Not as debt free as I thought we were :-(

SamMoffatt28

I went onto hubby's online banking today to check on our direct debits and noticed that he is being charged £6 ish per month for a credit card we got rid of 2+ years ago.We didnt cancel it, but we paid it off with the extra money we got when we took out a new mortgage to buy our current home. We havent received any statements for ages so just forgot thinking that it had been closed. After further investigation he has a balance of £300 outstanding and has been paying for it for almost 2 years from what I can see from his bank statements. Now I assumed that someone had fraudulently used the card as I am positive that we paid the full balance off and can even remember hubby cutting up the card. I phoned him at work and told him the situation which was completely alien to him too so he left work and went straight down to the Halifax who the card is with. They couldnt give us too much information as the c/c dept is different to the banking dept but they are going to send us copies of all the statements (which have in fact been going to our old address). They dont seem to think its fraudulent as they said that since the card had a £3000 limit then a fraudster would more than likely have wiped us out and it is unlikely they would have just spent between 3 - 5 hundred quid (we dont know the exact amount yet). They suggest that perhaps it was an oversight on our part - but how could we 'forget' that we spent that amount of money???

The Halifax have made a note on the account to say that we have queried it, but wont cancel the card as there is still an amount outstanding. They promise that if it is fraud then we will be reimbursed for our losses and it will be dealt with appropriately. So now we just have to wait and see when the statement copies arrive and hope for the best.

Well, I will update when I know whats going on but the moral of this story is always check your bank statements thoroughly every month!
I will be checking in future as have always left it up to hubby. :mad:

dippy-dora_2

Sounds like maybe the people at your old address could have maybe used a new card that was deliverd for you?

tipsychick

Hopefully when you get the statements through, you'll know immediately from the transaction whether it's something that you're likely to have bought.

If the Halifax has been sending the statements through to your old address, it's a bit odd that whoever's there now didn't return them unopened to the Halifax. I think most people would always redirect or return to sender anything that looks important. Perhaps whoever you sold to is the culprit!

kuohu

Seems like a strange one but as others have said, once you get the statement you'll probably recognise straight away if it is something you've spent or not.

SamMoffatt28 wrote:

Well, I will update when I know whats going on but the moral of this story is always check your bank statements thoroughly every month!
I will be checking in future as have always left it up to hubby. :mad:

Just as an aside, since becoming a debt free wannabe in January this year I have been checking my online banking every single day! How anal is that

caz01_2

Have the halifax put a stop on this card in case it is fraudulently used again? Do you have any other accounts with them as if your address changed for these then they should have changed address for this visa?

oops_a_daisy

perhaps you have a annual payment set up on that card that you have forgotten about ? thanks for putting this up here though - a good reminder to check that you have actually cancelled all cards when paid off. I must admit I have 2 ( 1 store card and 1 credit card ) that I have just paid off and not actually got round to cancelling, Must add that to my 'to do' list.
Good luck in getting it sorted though.

SamMoffatt28

Yes we have 3 accounts with them and only the visa statements carried on being sent to the old address. Strange thing as well as someone mentioned that the buyer didnt forward the statements as they have forwarded other less important mail. The plot thickens ....

p.s no they havent cancelled the card as there is no proof yet of fraud and there is still money outstanding so they wont cancel it.

jitsuguy

Hi Sam,

Can you get them to put a stop on the card? That way whoever has the card will not be able to spend on it.

Jitsuguy

Guinea_2

Just as an aside, since becoming a debt free wannabe in January this year I have been checking my online banking every single day! How anal is that [/QUOTE]


I do exactly the same thing! :beer:

Donedoingdebt

Another thing to check out. If there are amounts outstanding on these credit cards, then there will surely be minimum monthly payments that have not been made. It may be wise to check if your credit files have been adversely affected.

dippy-dora_2

Can they not tell you if a new card was issued within the time you moved till now?
Surely they can do that and to what address?