Crocodiles Vs Halifax

[crocodiles]

I have just recieved a full list of statements from The Halifax.

Over the last 6 yrs, I have handed over £4600 in charges.

I want that money back!!!

I will post regular progress reports on this thread for anyone who is interested.

 

All of the charges on my statements read 'charges as notified'.

 

Therefore I can't break down the charges into categories.

Can I claim for the whole lot in one go?

Can I submit six or seven claims below the small claims threshold in order of cronology?

 

Do I need to request a more detailed breakdown of charges?

[Guest Niklowe]

where do you live? If in England you can claim up to £5000 and still stay in the small claims track.

 

I think that charges as notified would be quite accepatable as the bank itself has put that wording on the statements

[crocodiles]

Thanks Nik,

(you're not the Nick Lowe - musician - are you?? I bet if you had a pound for every time you heard that, you wouldn't have incurred any charges in the first place, lol)

 

I am in Scotland, where the limit is £750, I believe.

I have no overdraft facility, so I'm sure that I can claim back all of the charges.

I'm just not sure about categorisation, or breakdown of them.

[crocodiles]

Ihave just read that in Scotland you can pursue a claim through the 'Summarry cause' court, here the claim limit is £1500.

This will suit me to a tee, as I can make three claims of £1500, then one of £100 in small claims.

 

I'll let you know how I get on.

[crocodiles]

I intend to submit three claims of £1500 thru Summarry Cause court and one of £100 thru small claims.

Can I send my LBA's for all of the claims simultaneously, of should I process each one at a time?

[crocodiles]

quick update on my signature to document my progress

[crocodiles]

Hepl!!

 

I'm ready to deliver my Preliminary requests by hand today.

I am making four seperate claims - In Scotland

Three through the 'Summarry Cause' court and one throughr small claims.

 

Can I pursue these claims simultaneously, or must I pursue each claim one at a time?

 

I'm itching to get this started but want to keep on the right track.

 

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

[crocodiles]

I'm not confident of the legality of simultaneous claims so I am claiming the whole £4600 in one go.

England is a lovely place to visit if a court attendance is required!!

[bathgatebuyer]

Have you contacted them in advance to request the money back? I'm not sure, but I think you have to show that you've given them a reasonable period to pay it back.

 

I've got my statements and they owe me about £3000, however, I'm giving them the 14 days to consider paying it back, and on the expiry of that date giving them another 14 days under the LBA (see Library), thereafter applying to the courts for the money back.

 

Not sure how it will all work out - I'm still only a law student!

[crocodiles]

Just recieved the standard letter stating that they have forwarded my request for repayment to their customer relations dept. (who will 'contact me shortly'). with complaints handling procedure leaflet.

Will send the LBA at 14 days after prelim was sent.

[Guest bluecloud]

You have two main problems that I can see with your proposed courses of action.

 

If you go for one big claim in an English Court then you need to have an address in England where you can receive mail. Unfortunately, a P.O. Box is not normally allowed.

 

If you go for 4 simultaneous claims then the Defendant (i.e. the bank) can apply to the Court to have them combined and regarded as one claim which is what you want to avoid.

 

For what it's worth I would probably issue the four claims consecutively in a Scottish Court. It's easier for you to receive any correspondance and you can use the proceeds of the individual claims to fund the next one. As long as each claim doesn't overlap in dates then everything should go just fine.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

.

[crocodiles]

Thanks for that Bluecloud.

I have relatives down south whom I can use, so I will start that process right away.

[crocodiles]

No response from Halifax consumer relations.

LBA sent today using c/o adress in England

[Guest bluecloud]

Oops, I might not have been clear enough - you only need the English address for the Court bit. It's probably not such a good idea to "change" your address part way through the "pay me back or else" part of the procedure.

 

 

.

[crocodiles]

Just recieved a letter - sent to my home address and not the English one - offering me £764 as a 'goodwill gesture', on condition that acceptance barrs me from any further claims upon them.

 

Letter reads....

 

Dear Mr xxxxxxxxxx,

 

Thank you for your recent letter.

 

I am sure you will appreciate like other orginisations we incur costs for every transaction made. When we pay an item against an unauthorised overdraft or return an item unpaid, we incur extra costs regardless of the amounts of the shortfall involved. We believe it is fair to pass these costs on to the accounts affacted, as opposed to them being absorbed by other customers.

 

Our charging policy is clearly outlined in the terms & conditions that apply to your account. In addition, we are committed to complying with the banking code, which sets standards of good banking practice. The terms & conditions of your account state that you must have funds in your account to cover your transactions. We cannot be responsible if you authorise payments against funds that are not available.

We are keen to help you avoid unnecessary charges by providing various ways to keep track of your account. You can do this using Telephone banking, on-line banking or mini cash statements at cash machines. Ultimately it is your responsibility to manage your account.

As a gesture of goodwill, I would like to offer you £764 in full and final settlement of your complaint. This represents the highest 6 months woth of charges to your account. I must stress that future charges will stand and we reserve the right to close your account if you do not manage it correctly.

To accept my offer, please sign and return the enclosed acceptance form in the prepaid envelope.

 

You have requested information on how we calculate our costs for dealing withthese transactions. Please note that we are not obliged under the Data Protection Act to supply this information, and as it is commercially sensitive, I regret to inform you that I am unable to comply with your request.

 

I hope you will feel able to accept this settlement.

To comply with legislation, I would like you to know that if you remain unhappy, you can refer your concerns to the Financial Ombudsman service (details included).'

 

 

I will accept their offer, but only as part payment, not final settlement.

I believe that many of their charges were as a result of their high cost charging policies, that is, many charges were brought on by an initial charge, creating a snowball effect. That they are responsiblefor creating an unmanageable account by withdrawing substantial amount of money on a regular basis.

I suspect that they are aware of the effect these charges have and one charge leading to another created a lucrative revinue stream for them.

Their threats to close my account have no bearing whatsoever.

If I don't bank with them I will save money on charges, so, no threat there.

 

 

I'm not sure why they refer to the banking code.

Possibly to put me off - if they comply with a code, they might be in the right, sort of thing.

 

Their refusal to give a breakdown of costs under the Data Protection Act is another thing I'm not sure about. I requested this info under the same act.

Who is right?

Either way it is just another distraction.

I will be sfiling my court action by 10th November - friday coming.

We'll see how the cards fall then.

[crocodiles]

I have a question.

I have incurred more charges since starting the reclaim process.

If I claim interest, I will be asking for more than £5000.

Can this still be processed through moneyclaim?

[crocodiles]

I will be submitting my Money claim to court at the end of this week.

My claim has risen to £4670 and the interest is now £910.

 

If they agree to pay in full after the claim is submitted, but before going to court, will 'payment in full' include the interest?

[crocodiles]

Just a thought,

 

I am so addicted to this site.

Does anyone else have the same problem?

I day job is taking a battering just now.

Not only am I (very) interested in my own case, I've started telling my wife about you guys and your own battles at the dinner table.

She is quite chuffed by the prospect of a windfall or two (or more) coming our way, but I think she is getting a little worried about my growing obsession.

 

Is it just me, or are any of you lot out there in the same state?

[crocodiles]

Folks,

 

I will be submitting my MCOL tomorrow.

I am based in Scotland but using an English proxy adress to allow my claim of £4787 (before interest) to go through small claims.

 

How do I get my charges spreadsheet to the appropriate court and should I send another spreadsheet to the Halifax?

I have added more charges to my claim since I sent them one with my LBA.

 

Any advice would be most welcome.

[Guest bluecloud]

As soon as you get your claim reference number you need to send one copy of the schedule to the Halifax at the Trinity Road address and a copy to MCOL at Northampton County Court.

 

Each will need a brief covering letter.

 

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

ref: Moneyclaim Online Claim Number - xXXxxxxx

 

Please find enclosed a schedule of charges which is submitted, in conjunction with the above claim reference number, in relation to a County Court claim.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

yadda, yadda, yadda

 

 

 

 

Halifax plc

Trinity Road

Halifax

HX1 2RG

 

 

The Court Manager,

Money Claim Online

Northampton County Court

21-27 St. Katharine's Street

Northampton

NN1 2LH

[crocodiles]

Thanks Bluecloud.

 

Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

I'm trying to read through as many threads as possible and offer what limited advice my knowledge allows to other members.

However, my wee thread seems to be getting little response, so your input is particularly welcome.

 

Cheers.

[crocodiles]

Submitted MCOL yesterday.

Can anyone give me an idea as to how long, on average, it takes Halifax to pay up?

I've been getting increasingly impatient to send the thing in.

Now that its in the system I'm quite chilled about it but it would be nice to have a vague idea of how long the last lap is, so to speak.

[crocodiles]

Folks,

 

Could anyone supply me with a draft letter to Northhampton County Court?

 

I want to send a copy of my schedule of charges to them and to the Halifax, but I'm not sure as to what the cover letter should contain.

Also, I have been reading the Court bundle J2B compiled.

When do you think is the best time to send this document?

 

It is heavy stuff!!

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

[crocodiles]

I have made a fundamental error in my pursuit of the Halifax.

There was an error in my account number in both my response to settlement letter and my LBA. It was one digit but it counts.

 

In my response to settlement offer letter, I also included my roll number and the Halifax reference number.

However, in my LBA, I changed my address to my English cousins, with a view to using MCOL, and the only account info was my inc orrect account number.

I have already submitted my MCOL - on Saturday - and discovered this whilst compiling stuff for my legal bundle.

 

I have corrected the errors and intend to include them with my MCOL notification letter to Halifax.

I'm worried that my LBA is basically void!

 

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Michael Browne]

None of the above is important as long as the a/c no on MCOL was correct. You won't need a court bundle until you have a court date. 14 days to acknowledge, 28 days to defend ,both from the deemed date of service.

 

Send 2 copies of your schedule of charges, clearly marked with your claim no. + a brief covering letter asking for them to be filed with your claim to:

 

The Court Manager,

Money Claim Online

Northampton County Court

21-27 St. Katharine's Street

Northampton

NN1 2LH

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

(Your Name) –v- (Bank)

Claim No: ********

Date Issued: xx/xx/xx

 

Please find enclosed a schedule of penalty charges taken from me by the defendant, along with interest claimed at the annual rate of 8% pursuant to section 69 of the County Court Act. The interest in addition to the amount in charges equates to the total amount of my claim, namely £(AMOUNT).

 

I respectfully request that the enclosed schedule should be attached to the particulars of my claim.

Yours Faithfully

 

When you receive the Notice of Acknowledgement send a copy to the bank’s solicitors.