goldiea v Halifax - PARTIAL SETTLEMENT ACCEPTED

[goldiea]

Hi All,

 

I have been bugging my hubby for a while about the charges levied against his account and sent a letter (my own though) a couple of weeks before I heard about this site and the issues of 'lawful or unlawful' charges.

 

We received a letter within a few days to offer a refund (full and final - obviously?!) of £345. That is when I saw the programme on tv and decided to have a look on the site.....

 

I have just sent the 2nd letter, accepting the refund but not the full and final settlement and requested the remaining charges to be refunded.

 

Halifax agreed to send a 'list of charges' which 'in the interest of customer relations' they would do free of charge? The list they sent to us was a two page breakdown of charges totalling over £2,000, but no indication of what the charges were for etc etc... (they said that this document would usually cost £10 - so I think they have tried it on her to avoid giving the complete set of data).

 

Anyway 2nd letter gone, with request for complete list of transactions and 'manual interventions etc'.

 

Here goes then.... I will keep you updated but in the meantime if anyone has any titbits for me at this stage please feel free to post... I am keeping track of lots of the threads too....

 

Good Luck to us eh?

 

xx

[callumsgran]

welcome and good luck to you! dont forget to have a good look around the site you will find most questions answered here somewhere, but if you cant ask ok?

[goldiea]

Will do..... nice to have a few hands to hold as this is a bit intimidated especially when I received first 'patronising letter' from halifax.

 

Also have another thread on Student Loan - so if anyone out there is in the same boat......

 

xx

[mechs]

Hi Goldiea

 

welcome tio the site and the best of luck

[jonni2bad]

Welcome aboard goldiea

 

You've now joined the Halifax Freedom Fighters!!

[goldiea]

Thank you all for input - this site has turned into my favorite almost overnight.....it makes for addictive reading!!! I will keep you posted and keep updated on your threads.....

 

Hold me to it if you want but I will be donating when the pennies come in because more than anything the site and all advise on it has made this seem much less scary and much more within my power and ability to do. When I sent the first letter I did it very much tongue in cheek (I have a little legal experience - not qualified but I thought it did seem to make sense that we could claim legally but this BRILL MOTIVATIONAL/INFORMATIVE SITE HAS HELPED ME TO BE MORE COURAGEOUS:D ................ as well as confirming we were on the right lines in the first place!!!

 

Love it....

 

xx

[goldiea]

Just an update really..hubby rang the bank yesterday to check if they received the second letter and the lady told him yes, she then offered him £975 in full and final (obviously!) settlement, to which hubby advised her that he was still seeking to full refund - he also asked her to put this in writing and address the other issues on the letter (namely, providing a full list of charges and transactions etc).

 

She also told him that this was the absolute maximum she could offer him!.

 

I dont know, maybe we will have to issue a claim in the near future and we are not taking that lightly but they have increased the offer 300% and we only contacted them about this at the start of June.... it is insulting they are increasing offers incrementally like this as if they think we are that desperate that we will just accept anything regardless of the principle involved here...just another example of the banks using their priviledge and power to its own greedy, manipulative ends I suppose.

 

Anyway update over I will keep reading and posting as things progress..

 

xx

[goldiea]

Hi,

 

Just a quick question - sorry to post again so soon but I have a query on when to post the Letter before Action.

 

Sent letter requesting refund on 3rd June

Received reply and partial refund on 12th June

Sent letter re-requesting FULL LIST of charges 13th June

Received another offer on phone on 20th June

 

Do I now wait until 40 days up to proceed - I cant work out if I can send the LBA before that as Halifax did send list of charges with their letter of 12th June(just basic list - two pages computer print out) or whether I have to wait for the 40 days to be up.

 

Still not received the full list and person on phone yesterday told hubby no knowledge of whether the list was on route or even requested?!

 

Advise please - I am reading all the threads I can but just a bit confused at this stage..

 

xx

[thewifeandI]

When I made my claim I sent the Prelim letter whilst awaiting the DPA stuff to come back as I had enough data to get it kicked off. When it gets to LBA time you can always amend the total claimed in the light of information received. Hope this helps.

[goldiea]

Hi wifeandI,

 

Thanks that helps I think we will wait another week and then send LBA then.

 

xx

[goldiea]

Hi,

 

Just an update, hubby and I accepted partial offer from bank of £975.00... I feel a bit like I have let the cause down and really the buck stopped with Hubby but just thought I would let you all know... they have not send the full list of transactions yet but due to finiancial circumstances (ie chq's going bump on us) we decided to accept...

 

Do I have to fill in the survey now? or is that just for those who claim full amount (they charged £2150 over 3 of the 6 years)..

 

I feel a bit deflated and I point blank refuse to let this happen with my Capital One or Honours Students claims I have going but I WILL ENSURE I DONATE WHEN FUNDS CLEAR (or if they clear - banks just cannt be trusted after all)

 

x

[thewifeandI]

No probs, although understandably disappointing for you - but you have to do what you feel comfortable with and what suits you best in your circumstances, don't be pressured by us to proceed with something that you are not happy about. You can still fill in the survey.

 

You may also be able to claim the rest back depending on the stage at which you accepted - if you haven't been to court then (as I understand it) they can't take away your right to claim the rest of what is owed - you may need a Mod's advice on this. Do make sure that you have a parachute account though, as they would probably get awkward if you did take this option.

[goldiea]

Thanks thewifeandI,

 

I will look into that option then as more than anything I did not want to settle. The stage we are at is prilim & DSR letter sent, offer then sent back, we sent acceptance of inital offer of 325 but that we would still pursue the rest, they telephoned with another offer of 975, husband refused as full and final but then he rang bank yesterday (finances dictated:( ) and accepted offer. Signed agrrement in bank yesterday PM just to say he agrees to 975 in full and final settlement of any claim he has in respect of charges on any halifax account. That is it really, but bank also refused chq payment and on agreement it states we will credit his account with 975 within 5 working days of receipt of this acceptance.

 

I asked manager if we could have a copy of the agreement and he said "i am not sure if we can give you a copy of this"? I said considering it is a legally binding document to which my hubby is a party i should think you had better give him a copy!. We left with copy and assurance from manager that account is ok and wont be closed and OD will not be taken away?!

 

Anyway, long boring story but I am not sure if we did the right thing - it seems that they could put that money in that account and still close it, regardless of assurances etc.

 

What I have learned from this site is be assertive and confident, I have some knowledge of the law but in practice i have only theory and no way of applying it or knowledge of how it is applied practically. For that reason I need to thank the people on this site for that....

 

and thank you for the input on this claim.. if anyone knows whether I can look to do anything further then please advise but in the meantime i will continue with my claims

 

Good luck everyone

xx

[jonni2bad]

Hi goliea

 

Sorry to hear you had to settle early, but only you can know what suits yor circumstances best. It might sound like I'm rubbing it in, but you would definately have recovered the lot had you held out.

 

Anyway, as a post above said, you can still fill in the survey - please do so

 

You will not be able to claim for any of the existing charges again, having accepted this, but it doesn't stop you claiming any future charges.

 

Potentially they could still close the account or withdraw the OD, but I think it is unlikely now.

[goldiea]

Hi Jonni2bad,

 

Thanks for the input - hubby has had account credited this AM so I will be asking him to donate this weekend....thanks:)

 

I will try to persuade him to pursue the charges again but not had any since started the original claim....

 

See ya on other threads... great big thank you to all on this site and the fantastic people who give their time and energy (gratis!) to those who need it!!!!

 

 

 

xx

[henrysdad]

Hi, you may not have to wave goodbye to all the other charges. It depends on the terms offered and accepted. As I understand it, you have not received the full list of transactions. When you receive this data you can check to see if there are other items which you had not claimed for and you could well be within your rights to start another claim.

 

On the "full and final Settlement acceptance" form which we rejected the wording simply said "....accept a total amount of £320-00 in full and final settlement of my complaint". Therefore if other items come to light you can start again.

 

Mods, I think there is a case here (as I have mentioned before) that where people are financially really up against it they should issue the Court Claim straight away provided they have the details of the charges. As these cases do not appear to be going to Court there is really nothing to lose as this tactic only jeopardises a costs award - which is not relevant if it does not go to Court.

[goldiea]

Hi Henrysdad,

 

The wording on the settlement reads "...that I accept the offer of 975.00 from halifax in full nad final settlement of my complaint regarding bank charges mad on any of of my halifax accounts" does that not cover their bases? No figure relating to the actual amount claimed, they have not sent a full list but the 2 page basic list they sent was for 2150.. so is it the date of the complaint and the charges they stipulated at that time on the account regardless what the actual total of charges they gave that is covered by this agreement?

 

xx

[thewifeandI]

As I understand it, they can't take away your rights like this. Hopefully a Mod will be along soon to confirm or deny this. Have you signed and returned the settlement letter, and were the terms explained when the agreement was made over the phone?

[henrysdad]

Hi Henrysdad,

 

The wording on the settlement reads "...that I accept the offer of 975.00 from halifax in full nad final settlement of my complaint regarding bank charges mad on any of of my halifax accounts" does that not cover their bases? No figure relating to the actual amount claimed, they have not sent a full list but the 2 page basic list they sent was for 2150.. so is it the date of the complaint and the charges they stipulated at that time on the account regardless what the actual total of charges they gave that is covered by this agreement?

 

xx

Yes that is a more all-encompassing wording than on the one we rejected. Also. if your claim was based on the figures that they supplied, rather than calculated by you, then I think you will have lost the right to claim for the balance unpaid at this time.

 

HOWEVER, you may be able to argue that they put you under such financial pressure by their charging and bouncing routine that you felt you had to accept their offer as it was put to you. On the one hand I dont think the Courts, in principle, would be too happy for a claimant to try to go behind an agreement, but I have serious doubts that the bank would let it go to Court.

 

The logic here is that the Bank's Defence would be that they owe you nothing because they always denied liability and then reached a deal which you "freely" entered into. But if it came before the Court the Judge would have to look at the underlying legailty and enforceability of the charges. If he found they were unenforceable, then it could be argued that it is perfectly forseeable that a customer suffering under such a regime would be compelled to accept onerous terms. The Judge might also ask the Bank why they have offered half the claim if they deny all liability. In any event, the banks seem keen not to have the underlying legaility tested in Court. Sorry if this sounds involved and its only my personal opinion.

[goldiea]

Thanks henrysdad and others...

 

I hope a moderator sees this and perhaps just tells me I am in cuckoo land but i thought that the fact we agreed to the terms would negate the legality or not, as the case may be of the charges and the agreement only would come under scrutiny (unfair terms).

 

I will keep an eye on the thread anyway. Possibly just holding onto anything i suppose.

 

xx

[Feux Verts]

I can assure you that they can't change your rights.

 

I've just reminded them that the £38 charge due from my account today was unlawful and that it would put me into O/D.

 

Guess what? No charge.

 

Keep at them.

[goldiea]

Hi Feux Vertes....

 

Funny enough Hubby got two letters from halifax today, one to advise of a £39 charge for unpaid DD of £18.75 and one for charge of £30 for upaid cheque. Just to let you know we are not being irresponsible in handling this account - if both paymnets had been made from the bank we would have been £1.02 over our overdraft?! instead they charge £69 quid... why dont they use any sense they can see a substantial payment every week and they know hubby pay in usually thursday so on wed they bouce the payments for the sake of £1.02 and earnings went in day after (as they have now for years!!?

 

Anyway I will be writing to advise the penalties better not be taken from the account or another action for new charges will be pursued.

 

Thanks for input and motivation Feux and others...

 

xx