Important info for reclaimers

[mike wilkins]

It is normal for them to include in their settlement letter a warning that future account mismanagement could invoke account closure.

 

The banks have been advised by their regulatory bodies (banking codes) to think very carefully before closing accounts just because someone has taken claims action.

 

To be fair Halifax have shown much more restraint than others like A & L and the Co-op.

just been advised by halifax that unless that future charges will stand on the account and that they reserve the right to close the account unless managed responsibly.

[debt_mountain]

hi - can anyone with experience of more than one claim against halifax (specifically card cash accounts) please let me know - have your accounts been closed, or have they at any point been threatened with closure?

Thanks

 

If you still haven't managed to open a new account with a debit card then the last resort is a pay as you go debit card. Going places do one that is free. It is ok for emergencies but not for every day use.

 

Pop in to a branch and get some info on it.

[headforit]

Are Halifax now defending every single claim served to them in the courts? because that seems to be the case, where before they would refund the money shortly after the commencement of a moneyclaim, they are now fighting the claims?

 

If you are at the stage of issuing a moneyclaim or already have issued one, please discuss halifax's strategy towards your claim here in this thread so that we can all have a broad view of their responses and keep abreast of their modi operandi

 

Thanks guys

Marquez

 

Just Progressing on to stage 4. After stage 2 they offered me 10% of the money they took off me in charges "as a good will gesture" as full and final settlement (£489). I rejected this and moved to 3rd stage. NOw moving to 4th stage. Will let you know what happens

[Deb1967]

Halifax sent me a letter last week stating 'insufficient funds' to cover a direct debit so a charge of £39 will be taken on 25/09/06. if there isnt sufficient to cover this, then a charge of £25 will be added. I am in financial difficulties at the moment so rang them to let them know this money wont be there. They told me that was my responsibility. I then received another letter today with a further £39 direct debit refusal.

 

Thats £103 they are taking for sending 2 letters.

 

Is there anything I can do?

[zootscoot]

Hi Deb1967,

 

Welcome to the site.

 

There is not a lot you can do to stop them taking the money from your account but you can claim it back once you have paid it along with any other charges you have paid.

 

Follow the step -by- step instructions

 

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

 

Have a good read around the site to familiarise yourself with the process first and don't forget to start your own thread in the appropriate forum once you get started.

 

Best of Luck

 

Zoot

[dollies01]

Halifax unathourised overdraft fee was £28 last time I had one........is the £25 a typing error Deb, or have they reduced their charges a little?

A very little!

[MARTIN3030]

Yep a very very little !!

 

 

Wonder what spurred on this incredible act of generosity ??????

[Saint2K]

How are these claims paid by Halifax?

 

Is it normally by cheque or back into the account?

 

I have just had a default notice from Halifax, so I was just wondering if I start claiming back charges whether they would be refunding them back on the account, which I am unsure if it is even still open or be paying by cheque?

 

Can you stipulate in your claim how you want refunding?

 

Thanks

[MARTIN3030]

For a closed account it would be by cheque.

You can mention it in the Lba but usually this is pointed out later.

You simply tell them that until they pay you then you wont inform the court that its settled.

They cannot pay it into a defaulted account thats closed !

[MARTIN3030]

I would suggest that you move quickly.

Tell them that they cannot enforce this default as the account is in dispute

Also they must suspend recovery action of any outstanding amounts for the same reason.

[cameragirl]

Are Halifax now defending every single claim served to them in the courts? because that seems to be the case, where before they would refund the money shortly after the commencement of a moneyclaim, they are now fighting the claims?

 

If you are at the stage of issuing a moneyclaim or already have issued one, please discuss halifax's strategy towards your claim here in this thread so that we can all have a broad view of their responses and keep abreast of their modi operandi

 

Thanks guys

Marquez

 

Hi everyone!

Just received a letter telling me, .....guess what? A BANK CHARGE OF £39!!!!

This after the first communication since I sent the initial letter.The letter came from Personal Customer Complaints and basically says they're sorry i'm unhappy with the service provided and that they are keen to deal with my concerns and are currently investigating my complaint regarding the charges debited to my account.I apparantly will receive their full response shortly! This letter was dated 11 September 2006....

Why do I have this horrible sinking feeling??????

I used the letter contained in the Lawpack I purchased on here by the way!!

Cameragirl x;)

[MARTIN3030]

Dont be too concerned about this.

You can still add on more charges to your claim right up to filing the court papers.

Just add it onto your schedule.

[Joan Blanch]

I have received a letter from Halifax - they are paying me back all charges plus costs. Deadline for court is 2nd October - now that's last minute isn't it !

 

Keep up the good work.

 

J;)

[sputtock]

hi - can anyone with experience of more than one claim against halifax (specifically card cash accounts) please let me know - have your accounts been closed, or have they at any point been threatened with closure?

Thanks

 

Hi, i have claimed a few times..am about to make another one. Have got my money back but taken a lot of time and waiting on hold. Also, has anyone else had their interest debited out of their out without Halifax telling them?Surely this is illegal?

[aardvark the lecturer]

What kind of interest has been debited out of your account?

[sputtock]

They said it was because i am no longer a student? But i had told them this and i have at least 1 year to clear my overdraft after i have graduated (i only graduated in july). Also the interest is random..one month it was £23 and the next £4, then £4.14 or something for the end of Sept?

I rang them up and it took them 3 weeks to reply, with a letter asking for proof im still at university, which i have told them i am not numerous times.

[aardvark the lecturer]

Hi there,

 

I would quote back to them the text from their own website (assuming that this offer formed part of your own contract and was either in place when you took out the student account or you were advised by them of the addition to your own T&C's),

 

Student Current Account Want an interest free overdraft that beats most other high street banks? Typical 0% EAR.

The last thing you want at university is money hassle, so get an account that gives you extra. Our interest free overdraft could give you up to £1,250 more than most other high street banks.

 

 

 

What happens when I finish my course?

• All the student benefits are available on the account while you are a student and for 12 months after you've finished your course (up to a maximum of 6 years), so there's no need to worry

 

I suggest that they are trying to scare you off, but I would request a full breakdown of how the interest has been calculated and what period of time it has covered for each instance.

 

I would ring them and point this out but also send them a letter informing them they have 14 days to refund all interest charges or you will instigate a court action.

[tracew]

I did my MC in to Halifax last Friday it was acknowledged yesterday, haven't had a letter as yet, but its a bit soon.

No idea what to expect next.

[sputtock]

thanks aardvark!! I will be calling them and having strong words with them..again. I have had non stop problems with this bank and i have been trying to change but again this seems a difficult task in itself.

I also didnt realise i can get interest back on bank charges so i am going to ask for the interest back from years ago i think..really put a spanner in the works!

thanks

[aardvark the lecturer]

Be careful of interest claims, there are two seperate methods of doing this,

 

• You can claim the interest back that you have paid on the charges themselves. See the ADVANCED spreadsheet in the templates library. This should have already been a part of your prelim letters and LBA though, and is part of the value of your claim from the start. (In most circumstances this does not amount to a lot, and can be very complicated to work out as you need to break-down just the part of the interest charged that was a direct result of your charges.)

• If (or when) you file your mcol/n1, you are then (and only at this stage)entitled to add 8% interest on all charges I interest as above, from the date at which they orrurred until the date you file. You also then claim a daily rate on the lot up until you actually settle. Both advanced and standard spreadsheets will help you calculate this as well as providing a defined schedule of charges for you.

Ther is a debate about substituting the 8% interest above with a claim for contractual interest at a higher rate instead. You really need to read up and think carefully about this though, also this would be a part of your claim from the beginning also and they should have been given notice about this amount and time to respond. The signs show that banks intend to 'vigourously defend these claims', whatever that means!

 

Link to spreadsheets - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/182-6-interest-calculation-spreadsheets.html

 

Link to contractual interest thread - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/7252-new-way-looking-interest.html?highlight=contractual

 

happy reading!!!!!

[sputtock]

i understand the interest part, but why 8%. I have tried to read up about this but am confused about why we can ask for this back when an account only offers, say, 4.5% interest?

[aardvark the lecturer]

8% is a predefined rate set out in the County Court Act 1984 (s69), to allow claiments to recoup interest on the sum they are filing action about.

 

I hadn't brought it up before but actually where a contract makes provision for a rate of interest to be paid on outstanding money, one does have the choice either of claiming that contractual rate of interest or merely claiming the 8% under the County Court act 1984.

 

I can't see that this approach creates any risks for anyone unless it brings the amount claimed over the £5,000 limit. But if it doesn't then there is no problem. If the matter went to court then I would suggest that the N1 was worded to claim the contractual rate of interest or in the alternative, 8% pursuant to section 69 blah blah blah.

 

full thread is here - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/7252-new-way-looking-interest.html?highlight=interest+8%25

[kokorunna]

Hi,

 

They are still paying out, Halifax will acknowledge the judgement and say that they want to defend it but will pay up within a couple of days.

 

Win or Lose, it will cost Halifax alot of mnoney to defend cases.

[adelita]

Unfortunately yes they can refuse to close an account. A contract may be terminated in one of four ways either:

 

1. full performance -Not really applicable on running contracts like current accounts

 

2.frustration - only where the contract becomes impossible to perform as a result of outside factors which is the fault of neithr party

 

3. breach of condition - the innocent party to the breach (here the bank) has the right to terminate the contract. This is generally what happens when you are defaulted. However, the party who is in breach can not insist the contract is ended.

 

4. agreement - as the name suggests both the parties must agree to end the contract.

 

The bank is very unlikely to agree to close the account whilst it is in overdraft.

 

So the best plan, as Martin states, is to commence the action for charges and tell them that the account is in dispute. They should not then press for repayment until the issue of charges is resolved.

 

Hope this helps

 

Zoot

please help,i wrote to the halifax regarding charges that were put on my mortgage account, at the time that these charges were added, i was in a relationship and my ex is also on the mortgage,i was at the time working as a manager full time,and i was giving my ex the money for the mortgage every month as he became unemployed,we separated a year or so after taking the mortgage on, and thought that he had been paying the halifax,anyway i found out that we were in arrears and they had been making charges for non payment, letters sent,and calls that they had with my ex, he had not made me aware that he had not been making the payments, i found out by chance when i called the halifax to let them know we were no longer together and he had left the property,i am now keeping up with the payments, i dont know where my ex partner is, though i cant take him off the mortgage, but i did write to the halifax asking for the charges to be refunded, they wrote back to my today and told me that oft recently held inquiries into defult fees on credit cards,mortgage arrears fees and missed payment fees were not part of the inquiry,and the oft have not ruled these to be unlawfull, therfor they will not refund the charges,as these fees are in line with the terms and conditions of the mortgage,it is importantant to that each action they take will in itself incur,labour,administration,and technology costs.and with regard to providing supporting evidenceof admin costs involved, it is not their policy to divulge this information to individual customers to that level of detail,as it is comercially sensitive information, they have also said that they will not alter my credit file.

can you please advise me , as all this does not make any sense to me. i sent the letter that is in this library, and they have written back to me with gooble dee goog lol, is there anything else i can do to get these charges back, or is that the end of it???????, was i right in asking for the charges to be paid back, or was i just a fool thinking i could,

kind regards

adela

[zootscoot]

Hi Adela,

 

I have had my mortgage Early Redemptin Charge refunded from Halifax and am currently in the process of claiming charges from them on a secured loan. So yes you can claim them back. Click on the link in my signature and you will see the template letter, LBA and particulars of claim I used. It is slightly different for mortgages although the process is the same. You might also want to have a read through the mortgage forum which is a sub forum under 'other institutions'. Once you have had a good read through start a thread where and you will find lots of help and support available specifically fo rmortgages.

 

All the best

 

Zoot