Halifax, recovery of outstanding balance.

[Oudeis]

Dear fiends,

Push has come to shove.

My son had an account with Halifax and is now being chased for £i,300 or so, the greater part of which is bank charges.

I know I (he) should deal with this quickly; but, how to begin?

It may be simply a matter of chalenging Halifax as to the amount owed and informing the debt collectors, however I fear that any mistake at this juncture could ruin the whole thing.

Please, could someone advise me how to begin to sort this thing out? I have some trouble finding my way around this site (pro-formers etc.) and I do not wish to lumber a 'buddy' out of the blue.

I would be grateful for any advice, thank you all. )

[maroondevo52]

Hello and Welcome, Oudeis.

 

Don't worry about lumbering a 'buddy' that's what we're here for.

 

Here's the 'link' to re-claiming charges, start the process asap........

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/faqs-please-read-these/31460-example-step-step-instructions.html

 

Any questions, just ask on this thread

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[Oudeis]

Dear friends,

Thank you so much 'maroondevo52

 

I did not know the figures, I did use your excelent letter, I got a reply pretty quickly. I was sent 6 pages of bank account statement-0 covering the lifetime of my son's account. The last line of this statement, in bold, reads...

27 Jun 08 Closing Balance......(money in) X...(money out) X....(Balance) 0.00

 

I would now like to write to the Debt Collectors to point out that there is nothing owing.

Given that I asked for a complete statement have I missed something?

 

I am so grateful for the kind attention I have been given, thank you again. )

[maroondevo52]

Hi,

 

With the balance showing £0.00 more than likely the Bank have sold your account to the Debt Collectors.

 

Carry on with your claim for the charges, there's a letter here you could sent to the Debt Collectors regarding your account.

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

Your ref:

 

 

Thank you for your letter of **DATE**, the contents of which are noted.

 

 

I am disputing the total value of these debts with **BANK** due to unlawful and unreasonable charges. As such, therefore, I consider this account to be in dispute and no further action or payment shall be made until this matter is resolved.

As per OFT guidelines Section 2.8k "not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt."

 

This process may take some time, due to the Office of Fair Trading's test case, but I will try to expedite this issue as a matter of urgency.

 

Consequentially any legal action you pursue will be averred as both UNLAWFUL and VEXATIOUS.

 

After taking advice, I am of the opinion that your continued pursuit is in violation of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 section 3 as well as breaching a number of the OFT Collection Guidelines.

 

I reserve the right to report your actions to any such regulatory authorities as I see fit.

You have 14 days from receiving this letter to contact me with your intentions to resolve this matter which is now a formal complaint.

 

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 would prefer to do this than merely respond with standard letters and leaflets.

 

I would appreciate your due diligence in this matter.

 

I look forward to hearing from you in writing.

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

*Edit out any bits your not happy with*

 

Who are the Debt Collectors ?

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[Oudeis]

Thanks again Scott.

Nowhere in the statement does the balance go into the red, the sums peter-out to zero with a final balance of 17p paid in cash and the account closed.

IF there was any debt to be claimed against the account holder why is there no sign of him going into the red? There is no sign either of charges being levied.

That last point seems to nulify any claim for repayment; by the account holder OR the debt collector.. The covering letter seems to be stated in general terms.

[Oudeis]

Ooops!

 

The actors in this play are:-

Halifax, Wescot, Nelson & Guest and Eversheds.

 

The bit in (this site's) letter, where I asked for statements, that speaks of 'Manual Intervention' has been answered in that such matters are not recorded centally, so no news. Is your notion that the 'debt' has been sold recorded under this heading? If so the figures are lost to me.

More for me to ponder I guess. Sorry for the dely in info. Tom.

[Oudeis]

Hello again friends,

I did use the letter to reply to Wescot the debt colectors (thanks again Scott) I also wrote to the bank to clarify the mix-up; I said, given that I did ask for a full history of all my (my son's) banking with them...was their reply their answer to that? If so go tell Wescot. Also as I had written to warn them that I intended to reclaim all unfair charges why did they then send me statements that had no charges? I realized, rather late in the day, that charges over the lifetime of the account could easily come to more than they are claiming and I hope they realize that cancelling this debt would be cheaper for them in the long run. We shall see. Rather cheekily in their response to my FOI they wrote that if the info they sent me DID NOT satisfy me I should phone them. I find that a bit rum. I am sure what I said/could have said off the cuff would certainly be used against me rather than help. Thanks again. "Onward and upward!"

[Oudeis]

OOPS!

There are points I forgot to mention...perhaps it is best if I copy the letter to the bank ...

 

Thank you for your letter dated 4th June 2009. Which was in response to my request for:

“ a complete list of transactions and charges relating to my banking history with your organisation.”

 

Some confusion has arisen.

 

Although I told you the reason for my request was to reclaim any disproportionate penalties that may have been levied against me the statements you sent contained no charges and confirmed that my banking history with Halifax Plc concluded with a zero closing balance.

Why then has Halifax Plc set Wescot Credit Services to recover in excess of £1,200 from me?

If what you sent me was not all that I requested and that charges have indeed been levied against me . I do consider us to be in dispute.

 

I have written to Wescot in relation to this dispute with Halifax Plc and informed them that no further action or payment shall be made until this matter is resolved.

It may be that what you sent to me is indeed the true state of affairs. In that case could you please inform Wescot.

[Oudeis]

Friends,

Further to Halifax telling me that the court case was on hold and could be that way for years I discovered elsewher 'moneysavingexpert' that my claim could go forward because of financial hardship. I sent Halifax a letter pointing this out. They have written to me to reiterate their points plus a financial statement for me to fill out. I suppose my next step is to send the completed assessment form and wait for their largesse? OR Is it time to involve the Ombudsman?

Darlings, I would dearly love a litte feedback on these last points, please. Tom

[maroondevo52]

Hi, Tom.

 

Sorry, for some reason I've been missing your posts

 

Yes, return the form, they have 8 weeks to get back to you.

 

I'll move this thread to the Hardship Forum, you'll get help in there.

Did you ever get a full list of charges ?

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[Oudeis]

Thanks for getting back to me Scott,

I did get a full list and I have them +%8 interest laid out in a table. I cannot paste it here though, I have tried.

The charges total £1274: they term this figure as 'Amount of fees PAID' and not simply levied; Plus Interest DEBITED £197.61. The interest I have set out on this sum is £180.28 which brings my claim to £1454.28. Perhaps their interest debited I should also claim back?

Meanwhile I got a letter from a seperate office of the Halifax offering a discount of %40 for a cash payment.

Thanks again Scott, regards Tom.

[Oudeis]

P.S.

I should attempt to clarify;

They are after..........£1,291.54

 

Interest CREDITED.....£23.48

Interest DEBITED......£197.61

Fees PAID..............£1,274.00

 

Therefor amount paid/debited is £I,471.61

With the interest of 8% I claimed for the fees (not yet for their interest debited)

My claim could be in excess of...£1,651.89.

They will have to work out how much of this WAS PAID by my son. I fear that this calculation may be beyond me.

Tom.

[maroondevo52]

Hi,

 

I would'nt worry too much about it, when I claimed from HBOS I calculated 5 years worth of charges, being in Scotland.

 

They paid me 6 years

 

They'll work out how much is due.(I would think).

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[Oudeis]

Hi all and Sct,

To up date you on matters.

I sent back to the bank the forms they sent me regarding financial hardship. The bank has responded. They offer £343 because they agree the hardship status, they also say that I should continue to 'talk' with their collectors to see how things can move forward.

It srikes me; I (we are talking of my son) have incurred charges, the court found that they should be repaid, the court stayed the matters, except in cases of financial hardship.

As the bank admits to my financial hardship status why do they not follow through?

This at any rate will be my arguement to the Ombudsman.

For, as things stand the bank continues to pursue me for the debt.

Any advice on approaching the Ombudsman would I am sure be helpful.

Yours,

Tom