Rascal v Halifax - **WON**

[rascal]

Ok, am having trouble getting my way round this site. Have just read an article on GMTV regarding recoup of bank charges - let's get em back!

 

I have had my current account with Halifax since March 2003 - My husband and I entered into an IVA in May 2005 as our money situation was so rubbish - not helped by the fact we have had to pay way over the odds in bank charges over the years.

 

Have managed to get all the letters dating back to early 2005 - there are 49 on there. I haven't had a look at the individual letters as yet as Im at work and I like to keep my financial affairs private but am guesstimating that if there is a min charge of £28.00 on each one that equates to £1372 in bank charges just since that date. I'm pretty sure I would have had some form of other charges since 2003 but would obviously have to request the statements for these.

 

My questions are:

 

1. Will receiving the bank charges back have any effect on my IVA?

 

2. Are Halifax renound for closing bank accounts after receiving charges back? - I currently owe £400 on an overdraft with them and pretty much use it every month - I'm starting maternity leave in October (am 4.5 months pregnant) and am worried they will take this away from me out of the savings we are putting by in there and will leave me a bit stuck.

 

3. How exactly do you calculate the interest on an unpaid DD charge for instance? I tried to use the online calculator just by putting in the date of the charge and then today's date and it bought up £0.?

 

I'm really keen to progress with my claim as I do see the point in these charges being extremely unfair.

 

Thanks v.much to anyone that can answer me.

 

R

[pmhread]

OK.... The first thing you need to do is have a good read of the FAQ's and some of the threads on this forum. Then you will have an idea of where to start. The first step is a DPA request to the Halifax.

 

And to answer your questions:

 

1) No idea. But you could pay back whatever you receive to reduce your overall debts.

 

2) No more than anyone else. Always a good idea to have another account set up 'just in case'. They didn't close my account if thats any help. You could use whatever you receive back to pay off the overdraft which would solve that particular problem.

 

3) In the template library is a spreadsheet that will work it all out for you if you do it correctly. No point in starting this far down the line though if you don't know an exact amount that your claiming.

[rascal]

Thanks v.much, Im going to use the template on the boards to apply for all my statements. Whom do I have to make the cheque payable to for the DPA?

 

Thanks

[pmhread]

erm... make the cheque payable to 'PMHREAD' hehehehe

 

 

 

 

or I suppose you could make it payable to the Halifax!

[rascal]

ok - so I am a complete wally (shuffles off to wallyland.....)

[pmhread]

ok - so I am a complete wally (shuffles off to wallyland.....)

 

:)

[rascal]

I've just completed the letter as suggested. Can I just take this letter into my local branch and request copies of my statements and pay the fee there, if so, and ok this is completely WALLYISH - exactly what do I say and do - do I give the letter to my local branch as well and ask them to pass it on or what?!

 

How long will this process actually take from start (me taking letter to Halifax) to me actually receiving any (hopeful) reimbursement of charges?

 

Thanks again.

 

No.1 Wally.

[pmhread]

hmmm well... you can take it to the branch but they might 'lose' it en route. I would suggest sending it recorded to head office then you have proof that it has been sent and received.

 

As for the timescale :

 

DPA - Up to 40 days

Prelim letter - 14 days

Letter before action - 14 days

Moneyclaim - ?

 

As you can see, it's not a get rich quick scheme so don't be relying on this to pay for your summer holiday!

[rascal]

No not relying on it at all and a summer holiday would be great but at nearly 5 months pregnant I could well put other people off their sangria and shellfish in the sun (not a nice sight). My husband and I didn't even know about this until last night when my sister in law mentioned it (she was made bankrupt last week) she is asking her official receiver to investigate this further as they paid approx £20k in charges over the last 6 years which obviously would have helped them in terms of not going bankrupt. Am just going to attempt it, after all it really is completely unreasonable to pay this amount of money for so long just cos you miss a deadline for a cheque or going over your overdraft by 0.15p.

 

Thanks v.much in sharing your mission.

[pmhread]

No not relying on it at all and a summer holiday would be great but at nearly 5 months pregnant I could well put other people off their sangria and shellfish in the sun (not a nice sight). My husband and I didn't even know about this until last night when my sister in law mentioned it.

 

You only just found out you were pregnant last night when your sister in law mentioned it?? Bloody hell didn't the coal and strawberry ice cream pies give it away?

[rascal]

yeah, and we've decided to call it Jesus

[pmhread]

Call it Howard after your hero

[mechs]

erm... make the cheque payable to 'PMHREAD' hehehehe

 

or I suppose you could make it payable to the Halifax!

 

pmsl @ that!

[rascal]

I'm just sealing the envelope for first stage letter to Halifax requesting my statements. Have used the template letter as suggested and am sending my letter to:

 

Julie O'Donnell or Helen Southern

Data Protection Consultant

Retail Business Risk

 

 

HBOS PLC

Trinity Road

Halifax

HX1 2RG

 

How long should I leave it before contacting these two to see where my statements are? - do they have 40 days from the date of my letter?

[rascal]

ps - can I request in the letter for them to take the fee from our current account rather than sending a cheque? I've read a few other peoples posts and see that they were only charged £5 rather than £10 for copy statements.

[dan-rides-bikes]

just send them a £10 cheque then they have no squirming room, you can claim this back anyway

[rkh001]

I sent £10 cheque that they promptly cashed.

 

Also, I sent my letter, by recorded delivery, to my branch. Have got the statements now. Not sure if I have received all of them - will check when I get home.

 

Good luck.

[rascal]

Thanks - Ive sent it off today special delivery. I can only go back on my internet bank as far as 09/03/05 but have already calculated £1730 which includes charges plus 8% interest. I think since I opened the account (Feb 03) there is probably around another £1500 of charges on there at least.

 

I used to have an account with the Woolwich which got into a pretty diabolical state. I ended up owing them £1000 in overdraft when we entered into an IVA with them. Can I claim back charges on a closed account given that they are party to an IVA? Anyone know?

[pmhread]

You sure can...at long as it's within the past 6 years. You can also have any entries on your credit file removed if they are a direct result of these charges.

[rascal]

Are bounced cheque charges also claimable?

[dan-rides-bikes]

yip

[rascal]

:o blimey.

 

I sent my first letter off yesterday and checked with Royal Mail tracking thingie and they received it this morning - no signature available at present but it says it takes 72 hours to get on there. Made sure there was dosh in my account to cover the cheque this morning and discovered that I have had another 2 charges

 

Have decided to proceed against HSBC and the Woolwich as well. Will send those cheques off tomorrow.

 

I'm finally beginning to see a little bit of light in what has been a very dark tunnel - just hope can see some good come of this before I go on maternity leave end-October.

[rascal]

for those that paid the £10 fee via cheque through post - how long did it take for Halifax to clear this payment and send statements? - i sent the letters via special delivery and it was signed for 2 days ago although the signature is not available via Royal Mail website for up to 72 hours.

 

Thanks!

[mechs]

Up to 40 days ...........but it could be sooner depending how busy they are

[rascal]

So the 40 days counts as from when they received the letter (obviously proof of receipt via Royal Mail) or from date they action the cheque?

 

I have read some previous posts but found them conflicting in some cases?

 

Ta