kingofkings v Halifax

[42man]

Send them this...you'll need to edit...

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for the above referenced letter,although I am totally bemused as to why I have received it.

 

The author of the letter seems to have taken no notice of the present state of the account as it stands,for the following reasons :-

 

1) In August of last year,in the High Court various banks applied for and were granted, a ‘stay’, to claims for ‘penalty charges ‘.Part of the High Court Order states that NO ENFORCEMENT ACTION IS TO BE TAKEN BY THE BANK TO RECOVER any supposed charges made by them ,until the OFT Test Case has been resolved.AND in addition should any action be taken by the Bank,then the ‘stay’will be lifted,and no doubt ,judgement would be awarded in my favour..

 

2) I am sure that Halifax conform to The Banking Code,and as such I will draw your attention to s13.6, reference information you may NOT pass on,IF an account is in dispute.The High Court Order I would suggest is reasonable evidence to assume that this account is in dispute.

 

3) I am also sure that Halifax are fully au fait with the, Office of Fair Tradings code for

Debt Collection Guidance,and I draw your attention to the latest information from their publication,July 2003(updated December 2006);-

 

The following are deemed to be at the very least UNFAIR practices.

 

a) Section 2,2 b,Leaving out or presenting information ,in such a way that it creates a false or misleading impression .or exploits debtors’ lack of knowledge.

HOW you could miss the ‘stay’on the account is beyond me.

 

b)Psychological harassment,as described in Section 2.6 g,making threatening statements or gestures ,or taking actions suggesting harm.

Your last paragraph of your letter threatening collection agencies etc.

 

c) Section 2.6 h,Ignoring or disregarding claims ,that debts are settled or disputed ,and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment.

 

d) Section 2.6 I,Disclosing or threatening to disclose,debt details to third parties ,unless legally entitled to do so.

 

e) Section 2.6 k,Not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt

 

I can only assume that based on the above,that this letter must have been sent in error,as I am certain you would not wish it to be seen as VEXATIOUS.

 

Your letter has obviously caused me a great deal of unnecessary concern,and worry,resulting in me having to take third party advice,undergo law and internet research,and take time out from my employment,as well as postage costs,to reply to your letter.As you are a Bank,and regularly make charges to customers,I have taken the liberty of charging you the sum of £35,which I will add to my costs against yourselves.

 

I further feel,that as a show of good faith by the Bank,that any further fees and/or interest should be frozen,pending the outcome of the OFT Test Case.

 

I would also point out that I intend to maintain my legal rights,and if necassary, file reports with the appropriate authorities, including, but not limited to, Trading Standards, Office of Fair Trading, Information Commissioners Office, Financial Ombudsman Service and possible court action.including the High Court.

 

I trust you will give this due diligence,and look forward to your reply within the next 14 days.

 

Yours faithfully

[42man]

If they give a final response complain to the FOS...

[kingofkings]

Hi,

 

I recently got a new Bank Statement from Halifax (there new format of statements).

 

And in the Interest Rates section on the front of my statement it says the following.

 

Each standing order and direct debit we do not pay on any day (Unpaid Item Fee) is £15 (max 3 charges per day)

 

It doesn't state how much the charge is if they pay the item but they say this.

 

"There is no overdraft facility on Easycash accounts. If you are aged 18 and over and have an unarranged overdraft, we will charge you interest and make you pay any fees for unpaid Direct Debits and Standing Orders which may apply. In this case, we will charge you 2.20% debit interest per month (29.8% Equivalent Annual Rate variable). There is no fee or debit interest payable if you are aged under 18.

 

When I has a Easycard account before, I thought that the charges were in the range of £30-£35 for unpaid or paid items.

[sea-sidelady]

This has been taken from Halifax's website. It explains the fees.

 

Type of FeeWhat the fee is forHalifax Ultimate Reward Current Account, Halifax High Interest Current Account, Halifax moneyback Current Account and Halifax Current AccountCardcashStudentsAll other

customers

Over 18Under 18Paid item fee A fee we charge when a card transaction, cheque (whether guaranteed or not), standing order,direct debit or other instruction that we pay results in or increases an unarranged overdraft.

£20

No more than one fee a day

£35

No more than three times a day

Does not apply

 

 

 

Unpaid Item feeA fee we charge when we decide to return unpaid, or not to pay, any cheque, card transaction, standing order, direct debit or other instruction that would result in or increase an unarranged overdraft.

£20

No more than one fee a day

£35

No more than three times a day £35

No more than three times a day No charge Unarranged overdraft fee

A fee we charge for every month in which you at any time have an unarranged overdraft.

.

£28

Up to once a month

£28

Up to once a month

 

 

£28

Up to once a month

No charge

[kingofkings]

So by looking at what you have replied, if Halifax were to charge me more than £15, and was to question it.

 

For example if they charged me £35 for an unpaid item, I could provide them with the terms on my statement that states they would only charge me £15 per Unpaid item and have them refund £20 of that £35 charge.

 

Not that I have been charged on my new account, but was just posting to see if any one else has seen a change in Halifax's charges.

[BoSBoY]

easycash have for sometime now had lower charges as many of those who hold those types of accounts are on low incomes.

[daviet1976]

I couldn't pay the mortgage last week as I was £100 short in the account.

 

As a result, the DD request was returned.

 

It was requested again yesterday morning. Again there were insufficient funds in the account (this time by £150) but the DD was paid.

 

Any idea why the first request was returned but the second paid?

[kingofkings]

Well heard nothing since, but just an updated, got a letter at the weekend from Albion that states. 'Our Client has advised us that it is referring your outstanding debt for further proceedings."

 

So looks like I will be sent a Court Letter in the coming weeks one would assume.

[42man]

Dear Sir.

 

Once again I am bemused at receiving your letter. As this account is made up entirely of excessive penalty charges.

 

As per my last letter I have deducted £35 from the balance for having to write you this letter

 

Therefore, I would indeed welcome the opportunity to place this before the court. Furthermore should you proceed with the threats of legal action I will make an immediate application to have it set aside for the grounds outlined above, also I shall refer the judge to our correspondence when the matter of costs falls due

 

I trust this outlines my position clearly enough for you

[kingofkings]

Update on the Situation, nothing has happened since my last letter and reply to this thread. But I have recently received this letter, from

 

Blair, Oliver and Scott Limited

Debt Collectors

 

Dear Sir / Madam,

 

Client: HALIFAX

Account Number: ###########

Balance £1,803.53

 

Blair, Oliver & Scott Ltd. is a professional Debt Collection Agency instructed by our above named client to obtain payment of the the balance owed by you. Our client requires patment of the full balance outstanding as soon as possible.

 

What action should you take?

Make payment in full to the account; or

Contact our agents on the Helpline number below to discuss possible payment options.

 

What will happen if you do not take any action?

We can instruct one of our local door-to-door agents to call on you and discuss patment of the debt; or

Court action may be taken to seek a judgment against you. If you are a homeowner and do not pay the amount the court orders you to pay, we may then reapply to the court for a charging order on your property. This will give us repayment of the outstanding debt from the proceeds whenever the property is sold.

 

TO MAKE A PAYMENT:

Call the Helpline number, below, for payments by debit/credit card or to set up a standing order.

For internt & telephone banking, quote your account number (found at the top of this letter) as the reference and pay to the sort code and account number ##### ######.

Sned a cheque or postal order to the address at the top of this letter, remembering to write your account number (as above) on the reserve of the payment.

 

 

--------------

 

So what do I need to do with these guys, as I can't send any letter I've already sent to Halifax and Albion, so is there another letter that I need to send to these guys. As in an earlier replay I stated that Albion sent me a letter to state that they were no longer dealing with the debt.

 

Regards

kingofkings

Edited January 17, 2009 by kingofkings
Didn't finish the reply, pressed enter too soon.

[kingofkings]

Hi, I am in need for a little advice on the current situation that I am in, 

 

And today I have received a letter for a notice of intended court action. I have sent letters to Blair, Oliver and Scott to which they have not replied. And they have rang me 3 times whilst I've been at work and left messages, but I am not prepared to deal with them on the phone.

 

So by the looks of the following letter, it seems I now will be going to court and be forced to pay the full amount outstanding, even though I am still trying to reclaim Bank charges from Halifax. At this present moment I have misplaced my USB Drive with the letters I sent to Blair, Oliver and Scott, but Halifax are due around £800 in Bank Charges, and that includes the 8% Interest.

 

Here are the letters I received from Blair, Oliver and Scott..

(Please note I have reduced the quality of the letters to a 2-bit gif image for faster loading times).

 

Letter 1 - Dated 5th January 2009

 

Letter 2 - Dated 19th January 2009

 

Letter 3 - Date 19th February 2009

 

Is anyone able to give me advice on this situation? As I'm stuck as to what to do, other than paying the balance which I cannot afford at the moment as I've just had to spend out on Baby stuff, since my girlfriend is expecting, and due in a two months time, so this isn't a good time for me to get a Court Order and possibly Prison.

 

Thanks,

 

Kingofkings.

[kingofkings]

I have posted this here, just in case I get a better response, instead of duplicating a thread, please can you check this out.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/186050-blair-oliver-scott-dca.html

 

I think Halifax won't give in and I'm about to be out of pocket.

[Rightsideup]

I'm sure others will come along with advice for you. The only thing I can say is that debtor's prisons were abolished in 1869 so I shouldn't worry about that.

[clemma]

First off - send this letter to BOS:

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Account Ref xxxx

 

Please be advised that I will only communicate with you in writing.

 

Should it be your intention to arrange a “doorstep call”, please be advised that under OFT rules, you can only visit me at my home if you make an appointment and I have no wish to make an appointment with you.

 

There is only an implied license under English Common Law for people to be able to visit me on my property without express permission; the postman and people asking for directions etc (Armstrong v. Sheppard and Short Ltd [1959] 2 Q.B. per Lord Evershed M.R.). Therefore take note that I revoke license under Common Law for you, or your representatives to visit me at my property and if you do so, then you will be liable to damages for a tort of trespass and action will be taken, including but not limited to, police attendance.

 

Yours faithfully

[clemma]

Ok, now when did this get passed to BOS (they are Halifax's in-house DCA monkeys by the way). You have an ongoing dispute with Halifax so they should not have passed this to them?

 

Oh, and notice the letters are full of we may do this or we could do that.....

[davey77]

As said by rightside up.. being in debt is no longer a criminal offence. You are never going to see a prison over this.

 

Blair, Oliver and Scott never ever ever reply to any correspondence. They only send template letters by the thousand every month and those letters are never tailored to your personal circumstances or previous communications. So don't worry about it.

 

For instance:

 

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t42/davey77_2007/5copy.jpg

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t42/davey77_2007/1copy-1.jpg

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t42/davey77_2007/6copy.jpg

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t42/davey77_2007/3copy-1.jpg

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t42/davey77_2007/2copy.jpg

 

Court action taken by BOS. NONE

[Desperate Daniella]

Davey,

 

Your last sentence is very helpful.

 

DD

[tosh1]

subbing

[kingofkings]

Thanks for the replies, I knew not to get so worked up, I just got annoyed really by lack of repsonse from them, and I sent a letter to all three addresses on the top of their letters.

 

And originally I was dealing with Albion on behalf of Halifax, as the other threads will tell you, they threatened court action and then it was closed and Blair, Oliver and Scott took over. Any letters I sent to Albion were replied to by Halifax, not received a letter back from Blair, Oliver and Scott but I will sent them another nice letter.

 

Halifax started chasing for the debt through Albion and now Blair, Oliver and Scott from October 2008, which is when I last communicated with Halifax where they said they wouldn't refund charges due to the 'Test Case' and I would have to wait until that case was resolved before doing anything else.

 

I'll update as needed on this situation, thanks for the guidance on this.

[maroondevo52]

Hi, Kingofkings.

 

How far did you get with your charges claim ?

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[kingofkings]

It got to the stage where I would have to file a County Court Claim. I decided to hold off on it until the 'Test Case' was resolved. Have I screwed up?

[maroondevo52]

Hi,

 

Get your claim in asap

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[IdaInFife]

AS above proceed with the claim but also as you admit the remainder of the debt is due and you are perpared to pay £50 per month why not send a payment along with a letter including your proposal ( I seen you did send a prosposal earlier but i take it you haven't made the any payments)

 

send a letter saying they are claiming x amount, x amount disputed via charges, you are proposing to pay x amount per month for the remainder of the balance. incluse you first payment with this. Even if the accept a letter stating not enough, just keep paying what you have propsed

 

Ida x

[kingofkings]

Ok, will do. I was waiting for them to reply to the payment offer, but I'll send a payment with the next letter I will be sending them.

[kingofkings]

Update:

 

I have received a letter today from Halifax, even though it seems they can't read as where I have said I propose to pay them back at £50 a week, towards the end of their reply they changed it to month.

 

Also they have said if I file a Court Claim against them, they will instantly throw it out.

 

Here is the letters

 

Halifax Reply Letter

So, now where do I go from here.