Very Very Pleased - Plus a Few Questions

Ex-Spendaholic · 14 July 2008 at 11:53PM

Hi all

I put in claims to the Halifax on 1 June 2008. I had asked for a list of charges in April 2007 but by the time the information came the stay had been put in place. Anyway I decided that I would put a claim in last month so as to get into the queue. I believed that I would get the standard letter saying about the court case etc.

I asked for charges on 2 current accounts - £2680 and £3050. On the £2680 claim I have received a very long letter about the court case etc. It then went on to say that they have reviewed my account and feel that I fall into the financial difficulties category and are offering me £2944 :j which will be paid within 14 days if I accept. This is more than the charges total. It further states that they don't want to disadvantage me in anyway and that they will review the claim after the outcome of the court case.

I was really surprised to receive this offer as I hadn't asked them to look at my circumstances or anything. I am on a DMP though and both accounts have been over their limit for a while.

My questions are:

They state that the refund will be used to:

1. Bring the account within it's OD limit
2. Pay any mortgage arrears
3. Remainder paid to current account

The account is £500 overlimit and has been for some time now. I am paying £50 per month towards it but with interest issues it isn't going anywhere fast. I did have some mortgage arrears but was on a plan which I kept to and the arrears have been capitalised last week. Does anyone know what this will mean? Will they still pay the money into the mortgage account or as the arrears have been capitalised does this mean they are no longer classed as arrears? I am delighted with whatever they choose to do as this is money that I had long since said goodbye to and this refund will make a huge difference to my circumstances and help me sleep better at night.

Do you think it is likely that they will take a similar decision on the 2nd account?

Are they likely to close these accounts?

I am really determined to run my accounts more efficiently now and avoid getting charges again.

I would like to say a huge thank you to Martin for this fantastic site and all the really useful information. A big thank you also to Nickmack and Edingburghlass who offer such brilliant advice and information on this forum. :T :T Without you guys I would never have claimed.

natweststaffmember · 15 July 2008 at 6:34PM

Not sure on the mortgage question.
My understanding of what they have said is that they will pay off arrears that are owed to them.
Have they said they will close the accounts? Is that what you want them to do?
I would be surprised if they didn't make the same decision. It may be worth clarifying the refund and whether it was for both accounts just to be certain what they are offering.
Congrats to you as well.

Ex-Spendaholic · 15 July 2008 at 7:57PM

Thanks for your reply Natweststaffmember, its greatly appreciated. :beer:

Yes the letter with the offer relates to one account only as the other account is being dealt with separately. I phoned the Halifax this afternoon. The guy told me that the claim for the other current account is still being reviewed. He gave me the reference number of it and said that I would hear from them by 5 August which is when the 40 days is up. I did try to find out what the decision was likely to be and how long I was likely to wait but he wouldn't get into that at all. He said that each account was being dealt with separately and that they may take a decision tomorrow but then again they may not decided for weeks. He did say that it was possible that the stay (or whatever it is called) could come into play. I did think that was a bit of a contradiction given that they paid on one account.

Yes my mortgage is with them and the arrears have now been capitalised. They were only small arrears anyway (1 missed payment) and I had been paying towards them over 6 months. As they have now capitalised the remaining arrears, normal payments have resumed so I'm not sure if they will pay the money into the mortgage account or not ie I'm not sure whether they will class me still as having arrears. Either way I don't mind what they do as it is absolutely fantastic getting this money back and despite where it goes it will reduce the amount I owe on something. :j

I don't want them to close the accounts, I would prefer they stay open and I am determined to make a better job of managing my finances from now on.

Also I had claimed credit card fees from Halifax Visa. I received a letter offering me £238 instead of £650 (ish). I had phoned and said I wanted more and they said they would escalate the claim. That was at the beginning of June. The guy on the phone today said that a letter was issued to me today saying that they are still investigating and giving me the info on the Financial Ombudsman.

Edinburghlass_2 · 15 July 2008 at 8:05PM

I wondered myself it they had lumped the claims together as they paid out more than you claimed but thats great if its not the case. I doubt they will close the accounts unless they can give the FO a good reason for doing so and the fact you are getting back on track will go in your favour.

Once you get the letter regarding the credit card claim you can send another letter saying thanks but no thanks and you will continue with your claim via the FO and that should get you a better offer but just for reference its best to do everything in writing rather than phoning or at least follow up with a letter.

Ex-Spendaholic · 15 July 2008 at 8:34PM

I have to admit that I read the letter about 20 times to make sure it wasn't one offer for both accounts. I then read it over and over making sure there wasn't a decimal point in the £2944. It was just so unexpected and uncharacteristic of the Halifax to give this money so easily. The letter definitely only refers to the one account though and has the roll number of the account on it along with a Solve It reference. The guy on the phone (who was actually very nice) confirmed that the accounts are being dealt with separately and gave me the solve it reference number for the other account.

Ex-Spendaholic · 18 July 2008 at 7:30PM

More good news. :beer:

I have received another letter today. This one relates to the 2nd account - the one I was claiming £3050 on. They are offering me £3315. Again this is more than I claimed and they are awarding it on the basis of financial difficulties.

This time the letter says "The offer is made on condition that the monies are used as follows: Firstly they will be used to bring your current account up to its overdraft limit. Any excess will then be used to clear any arrears on credit cards, mortgages held with us (in that order). Any remaining funds will then be credited to your current account. A summary of the breakdown will be sent to you once we receive your signed acceptance"

This differs slightly to my other letter. The other letter doesn't mention paying the credit card but does mention the mortgage. I do have a CC with them and it has been part of my DMP for about 15 months. I'm wondering how they will do this. Will they sort the overdraft and then pay the remainder into the CC (I owe £5500) :eek: or will they pay in what I should have been paying for the past 15 months ie the difference between my DMP payment and the contractual payment? Any ideas anyone? Either way I am totally delighted as this is another £3315 to help me on my debt free journey. :j

I cannot believe that I am getting £6259 from the Halifax just for sending 2 x Template Letter 1. I urge anyone out there who is thinking of claiming to do it. I sat last year reading the stories on here and was too scared to.

They have sent me the letter about the credit card saying that they are sorry the investigation is taking so long and that I'm welcome to go to the ombudsman. So far I haven't written to the Halifax about the CC but just made a call asking for a list of charges. I think I'll wait until I've got the bank charges safely in hand before sending a letter as I don't want to rock the boat.

I have another account with them (Cardcash) which has about £1000-£1500ish of fees and I will send them a letter 1 on that too again once I've got these funds safely.

Thanks once again for all the wonderful advice and information on here. :T

robpw2 · 18 July 2008 at 7:34PM

well done im pleased for you

Ex-Spendaholic · 19 July 2008 at 12:35PM

Now today I've received a letter regarding the credit card. They are paying back £653 which is what I claimed. :j I was surprised after getting the other letter yesterday. The £653 will be paid into the CC debt.

I cannot believe that I now owe nearly £7K less than I did this time last week.

I reckon with the others I've to chase - Egg, GE x 2, Barclays, Halifax cashcard, Cahoot, Open & Direct and Studio I could bring this total to nearly £10K. :j

Oh and I'll never be so stupid again in incurring charges.

Ex-Spendaholic · 23 August 2008 at 5:49PM

OK story so far. I have 3 accounts with Halifax. I decided to put claims in on 2 but wait until things were sorted with them before I claimed on the third one. The logic being that I wanted to keep at least one account.

So on account 1 I was awarded about £300 more than I asked for - £2944 and account 2 I was awarded £3350 which again was about £300 more than asked for. Both of these have now been paid. :j They paid out on the grounds of financial difficulties which I didn't ask them to do. I had just sent them a letter 1 for each account so that I could get in the queue.

So anyway I then put in the claim for account 3. Instantly it bounced back saying that claims were on hold etc etc etc. So I phoned Halifax Customer Relations and asked them to look on that account on the same grounds they had looked at the first 2. I claimed a total of £2600. Today I received a letter saying their charges are lawful etc etc but as they have looked at my financial difficulties they were awarding £1295 (nearly half) as a gesture of goodwill.

Now personally I feel I have done exceptionally well from the Halifax lately given that thousands of people have their clams on hold (got £650 on the credit card claim too). So do I fill in the form and be delighted that they are offering this or do I fight for the other half?

Any thoughts?

borgbaiter · 23 August 2008 at 11:40PM

hi

under the terms of the waiver you have nothing to loose by accepting now. if the case goes in the consumers favour they will have to pay up the rest as well.

i agree you have done very well :-)

Borgbaiter

shooter · 24 August 2008 at 12:32AM

well done!!

Have they said that with any of the three claims that they are offering it as Full and Final settlement?

When the Oft win they will have to pay you the rest of claim 3 so I personally would accept and wait until the end of the test case.

Were there any conditions attatched to any of the offers?

Halifax do seem to be the bank that is paying out the most, unlike LLoyds who are just increasing ODs and stoping charges on hardship claiments accounts until January.

So again well done:beer:

Shooter x

Very Very Pleased - Plus a Few Questions

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