Hello, Hoping someone might be able to advise me. It's a bit of an epic story so will try to put in a nutshell. I have been on sickness benefit and tried to claim back charges on my Halifax Current Account (the reward one with the huge charges applied). They refused my claim and I then made a complaint to the FOS. The FOS took months to investigate and have now said that, even though they are not questioning that I am suffering severe financial hardship, Halifax are under no obligation to refund any bank charges. I wrote back to the FOS quoting the FSA stating that banks must still make sure to deal with hardship claims under the waiver but the FOS replied saying that this relates to dealing with clients sympathetically and has nothing to do with refunding charges. The CCCS wrote to Halifax a few months back saying that I am in severe financial hardship and that they advised I should be entitled to a refund of charges but again the FOS say that the bank still does not have to refund. I was given the £100 overdraft without requesting it (it just appeared on my account one day) and all fees relate to this overdraft but FOS say that this is neither here nor there, and the fact is I used the overdraft and so am liable to pay the fees regardless if I am in hardship or not. Just really needing advice is there is anything I can hit back with or if I have no grounds to take this any further and should accept the FOS decision? I was going to try the 'Right of Appropriation' route in my next letter to the FOS as all income is from benefits and therefore should not have been taken in charges but not sure if I can do this. I really just need to know if the FOS are correct in saying that even though I am suffering severe finanical hardship (as supported by the CCCS) Halifax are still not under any obligation to refund my overdraft charges under the waiver? Thanks very much in advance.

Another update and also need some advice. I received a little card in the post this morning. It said 'FINAL NOTICE' and said that a representative from NEXT called at my home today - here they have inserted "Tuesday at 11am" - but the card came in the post this morning which is Saturday. There is the name of the representative along with a telephone number (it's a local telephone number). I persume if they did call to the house they will do so again. I'm in Northern Ireland and didn't think it was legal to 'doorstep' here. I'd have been inclined to think they are bluffing again but the tel no is a local one from same town as me. Does this normally happen and if they call again what should I do? Thanks in advance.

That's scary Johnny 580. This is what I have feared they will do with me too - proceed to court even without an orginal credit agreement, as they did with BeauBrummie who posted on this thread. They threatened me with court but have not done anything about it - as yet. The last contact I had was a couple of weeks ago from an 'investigation bureau' saying one of their 'trace and audit investigators' have been instructed to open enquires into my finiancial position.:-| Anyway, will be watching the thread with interest Johnny 580 and I'm sure someone will be along to offer advice.

Another update. I didn't respond to their last letter (see post above) and I have now received a letter from Russel & Aitken solictors saying they are 'considering' proceeding with court action in respect of the Next account. I don't know if this is another scare tactic or whether they are serious? I'm a bit worried.

Thanks Cerberusalert. Ah I see. They mention the McGuffick v rbs case in their letter. Would it be advisable to send them the legal notice under section 10 letter in your post anyway just to see if it does any good? I don't think I could face going to court so if i sent them the letter would I have to follow through with court action?

Hello, Hoping someone might be able to advise me on this. Oxendales don't have my orginal CCA and the 'copy' they provided me with had the wrong address on it so was not a 'true copy'. I have writing to them explaining that because I did not receive a 'true copy' that the account is in dispute. I got a letter from this morning. They have admitted in the letter that they are unable to locate a true copy of my CCA at this time and that they cannot legally enforce the debt through the courts. They say they are continuing to search their records so that they can provide me with a true copy. My query is relating to what they say regarding the account being in dispute. They are saying that even though they are not able to provide a 'true copy' they are still entitled to request payment and also to report my missed payments to credit reference agencies. They ask at the end of the letter 'upon what basis does this account remain in dispute?'. I just need confirmation from someone who is more knowledgeable about this than me. Surely if they cannot provide the original agreement or even a 'true copy' then the account can legally remain in dispute? Therefore they cannot report missed payments to credit agencies or indeed ask me for payment. Would this be correct? I just want to make sure of this before I hit them with a response letter. I've included links to the letter they sent below. Any help with this would be much appreciated. Page 1 http://i48.tinypic.com/2uy616q.jpg Page 2 http://i46.tinypic.com/11jyog4.jpg

Hi again, I'm just updating this with the latest from Next. I got a letter from them this morning saying they can offer me a 'settlement opportunity' and that this may improve my financial status. I'm taking this to mean making them an offer of a full and final payment to settle the debt and that they then would stop adding missed payment defaults to my credit file. http://i49.tinypic.com/9s45f6.jpg Just wanted to ask if anyone thinks this is worth doing. I don't have the money but could ask family to lend me money depending on how much would be acceptable. The debt is for around £700. Does anyone know what sort of offer they might take. Alternatively I can just continue to ignore them but I'm worried about it ruining my credit file for the next 6 years. It's in a pretty bad state but if I can get it sorted out I might stand some chance of repairing it. Thanks for all the help with this.

Hi again, Just to update on this. The date Global gave for the court hearing came and went and we heard nothing so they were obviously bluffing. We received this letter from them a couple of days ago. It basically says we need to contact them with a repayment proposal otherwise they will pass to solicitors who will take immediate legal action. http://i50.tinypic.com/2e1hik0.jpg My husband said maybe we should try to borrow some money from family and make Global a silly offer as full & final settlement just to get rid of them. Does anyone have any advice on this. I'd be inclined to continue to ignore them as I think if they were going to take legal action they'd have done so be now. They've threatened it so many times but nothing has ever happened. Thanks for all the help with this.

Thanks Bazooka Boo, that's put my mind at rest. Yes, I'll send them a CPR. They are so aggressive in the way they go about things that I want to do anything I can to take back a bit of control over the situation. I know I sound like I haven't a clue (probably because I haven't Lol) but what is a CPR and is there a template anywhere that I can use?

Thanks everyone. I feel a lot better after reading the replies. I have a huge amount of money worries/pressure and Global starting again with their scare tactics is the last thing I needed:(. I've been worried sick they are serious. Here is the letter they sent (as I say they followed this up with a phone call naming the court and date for the hearing). http://i45.tinypic.com/14ay58l.jpg

Thanks everyone for the replies. Silly husband today took a call from Global. I have always told him not to engage with them and to tell them we will only deal in writing but it's been a long time since they've telephoned and they caught him unawares. Man with a nasty attitude on the other end queired him as to why we had felt the need to request our CCA. He then said the case is going to court. Husband asked when and where and global guy gave him the name of the court and a date. I don't know if they are bluffing or not. The bank in the Republic did not sell the debt to Global (from what I can gather) but rather they are acting as the Irish bank's representatives in the UK. I told hubby not to ever talk to them again on the phone but am left feeling very worried now. :-|

Hello, Hoping someone might be able to advise me on this. I have a debt that was handed over to Global. The debt is from a credit card in Republic of Ireland but I am now living in UK. Global have been writing to me for quite some time and I have been managing to stave them off but this morning they have sent a letter saying that they have authority from their client (the bank in Rep of Ireland) to proceed with litigation. They say that court fees and solicitors costs will be added to the debt and that upon judgement being entered there are various ways to enforce the debt including Bailiffs warrant & bankruptcy proceedings. I don't know if this is just another desperate tactic by Global and it's all hot air or whether they are serious about taking legal action. Anyone with any experience of this or who can advise what I should do next? Thanks in advance.

Thanks vjohn. You've been really helpful. Can I just clarify the above so as I am sure of doing the right thing. So basically Next can't enforce things in court if they don't have the orginal signed agreement? In that case I'm happy enough to take my chances and ignore them. I think my credit record is past caring at this stage. In Beau's case (which would be identical to mine) where Next were successful in enforcing the debt without an orginal signed agreement, did Beau take Next to court or the other way around? Sorry to sound so dense, just want to get all my facts well and truly straight before going down this road with Next.

Hi Scott, Thanks for that. yes, I think I'll give them a ring and see although I doubt I'll get very far but no harm in giving it a go. I lost faith in the FOS a bit. I went to them a while back (reclaiming fees on a different halifax account). I was owed a good few hundred pounds in charges and Halifax offered me £30 as a 'goodwill gesture'. The FOS investigated the claim and, although admitted I was in hardship, told me to accept the offerm, which I stupidly did as a full and final settlement. The fos guy who was investigating the claim said that he thought the offer was reasonable and that, while I was in hardship and had several different debts, that wasn't halifax's fault. I went along with it at the time but feel a bit miffed now looking back at how they dealt with my complaint. I guess it can depend on the individual FOS adjudicator dealing with each claim. I'm inclined to go straight down the court route this time but haven't done anything like that before so am a bit apprehensive about what it will involve.

Hello, I'm not sure if I'm posting in the right section so apologies if not. I made a claim for my fees to be refunded on my Halifax Account. I am around £200 overdrawn and paying this off at £1 per month as I am in living solely on sickness benefit and in financial hardship. The claim was also based on my hardship and was backed up by the Counsumer Credit Counselling Service who provided a letter urging halifax to refund my charges. My charges amount to £385 since Feb 2009 until now. Halifax wrote yesterday and offered me a payment of £70 as full and final settlement of the complaint.:-| This obviously falls a long way short of the charges I was asking for and won't even pay off half of the current overdraft. I'd be very grateful for any advice as to how I should proceed. I don't know if it is possible (or realistic) to ring them and try to negoiate a higher refund. If not, then should I proceed to the FOS or submit an application to court? Thanks in advance for any help with this.