halifax taking £20 wk for going over my limit

venus69

i'm not sure if this is where i post this
last jan i got a halifax card with a £300 over draft, in june i was made redundant and been out off work with long term illness. Around jan this year i got a letter saying i was overdrawn by £59 i called them and told them i could not afford to pay it all off in one go. i was basically led to belive that i could pay it off when i was ready, 2 days ago they took out £128 out off my other account which i get mine and my sons benifit payed into. i went back today then had to ring head office they paid back my sons benift but know told me i owe £148 and how i will pay it back. I explained i was on benifits and could only afford about £2 aweek the phone line wasn't very clear and there where lots of customers around so could not hear very well. he said that would take to long not sure as i cauldn't hear but it was years! and interest think he mentioned £200+ it keept going back and forth with amounts that i can pay an it ended up at £20 a week which i cant afford which after paying water, gas electric, and other debt i will be left with £4.19 a week for food., is there any i can see to help me get this payment down + interest.
please help

natweststaffmember

well there are two things firstly. Where is the overdraft? What happened to it?
Get yourself an account with another bank so that your benefits go into that account without the bank taking it.
I would start claiming bank charges back as well.

venus69

When i was made redundant, there was some issue about paying me my last wage, i was paid 2 months later, by this time i was geting jobseekers benifit, but still ducking into my overdraft by around £100 . When at last the end off july i recieved my wages. from then to december the odd occasion i take £10 out but was still in my limits, christmas came then thats when i must off went over my limit by £59,
If i change bank accounts and not pay them any money what would happen then??

natweststaffmember

venus69 wrote: »

When i was made redundant, there was some issue about paying me my last wage, i was paid 2 months later, by this time i was geting jobseekers benifit, but still ducking into my overdraft by around £100 . When at last the end off july i recieved my wages. from then to december the odd occasion i take £10 out but was still in my limits, christmas came then thats when i must off went over my limit by £59,
If i change bank accounts and not pay them any money what would happen then??

Well, the bank doesn't use your benefit to take charges from you and you can pay them back at an amount convenient to you.

venus69

they paid back my son benefit after showing proof from jobcentre that he gets his money paid into my account.
I get my money from jobseekers. on friday just gone, i checked this morning at local atm to find they have now took all my benefit out.leaving me nothing to live on.
And i get back to find two letters 1 sayin i am overdrawn 2nd letter is a fee of £28 because i am overdrawn. they where only suppose to take £20 it was all arranged when i called head office thursday, to sort out my sons benefit where do i go from here??

natweststaffmember

venus69 wrote: »

they paid back my son benefit after showing proof from jobcentre that he gets his money paid into my account.
I get my money from jobseekers. on friday just gone, i checked this morning at local atm to find they have now took all my benefit out.leaving me nothing to live on.
And i get back to find two letters 1 sayin i am overdrawn 2nd letter is a fee of £28 because i am overdrawn. they where only suppose to take £20 it was all arranged when i called head office thursday, to sort out my sons benefit where do i go from here??

Give em a call on Monday and ask them what has happened to the agreement?

Post up and we can go from there.

ben_and_elly

Hi. This was one of the departments that I worked in when I used to work for the Halifax. Am I correct in thinking that this is not a current account and a basic cashcard? Normally, if it was a current account, they may have been able to offer you increase in overdraft for short term? If they have started taking money out of other acccounts, it makes me think the account you have gone overdrawn on is an account that does not normally allow overdrafts. Anyway, that is probably irrelevant to you right now.

What used to happen was a print out comes down with accounts in debit balance. They should really have written/contacted you first before taking money from any accounts. Until your account is in credit balance, the print out will continue to be received, and unless someone takes ownership of your personal case, they will probably continue to transfer funds from other accounts that you have.
I would highly recommend that you stop any credits going into any Halifax accounts for the time being, as they will just keep taking the money out - do you have accounts elsewhere that benefits can be paid into?
I would also suggest that you speak to supervisor in the department that deals with Debit Balances - not the branch. They don't tend to deal with these(well, they didn't used to, so not sure if that has changed)Get a name, address to write to and explain your circumstances. They should allow you to clear debit balance over a period of time. It is imperative that you get them to confirm this in writing too.
Also, get address of who deals with debit balance printouts. It may be a business centre and write to them too, detailing your situation. They may under certain circumstances, write off some of the debts.
It all depends on who you deal with - like most large companies, you need a member of staff with a bit of compassion, and not just a jobsworth.
Good luck and keep on at them - and get those credits moved to another bank/building society.