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paullittle

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  1. I wrote to them. And I agree with birdie - this is always the best way as you can keep a paper trail. Halifax actually called me after receiving my letter and agreed to refund the charges back to the point at which the stop was placed on the account. In my case they refunded the charges since I hadn't used any of the "ultimate rewards" since that is what the charge is for (apparently!) although it took me a looong time to find that out! I guess I could have argued to have them go back further but in reality I was using the account up to that point and had the option of making use of the rewards so fair's fair I suppose... If you have used any of the rewards - travel insurance, RAC membership etc they might try to wriggle but keep at them! Good luck!
  2. Quick update: I wrote to Halifax complaining about the fact that they had levied the £12.50 charge unnessecarily and about the harassment I was getting from iQor - up to three calls per day (in the end I just stopped answering). Amazingly I got a call from Halifax customer services saying that they would refund all the charges from the point where the stop was put on the account. This effectively halved the amount I owe. Result! They also agreed to take back the account from iQor. Result!! At the same time I wrote to iQor telling them if they did not stop calling me I would report them for harassment. I also pointed out (again) my financial situation. Hey presto the calls stopped! Then I recieved a letter from them saying that I would have to make a "token payment to prevent further action". It will please me greatly to tell them to foxtrot oscar and that Halifax are now handling it again.
  3. Hi Birdie I'd be interested to know how that pans out. Incidentally I had a call from iQor yesterday. They always start off with: "I'm calling from the Halifax" - obviously not true! Or "I'm calling on befalf of the Halifax" - obviously not quite true! When I asked if the caller was actually the Halifax or iQor they hung up. Sounds like a real dodgy company to me
  4. Just found out that the DCA is actually called iQor recovery Services Ltd - i.e. spelt with a "Q" not a "C" Anyone know anything about them?
  5. Hi folks, I got offered a Halifax Ultimate Reward account as an "upgrade" to my Easycash account at a time when I was doing fairly well financially. I was keen to take the account at that time as I was trying to rebuild my credit rating. However, my finances took a nosedive in the middle of last year and I stopped using the Rewards account. Unfortunately I had gone just over my agreed overdraft limit and was of course levied with some charges. I asked if the account could be closed but was told that his was only possible once the overdaft was cleared. So I was in the situation of having no income, trying to pay off the overdaft but being constantly thwarted by the £12.50/month account fee, which pushed me futher into debt and incurred further charges . With me so far? After a while I managed to get them to agree a nominal fee repayment of £1/month but they were still charging the account fee of £12.50! I asked if there was anything I could do about that and was told the only thing would be to convert the account into a standard account but that the overdraft fees would be more that the Rewards account fee - so now I was stuck! A while later I had a further conversation with them and was able to get them to put a "stop" on the account so that no further charges would be levied. Once again I asked about the £12.50 account fee but was given the same reponse as before, so a little better - but not much! I had been going on like this until September 23 this year when I had a call regarding the account and once again I was able to get them to agree to continue with the arrangement we already had in place. Now comes the 1st bombshell: The person I spoke to told me that the £12.50 account fee was purely for the "Rewards" (RAC cover, travel insurance etc, etc) and that if I wasn't using those then the fee could be waived! No one had told me that before so I have been paying that fee for over a year COMPETELY UNNECCESSARILY! So now the fee was stopped and I had some prospect of making headway into the now considerably inflated "debt" of just over £427 (it was a little over £100 when this all started). Now the 2nd bombshell: I was called yesterday (3rd November) by a collections firm called "ICOR" who informed me that Halifax had passed the "debt" to them and that I now had to pay up. I had no prior notification the Halifax were going to take this action and I suspected a [problem] and told them to "foxtrot oscar". Of course I immediately contacted Halifax who confirmed that this was indeed the case. I asked the person I spoke to why I had not been informed that this was going to happen and he said "I have no idea" - great! (the words elbow and arse come to mind). I was furious . I called ICOR today and explained the situation (I am on JSA) and they then expected me to go into detailed financial disclosure about income and expenditure over the phone. I told them I wasn't prepared to do that but was willing to provide the information in a more secure manner which I have now done but I doubt whether there will be any form of acceptable (to me) arrangement forthcoming - if I know anything about collection firms - they were even making threats of "sending the boys round". So my dilema is twofold: 1. Where do I stand with Halifax regarding the unnesseccary account fees - which, of course also created extra penalty fees. Is there any way of reclaiming these? Should I have been informed by Halifax of thier intended action regarding ICOR? 2. What should I do about the collections firm? I certainly will not be dealing with Halifax in any form ever again. Luckily I do have an account with the Helpful Banking people so I am going to transfer everything over to them. Any help will be gratefully received as I am just about at my wits end with this.
  6. Sorry, maybe I didn't put that properly: I did get ALL my money back. I was just pointing out that the "standard letter" they send out says that a £5 admin fee would be retained so people need to watch out for this. Interestingly they call the £54 (£59 now) the "broker fee" of which £5 is an "admin" fee - it might be interesting to find out what the OFT make of that
  7. I just received a refund from this bunch of crooks Interestingly the accompanying letter was a hand-amended standard letter which still has the "brokerage fee" as £54, they are actually charging £59 now; well, it costs a lot more to do nothing these days:lol: Interestingly the letter also says that they will keep the £5 admin costs. I don't think that they can actually do this unless they have provided access to a loan as per: "your credit broker licence dictates that you cannot in six months time ask for more than a nominal fee"... etc So beware, they still try to rob you even when they are giving you a refund!
  8. Quick update. I called the direct number and a very curt young lady said to call the "head office" on the 0844 number and before I had a chance to respond hung up the phone. Of course I called straight back and spoke to someone else who was slightly less curt but who also told me to call the other number. I said I didn't want to hold for another hour only to be cut off again. She then said I had to write to the "refunds department" -they have a whole department to deal with refunds apparntly! Anyway, here is the letter I am going to send, any comments? Wentworth Direct Finance Wrotham Road Gravesend Kent DA13 0BR 19 July 2010 Dear Sir, Loan Ref Number WDF ****** With regard to the above loan reference I am writing to request that you refund to me the £118 you have taken from my bank. You took two payments of £59 (ref: ***********), one on 19 June 2010 and the second on 22 June 2010 . When I originally spoke to your representative I was told that you had a loan arranged for me, although he would not tell me with whom, and that all I had to do was to pay the £59 fee and the funds would be with me within 7-10 days. This was demonstrably untrue as you did not provide me with access to a loan on terms which I found acceptable within that time and was said to DECEIVE me into paying your £59 “brokerage fee”. As I am sure you are aware taking money from another by DECEPTION is a CONTRAVENTION OF THE THEFT ACT and punishable by up to 10 years in prison plus a fine. Indeed, your credit broker licence dictates that you cannot in six months time ask for more than a nominal fee. Certainly NOT £59 and certainly NOT before you have provided access to a loan. You have 14 days from the date of this letter to provide the refund of £118. If I do not receive a refund within this time I will take the matter up with Ian Learmonth, the new Chief Constable of Kent in order to press for an indictment for fraudulent theft. Yours sincerely Do you think that will do the trick?
  9. Hi HuggyBear, I have fallen into the same trap as yourself. However, Wentworth have taken the £59 out of my account TWICE!!!!! ROBIN' BA****DS! I am going to take ZipDee's advice and call them now. Thanks for posting the direct number - I called the 0844 number and was put on hold for over an hour until the queue got down to number 1 at which point I was cut off! :mad: To anyone else reading this DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE ANY DEALINGS WITH THIS FIRM. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
  10. The council did send two or three letters at the time with each one adding extra costs to the charge. I can't recall if they said they would pass the matter to a baliff but if they did it was at least 18 months ago. Given that they have not communicated with me since should there have been a new letter saying pay up in x days or we'll send in the baliff?
  11. Hey Bucksgirl, I had the same company chasing me last year and folowing the advice on here and on pepipoo.com I ignored all letters and sure enoughthey went away Just be brave - I know the letters can look serious and without any legal knowledge "look" official but trust me, they are [problematic] and will flee like a scalded cat if threatened
  12. Amazing! Just managed to speak to Jacobs. They have offered me 10 weeks to pay saying that was the maximum amount of time the council would allow them to give. That's gong to be the best part of ten quid a week - not a great deal granted but when I am living on £62 a week it's a fair chunk. Question is; is the ten weeks real or can I appeal for longer?
  13. I just received a baliff letter regarding a parking ticket I got nearly two years ago. Background: I was visiting a customer and parked in a 1 hour roadside bay (having been told by the customer that it would be fine for longer) and when I returned of course there was a PCN on the windscreen. I tried to pay by phoning the number on the PCN but the automated system did not accept my Electron card. I did not (still dont) have a cheque book so couldn't send a cheque. There was no contact number on the PCN other than the automatic payment number. I tried calling the council but they were a complete waste of time and just kept saying I had to pay by calling the number on the PCN! Of course they eventually stopped writing to me and the matter slipped my mind. My situation currently is that I am unemployed and on jobseekers allowance and have no hope of paying the £93.16 that Jacobs are demanding. The letter (below) says I have seven days to pay or they will send the boys round to take my stuff. Can they do that? I tried calling Jacobs to explain the situation and ask for advice but of course I got put in a queue and cant afford to hold on an 0845 number for ages (my free calls don't include 0845). What should I do now?
  14. My partner has a similar problem to this. She is employed by the County Council who are demanding the return of an overpayment of wages caused by them paying her for 2 more hours than she actually works. When she was offered the position her hours were 21 per week but upon commencement of the job her contract was reduced by 2 hours per week but she has been paid (apparently) for the original 21 hours. However, the wages she received from day 1 have been the same so she could not, therefore, have seen that they were incorrect. They have informed her that the overpayment will be recovered over a five month period at nearly £50 per month - when her "normal" take home is only around £450 per month! However, after reading this thread I am wondering if she even needs to repay it at all as it was clearly the mistake of the council.
  15. On a happier note i did get HBoS to cancel the £39 charge today - hoorah!
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