MollieUK v Halifax

[MollieUK]

Hi

I got my statements etc and sent the first letter and received the usual 'it will take 8 week' as a reply.

 

I then got the information I needed from this wonderful site and sent the Letter Before Action one to them by registered mail and on Friday received a reply stating that 'they are still working on my complaint but as yet it is not resolved but it will be no later than 13 June'

 

Another 4 weeks!!!

 

Now should I wait or start court claim?

 

I have had a right tussle with them last week as my maintenance is always paid in on the 6th of a month but sometimes a day or two out if the 6th falls at a weekend. Last weeks bank holiday threw everything out as it always does and which I have no control over but the d**n bank did not pay a DD of £23 on the Tuesday because ''THEY'' hadn't cleared my maintenance into my account because of the BH!! aarrgh

 

Of course they charged me £39 and when I phoned them to ask for it to be removed they would not. Worse thing is that they intend to take the money on Monday 15/5 when I only have £18 going in which is Child Benefit, daft as it may sound but that £18 keeps me going until Thursday when I receive my WFTC (my wages only cover bills so I live on WFTC). I told them all this and was virtually begging them not to take it as it would leave me with nothing. Not a chance! Not only that but by taking it they make me overdrawn.

 

I then lost my rag and stated that I would be making my court claim this week and their behaviour this week would be told to the court and I put the phone down.

 

Later when I had calmed down I decided to phone again to at least get the date changed when they would take the money and to ask for it to be left until the end of the month when my wages are paid.

 

I had a lovely young lady on the phone who listened and then just said 'I've taken it off, probably shouldn't have, but I have, and besides it is pointless charging you as you will claim it back anyway'

 

I would love to name this young lady but I don't want to get her in trouble, but thank you so much. It is ridiculous that in 2007 people are still living hand to mouth but that is the way it is for some of us, however, this young lady made me realise that there are still some decent people around.

 

:)

[MollieUK]

Been there done that, they totally ignored it!

 

I also phoned the Child Benefit Agency and as the money was already in the system ready to be paid into my account on the Monday, I was told there was nothing they could do, in fact, the 'lady' I spoke couldn't care less!

 

Still as the Halifax has one decent member of staff who was prepared to help even putting her own job on the line, I can only be thankful for that.

 

I had to laugh tonight whilst watching the TV and the newest Halifax ad came on, I watched it and wondered how much money has that piece of naff c**p cost us???

 

Cheers for the words of wisdom anyway.

[MollieUK]

Today I have received a rejection letter for my charges from the Halifax. In short it states that my charges are for having insufficient funds in my account at times of payment, I might add that not all of this was down to me as I am tied to when payments are made from work, CSA, Tax Credit etc once a bank holiday comes along it messes it all up.

 

I have online internet banking since inception so I never received any letters through the post, everything is online. They quote guidelines on credit card default charges and state that this does not apply to bank account charges and they are perfectly within their rights.

 

Have I lost out on this? Has anyone else had this and what did you do next?

 

Advice appreciated please

[MollieUK]

Hi Moneyhelp

 

Yes, the LBA was my second letter to them, this was their reply which must be a standard response as some of the reasons given quoted things that were not on my letter to them??

 

OK will start the next stage now, cheers for that.

[MollieUK]

Made my claim to the court and received their notice today. Judgement served on 29 June and they have to respond by 13 July, it has been a long winded process but without the guys/girls on here, it wouldn't have happened.

 

Fingers crossed everyone!

[MollieUK]

Hi

 

I have received a letter from the court today to inform me that Halifax are to defend and have 28 days to prepare their defence.

 

Has this happened to everyone who has submitted a court claim or will I now have to go to court or is this just their way of delaying things??

 

The other thing that puzzles me is why they pay out for some and not to others??

 

[MollieUK]

Thank you Sea SideLady for the info. The papers were deemed served on 29 June so maybe it is getting a little closer as the time will be up by end of July I think.

 

To be quite honest it is about time the courts started slapping fines on the banks as they virtually have no intention of defending the claims and pay out, just how much wasted administration and court's time are they wasting, it really is wrong and just cluttering up the system.

 

[MollieUK]

Update:

 

Today received a settlement letter which reads as though they are doing me a favour?

 

However, I phoned the number (it worked!) and spoke to a very nice gentleman and stated that I would not be accepting the amount offered as it would be silly of them to admit part but not all of the charges levied by them.

 

He stated that he couldn't find all the information for the last 6 years and would I be so kind as to send 'him' the statements I had received from 'them' so that he could check again!! I politely pointed out that the statements I received from 'them' were on his computer system!

 

He did try other methods like 'well you may have moved banks and come back again', 'you may have more than one account' etc, again I stated that 'No sir, I have been with your bank for at least 15 years with the same branch'.

 

Needless to say that I ended the conversation with my non agreement of the settlement and looked forward to hearing from them before the 28 July.

 

Light at the end of the tunnel at last thanks to this forum and the people on it. Cheers

[MollieUK]

Advice please.

 

I have looked into my account today and they have deposited the amount they decided even though I phoned yesterday stating that I am refusing that amount. What should I do now??

 

[MollieUK]

Hiya

 

No it was two cash deposits but they added up to the amount stated in the letter. I have posted my rejection letter this evening stating the same as on the telephone to them yesterday. If the amount had been much nearer I probably would have settled but it is some £800 short! He gave the reason as " he couldn't find all the charges I listed so his calculation was based on the ones he did find". I said he should use the same computer system as the one that printed off the 6 years statements

 

It is sooooo annoying having money in my account that I can't touch!! lol

[MollieUK]

Hi

 

No the amount put into my bank account is the same settlement amount they have offered me not the amount they owe me. Hope that makes it a bit clearer.

 

 

Hi again, have double checked all my statements and the amount I am claiming is correct, in fact between March 2000 and February 2001 they had charged me over £600!!

[MollieUK]

I got another letter today from Optima Legal Services who are working on the Halifax's behalf, it was a copy of their defence.

 

However, the amount they say were credited to me are different to the letter from the halifax and from the cash amount put in my account.

 

The letter ends with 'the claimant is put to strict proof of the same', meaning the rest of the money that I am claiming.

 

I have all my statements from them from March 2000 to March 2007, they supplied them, are they really that stupid??

 

I am wondering whether they are trying to pull a fast one here and state that the six years only counts from 2001 to 2007 as that is when I staked my claim. From March 2000 to February 2001 they charged me in excess of £600, this is the bulk of the claim. My claim would be that until 00:01 on 31 December, 2007 is the present not the past.

 

Any advice O wise ones!

[MollieUK]

Hi Sea-side Lady

 

After your post last night I got the statements out and checked and double checked just to make sure and my calculations are correct and in black & white on the statements. In 2000 alone they took £600+

 

The letter from solicitors states:

 

"refunded £699.14 to the account for charges to the account in the last six years"

(the halifax man yesterday stated that he couldn't find any?)

£394 are charges

97.27 in interest

£120 is court fee

£87.87 is an additional amount in respect of the ongoing interest?? the letter also states that the claimant has failed to provide particulars of how this figure was arrived at, I attached an excel spreadsheet with month, day and charge, taken from their/my statements.

 

The Halifax letter stated a refund (without admitting liability?) of £611.82, that is exactly what has been deposited into my account.

 

I am happy to go to court as I have the statements in my hand, how can they refute them?

 

[MollieUK]

POC?? Sorry

 

I sent my original by recorded and it was received for and signed for but I will do as you advise and resend again by recorded.

 

Thanks for your help, I need to do this all quickly as I started chemo today and at the moment just under the weather but no doubt will get worse!

 

:)

[MollieUK]

Hi

 

I was organising my statements last night and have noticed something odd. The statements are mine but the sort code has 00 at the beginning which mine hasn't? Do you think this is why they are claiming that they can't find the charges. I am really confused as the 190 pages of statements have all got this sort code on, right up to the present year??

 

I have never had another account, nor change branches, banks etc

 

 

p.s. thanks for the kind words about the chemo. Feeling a bit strange since the first 'shot' but just out of sorts nothing specific or drastic just yet x

[MollieUK]

Hi all

 

I was right in my thinking about the Halifax using the 6 year rule. I have just spoken to the guy and they are only counting back from the claim date in June 2007 which takes it back to 2001. The bulk of charges occurred between March 2000 and February 2001, can they do this and have I lost out?

 

Should I now accept or go ahead with the claim or will the courts go with the Halifax, it is over £600 in charges for that year alone.

 

Any help appreciated.

 

 

p.s. they only use the last four digits of the sort code btw.

[MollieUK]

Thanks for the reply Moneyhelp but I have read the first 15 pages of the link you gave and am now totally confused with legal jargon and this and that and everyone's questions and didn't read through the rest.

 

I was sent my bank statements that date back from March 2000, the bank is stating 'it doesn't have that information' and they are working out the figures for the last six years as requested by me.

 

I want to take this further as they are trying to con me and even if I lose I want to get them worried as they will have to attend court.

 

Could someone please tell me in plain english, no jargon, no acrynyms my next move. I have the questionnaire from the court to fill in and from what I have read (possibly understood?) I can add in previous years and have the s32(?) squashed???

 

I haven't a b***dy clue what I have just said but does it sound right??

 

I know I sound a numpty and I am sure you are all sick of saying the same old thing over and over again but help please!

[MollieUK]

Hi SSL

 

I have read through the 'completing the questionnaire', did that earlier on and it seems to cover the basic 'filling in', a straightforward one.

 

This seems to apply to me:

 

Q. Can I claim back for more than 6 years?

 

A. Maybe. There is a separate thread on this in this forum. The statue of limitations states that you can only go back 6 years. However, it also states that if you have had the truth held from you resulting in your not making a claim earlier, that you can claim from the date that you became aware. If you are unsure, you should only claim for 6 years.

This is where I am getting confused. I read the first 15 pages of the link given regarding going back more than 6 years but got even more confused. Now using the wording above i.e. "...... if you have had etc...... you can claim from the date that you became aware ......."

I only became aware of this from my first LBA letter which would be in May 2007, they have calculated the last six years from June 2007. I know it says in the FAQs that you are sick of answering the same thing over and over again but some of us just don't understand the system, so as it looks like I am not able to deal with this I will just take the money and let them have the other £800+ and as they say, they will literally be laughing all the way to the bank!

Thanks anyway.

[MollieUK]

Hi

 

I was getting a bit techy last night and very tired, blame the chemo. However, I requested my statements over the phone and if I remember rightly only requested the last six years, I actually got from March 2000 to April 2007.

 

I sent a letter on 4 April which asked for a repayment of all charges over the last 6 years. I then sent a 2nd letter on 3 May (template) and have had the usual responses. I then put in my court claim.

 

Have I made a complete b***s of this?

[MollieUK]

Thanks Dursay, I have never felt so flippin tired in my entire life! I am trying to keep working and it is my sixth day after first treatment and boy is it kicking in, still life in the old dog yet!!

 

Hopefully last couple of questions. Do I accept this offer and have it closed and begin new claim? Or do I start new claim before accepting this one, or (last question) do I put the two together? I think I remember reading somewhere on here that you have to agree full and final etc and your not allowed to claim again. I just want to make sure I am doing the right thing and I can stop bothering people!

 

I have until the 6th August to return my allocation quesionnaire and the solicitor's for the Halifax have sent me their copy today which simply states they intend to defind etc.