the above number." - it's your money, get it all back

Have a look at step 3c at this link too. For example letters to send rejecting the offer, see this link.

 

The only problem I foresee is that they're crediting it directly to your account, which means it's a little difficult to refuse, unless they're waiting for you to confirm what you want. But that said, even if they credit your account directly, you can still only accept it in partial settlement as long as you let them know that.

 

However, I've heard elsewhere the law is changing in April, and that the banks may not pay back any more charges as more and more people are claiming them back. I'm worried if I don't accept their offer, I'll lose out on £391.00

No you won't - the OFT are due to complete their report into bank penalty charges in April(-ish), but it won't become law. Have a read of this link if you're worried about that aspect - it appears that there's some misinformation from other sources....

 

HTH

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[mrincredible]

Thanks for the advice guys. Think I'm going to accept it as a partial payment, and advise I'll be claiming the rest. I'm going to read through the templates library to help me pen a letter along these lines.

 

I'll keep you posted of my progress.

[mrincredible]

After a long discussion with my partner, we decided to accept the partial offer of settlement.

 

We've not incurred any charges this calendar year, as our bank account is much better managed these days.

 

Currently, we've a serious family illness to deal with and we're both under a lot of stress (especially my partner who is having a rough time at work). We weighed up all our options, and the bottom line is that we're happy with the offer, compared to the fight we've put up.

 

ie To date, I've written 2 letters (Prelim and LBA) and got just short of £400 for my efforts. Dragging it out any further would mean me putting in a claim through the court, and we decided it wasn't worth the time/hassle for the extra £129.

 

I do hope fellow members of the CAG won't be disappointed in me for settling at an early stage, rather than pursuing for the full amount. I've also got a claim against Lloyds at the moment, so we'll just have to wait and see how that one pans out.

 

Thanks to all the help/support I've received on this forum. Thanks to you, I have nearly £400 in my bank account that I didn't have before registering.

[joyousjoy1974]

well done for getting this far Mr Incredible - it can be a struggle to sort out without added family/work/personal pressure

 

Hope you get your money and have happier times

 

[noodledoodle]

Good for you. As long as you feel you have made the right decision it is worth it. Money you thought you wouldn't get. Enjoy!

[mrincredible]

Thanks again! The money's already been credited to my account.

 

However, just because I've accepted the partial settlement in this particular claim does not mean I'll deal with all my claims in the same way. It was just that my partner and I felt in this case that it wasn't worth the hassle for a relatively small sum, and the settlement offered to us was over 75% of the figure initially being sought.

[mcuth]

Good for you. As long as you feel you have made the right decision it is worth it. Money you thought you wouldn't get. Enjoy!

 

Indeed - not the route I'd have personally chosen, but horses for courses and all that

 

Now that you're settling this one MrI (I'll change your thread title and move it to Halifax Successes in a minute), don't forget your 2 next actions (see my sig )

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[stevesj]

A moral victory - taken to where you want it - it's not for us to prejudge what you do.

 

Well done - hope your family situation gets a little better

 

good luck to the both of you

 

steve

[dpick]

HI well done like a lot of people your circumstances dictate how you react at the time. I am lucky in that now we are having no problems but if I had been offered say 70% a year ago I would have accepted with glee

 

good luck dpick

[mrincredible]

Quick update - Thanks for all the nice messages (you know who you are). Family situation is a lot better. Still got problems, but it's not cancer (which is a huge relief). Thanks once again guys/gals.

 

I'm still glad we opted for the partial settlement in this case, though. We still bank with Halifax and have just taken out a mortgage with them too! We've not incurred any charges this year (and have no intention of doing so, either). So, all in all, win-win (IMHO anyway).

 

However - if any banks are reading this... I won't settle so easily in my claims against other parties!! Lloyds and B/Card beware...