Advice needed with Halifax

[hongkonglouis]

Myself and my wife have been charged several times to the tune of well over £1000 for overdraft fees and direct debit charges.

 

Today I got a phone call from them asking me to pay the £650 we are over our overdraft otherwise we would have 28 days to pay before the take us to court and then we would get a default.

 

I mentioned that I was composing a letter demanding a refund of these charges thus bringing our account into line however he said we would not be successful as the charges were "our fault" and "why didn't we cancel all the direct debits".

 

He claims that these types of charges are never refunded as they are preventable.

 

Is this true?

 

Advice please as the clock is ticking for us.

 

Thanks

Lee

[hongkonglouis]

Myself and my wife have a joint current account with the Halifax. We have had several bank charges for exceeding the overdraft limit and even more charges for direct debits whilst over the limit. These charges amount to over £1000 in just 1 year.

 

Today, I received a phone call from the Halifax asking us to repay the £650 we are over our limit otherwise they will serve us with a 28 day notice to repay which would result in a default if they took me to court.

 

I have so far not sent any letters to the Halifax asking for a refund although I fully intend to.

 

The Halifax claim that there is no way that we will be able to get a refund for these direct debit charges because it is "our fault" and that we have taken no action to cancel our direct debits.

 

Is this true?

 

Any advice that anyone can give us???

 

The clock is ticking for us.

 

Thanks

Lee

[livelylad]

Myself and my wife have a joint current account with the Halifax. We have had several bank charges for exceeding the overdraft limit and even more charges for direct debits whilst over the limit. These charges amount to over £1000 in just 1 year.

 

Today, I received a phone call from the Halifax asking us to repay the £650 we are over our limit otherwise they will serve us with a 28 day notice to repay which would result in a default if they took me to court.

 

I have so far not sent any letters to the Halifax asking for a refund although I fully intend to.

 

The Halifax claim that there is no way that we will be able to get a refund for these direct debit charges because it is "our fault" and that we have taken no action to cancel our direct debits.

 

Is this true?

 

Any advice that anyone can give us???

 

The clock is ticking for us.

 

Thanks

Lee

 

Hello and welcome, firstly spend some time reading the FAQS and step by step instructions. Then start a thread in your bank forum.

 

I would write to Halifax and explain that you consider the account to be in dispute, inform them that you belive the amount owed is mostly unlawful penalty charges. This should buy you some time. Send the SAR immediatley, the fact that the charges are you fault in their opinion is irrelevant , they are unlawful and therfore unenforcable.

[Guest ian cognito]

This is the usual we have come to expect, they all tell you you can't claim back your bank charges but the statistics on this website tell you otherwise.

 

Send off the SAR from the templates library to obtain your statements for the last six years then you can apply for your charges and put the account into dispute. If they do take you to court to obtain the unauthorised overdraft back, you can use the unlawful charges in your defence.

 

Good luck.

[pict]

Don't be put off by their tactics. They have made two offers on the amount that I have claimed so far and I am confident that they will pay out when we go to court. Read through as many threads as possible and visit the frequently asked questions section to build your confidence and help you make the right steps to reclaim your UNLAWFUL charges.

[c_allen]

send them a letter stating that the account/amount is in dispute. that should be enough to stop them make these threats, are you already in the proccess of claiming the charges back, if not then you need to ASAP.

as for them never refunding the charges, i just won £4600 back off the halifax last month, so DON'T LISTEN TO A WORD THEY SAY, if you need any advice/reassurance start your own thread in the halifax section and you'll get both there.

hope this helps

[thecornflake]

You might want to refer to the survey to see how much Halifax have paid back, and that's just to people who bother to fill in the survey.

 

Here is a copy of the letter I used to put my account in dispute -

 

Re: Account in dispute

 

I am writing to clarify that I am currently in the process of requesting a refund of bank charges unlawfully made to the above account. I believe that the unlawful charges you have imposed on my account far exceed my current overdraft.

 

Include the below paragraph if you want, edit to match your circumstances.

In the last 6 months alone £xxx of charges have been taken from the account, and as my claim is for all charges over the last six years including compounded contractual interest I am certain that it will exceed the current overdraft of £xxx.

 

 

I need to make you fully aware that I am disputing the sum owed and, as such, you must refrain from any further action until this dispute is fully resolved.

 

If you do proceed by issuing a Default Notice or making any adverse comments on my credit reference files, I shall be forced to take legal action against you under the Data Protection Act 1998 and any other relevant laws or regulations that may apply.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

The Cornflake.

[hongkonglouis]

We have all of our charges listed on statements (already kept on file not sent after SAR).

 

These charges amount to well over £1000.

 

The Halifax are now trying to get us to agree to pay them approx £730 immediately (which is an amount which we are over the agreed overdraft limit). Fact is that this would not be the case if we had the charges refunded!

 

That aside, I have to move quickly and would welcome details of the next step (what letter to send, what do i accompany the letter with, where do I send it, how long do I wait etc.)

 

Thanks in advance. I want to make sure I get this 100% right.

 

 

Lee

[sea-sidelady]

Hi Lee.

 

Here are all the letters you will need.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/

 

The first one is your prelim. Then 14 days later send the LBA. then 14 days later its court action.

 

But 1 step at a time. Get your spread sheets done. They are on ther list aswell.

 

It can seem a bit daunting but read as much as you can. Read peoples threads and you willsee most of your questions have already been asked. No matter how daft.

But anything you get stuck with, just shout.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/56957-simple-steps-beginners.html

This is handy to save!

[hongkonglouis]

I am sending my initial letter to the Halifax today.

 

As it stands My overdraft is £2700+ and my agreed overdraft is £2000.

 

Every month, I transfer £1000 from my Barclays account to cover my mortgage and life assurance and today I received a letter from my mortgage company telling me that the Halifax has cancelled my direct debit.

 

I am fuming. They basically have taken my £1000 and offset it against my overdraft without my authorisation and compromising my position to pay my mortgage this month.

 

I cannot believe this!!!

[nevos]

HK: Are you claiming charges back from them?

[hongkonglouis]

Yes, doing my prelim letter today.

 

They know I am doing this aswell.

[hongkonglouis]

Thanks

[AWC]

If you send a Prelim letter requesting the unlawful charges are returned, then you can claim that the account is in dispute, therefore you shouldn't have to pay the £730 until the charges are returned (which they will be).

[hongkonglouis]

Can anyone advise whether myself and my wife both need to sign the prelim letter as we have a joint account.

[AWC]

Is the account a `counter signing' one, in other words do both of you have to sign for it?

 

If not, I don't see that it matters who signs the letter.

[lmb]

Hi I agree with AWC.I personally when doing my letters put both mine and my husbands because it is a joint account and thats what we wanted to do.

[survivor]

I'm claiming for a joint account that either one of us can sign for, and they'll accept with just my signature - not a problem.

[hongkonglouis]

Today we have received a letter from the Halifax from a Sarah Ashcroft (Customer Relations Officer) stating that a Customer Services Manager will investigate and reply within 4 weeks. The letter was accompanied by a leaflet entitled "Personal Customer Complaints".

 

My question is should I still send my LBA after 14 days from the date they received my initial letter or wait the 4 weeks?

 

Thanks

Lee

[stevesj]

go for the 14 days - they will rely on you faltering - Always stick to your timetable not theirs -good luck

[barbershop0]

Hi Send the letter after 14 days, don't wait. Regards.

[sea-sidelady]

Yes i agree.

 

This is a very standard letter. Most of us got it. It is just for stalling. Ignore it.

 

You are on track.

 

Prelim.....14 days lba......14 days court action..!

 

You are half way there.

[hongkonglouis]

Firstly thanks for all your advice so far.

 

I sent my preliminary letter with a statement of charges to the Halifax on 8th Feb and received a letter back from them saying they are sorry I am not happy and that they would investigate and get back to me within 4 weeks.

 

I will be sticking to the timetable I have set down and therefore sending my LBA tomorrow however I wanted to know whether I needed to resend my statement of charges through again. If so, do I now need to add interest? I didn't calculate any interest when I sent my first letter.

 

 

Your advice is most welcome.

 

Thanks

Lee

[Guest FASTEDD1]

Dont put intrest on till you get a court date

[sea-sidelady]

Yes, send another copy of your spread sheet, and like fastedd says, leave off the interest. This can only be added once you file at court.