car2403 -v- Halifax

[car2403]

Hello everyone,

 

I'm in the process of claiming charges from the Halifax and find myself with some questions, if you don't mind;

 

Data Protection Act Breach;

 

I wrote to my branch address (I've since found out it should have been the Data Protection Officer address I should have used, but took the address from my statement!) requesting statements and enclosing a £10 postal order on 10 April 2007.

 

On 26 May I sent another letter telling them they'd failed to comply with the 40 day period, giving 7 days before I claim in the County Court.

 

The still haven't replied/complied.

 

Question is, do I have to make a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office first before making a claim for an enforcement order? I'd prefer not to, as I did the Information Commissioners Office thing with Barclaycard and had to wait weeks for a reply.

 

I also don't have proof of delivery of the S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) letter, (didn't find this site until after it was sent!) so can't prove receipt - can I find out from the Post Office if the postal orders have been "cashed"?

 

Claiming charges I know about;

 

I do have some statements, showing some charges, so I've started the process for claiming these alongside the above.

 

I wrote to them on 13 April 2007 asking for these (£564.00) to be repaid. Got a standard reply apologising for me being unhappy, promising a response within the 8 week period.

 

They wrote again on 7 May 2007 saying they were still investigating.

 

I sent LBA on 9 May 2007, but didn't issue the claim as I didn't have the money for the fee at the time.

 

They've sent their final response saying "sorry, but no refund" on 1 June 2007.

 

Can I contact the FSO and avoid taking this claim to Court? Is the Court route more advisible?

 

Both issues;

 

Is the failure to provide statements relating to my complaint? Would they not send statements because of some marker on my account because of the complaint?

 

Can I issue one claim for;

- Specific Performance/Damages for failure to provide the SAR?

and,

- Claim for charges I know about, which will save me some Court fees? (£564.00)

or does there have to be two claims?

 

I read on the Information Commissioners Office's site that a claim for Specific Performance without damages will go via "Part 8" and may be fasttracked through the process - does this mean two separate claims will mean I get my statements faster? If so, I may as well do one claim for a "fast tracked compliance" order and do a second claim for the total amount when I receive my statements.

[car2403]

Bump...

 

[car2403]

Halifax sent me a letter saying that they had "ordered" my statements as requested and these would be with me shortly - this was AFTER I sent them an LBA for enforcement proceedings with the Court and enclosing a copy of a complaint form that I sent to the ICO, however!

 

I've received the statements this week and decided to go down the Ombudsman route to see if it's quicker - I'm having to wait 10 weeks for hearing dates through the Courts on other claims, so the FSO may be quicker...

[car2403]

ICO have upheld my complaint re: the SAR - bizarre that they've told me they can't help with my claim for bank charges though, as I never asked them to in the first place. (Must be a standard response because they are receiving so many complaints because of the Banks' failure to comply with the 40 day timescales)

[moneyhelp]

So where do you go from here? do you know?

[car2403]

I'm waiting for the Ombudsman to complete his investigations with the Bank.

 

I've heard that he charges them £350 just to investigate my complaint, so maybe they'll back down and fold before even going there.

[ja-de]

Best of luck with your claim car, hope you hear something sooner than you think.

[maroondevo52]

Hi, Car2403.

 

I, like you have went down the FOS route. Trying to get about £5,000.

Still waitng for a response. Let us know when you hear anything.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[car2403]

I've just spoken to the FSO about another of my complaints with them and they have admitted to "losing" my paperwork for the Halifax - they said this is happening often due to the amount of complaints they are receiving.

 

I now have to send my complaint to them again and start from scratch on their turnaround times again too.

 

If you've sent a complaint to them and haven't received confirmation of receipt from them, I suggest you ring them to confirm they have it and send it again if not.

[car2403]

I haven't bothered with the FSO anyway - it was taking too long to get a response from them, so I've issued my claim via MCOL today

[car2403]

Claim acknowledged - statement of charges off to HBOS Legal Division and MCOL

[Dusary]

Well . . . there you go.

 

It would seem that you've done everything properly and in order.

 

Information Commissioners Office also told me that they couldn't investigate claims - only breaches or non-compliance to Data Protection Act. But that's fine. Unfortunately HBOSplc's deadline with Information Commissioners Office expires just as I'm about to go on me hols for 5 weeks, though.

[car2403]

Letter from Litigation team;

 

It will cost the Bank to defend your claim and, as these costs will be unrecoverable as the claim will be allocated to the small claim tracks, blah, blah, blah... without admission of liability, Halifax is willing to reimburse [the full amount of the claim], etc, etc

 

We are keen to help you avoid charges in the future, blah, blah, blah...

 

Get in there!

[moneyhelp]

So you won??

[sea-sidelady]

Yes you have won!!

 

Let us know when the money appears in your account, keep checking as it will appear anytime from today.

[moneyhelp]

Then....

 

 

CONGRATULATIONS!

[car2403]

I have some charges that weren't included in the claim because of the 40+ day delay I had on the SAR - should I start another claim for this, (LBA, etc, etc) or just write to them to ask them to take this in to account as well? Will they do that or drag it out as long as poss?

[sea-sidelady]

you will have to claim again.

[car2403]

The money for this claim hit my account today.

 

Strangely, there's another transaction that looks the same for a lower amount which is the same amount of the charges that weren't included in this claim - seems I won't need to make another claim, now. (I'll wait to see what happens on the statement tomorrow, as it doesn't say what the references are yet)

[Dusary]

!!! CONGRATULATIONS !!!

[car2403]

Maybe not! The charges/interest were split and the transactions didn't appear right on my online statement - they've sorted themselves out now and there's only the first claim which has been paid.

 

Oh well, I'll start a second claim from scratch again.

[car2403]

Withdrawal letter for this claim sent to Money Claim Online along with a wasted cost order for £80.00 - lets see what happens with that then.

[sea-sidelady]

Good luck with it. Let us know.

[car2403]

Received the settlement/wasted costs order back saying I hadn't paid the fee of £35 for the Judge to consider it - I haven't bothered sending it back with the fee, as the costs were only £78 anyway. MCOL still have it showing as Acknowledged despite a Defence being entered by Halifax - I'm just going to remove the application for costs and send the order to withdraw the first claim.

 

Just got round to sorting the second claim out now - £265.00 plus interest of £36 and Court fees, as I intend to kick this off now. Prem. letter off today.

[car2403]

No reply to prelim approach, LBA on the way today