Chica vs Halifax (£ + default)

[chica]

Am claiming £1676 form the 'lovely' people at the Halifax!!

My account was suspended in Jan 05 as I couldn't pay back my unauthorised od and excess bank charges!! The balance of that is now £1005.76 so when I win it'll leave me cash spare yyyyyyyyyeeeeeeesssssss!!!

[thewifeandI]

HI - well done for taking the first step. All the info and support you need is right here!

[ScotsJamie]

GOOD LUCK! You wont need luck to get your charges back so you can use it for something else... like a lottery win or summat!

[jonni2bad]

Were you also defaulted on this account?

[chica]

Yes this account was defaulted on 24 dec 2005. I have been paying back £4.23 ish for the last 4 months as per dmp with debtcare.

Does this make a difference to my claim? You've got me worried now!!!

Chica

[pmhread]

Nothing to worry about. If the default was as a result of the charges then you can have it removed.

[chica]

Hiya folks...just keeping you updated!!

Recieved this letter this morning..

Dear Mrs Chica

I refer to your letter recieved 6th July 2006; naturally I am concerned that you have found cause for complaint and at the outset please accept my apologies that you have not recieved an earlier response.

I appreciate your concerns regarding the above account and please allow me to explain HBOS Disagrees with the legal analysis of default fees outlined in the OFT's statement published in April.

However, the group has today confirmed that it will be reducing default fees across its credit card product range to £12 from 1 August 2006.

Until that date, all existing terms and conditions apply.

Our charges on current accounts are a genuine pre-estimate of costs that generally arise when customers breach their agreements with us. They cannot take into account the individual circumstances of each particular case. In the circumstances we do not agree with you that they represent an unlawful penalty or unfair term under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contractsregulations.

Please note that we are at this time working in conjunction with the Office of Fair Trading and although they belive charges are to be no higher than £12 there has not been any legislation passed which would force us to reduce our charges on our Bank Account products at this time.

It is the customers responsibility to ensure that funds are available to cover charges being debited from their account as we give you an adequate notification period of 28 days to allow you time to do so and also adevise that you will recieve further charges if your account is not conducted so.

I note from your account that charges were incurred correctly in accordance with your signed terms and conditions of your account. You have been in an unauthorised overdraft facility since Feb 2005 with very little attempt to bring the account back into credit hence the reason your account is now held with our recovery agents .....

Please contact them immediately to ensure a repayment arrangement is agreed to avoid further legal action being pursed.

The address for contact should you have any future queries is:

.....

I have as a gesture of goodwill cancelled pending charges due to be debited 31st July 2006 to avoid escalation of your balance at this stage.

I am sorry that this letter may not provide you with the response you are seeking however I trust this clarifies matters for you.

You will find enclosed a copy of our leaflet explaining our complaint procedure.

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 Finacial Ombudsman Service for assitance. If I do not hear from you within the next eight weeks I will assume you are satisfied with our response to your letter.

Yours sincerly

Lianne Sailsbury

Customer Care Manager

On behalf of Retail Bank Collections.

 

 

What should I do now folks???????

As far as I was aware, this account was dealing dealt with a different recovery agent from the one they say and I have been making monthly payments to them since Nov 2005 with proof!!! I also thought that all interest and other charges had been frozen on this account? Whats going on??

Anyone suggest a really good letter to return to them??? Don't forget its £1676

I'm claiming back!!!

Ta folks

Chica

[mechs]

thats the standard fob off letter what you need to do is write back and tell them that the money is in dispute I will draft something up for you tomorrow that you can send its a bit hectic tonight

[chica]

Thanks Mechs I really appreciate all the help I recived from you guys!! Just taking one bank at a time!! Come on my money!!!!

 

Chica

[pmhread]

Hi there

 

Mechs has asked me to get a little more info first...sounds like they've made a right b@lls up o this! Can you tell me why you thought interest and charges had been frozen? this is just so we can incorporate it. Cheers.

[chica]

Hiya

I was assuming that there was no interest or charges being applied anymore as I'm payingn off my debt through a dmp at £4.26 ish per month. I have statement s to prove that this has been coming of my balance since Nov 2005.

Anything else you need to know, just give me a shout. Many thanks for your help and support guys.

Chica

[mechs]

Hi Chica sorry its taken so long to get back to you but we are extremely busy you need to use the Letter before action

All you have to do is add to LBA to remind them that as account is officially in dispute and most of o/d is made out of bank charges, they can't default or pass to DCA until dispute is resolved. you should also write to DCA to advise amounts owing are in dispute, that shoud be enough for it to go straight back to bank... And then press on with your reclaiming bank charges action.

 

If you write your letter and need me to sanction it feel free to pm me

 

mechs

[chica]

Thanks mechs...should I send the letter as soon as or wait for the 14 days?

Chica

[mechs]

send it as soon as you like Chica they have turned you down

[ScotsJamie]

Send it!

[chica]

LBA letter sent today!!! 14 days...roll on!!!

[chica]

Hiya Just an update.

14 days from the LBA runs out on Monday. Recieved a leter today:

 

Dear Mrs Chica

Re Your current account

I refer to your letter dated 12 July 2006. We did in fact respond to your letter dated 30/06/06 on the 7/07/06. I cannot concur with you that fees have been placed on your account are unlawful. These fees are clearly scheduled in your terms and conditions and have been agreed by yourself in signing of the contract to open the account.

Having reviewed your account I can advise you that the default notice issued to you on 24/12/2004 shows a true reflection on the way you conducted your account. Under the banking code we have a legal obligation to show this on your credit file. We will not be looking to remove this.

I am sorry that this letter does not provide you with the response you are seeking however I trust this clarifies the matter for you.

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 to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service for assistance. If I do not hear from you withoin the next 8 weeks I will assume you are satisfied with our response.

Yours sincerly

Peter Scarth.

Customer Care Manager

Collections and Recovery

 

 

 

What do I do now folks? Can I start my court cliam now or should I still wait for Monday?

[jonni2bad]

Give them the full 14 days.

 

How much were you defaulted for, and what was the level of charges imposed AT THAT DATE?

[chica]

I was defaulted for £1027 on the 24.12.04. The charges at that date were £1620. I have only been charged £28 * 2 since then. This is another of the reasons why I thought all interest etc had been frozen on the account along with the fact that I'm in a DMP with them. Have they cocked up here or something?

Sorry I haven't been on for a while. Just started back at work after an abscence of 8 weeks and have been shattered!!

[jonni2bad]

They certainly have 'cocked-up'. The level of charges imposed at that date are very much in excess of the default level. As such, it can be easily argued that had these unlawful charges not been imposed, you would have been in credit, never mind just overdrawn.

 

With this in mind, the removal of the default notice should be vigorously challenged. See MY CLAIM against the Halifax for a very similar issue.

 

Can you show me the Prelim and LBA you have already sent please - I need to see the terminilogy used to ask for the removal. You should remove details that identify you as they are not required.

 

Also, if you don't mind talking about the issue in this thread, could you let me know if this default notice is the only one you had at that time (or still have) and if this has caused ANY financial loss to you, what-so-ever, that could be substantiated? That could be higher apr on subsequent loans / mortgages / credit cards. This might also need to get more in depth, but we'll see.

 

If you don't wish to make the above known, you could always PM me with details.

[chica]

Hi Jonni2bad

This is the first letter I sent to halifax: my request for repayment of charges.

30 June 2006

Adrian Percy

HBOS plc

Trinity Road

Halifax

HX1 2RG

Account Number: xxxx

Dear Sir:

Request for repayment of charges:

My Request

I am writing to ask you to refund to me the charges that you have levied from my account over the last 6 years.

I now understand that 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. If you say that they are not, then will you please demonstrate this by letting me have a full breakdown of the costs to which you have been put by as a result of my breaches, in order to reassure me that your penalties really do reflect your costs.

Additionally, it has now been confirmed that your particularly high level of penalties are consider to be unfair per se by the OFT who reported on the 5th April 2006 and are therefore presumed to be unlawful in the absence of specific proof to the contrary.

Your responsibilities

I would 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 the contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner that complied with the UK law.

I am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary.

I consider that your repeated representations that your charges are fair and reasonable are deceptive and that you have deceived me into agreeing to pay for them.

Your concealment of the true nature of your charges has prevented me from asserting my right until now.

What I require

I calculate that you have taken £1676. I enclose a schedule of the charges which I am claiming with this letter.

My targets to resolve this matter

I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me about this matter and I am writing this letter to you on the assumption that you will prefer to do this than merely respond with standard letters and leaflets.

I will give you 14 days to reply to me accepting, unconditionally, my request in principle and letting me know a date by which I will receive payment.

If you do not respond, or you do not respond positively, within this time period, I shall send you a letter before action giving you a further 14 days in which to reflect. I believe that these targets are more than sufficient for a large company such as yours with dedicated staff and departments.

After that, there will be no further communication from me and I shall issue a claim at the expiry of the second deadline.

This is the second letter LBA:

12 July 2006

Lianne Sailsbury

Po BOX 607

Trinity Road

Halifax

HX1 2UJ

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

Re number:

 

 

I am very disappointed that you have failed to respond to my letter of the 30 June 2006.

I now understand that the regime of ‘fees’ that 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 draw your attention to the terms of the contract that 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 that complies with UK law.

 

I am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary.

 

I calculate that you have taken £1676 plus £119.91 which you have charged me in overdraft interest for the sum which you have taken. Total £1795.91.

I am enclosing a copy of the schedule of the charges which I am claiming. I have already sent you a copy of this in my original letter of the 30 June 2006.

Additionally you have entered a default notice against my credit record. This default occurred merely in respect of unlawful charges levied by you or was the result of impecuniosity’s caused directly by the taking by you of penalty charges which you had applied unlawfully to my account.

 

In addition to full payment of the sum mentioned above I require that you remove the default entry from the register. Please note that mere correction or amendment to the entry will not be acceptable.

 

I require repayment in full of this money and removal of the default notice. If you do not comply fully within 14 days then I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount plus interest plus a claim under ss.7 and 13 of the Data Protection Act 1998 plus my costs and without further notice.

With regards to the debt recovery agents, Blair Oliver and Scott, a repayment plan has been in place since February 2006 at a rate of £4.57 per month. As you have accepted these payments I have reduced my moneys owing to you accordingly. I have sent a copy of this letter to Blair Oliver and Scott at the address you provided.

I hope I have worded these correctly and I'll pm you later with details of other defaults.

These were mainly caused (sorry not helped) by bad advice from debt management companies. We got into financial trouble soon after we bought our house and I sought help form a company in Nov 04. They advised me to stop paying, and to not even give token payments as some creditors may end up with more than others. We then looked into doing an IVA. The 1st company took money from us and then told us we couldn't set up the IVA and passed us on to someone else. They took money from us also and then told us we didn't have enough disposabile income to do an IVA, and passedus onto a third company. They took money from us and set us up on a DMP in feb 06. Since then I have recieved two CCJ's, one of which has culmiated into a charging order on our house. I am now in dealings with the CAB who are trying to help sort out this mess!!

PM you in a while

Chica

[chica]

I was due to file my claim yesterday but I have no money. Can I file my claim the next time I get paid or am I best going to the bank of Dad?!?!?!?

[nona]

Hi Chica,

If it was me i would borrow the money from bank of dad and pay him back when you get your charges refunded.

 

Good luck

Nona

[jonni2bad]

Sent a PM - please read before continuing.

[chica]

Hi all, Thanks for changing my title!!!

In answer to your pm Jonni2bad. I am claiming £1671 charges, £119.91 interest, £10 dpa request fee, court costs and 8% from the date of my claim.

I'm gonna borrow from the bank of dad I think for my court fees, but I have two claims that are due to be filed at the same time. Which do I do first? This for £1671 plus extra or the Abbey for £1916 plus extras?????

Thanks everyone for all your support and help...I'm starting to get excited but at the same time I am extremley nervous!!]

Chics