Halifax not sending statements - led to defaults on credit file!

Sagaris

I used to have a Halifax credit card, I paid it off, but actually left it in credit - I didn't get any statements for 6 months or so, then I got one showing the credit, so again I asked for it to be closed - it took 18 months to get rid of - if they had been sending out monthly statements I'd have closed it sooner!

Anyway - my freind in work had a similar situation with her Halifax card, she and her husband had cards on the same account and they both closed them - no statements for months, then she got one saying hers was clear, so she rang again to get them to finally close it - which they did. However, her husband's account (who also received no statements) had a balance of £8 showing, which he queried. He asked why he'd not had any statements, and was told that they had been sent - but he'd never got them. He said he would pay the outstanding £8, but was then informed that as he'd not paid it for 6 months, he would have 6 months of defaults showing on his credit file! Annoying to say the least as they have never been late payiong for anything, ever - and assumed the Halifax account had been closed as they had requested.

Surely if he'd not paid anything for 6 months Halifax would have added late payment charges on top?

I've told them to check his credit file and contact Halifax again to see what can be done regarding his credit file - does anyone have any ideas please? I thought it was strange that all 3 of us have had Halifax credit cards and had no statements too?

Thank you!

NickX

Sagaris wrote: »

Surely if he'd not paid anything for 6 months Halifax would have added late payment charges on top?

This is what I was thinking, the debt should be more like £80 by now.

Something does not make sense here.

RTNI

The threshold for late fees is a balance of £12 or more, so if the balance was under £12, no late fee would be applied.

Would imagine that interest would have been applied though, unless it was 0%?

Sagaris

Unlikely to have been a 0% deal as it was a card they'd had and used for some time.

Does anyone know if Halifax would remove the defaults from his credit file? I've told them to go through the Halifax complaint procedure and see what happens - they are hoping to move house eventually so I imagine getting a mortgage after this would be more difficult?

RTNI

Go through the complaints procedure and see what the outcome is, I would doubt they will remove the default though. I would have assumed that the arrears dept would have got involved by trying to contact them?

In saying that if they have online banking for the card through the Halifax website, get them to check if they are signed up for paperless billing on the credit card, I know that there were changed to the T&C's on accounts which might have forced a bill out in the post rather than via the website.

Sagaris

No, they have had no contact from anyone about the credit card - and they don't bank with Halifax either.

I thought it was strange that their statements suddenly stopped, and I had the same thing happen too?

RTNI

It does seem a bit strange as you say, I would advise that he pays the bill (which I assume he has done) and lodge a complaint. It will be interesting to see what reason they give for non-receipt the statements.

Sagaris

They waived the £8! As a gesture of 'goodwill' I imagine - but he's still left with the marks on his credit file. He wasn't asking them to do that, they offered - he was trying to find out why he'd not had any statements, and in dong that, was told about the damage done to his credit file. As far as Halifax are concerned, the statements were sent out, but he didn't query not getting them, as he and his wife assumed both cards were closed as they had requested.

RTNI

that was nice of them to refund the £8!

Did they say what the £8 was made up of? Was it some sort of card insurance?

Sagaris

No, I think it was an amount that hadn't cleared from the final statement if that makes sense? They didn't have card insurance as far as I know.

Thank you for all your help!

benf90

It was most likely residual interest that was applied after they first cleared the balance.

Just another suggestion here...

It's likely that their complaint will just be passed to the regular department that deal with all types of complaints etc. Halifax may have a specific team/dept that make ammendments to credit files.

As it's quite a specific job to do it's likely they just have a small team of people who are trained up on how to do it and in what situations etc. Maybe the first person they spoke to is just following the official company line from a guide.

Perhaps it's worth asking Halifax which team/dept make changes and how (or if) they can be contacted directly. They may have more authority to make a decision themselves rather than following the guidelines given to the frontline staff.

Contacting them directly may also save time rather than having to go through with the complaint etc.