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Halifax have reopened closed account!


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Hello,

 

Sorry if this is long winded, I will try to be as brief as I can.

I am having issues with Halifax regarding an Ultimate Reward current account that I had.

 

In January 2014 I moved to another country to live, work & travel.

I kept the account open as I may have needed to use it, and I did not know how long I would be away.

Also initially I did have some money left in it.

I didn't inform the bank as I knew I would have no fixed address due to always being on the move.

I know I should have informed them now.

 

The account at some point went over it's £100 arranged overdraft limit by £1, charges were added which went up to over £200.

By the time I returned 6/7 months later the account had missed payments and had been defaulted.

 

The bank have recently said that the account was closed 3 days after it was defaulted.

I arrived back 3 days after this.

 

I do not think I was aware it had been closed, I believe I used it when I returned and even gave the details to my new employer.

I remember being able to see the account online, with the amount over £200 still owed.

 

The day I expected to be paid I logged in and the account was no longer visible.

I called them up and it had been closed.

I asked what happened to my money and they said they could transfer it and I would need to open a new account.

I did this and gave the details of the new account with them, they said it would be transferred ASAP.

 

2 weeks passed and I had still not received the money, I called and complained.

I was told by recoveries or collections (can't remember) that it had been processed incorrectly and sent to different account details, this was their fault not mine.

At some point I was given £50 compo into my account for this.

 

Several days later the wages were transferred minus the outstanding overdraft, looking back it was transferred twice from different sources.

 

Fast forward to present day.

I have been looking at my credit reports and decided to enquire about the default/closed account.

 

I called, and was passed around departments before being passed to recoveries/collections.

The guy totally ignored my enquiries into what actually caused the account to be overdrawn and the subsequent default.

 

He did bring up a double payment into the account and said I now had an outstanding balance of over £2k.

 

I asked him to substantiate this, he just said it was owed.

I said the account was closed in 2014, how can it now have a balance?

Why have I received not notification or communication of this?

 

He said I owed it and ended the call, he gave no information.

Not even a demand or request for me to pay.

When quizzed he said it would not appear on my credit reports but would always be outstanding with Halifax.

 

A few days later I was called by someone from Customer Services for Lloyds banking group,

we discussed the situation and she said she would remove the Default.

Made no real explanation into why.

She gave me £50 compo which I, perhaps foolishly accepted.

 

3 hours later she called back,

she said she made a mistake and there was over 2k remaining balance on the account,

she said she would still remove the default and could I pay the balance back.

For her mistake she offered another £50, again I accepted.

During these calls she was incredibly helpful and obliging, in hindsight maybe overly helpful.

 

Later that day I made a payment of 1/3 of the balance. Perhaps this was a foolish move.

 

The next day the default was off!!!

Now the missed payments, the original c.£200 overdraft outstanding, and the account itself all showed up from Dec 17 to October 17.

 

I now have loads of recent, red adverse marks on all 3 credit reports,

the account is now showing as active and has moved to my open accounts section.

1 report now also lists a solitary missed payment and arrangement to pay over a 4 month period in 2015 when the account was well and truly closed.

There are also warnings on both Experian and Equifax saying 0 months since last serious payment problem.

 

This has had a very negative affect on my credit scores

(I know the score is not important)

and the overall condition of my reports are all now messed up by issues on this account.

 

I tried for days to get intouch with the agent, she had given me her extension number.

Eventually she called me back, I was now recording my calls.

 

Her tone was totally different,

she was quite rude,

abrasive and had started accusing me of being deceitful.

 

She said that I was mistaken about our agreement,

she said the default would be coming off only once I had paid the outstanding balance in full (It's still currently off).

 

At one point she said "can you give the phone to someone else so I can explain it to them, as you are not getting it".

This was because I said the original default can't be used to force me to repay money that they transferred by mistake twice.

She threatened to replace the default and if I didn't like it I should complain to the FOS.

 

She informed me that the markers were correct and showed the account before it defaulted in 2014.

They would come off once I had paid the remaining balance.

I tried to explain they were now for 2017, she didn't listen.

 

At a point that I was totally calm she said I needed to calm down.

She became irate and then said I had really upset her.

She also asked why I was addressing her as if she was responsible.

 

She actually said in previous calls that she was in a senior department,

could make any and all decisions and would be my single point of contact.

 

I explained that I was addressing her as a representative of her company, not an individual.

 

After the rollercoaster call I was honestly shocked to the point of laughter.

I emailed her screenshots of credit reports relating to the new markers in 2017.

 

I received a call today from the same agent, much calmer this time.

She had looked at the screenshots, claimed they were correct and I was mistaken.

They are apparently for 2014 and will be removed once I have paid.

 

My main concerns and enquiries are as follows:

 

-I was £1 overdrawn, hit with numerous charges, then defaulted and account closed.

The £1 itself may actually be due to a charge or fee for using abroad.

Is this fair/allowed?

 

-They closed my account, I believe without notification and allowed me to use it before they did but after the default date.

Did they allow this just so I would settle the c.£200 overdraft of charges?

 

-They made a mistake and transferred the money to either someone else or a non-existent account.

 

-Then they credited me twice.

Never have informed me or notified me.

To be fair i didn't notice or notify them at the time,

I had various amounts going in from various sources that month and it was nearing payday again.

 

-Agreed to remove and have removed default.

 

-Effectively opened a closed account with CRA's, reported recent missed payments/arreas and have listed the account as active.

 

-Are Demanding payment/refund for their mistake immediately or will continue to list recent adverse markers.

 

-Threatened to replace old default at any time.

 

I have requested my old statements and will likely send a SAR in the next few days to see what the charges are.

 

I want this dealt with but feel they may just replace or add a default.

In the meantime my credit reports have all been adversely.

 

I feel Halifax have made many mistakes and are acting unfairly.

 

Can anyone advise on how I should proceed?

 

Thanks so much, I know this is a very long post but needed to explain in its entirety.

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sar is a must

time to stop using the phone too me thinks!!

 

everything in writing only now.

 

they shouldn't have charged fees for a £1 OD.

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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Thanks, I will send the SAR recorded ASAP.

I felt I should hold back as it may be received as inflammatory or provoking them and wanted to see the statements first.

 

I have recorded many of the calls. The Customer Service agent never responds to my emails though.

 

I have also notified the CRA's that the information is incorrect.

One response so far telling me to contact the Lender and the info will remain.

 

I can afford to repay the duplicated sum immediately but would prefer not to as it's a large amount, also I feel that I don't have their word the default/adverse marks will be kept off/removed.

Although I have recordings of them saying they will.

 

I also feel it is unfair for me to immediately rectify a mistake they made,

that stemmed from possibly unfair charges in the first place.

 

Cheers.

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quite right

prove your points then you'll have the documentary evidence to throw at them INC notes in the account/comms log.

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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UPDATE:

I received all my bank statements for the period in question (2014). There are several parts that jump out at me:

 

Jan 23rd - I withdrew some money from an ATM in the country that I was travelling in, some how they allowed me to take out an amount that was 23p over my arranged overdraft, they also added 2 separate payments for using the card abroad totalling £2.88 so total Unarranged Overdraft was £3.06.

 

27th Jan - 2 amounts went into my account to take it into credit.

 

7th Feb - I withdrew money that took me close to my Unarranged Overdraft, then 2 non-sterling fees were added, totalling £4.55, to take it over the Unarranged amount by £1.43.

 

3rd Mar - Unarranged Overdraft fees were added for Feb, 4x £5 = £20. Also the account fee of £15 was added.

 

1st Apr - Unarranged Overdraft fees were added, 20x £5 = £100.

 

7th Jul - TFR to CDR (Consumer Debt Recovery?) amount £236.43, every single bit of it over my £100 planned overdraft was a fee of some sort that they imposed.

 

7th Jul - Closed Account.

 

They closed the account and registered a Default for this.

 

So because a Non-sterling cash fee pushed the account over the planned overdraft by £1.43 they levied charges of £20, then the next month they levied £100 of charges, effectively these were for the other charges.

 

Is any of this fair/allowed?

Can they issue a default for this?

 

The ICO guidance states a default can't be registered if the amount is for fees,

some of this was my £100 planned overdraft which was allowed due to the account I had.

 

Initially they had led me to believe that I had run up the debt by spending.

 

Any advice on this matter is appreciated.

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if it was their fees that caused the OD and thus charges

they are invalid yes.

 

good find!

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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Share on other sites

Thanks dx

 

Even if rhe initial fee that put it into the unarranged OD was a non-sterling charge?

 

Where can I read more about this, all I have found is the ICO guidlines.

What can I do about this?

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Good old shallowfax, still playing fast and loose with customers accounts, their incompetence knows no bounds...

 

Exhaust their complaints procedure and then escalate it to the Ombudsman, who will no doubt side with the bank, but that's a different argument.

Who ever heard of someone getting a job at the Jobcentre? The unemployed are sent there as penance for their sins, not to help them find work!

 

 

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just briefly outline your case

inc copies of the relevant statements and refer to them.

 

then tell them what you want them to do.

 

FCA CONC rules are your friend here too

and BCOBS

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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