Halifax Hell

YorkshireBoy

The Halifax minimum payment is 1% of the outstanding balance before this months interest is added.

If they're adding 1.2408% (@ 15.9% APR) or 1.5239% (@ 19.9% APR) interest each month it's not hard to see why your balance is increasing each month (other than the spending that got you there in the first place of course!).

If you're unhappy with the service you're getting from Halifax, and want to allege 'harrassment', then register a formal complaint.

never-in-doubt

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

If you're unhappy with the service you're getting from Halifax, and want to allege 'harrassment', then register a formal complaint.

What, to be filed in the B.I.N like the rest of their complaints? Those that do get a response are as much use as a chocco fireguard!

OP - TBH the easiest option is to report them for the harassment and warn them directly to cease all contact and if they breach this you will then take legal action.

They will listen eventually, they just take some persuasion.....

barcelonabombshell

I havn't been spending on the card at all. My summery of account says that I have x amount of new transactions which I think is the missed payment.this ' transaction' put me over the limit. I have paid this plus this months payment. Does this mean that I still owe them a missing payment or is it a ploy to get more money out of me?

catieeb06

I think under the rules and regulations and what not that they're allowed to contact you twice a day on any and all contact numbers that you have provided.

Could be wrong!

never-in-doubt

catieeb06 wrote: »

I think under the rules and regulations and what not that they're allowed to contact you twice a day on any and all contact numbers that you have provided.

Could be wrong!

Maybe their terms state this but Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and the Communications Act 2003 (s.127) seem to have a different view and to be fair, we will listen to them over anything HBOS may or may not have in their terms.

OFCOM would be the next step, if they ring once a day and you demand they cease - even that in itself is a breach of OFCOM regulations, regardless of any previous authority you may have given (within their 'terms')...

chattychappy

never-in-doubt wrote: »

Maybe their terms state this but Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and the Communications Act 2003 (s.127) seem to have a different view

Oh NiD, you should know.... Acts don't express views! Judges interpret, and jurors might have a view as to the facts at hand..

Anyway, I think it's well worth the OP quoting these sections if he's fed up with Halifax calling, and the templates are well drafted. But the tests are very strict and, from the sound of it Halifax haven't crossed the line (yet).

(emphasis below is mine, my comments in italic).

Administation of Justice Act 1970
40 Punishment for unlawful harassment of debtors
(1)A person commits an offence if ... he—
(a)harasses the other with demands for payment which, in respect of their frequency or the manner or occasion of making any such demand, or of any threat or publicity by which any demand is accompanied, are calculated to subject him or members of his family or household to alarm, distress or humiliation;

(3)Subsection (1)(a) above does not apply to anything done by a person which is reasonable (and otherwise permissible in law) for the purpose—
(a)of securing the discharge of an obligation due, or believed by him to be due ...

Note it would be necessary to prove that their actions were calculated to subject the OP to alarm, distress or humiliation. It wouldn't be enough to show that this was merely the effect. This is the case without (3). (3) suggests that even this would be permissible if reasonable in chasing a debt.


Communications Act 2003 (s.127)
127 Improper use of public electronic communications network
(1) A person is guilty of an offence if he—
(a) sends by means of a public electronic communications network a message or other matter that is ... or menacing ...
(2) A person is guilty of an offence if, for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another, he—
.....
(c) persistently makes use of a public electronic communications network.

I expect "menacing" content would be more serious than we have here. As for section (2), again it is the purpose that is important. Halifax would claim (quite rightly, probably) that their purpose is to collect money, not cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety. Of course this could still be an effect, but it wouldn't be their purpose.

If the OP wishes to pursue this, it would be well worth informing Halifax that the calls are annoying and causing anxiety etc. If Halifax then continue the calls, even if it's still not possible to establish that this is their purpose, it might be possible to show that at the very least they were reckless as to their effect and this can be enough to establish intent.

Protection from Harassment Act 1997
1 Prohibition of harassment
(1) A person must not pursue a course of conduct—
(a) which amounts to harassment of another, and
(b) which he knows or ought to know amounts to harassment of the other.
(2) For the purposes of this section, the person whose course of conduct is in question ought to know that it amounts to harassment of another if a reasonable person in possession of the same information would think the course of conduct amounted to harassment of the other.

This is undoubtedly the strongest case. It would be down to a jury to step into the shoes of the man on the Clapham omnibus. They would have access to all the info that Halifax have - the OP's payment history, his attitude and information given on the phone, the amount that Halifax are exposed to etc etc. I think if the OP is being rung up "day and night" - ie being woken at night, then I think the line has been crossed. But a daily call whilst the OP is in arrears and isn't giving satisfactory answers? Less clear. And as a criminal offence, it's proof beyond reasonable doubt that Halifax ought to have known that what they were doing wasn't reasonable! So a double reasonable hurdle to overcome.

never-in-doubt

Very good post chattychappy......:T

dizzybuff

Just as I said lol ... log a call with the police , say you would like to report them under the harassment act , as long as you can back up your claim ur laughing

barcelonabombshell

Just spoken to Halifax.I told them that if they didn't stop calling me I would report them to OFCOM.The lovely young lass told me that under OFCOM's rules they are allowed to call me 3 TIMES A DAY ON ANY GIVEN NUMBER!!!!! That means that if I have a mobile, landline and work number they can call me 9 TIMES A BLOODY DAY!!!! Anyway, the calls are stopping cos I paid what was due on Fri and the reason they have kept calling is due to bank holiday it takes 3-4 working days to clear on their system. I'm not going to get a missed payment on my credit report but a late, which is not ideal, but I won't be ' blighted for years to come' as one forum member said( nasty and unnecessary I might add)

never-in-doubt

barcelonabombshell wrote: »

Just spoken to Halifax.I told them that if they didn't stop calling me I would report them to OFCOM.The lovely young lass told me that under OFCOM's rules they are allowed to call me 3 TIMES A DAY ON ANY GIVEN NUMBER!!!!! That means that if I have a mobile, landline and work number they can call me 9 TIMES A BLOODY DAY!!!! Anyway, the calls are stopping cos I paid what was due on Fri and the reason they have kept calling is due to bank holiday it takes 3-4 working days to clear on their system. I'm not going to get a missed payment on my credit report but a late, which is not ideal, but I won't be ' blighted for years to come' as one forum member said( nasty and unnecessary I might add)

Well done for sorting it out, as our previous posts suggest though - there are other acts to take into account each superceding the other and so the 9 calls a day lark is utter bollox - pardon the french! If you tell them to cease, then they have to cease. failure is not really an option and once you do it in writing they wouldn't dare risk playing silly beggars

Unless you missed a payment in a whole billing cycle nothing would be reported to the CRA's anyway, that means if you missed payment for anything from due date to next statement date the CRA's would never know cos it would not become 1 month late. Only after the crossover does it technically become one month late.