Nwuk v Halifax

[nwuk]

Hi Everyone

 

After too many months of the Halifax helping themselves to my bank account, I decided to give it a go

 

I called them on 4th September, and verbally requested a copy, under Data Protection Act, of all bank statements for the last 6 years, and this is required within the next 40 days. I agreed they could debit the account the £5 charge they asked for.

 

7 days later, I received a letter staing I would need to pay them £5 to do this....a phone call again sorted this out.

 

On the 12th October, still no statements, so another call chasing them up. "I'm not sure why you have not got them yet, but they were ordered on 9th" (why did it take so long to order them??), she told me they would be with me shortly.

 

Suprise suprise, they arrived on Saturday (14th October) - the 40th day

 

Anyway, went through them and have calculated charges of £2208 plus 8% interest of £404.28 (thanks to the great spreadsheet on this site!) if it goes to small claims stage.

 

Prelim letter being posted today, so i guess 14 days to wait before the next step.

 

I'll keep you all informed.

 

Steve

[Guest bluecloud]

Welcome to CAG Steve.

 

Sounds like you're off to a good start.

 

Keep fighting,

 

 

.

[bearo]

Sounds like you have it all under control. count your 14 days as calendar ones and not working days, keep reading as much info as you can in the meantime, read the longer threads in here to keep you informed of what Halifax are sending in terms of responces to customers so you are not baffled or unsure when one arrives on your doorstep!

Any questions just shout!

[nwuk]

Thanks for your help and advice guys

[nwuk]

Hi All

 

I've received a letter from the Halifax today (from the Leeds address - I wrote to the Halifax address), confirming receipt of my prelim letter, that the matter is being passed onto customer relations for further investigation and they will contact me in due course.

 

That saved me 68p by not sending it recorded delivery

 

Steve

[Guest bluecloud]

I've received letters postmarked, Glasgow, Newcastle and Birmingham all letterheaded Leeds. However I've sent all correspondance to Halifax. I suppose that their scanning system must work after all.

 

 

 

.

[nwuk]

I forgot to mention, we have been getting between 3 and 9 calls a day from the Halifax, mostly "silent" calls (I am registered with Silent call guard) but could be identified by the caller ID from their "arrears dept". The account is slightly over the overdraft limit due to (guess!) their charges. Indeed the whole overdraft is actually made up of their charges.

 

On the 18th October, I sent them the "please don;t call anymore" letter found in the templates section on here. Today I have received a response, as below

 

----- Start response letter -----

 

Dear Mr xxxx

 

I refer to your request received on 19th October 2006 regarding excessive calls.

 

I'm sorry that while your account is arrears there is nothing I can do about the calling.

Should any of your concerns remain unresolved please let me knowwhat you'd like me to do to put matters right. We are keen to resolve your concerns, if we are unable to do so we'll provide you with details of how you can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service for assistance. If I do not hear from you within the next eight weeks I will assume you are satisfied with our response to your letter.

 

Yours sincerely

 

xxxxxx

Customer Care Manager

 

------- End Letter -------

 

I called the number on the letter, and unfortunately the sender is on holiday this week, but spoke to his colleague. We was (genuinely IMO) shocked at the response and agreed that it was a one line reply added to a standard template.

 

He took a look at the details of the account and confirm the account is marked at in dispute and no further calls should come through (to be honest, we have not had any for the last couple of days - I tough it was the letter that had done it though).

 

I made sure he was aware that should I get any further calls, I would without hesitation or waning file an official complaint to the OFT. I made sure he made a note of this on my account.

 

The battle continues.....

 

Steve

[sapphire001]

Good luck. I'm in the same boat though I haven't had any phone calls, just lots of threatening letters. Considering I have the kind of account that they're not allowed to let go overdrawn, they were very kind to let a cheque clear when there was £5 insufficient funds, and then to add over £200 charges on in the following three months! Sad that when they do pay up, £200 will be instantly swallowed up by their costs, but I'm determined to get it all back from them. Bar stewards!!

[Guest bluecloud]

I would be very tempted to send a copy of the letter to the OFT, FSA and OFCOM. It indicates, in my opinion, that the Halifax are under the impression they are above the law. I've had some fairly interesting phone calls and letters from Halifax staff-members but they've never claimed that stopping calls was something that couldn't be done. At the same time you can almost admire the arrogance.

 

 

.

[nwuk]

I would be very tempted to send a copy of the letter to the OFT, FSA and OFCOM. It indicates, in my opinion, that the Halifax are under the impression they are above the law. I've had some fairly interesting phone calls and letters from Halifax staff-members but they've never claimed that stopping calls was something that couldn't be done. At the same time you can almost admire the arrogance.

Very true, I might as well - after all, they are making things awkward for me

 

Steve

[nwuk]

An appropriate letter now has been sent to the OFT, FSA and Ofcom alsong with a copy of my original letter and the Halifax's response regarding the harrasing calls.

 

It will be interesting to see what they make of it

 

Steve

[nwuk]

Well, it seems the left hand is unaware of what the right hand is doing (again) at the Halifax

 

I've received another letter from a different person today in reference to my telephone harrasment complaint. Similar response to the last one but much more in-depth... It can't be in response to my letters to OFT/OFCOM/FSA as it was posted before...

 

It's a fairly long letter, so i'll put in on here tomorrow when I have a bit more time.

 

Steve

[nwuk]

As promised here is a copy of the second letter Halifax sent dated 24th October 2006 regarding the harrament by telephone complaint.

 

---- START LETTER ----

 

RE: Telephone Calls

 

Dear xxxx

 

Thank you for your letter dated 18th October 2006. I am dealing with your concerns because of my responsibility for customer service.

 

I would like to begin by saying how sorry! am that you have found cause for complaint about the service you have received with your Current Account

I understand from your letter that you are unhappy with the amount and frequency of telephone calls to you from the Halifax.

 

We contact our customers in accordance with strict Ofcom rulings and Office of Fair Trading guidelines (section 2.23) which states:

"There was a degree of consistency from respondents that contacting debtors between the hours of 8am and 9pm Monday to Friday would be reasonable."

 

We may also call throughout the weekend as many of our customers are more easily contacted outside normal working hours. We restrict calling times at the weekend to Saturday 8 a.m. till 4 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. till 2 p.m. I apologise if any of these calls have caused offence. This was not our aim as we are merely looking to advise you of the situation with your accounts.

 

We do this so the customer is always aware of what is happening with their account. You can then be proactive in communicating any changes and advising us of new information about your financial position.

 

If you are currently experiencing financial difficulties please contact us on 0870 850 1298.

 

I hope this letter clarifies our position and ask you contact me if I can be of any further help.

 

You should have already received a copy of our leaflet explaining our complaints procedure.

 

Should any of your concerns remain unresolved please let me know what you'd like

me to do to put matters right on 0161 242 0425. We are keen to resolve your concerns, if we are unable to do so we'll provide you with details of how you can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service for help. If I don't hear from you in the next eight weeks I will close my file.

 

---- LETTER ENDS ----

 

Section 2.23 refers to this publication:

 

http://www.oft.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/50F06527-9FC5-4610-B385-999D6E2A8950/0/oft664.pdf

 

It's a pity they did not read on and quote the rest of the parapragh which reads:

 

"There was greater disparity over what is reasonable in respect of contact made at the weekend and on public/bank holidays etc. There was also greater disparity over what constituted reasonable intervals with opinion ranging from daily, every couple of days to weekly. A number of respondents including Citizens Advice and the Credit Services Association stressed the importance of giving debtors a reasonable time to respond."

 

I would say that calling up to 9 times a day every day about an account in dispute was not "giving debtors a reasonable time to respond".

 

In addition, on the same document under "PART II: THE NEW DEBT COLLECTION GUIDANCE", it states:

 

2.2. Examples of unfair practices are as follows:

 

g. ignoring or disregarding debtors' legitimate wishes in respect of when and where to contact them"

 

And under "2.6 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:"

 

"a. contacting debtors at unreasonable times and at unreasonable intervals"

"h. ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment"

 

It's be interesting to see what the responbse from the OFT, Ofcom and FSA is

 

Steve

[nwuk]

Sent LBA today by recorded delivery, so the clock is ticking for them now

 

Looks like 13th November is going to be unlucky for them

 

Steve

[nwuk]

Just had a call from the Halifax in response to my first letter of 17th October

 

He calimed that the charges are legal. I responsponded with "Can you then please let me have the full breakdown, as requested in the letter, of the costs incurred by the bank and how they compare to the charges you have made?" He replied "I'm sorry we cannot give that information out". I said "I'm willing to take this all the way and listen to your legal representitive tell that to the judge"

 

He then said "to save going down the legal route" was willing to offer a partial refund of £675 "which were charges form the busiest period"

 

I said I would accept that as partial settlement of the full amount due (currently £2236).

 

He said he would confirm in writing, to which I said "I will reply to your letter confirming my stance, but I will not be deviate from the 14 days I have allowed you to make full settlement".

 

Just to add, the telephone call was also in direct breach of my letter "Harrasment by telephone" dated 18th October which stated "I now require all futher correspondance from your company to be made in writing only".

 

Dear dear

 

Steve

[nwuk]

Received confirmation in writing today of the "offer" of £675. Pretty standard letter from what I see reading the other posts here.

 

Love the paragraph:-

 

"I understand that you would like to receive information about our costs for specific transactions. We are under no statutory obligation to record the information you want and are unable to help with your request"

 

Acceptance as partial settlement letter posted

 

Steve

[nwuk]

Received a response to my partial acceptance letter stating I refused their offer and they would not be refunding anything

 

The 14 days are up tomorrow so MCOL time

 

Steve

[MARTIN3030]

Well done so far:)

[nwuk]

MCOL submitted

 

£2236 + 8% interest £417.48 + 49p per day

 

Total claim is £2773.48 (inc court fee).

[handbaghoarder]

hi,just wondering how you're getting on? i submitted my mcol the day after yours but mine is still showing issued (not yet acknowledged even though it was deemed served by the 20th) also yet to receive any correspondence from halifax.

just wondering what stage yours is at

[nwuk]

Still waiting for them to acknowledge the claim. Thier 14 days are up on 5th December

[nwuk]

Received the acknowledgement today, stating they intend to defend. Signed A O'Brien.

 

Hopefully not too long now

[nwuk]

Nice touch - Halifax charged me another £28 yesterday....

 

Any idea how long from the date they file the acknowledgement to when they (hopefully) pay up?

 

Thanks

[handbaghoarder]

i'm just a day behind you,hoping its going to be next week!

[nwuk]

I'VE WON!

 

Full settlement has been paid into my account this morning

 

Yipee!