ALUMB05 vs HBOS

[alumb05]

Hi

I have just received a second letter back from HBOS with the usual stuff telling me that they are unhappy that I have not accepted their offer of £417.00 and that if I’m unhappy I can refer my concerns to the Financial Ombudsman Service. I have read on a few posts that this is just standard but I just wanted to confirm if I should now wait until the 14 days have expired since I sent my second letter or if I should just start court proceedings now (as they have already replied to say they will not pay me the full amount of charges). I would also like to know if anyone has ever failed in getting their charges back. I've not seen a post for a failed attempt and I don't want to be the first!! :o Thanks very much.

[bottomburp]

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[David1004]

Hi,

You must wait the 14 days before sending your LBA and another 14 days before you start the court action. The reason for this is that if it does go to court the judge would not find in your favour if you hadn't given a reasonable amount of time at each stage. 14 days is the amount of time deemed reasonable. As far as I'm aware no one has failed if you follow the correct protocol but you must make sure you read lots on this site so you're really sure of the procedures. It is relatively simple as everything you need to know is on the site. I also purchased the self help kit on Small Claims which also gives all the procedure. It's a good idea to register the mail you send to the bank so you could prove to the court if necessary that the letter was received.

Regards,

David

[alumb05]

Thanks for the quick response. I have already sent out my initial letter and also my 'letter before action'. Unfortunately i did not send them recorded delivery but they have both been responded to from HBOS so hopefully that will be proof enough. It looks like i have been a little slack though as i have just checked the dates on my letters and i sent my 'letter before action' on 3/11/06 and they responded 23/11/06 so i'm a little behind on the 14 days that i told them before i would file a court case against them. Will this be a major problem?

[Aaronsdad]

No problem at all! You've been even more reasonable by giving them longer to respond!! You're ready for your MCOL now.

Go get them tiger!

A D

[alumb05]

It looks like it is me that messed up because i copied HBOS's address from my first letter and i think i must of copied the date also (i was sure i didn't send the second one so long ago!! ). I actually sent my second letter on 21/11/06 and they responded to that on 23/11/06 so they do have some time left in the 14 days. The trouble is now that the second letter is dated wrong, hopefully that won't be a major issue though, any thoughts?? Should i send a third letter and do as 'bottomburp' has suggested -

 

"You can write again to HBOS, if you want, and tell them that you've received their offer but that you want full settlement thank you very much. Remind them that they have until x date (the fifteenth day after the date on your LBA) to make the full settlement, failing which you will be starting court proceedings. You could also remind them that when they loose they will have to pay for the court proceedings and legal costs."

 

Thanks again for all the responses

[Aaronsdad]

I would think that sending them a letter clarifying the current situation

ie no thanks, pay up by ... or else court on such and such a date would be 'reasonable'.

Then they cannot claim they were mistaken in their interpretation of dates etc and are fully aware of YOUR timetable.

Then when you do go to court claim that 32p stamp back too!

 

A D

[bottomburp]

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[alumb05]

Hi

Here is my third letter, does this look OK? I have already told them it will be 14 days (in my previous letter) so i've just given them the date in this letter when i will be starting court proceedings.

Thanks

Thank you again for your recent offer of £417 as a gesture of goodwill. As I stated in previous correspondence (mistakenly dated 3/11/06 but actually sent 21/11/06), the regime of 'fees' which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations.

I would again like to draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law.

 

To confirm my previous communication, you have taken £708.00 plus £33.48 which you have charged me in overdraft interest for the sum which you have taken. Total £741.48. I have attached another copy of the schedule of the charges which I am claiming.

I require repayment in full of this money. I would like to remind you that you have until December 6th, 2006 to make the full settlement and failing this I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount, plus interest, plus my court proceedings and legal costs and without further notice.

[bottomburp]

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[alumb05]

Hi

 

Thanks everyone for your help with this, much appreciated

 

I have now started the claim process and the Halifax have come back with an offer of the full amount but minus the interest and minus my costs for filing the claim. Do you think they are clmping down on things now and starting to challange or should i go back to them and ask for it all. The letter has given me a number to call, should i call this and tell them no, i want it all or respond with a letter? I have 14 days to accept their offer so i don't want to miss out. My gut feeling says they are just trying anything not to give me the full amount and if i refuse they will cave and pay up but i wanted to make sure. Any thought appreciated.

 

Cheers

[bottomburp]

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[alumb05]

Thanks for the advice. I'll give them a call because it was after the deadline that they offered me the full amount minus interest/costs. The only thing is that this isn't my account, i'm doing it for my Girlfriend so maybe they won't speak to me. I'll just make sure she is there so that she can authorise anything and hopefully that will be OK.

[bottomburp]

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[David1004]

Are they aware that you have started the claim process? If they are not then that would explain why they are offering the lesser amount. You need to contact them and explain that the claim had already been issued before their offer and therefore the interest and court fees need to be added to their offer for you to withdraw your claim.

David

[alumb05]

Hi

 

Phoned the Halifax this morning. I now have about 5 days to to acccept their offer. I spoke to them and everything was very plesant and explained the i had unfortunately begun court precedings against them so their offer of the full amount minus the interest and court cost would not be accepted. Their response was that it is their policy to only offer what the full amount is minus interest and court costs. He didn't seem like he wanted to budge even after i told him that i have read a lot of forums on this site that say the payup in full before it gets to court. Should i keep it going and write them an official letter saying that i am not accepting or do you think they are finally finding ways around paying out in full?

[hillards]

Call their legal department and explain it again, that they made the offer after you had filed in court, so therefore you have inucrred additional costs which you require them to refund in order to reach a settlement.

 

If you've filed at court then they had 14 days in which to file a defence, if they've not done that within the timescale then that's their hard luck, they'll have to pay. Might be worth checking with the court before opening fire on this.

 

Hope you get a result.

[alumb05]

Hi

 

I have today received a letter from the court to say that The Halifax "INTEND TO DEFEND ALL OF THIS CLAIM" and that they have 28 days from the date of service of the claim to file a defence (11 Dec). Does this mean they are going to fight this in court or are they just trying to frighten me? Please let me know if you think they will go all the way as i still have a few days to accept their offer of Full Payment minu court costs and interest.

 

Thanks

 

Aaron

[hillards]

They always say they will defend all of the claim, it's just standard procedure for them.

 

Sit tight and wait, you should get your money back any time now.

 

If you are worried then call the person who sent your offer letter and ask them to check the status of your claim. If it's in the Legal department then chances are they'll already be sorting out how to pay you.

 

Bearing in mind it's the last working day before the holidays, even at Banks, it might be worth calling Rachel Hinchcliffe directly. I'm sure I've seen threads with her phone number in.

 

DON'T accept anything less than what you ask for, you've had to pay court costs and they are aware of that fact - make sure you get it back.

[Andrea450]

Thanks for the advice. I'll give them a call because it was after the deadline that they offered me the full amount minus interest/costs. The only thing is that this isn't my account, i'm doing it for my Girlfriend so maybe they won't speak to me. I'll just make sure she is there so that she can authorise anything and hopefully that will be OK.

 

Exactly the same thing has happened to me and I dont quite know how to go forward...

 

I filed on 18th December. Halifax wrote me a letter dated the same date which I received today.

 

They offered me full payment minus all interest etc.

Including interest and court costs - I'd be down by £120 if I accept full and final payment...

 

Let us know how yours progress. I'm not too keen on calling them, but looks like if I'll have to!

[alumb05]

I will call her tomorrow. I did call and speak to a bloke today though who said that there was nothing extra they could do and that full cost minus interest and court costs was their policy.

 

Thanks

 

Aaron

[hillards]

Looks like their policy isn't quite right yet - maybe they are agreeing to the full amount claimed, but if you've incurred additional costs by filing at the court, because they were not quick enough to see sense and repay the full amount of your claim, then they are going to have to allow for the court fee, otherwise you're out of pocket.

 

As my own case didn't reach that stage I can't really add much more. I think my own policy is to advise people to try and settle before filing at court. If it's gone to that stage then the only other option is to sit it out and wait for them to pay up just before the court timescale ends...?

 

They always say that it is not viable for them to defend in court, due to the costs involved, and everyone is waiting for one of these cases to go before a judge - they're not going to let that happen now they've paid so many people out as all of those cases could be quoted in court.

[alumb05]

WON - Got the lot back or at least they have said they will pay everything back and they made a mistake on their letter saying that the court costs were £120 but they were only £80, however, the total they quoted was still only with the added £80, not £120! I suppose i could argue this out with them also but i'm happy enough and i think it'd be more hastle than it's worth. Thanks everyone for your help. Think i'll be opening a new post in the near future for a business account. The "FRIENDLY and HELPFULL" Business Advisors at Barclays told the other half that the would help them sort out her account going into the red and she really put a lot of effort into getting everything going again and as soon as she had managed to just get back into the black they charged her about £500!!! She has now had to close the business!! Thanks Barclays!!

 

Once again, thanks very much for all the help and advice.

[Andrea450]

Congratulations - all that worrying, for nothing, lol...