General question

[dori2o]

I'm looking to claim my charges off the halifax, but, I 'm worried that I may have to change my bank. I don't realy want to do this as I have loads of DD's, and also I have tax credits paid into that account, and it's a pain in the backside getting HMRC to amend the bank details, then they normally do it wrong and I end up messing about with emergency payments.

 

If I procedded with the claim, would halifax request that I find alternative banking arrangements.

[Innocenti]

As far as I know they havent gone down the route of closing accounts if you are making a claim.

[givememymoney123]

I wondered about this , and when I bumped into a "friend" of mine (more an acquaintance) from the Halifax Customer Relations I was abrubtly told that The charges would not be paid out and that The bank were threatening (they actually used the words threatening) account closure upon settlement. Of course this was outside of a working enviroment so nothing can be pinned to anything legally.

 

Whereas I beleive that as you have done nothing wrong to incur the "HIGH" charges, therefore you should not be considered to be punished for asking for them back.

 

If you read some of the threads on here you'll notice then when it gets to the stage where they make you an offer, they usually put in certain conditions (i.e account closure), in the cases of many , if you write back issuing your write for an unconditional settlement (making sure that includes you can claim any more charges in the future) they usually give in and you get an unconditional free settelement.

[dori2o]

What I'm relly worried about is this.

 

3 years ago I got into a lot of trouble after being made redundant, and this is where the bulk of the charges came from.

 

I had a current account with Halifax at the time and a £450 authorised overdraft, the balance at the end became -£720 so I was £270 over my overdraft.

 

At this point the Halifax downgraded my account to a Cardcash account, but alowed me to keep the £450 overdraft, and let me pay off the arrears at a rate of £30 a month, which I stuck to like glue.

 

I now use this account properly again, but live to my overdraft limit every month. I'm worried that by trying to claim my charges back, they will retaliate and take the overdraft off me, doing this will leave me with nothing, and may create more charges (not had any now for almost 3 years). I have 2 small children and cannot afford to have the overdraft removed in one go.

 

Any advice?

[Springer]

Hiya

 

I can't guarantee anything but from reading other posts, it seems like the Halifax aren't taking any retalliation action (yet) against people who claim their charges back, as if you think about it, it would be bad publicity for them.

 

Most banks now have easy methods of transferring DD's over to your new account, so possibly wouldn't be as much of a problem as you might think?

 

There may be someone on here who has done this though and can offer you some more useful advice.

 

All the best.

xox

[MrsR]

The only bank/building society I've heard of actually closing someone's is Alliance & Leicester. Halifax haven't closed my account even after repaying £2800!

 

Our Cardcash account is still open but we now have Co-op cashminder account as our main account - basically because their charges are £19.50 for an unpaid item and they don't charge for going overdrawn (though neither of these has happened!). There are lots of basic bank accounts available - I think there's a list somewhere on here but can't remember where. It's really easy to move but depends if you want to and what you want from your bank (overdraft/debit card/internet access).

[Sledge]

I opened a new account with nationwide. ALL my DD and standing orders were done for me...or they promise to give you fifty pounds

As my wages are now going into this account, i have recieved a letter from halifax asaking to settle the overdraft in full and start putting a regular income into it again. I personally have no intention of using it as my regular account any more, after 18 years it is time for a change

The overdraft? They will ask you to pay it in one go, however, i dont think they have any choice but to accept you paying so much off a month.

 

Hope this helps

[dori2o]

Thanks for the replies, I think I know how to solve this problem, I hav e about 5-6 credit/store cards I am going to try to cliam the charges back from first. I'm expecting this amount all together to be quite substantial, so I'll simply pay off the overdraft from this, then change accounts and get my money back from the Halifax.

 

Problem Solved.