halifax bank charges

west43

Hi, due to a spell in hospital and a lack of receiving a bank letter informing me that I had gone overdrawn due to halifax insurance wrongly taking a payment from my account even though the policy was cancelled, I have a problem, basically early sept a charge of £31.99 was took from my account wrongly by halifax home insurance, a matter that I was not aware off, due to this a cheque that I had wrote for £34 was allowed and paid which resulted in me going overdrawn, funds were then put into my account by a family member so I could pay more bills, again which were paid but again due to my account being £31.99 short again my account again ended up with me being overdrawn, to cut a long story short I was charged on the
3rd sept - £35
10th sept -£35
16th Sept - £35
18th Sept -£35
22nd Sept - £35
26th Sept - £35
28th Sept - £35
3rd Oct - £35
plus interest charges of £24.70 the 1st Oct

I have contacted the bank by letter explaing that due to me being in hospital I had no mail, I also explained that on returning home the charges for the 3rd-10th and the 16th I was never informed of anyway and the fact that due to me being in receipt of benefits can the charges be dropped or lowered as it was their fault of taking £31.99 from my account in the first place that took weeks to be paid back into my account, and received a short reply stating that the charges are set and I have to pay them, at the same time I also sent an identical letter to the customer complaints dept of the bank but as yet all I have had is a response saying it is being looked into, I have tried to ring but to no joy, In one month charges were took for £245 plus and I only get £210 per month in Incapacity benefit, can they do this to me and how would I get on claiming the charges back using a letter available from this site on reclaiming your bank charges, please any advice will be appreciated.

natweststaffmember

west43 wrote: »

Hi, due to a spell in hospital and a lack of receiving a bank letter informing me that I had gone overdrawn due to halifax insurance wrongly taking a payment from my account even though the policy was cancelled, I have a problem, basically early sept a charge of £31.99 was took from my account wrongly by halifax home insurance, a matter that I was not aware off, due to this a cheque that I had wrote for £34 was allowed and paid which resulted in me going overdrawn, funds were then put into my account by a family member so I could pay more bills, again which were paid but again due to my account being £31.99 short again my account again ended up with me being overdrawn, to cut a long story short I was charged on the
3rd sept - £35
10th sept -£35
16th Sept - £35
18th Sept -£35
22nd Sept - £35
26th Sept - £35
28th Sept - £35
3rd Oct - £35
plus interest charges of £24.70 the 1st Oct

I have contacted the bank by letter explaing that due to me being in hospital I had no mail, I also explained that on returning home the charges for the 3rd-10th and the 16th I was never informed of anyway and the fact that due to me being in receipt of benefits can the charges be dropped or lowered as it was their fault of taking £31.99 from my account in the first place that took weeks to be paid back into my account, and received a short reply stating that the charges are set and I have to pay them, at the same time I also sent an identical letter to the customer complaints dept of the bank but as yet all I have had is a response saying it is being looked into, I have tried to ring but to no joy, In one month charges were took for £245 plus and I only get £210 per month in Incapacity benefit, can they do this to me and how would I get on claiming the charges back using a letter available from this site on reclaiming your bank charges, please any advice will be appreciated.

How was the insurance cancelled?
Was the insurance all paid up to date?

west43

Hi, the home insurance policy was took out at the end of July, and cancelled by phone 5 days later as I found the exact same policy cheaper, I was assured that as I had cancelled the policy in what I was told was a cooling off period the £15 and whatever pence would not be deducted from my account on the 1st payment due date which was the 1st August, which it wasnt so I took them at their word that it had indeed been cancelled, yet on the 1st Sept a charge of £31.99 left my account showing up as Halifax home insurance, as soon as I was aware of this I rang them and they just apologised that the money should not have left my account as the policy had been cancelled a month earlier.

natweststaffmember

west43 wrote: »

Hi, the home insurance policy was took out at the end of July, and cancelled by phone 5 days later as I found the exact same policy cheaper, I was assured that as I had cancelled the policy in what I was told was a cooling off period the £15 and whatever pence would not be deducted from my account on the 1st payment due date which was the 1st August, which it wasnt so I took them at their word that it had indeed been cancelled, yet on the 1st Sept a charge of £31.99 left my account showing up as Halifax home insurance, as soon as I was aware of this I rang them and they just apologised that the money should not have left my account as the policy had been cancelled a month earlier.

And did you mention the knock on effect of the fact that they had taken the money ie the charges?
To be honest I think you have a case for refund from either the bank or their insurance arm for the charges based on the fact it was a bank error.

west43

I have since sent in a detailed breakdown of each time that I added funds to my account to enable me to write a cheque for my bill payments showing the knock on effect that taking the £31.99 from my account has had without me being aware of it, yet still no response, even when I get thriough on the phone their excuse was that they could not discuss my account with me due to a wrongly answered security breach, this stemmed from my account being comprimised some 6 months ago, a matter that was dealt with and funds that went missing from my account were replaced after signing the declaration sent to me from halifax, which resulted me in having to go into branch with id where I was put onto a phone and spoke to telephone banking, then the person in the branch verified I was who I said I was etc, yet they still cannot talk to me, its not that easy me going back into branch either as I am disabled and have to be took there with my chair by whoever is free to ferry me,

west43

I forgot to add Thanks for responding.

natweststaffmember

west43 wrote: »

I have since sent in a detailed breakdown of each time that I added funds to my account to enable me to write a cheque for my bill payments showing the knock on effect that taking the £31.99 from my account has had without me being aware of it, yet still no response, even when I get thriough on the phone their excuse was that they could not discuss my account with me due to a wrongly answered security breach, this stemmed from my account being comprimised some 6 months ago, a matter that was dealt with and funds that went missing from my account were replaced after signing the declaration sent to me from halifax, which resulted me in having to go into branch with id where I was put onto a phone and spoke to telephone banking, then the person in the branch verified I was who I said I was etc, yet they still cannot talk to me, its not that easy me going back into branch either as I am disabled and have to be took there with my chair by whoever is free to ferry me,

Was the letter sent recorded delivery?

west43

Hi, I it was next day guaranteed special delivery next day by 1.00pm, it has been signed for.

natweststaffmember

west43 wrote: »

Hi, I it was next day guaranteed special delivery next day by 1.00pm, it has been signed for.

Where was it sent? Branch or Head Office?

west43

Sent one to branch, have had a reply stating charges are set and have to be paid even though I fully explained situation etc, and sent one to the head office, no reply yet.

west43

Just a quick update, Got my daughter to get me a mini statement from the bank yesterday, and it showed that a further £35 charge was took from my accoun on the 9th Oct , why I have no idea, since my first post I have made certain that there were funds to pay my loan which came out on the 1st Oct, I have wrote no more cheques and have cancelled my DD, and was left with £22.40 to prevent me from going overdrawn again while this matter and my complaint are supposedly being dealt with, and I was not notified by letter about this charge that left my account on the 9th, yet this charge that took of £35 has yet again left me overdrawn, I give up and have decided to leave my account dormant until I get a response from my complaint that seems to be rather slow.