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At my wits end with Halifax......UPDATED (and advice wanted)

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Comments

  • mags33_2
    mags33_2 Posts: 249 Forumite
    looby75 wrote: »
    yeah I'm in the same situation, within months every penny I had paid them was wiped out. Each month they charge me interest and a £12 late payment fee, I only can afford to pay them £15 a month.....sometimes I think I would be better just stopping paying full stop and then they would HAVE to take me to court. They are totally unreasonable, where as MBNA have been fantastic with me (after the teething period that is), they stopped interest and have never started it up again, fingers crossed it stays that way.

    im having probs with halifax/BOS I pay them £64 a month and it was interest free for a year. April this year it stopped and i was whacked a massive amount of interest into the account and then late payment charges were made. The issued a default notice tuesday before christmas. Spoke with my DMC a week ago and they will not freeze interest again but they have reduced the interest to the minimum. DC have told me they will pass it to a debt collection agency and not to worry but you cant help but worry

    my calls have stopped since the default notice. im lucky im out the house from 8.30 to 5.30 so didnt have to listen to fone ringing and they dont have my mobile number.
    :mad: sometimes my debt panics me..... EVEN after 4 years or so.

    I will be free in less than three years with a trust deed - my only option as debt management was taking too long :(
  • looby75
    looby75 Posts: 23,387 Forumite
    I've had a default notice, about 9 months ago, but they still won't pass it on to a DCA. It's so frustrating and worrying.

    On the plus side they haven't phoned back yet.
  • From my understanding, if you change your current payment to Halifax and make token payments for a month to Halifax it goes to their DCA within a month or 6 weeks and the interest will stop.

    However, if you look up Blair, Oliver & Scott on these forums it seems their DCA is actually in-house. Then the calls from Halifax should stop (and the interest) and it will be the DCA who contact you, and I think this is generally in writing or possibly a text message.

    Check with the guys who are running your DMP and see what they suggest.
  • mags33_2
    mags33_2 Posts: 249 Forumite
    looby75 wrote: »
    I've had a default notice, about 9 months ago, but they still won't pass it on to a DCA. It's so frustrating and worrying.

    On the plus side they haven't phoned back yet.


    it is frustrating as your paying as much as you can. are they still charging you full interest? Its annoying as like you all my payments have been cancelled out plus i have the £600 and odd pounds arrears on interest to add on to it as well. :mad: :mad: :mad: so my debt to them is now higher than what it original was :confused:

    there are people like us genuinly wanting to get out of their messes but unfortunately creditors know this and like to be heavy handed and they dont care what they say to you.

    im moving my account to another bank did it last wednesday and i have my new bank account opened got the debit card and chq book all thats left is the transfer of all the dd's so's and salary which i also faxed my new details to payroll in case the letter doesnt arrive in time for this months payments.

    i live in fear that bos/halifax credit card will just take money out of my account of their own free will so this way they cant
    :mad: sometimes my debt panics me..... EVEN after 4 years or so.

    I will be free in less than three years with a trust deed - my only option as debt management was taking too long :(
  • looby75
    looby75 Posts: 23,387 Forumite
    Yes they are still charging full interest :( and like you I now owe more than I did originally :(

    My bank account was with Halifax (the debt is a credit card) but the lovely people on her forewarned me that Halifax might just help themselves to my account when I started on the DMP so I got a new account with barclays, who I don't owe a penny too :)
  • looby75
    looby75 Posts: 23,387 Forumite
    From my understanding, if you change your current payment to Halifax and make token payments for a month to Halifax it goes to their DCA within a month or 6 weeks and the interest will stop.

    However, if you look up Blair, Oliver & Scott on these forums it seems their DCA is actually in-house. Then the calls from Halifax should stop (and the interest) and it will be the DCA who contact you, and I think this is generally in writing or possibly a text message.

    Check with the guys who are running your DMP and see what they suggest.
    I'm already making "token" payments, my minimum payment each month should be about £60 but I only pay £15 through the DMP, they still won't send the debt on to the DCA though. They just keep saying I'm not in enough arrears :confused:
  • mags33_2
    mags33_2 Posts: 249 Forumite
    looby75 wrote: »
    Yes they are still charging full interest :( and like you I now owe more than I did originally :(

    My bank account was with Halifax (the debt is a credit card) but the lovely people on her forewarned me that Halifax might just help themselves to my account when I started on the DMP so I got a new account with barclays, who I don't owe a penny too :)

    they have reduced my interest down to the lowest they can so maybe try and ask if they would do this. mt debt management company does all this for me and they just call me and let me know whats happening.

    where i am we dont have many banks as i live on an island and i couldnt get a basic account as i do have a good job where i am and they all wanted me to have all the extra's so finally i met with someone who listened. my account should be closed by the 21st and thats one less thing to worry about.
    :mad: sometimes my debt panics me..... EVEN after 4 years or so.

    I will be free in less than three years with a trust deed - my only option as debt management was taking too long :(
  • skylight wrote: »
    Halifax are the worst. There are lots of reasons for my BR, and Halifax was a big one. After a year of DMP payments, then flatly refused to accept anymore and reinstated interest and charges etc. Within 3 months, the years worth of payments had been wiped.

    My end of the tether moment was when I was almost in tears and yelled "fxxx off and sue me then" down the phone (not my proudest moment) and I hung up. Changed my phone number after that and mixed with the hassle from MBNA pushed me towards BR.


    There are numerous posts on here about Halifax. Broken Hearted had real issues with them (I remember and quote her name as it was so mean it really sticks in my mind).

    In that case then, I reckon Halifax are total idiots. By harassing you so much that you went BR, I reckon they got a lot less money than they would have done if they allowed a DMP to run its course in a relatively hassle free manner. Am I correct in assuming this?

    BTW. I have two accounts with Halifax - a credit card and a personal loan. I have every intention of paying these as I have them at reasonable fixed rates. From what you've written, I'm wondering if I should give them priority in case I'm ever in a position where I need to DMP etc. That would cost them some profit on the interest. These companies really don't help themselves, do they?
  • jabba4
    jabba4 Posts: 221 Forumite
    I've been on my DMP for almost 2 years. Like yourself my Halifax credit card debt was only frozen for one year (which surprised me no end). When I got the letter telling me that the agreemant had ended I rang them, explained that our situation money-wise was now worse (I've become a stay-at-home dad) they reduced the interest to a fairly low amount and stopped the phonecalls. This was over 6 months ago. I've not had a call since, but neither has my account been passed onto a DCA even though I was told it would be after being 6 months in arrears. Maybe it's their way of earning more money through the interest.


    As an aside, has anyone noticed how many cards now seem to be run by Barclaycard ? I managed to clear my Barclaycard debt several years ago, but now find that they own/run the Goldfish and Sky cards.
  • looby75
    looby75 Posts: 23,387 Forumite
    Hmm they have never offered to reduce my interest, I wonder if it's worth asking them to do that when they call again.

    I suppose they can only say no lol
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