Halifax Credit Card Help please

[gazel]

I have sent a letter to Halifax credit card along with a budget plan telling them I can no longer pay the £150 per month

and I have offered them £20 per month,

 

they have sent a letter back asking me to phone them to discuss my budget,

they say that they are going to continue to take £150 per month and not stop the interest.

 

In their letter they were trying to suggest I could budget better but I really can't,

we have -£490 per month as we rely on my wifes income what that doesn't cover the overdraft does but I am nearing the limit on my overdraft.

 

We have no luxuries and I mean none we buy food and thats it.

 

My question is should I phone them and discuss over the phone if not what should my next move be?

[dx100uk]

reclaiming?

 

do you bank with halifax too them?

 

its your money

 

you TELL THEM

 

what they are going to get.

 

dx

[gazel]

Yes I bank with Halifax also,

 

they also insist on charging me £60 per month for the overdraft between that,

the credit card and mortgage its killing me.

 

They can't get the £150 I have had to cancel direct debit

there won't be enough money in there if they try to take it,

my plan was to just send them the £20 per month

[westfield]

How do you pay your credit card,

is it by direct debit?

 

If so cancel it now.

 

Are you on an arrangement to pay off the card or is that the payment you make.

 

Next i would open a new bank account for your daily living and swap all your essential bills to it.

 

Effectively leave HBOS behind.

 

Then write to both the bank and the credit card explaining your situation and

making an offer to each as well as asking them to freeze charges and interest.

 

What sort of credit card is it and when did you get it?

[dx100uk]

challenge them on those OD charges with BCOBS

 

not on any benefits are you?

 

dx

[gazel]

I do pay direct debit for credit card

£150 is normal monthly payment,

it is a Halifax Mastercard,

 

Direct Debit is canceled as there is not enough money in to cover it anyway.

 

I am on no benefit

I was claiming income support but I could only claim for 1 year,

then I applied for disability but was told I am fit for work,

I truly am not fit for work,

I have put in an appeal but while I am waiting for the appeal

I can't claim a penny and was told the appeal could take 9 months or longer.

 

I'm not sure how to challenge on the overdraft charges.

 

Should I write to credit card again or should I just send them payments,

 

I really don't want to phone if I can help as they are very patronizing and I don't wish to feel anymore depressed than I already do

[westfield]

Off topic

 

but have you checked to see if you or your wife are entitled to any more benefits?

 

Maybe CAB or your local benefits advice centre?

 

I would put your offer to the card in writing but be prepared for them calling writing etc.

 

As for od charges not much help i am afraid

[dx100uk]

pers i would not be paying them £150!!

 

more like

 

try this:

 

tell them they are only going to get £xxPCM for xx mts

as a goodwill gesture

and as a reciprocal GOGW they must freeze int & refrain from levying PENALTY charges.

if they wont

drop them to £1PCM for life.

then pay by your internet banking site

and get reclaiming

dx

TAKE CONTROL

or

if yuo think that letter is in response to you telling them £xx for xx mts

then write back........

i'm sorry, but you have failed to assist me during a period of financial difficulty, against all the guidelines and codes

issued by the relevent bodies and authorities that govern you and the way you conduct yourselves.

i repeat again, the contents of my letter dated dd/mm/yyyy, for want of clarification:

to show my goodwill, i am going to pay £XX for XX mts

could you please as a reciprocatal goodwill guesture, refraining from levying any penalty charges & freeze the interest on my account.

i will update you in 6mts time or before, should my situation chance.

should you fail to help by refraining from levying unlawful PENALTY charges & freeze my interest,

i shall have no alternative but to reduce my offer to £1PCM for the rest of the life of the account,

as your actions are doing nothing to help me.

This is contrary to the rules you should operate under.

disgruntled account holder

 

as for the OD charges

 

have a read of BCOBS

 

dx

[gazel]

I was told over the phone when I phoned department of works and pensions that because my wife works I could get nothing, she gets about £20 per week working tax credit

 

I did write to credit card with my offer and they wrote back saying they would take their £150 per month and keep putting on interest and I need to phone them to discuss budget

[dx100uk]

if they are going to use their right of offset i think thats unfair.

 

cancel the DD

 

and pay by your internet banking site.

 

P.S

 

you don't ASK them to agree to your reduced payments

 

you TELL THEM.

 

and they have no legal right to and budget sheets either

 

your PERSONAL financial details are NONE of their business

only a judge can demand that.

 

get any wages paid into say a co-op account

 

and never set up any DD's against it.

 

just use internet banking transfers

 

dx

[gazel]

Ok thank you I will open another account asap and I will also let them know again they are only getting £20 per month, I did already give them my budget (I didn't know I didn't have to) they can clearly see I fall short of over £400 per month the over draft pays the rest

 

Thank you so much for all of your help, I would be lost without it

[westfield]

While there is no need to provide income and expenditure forms it does help the process. To be honest if your shortfall is that much each month you should not be increasing one debt to pay another. I would be revising my offer to all my creditors to £1 per month for say a 6 month period. I think it is time you took the bull by the horns and really sorted your debt repayments out. It is unsustainable.

[firstship]

Do you have a joint bank account with Halifax and joint credit card with them,? The advice to set up a new bank account is 100% correct do this quickly make sure whoever you select has no connection with Nasty Unhelpful Halifax.

 

Regards FS

[gazel]

My wife has set up another bank account with co op, I wrote and told them they are only getting £20 per month and asked them to stop the interest. They have now sent a letter back telling me I am in arreas and I need to pay or they will take money out of any other accounts, they are also continuing to put interest on. How can I get them to stop the interest I don't know what to do if they keep putting it on, I don't want to end up with a huge debt

[gazel]

I have another question can Halifax run the debt up with interest and the put a charge on my house?

[dx100uk]

no they cant they MUST help you.

 

 

TELL [dont ask] them they are only going to get £xxPCM for xx mts

as a goodwill gesture

and as a reciprocal GOGW they must freeze int & refrain from levying PENALTY charges.

if they wont

drop them to £1PCM for life.

.

as an example>

.

I am currently in financial difficulties and not able to meet my normal monthly repayments.

to show my goodwill, i am going to pay £5 for 6 mts.

 

i will update you in 6mts time or before, should my situation change.

.

could you please as a reciprocal goodwill guesture,

.

refrain from levying any penalty charges & freeze the interest on my account.?

.

Should you fail to assist me during a period of financial difficulty, contrary to all the guidelines and codes

issued by the relevent bodies and authorities that govern you and the way you conduct yourselves.

.

i shall have no alternative but to reduce my offer to £1PCM for the rest of the life of the account,

.

.

as your actions would do nothing to help me.

.

i thank you for your time.

..

.

dx

.

then pay by your internet banking site

.

and get reclaiming

.

TAKE CONTROL

.

or

if you have sent the above and they refuse

then write back........

.

.

i'm sorry, but you have failed to assist me during a period of financial difficulty, against all the guidelines and codes

issued by the relevent bodies and authorities that govern you and the way you conduct yourselves.

i repeat again, the contents of my letter dated dd/mm/yyyy, for want of clarification:

to show my goodwill, i am going to pay £XX for XX mts

could you please as a reciprocal goodwill guesture, refraining from levying any penalty charges & freeze the interest on my account.

i will update you in 6mts time or before, should my situation chance.

should you fail to help by refraining from levying unlawful PENALTY charges & freeze my interest,

i shall have no alternative but to reduce my offer to £1PCM for the rest of the life of the account,

as your actions are doing nothing to help me.

This is contrary to the rules you should operate under.

disgruntled account holder

dx

[gazel]

I wrote to my bank asking them to freeze interest and overdraft charges while I try to pay my overdraft off but they have purposely took their overdraft fee out which has put me over the top of my overdraft so they are charging me £5 per day until I am under my overdraft limit, can they do this?

[dx100uk]

did you make a bcobs complaint

 

dx

[gazel]

No I haven't they have sent me another letter asking for a budget plan, I'm not sure how to make the complaint do I just send them a letter?

[up2meears]

Hi gazel,

 

Definitely follow dx's advice about making a complaint to Halifax under BCOBS. After numerous letters, phone calls and texts from Halifax, I made a complaint to them under BCOBS and they refunded ALL O/D charges and gave me 9 months to pay off the original overdraft without further penalty.

 

I changed bank accounts and paid little bits toward the O/D when I could. Luckily, I got a result from a bank charges claim from another bank and paid it off. But it was defo worth writing that letter of complaint.

 

I didn't notice through your thread (but could have missed it) but do you have any PPI or late/overlimit charges on the credit card that you could reclaim?

 

Up2

[up2meears]

All I did was send a letter briefly explaining my circumstances and added this to it:

 

Also, I have further been advised to draw your attention to Banking: Conduct of Business Sourcebook (BCOBS) and in particular 5.1.4: Principle 6 requires a firm to pay due regard to the interests of its customers and to treat them fairly. In particular, a firm should deal fairly with a banking customer whom it has reason to believe is in financial difficulty.

 

They sorted it out pretty quick after that and if I remember correctly, the charges were refunded before I received their letter.

 

Up2

[gazel]

Thank you for your help, sorry for such late reply I don't always have access to internet.

If I sent the BCOBS letter will they give me a set limit of time to pay the original overdraft because if they give me 9 months to pay I will never be able to pay it within this time

[dx100uk]

unknown

 

each case is diff

 

however they should suspend ALL collection durig the complaint

 

pers at this stage i'd not worry about that.

 

you really MUST take control

 

its YOUR MONEY not tHEIRS

 

TELL them not ask

 

follow the advise already given

 

dx

[gazel]

I have sent the letter to them and they have just replied to me now saying they want a budget plan is it right for me to send them one as I thought only a judge could ask for one?

[dx100uk]

correct NONE of their business!!

 

dx