Be careful - halifax review account letter

mum2one

Please please be careful, I had a letter from the Halifax offering me an account/financial review, with a telephone number to ring.

Personally I ignore these letters.

Thurs afternoon phone rings, its the Halifax re account review, after explaining I didn't want a review, I'm happy with who I have ins etc with, the bloke says take 5 mins, ok, gave in.

He had my full account details, he detailed all my standing orders, my debits, my incomings, I was took aback, he knew I'd got a child - I asked him how, I have ur account in front of me, know you have CB, CTC, why do you not have child maintance (what the heck it has to do with him),

He started chatting about day to day expenses, cars, food, rent, it didn't click at time, but he was filling in an income + expenditure form, "he then decided I was overspending £250pm", my last bank statement I spent 40p more than incomings.

He then tells me I need to go into a debt management plan, there freeze the interest, he accused me of fraud by having a loan, that I have debt problems, (yes, but I'm managing them), that wasn't good enough for him.

I could go through the CAB or debt helpline, but as there free theres waiting lists of months and their company could get the ball rolling straight away..... I'd pay them a set manageable sum of money, the company would take a fee and the rest to my creditors.

It took me an hour to get him off the phone, he obviously worked for the halifax, or the halifax had got a debt management agency on board.

This was a service I did not ask for, a service I don't want, my bills are upto date, I have had no late payments etc for over 12 months.

SO PLEASE BE AWARE - THERE SHARKS - THEY LITERALLY BULLIED ME DOWN- I STOOD FIRM, BUT HAD IT OF BEEN MY MUM - SHE WOULD OF BELIEVED EVERYTHING THEY SAID AND WENT ALONG WITH IT.

Inactive

mum2one wrote: »

It took me an hour to get him off the phone, he obviously worked for the halifax, or the halifax had got a debt management agency on board.

Do you not have an off switch on your phone?

jambosans

Are you sure it wasn't Money Management? Their number is 08456 03 90 50, if that helps you identify them.

Money Management, just to explain (I have spoken with them myself), is a free impartial service provided to Halifax/ Bank of Scotland customers who may be heading into financial difficulties. Designed specifically for those not in arrears, but just need some suggestions to keep financially buoyant. They perform a sort of "financial review", going through your in-goings and out-goings and providing hints and tips (e.g. use petrolprices.com). At the end of the call they make a suggestion based on what you've answered on their set list of questions. They are by no means "sharks", and do not try to sell you HBOS products. Personally, although I declined their suggestion, was referred to Think Money for debt advice - who, although they sell products, will provide free advice. I choose my words carefully because Money Management do not advise you to do anything, they give you an automated suggestion based on the review they perform.

If the above sounds similar to what has happened with yourself, then, I think you've over-reacted, and are probably a bit miffed that Halifax have tried to give you some financial help. I say this because your post clearly suggests you went on the defensive when you found out someone was looking at your account. Remember, Halifax, as with any other bank, monitor your account conduct, and if they feel this intermediary step will help you avoid financial difficulties, then I see no harm in it.

I found my dealings with them relatively positive, however your colourful (quite literally) approach appears to be "it's my account, how dare they look, and even comment on it". Well, if you have a debt with a bank, it is very much their business how you manage your affairs, and I see little problem in a few suggestions that might save you some money.

It's obviously pretty hard to believe that a bank would ever help without some gain for themselves. Well call it managing risk, I'm not saying you are in financial trouble, I am merely suggesting, that, perhaps due to account conduct (e.g. always at overdraft limit, more out than in, etc.), Halifax want to limit the chance of you falling into arrears.

I apologise if you have spoken to someone else, but this does not sound like a debt management company as they would be demanding repayment on something. Also, please do not be offended by anything I have suggested because I do not know your financial situation, although would argue that letters like those are sent for a reason.

esmerellda

interested as have been looking at this Halifax/Think Money thing for a while - Before referring you to Think Money (from which they make a commission) did they mention Citizens advice or the consumer credit counselling service at all ?

jambosans wrote: »

Are you sure it wasn't Money Management? Their number is 08456 03 90 50, if that helps you identify them.

Money Management, just to explain (I have spoken with them myself), is a free impartial service provided to Halifax/ Bank of Scotland customers who may be heading into financial difficulties. Designed specifically for those not in arrears, but just need some suggestions to keep financially buoyant. They perform a sort of "financial review", going through your in-goings and out-goings and providing hints and tips (e.g. use petrolprices.com). At the end of the call they make a suggestion based on what you've answered on their set list of questions. They are by no means "sharks", and do not try to sell you HBOS products. Personally, although I declined their suggestion, was referred to Think Money for debt advice - who, although they sell products, will provide free advice. I choose my words carefully because Money Management do not advise you to do anything, they give you an automated suggestion based on the review they perform.

If the above sounds similar to what has happened with yourself, then, I think you've over-reacted, and are probably a bit miffed that Halifax have tried to give you some financial help. I say this because your post clearly suggests you went on the defensive when you found out someone was looking at your account. Remember, Halifax, as with any other bank, monitor your account conduct, and if they feel this intermediary step will help you avoid financial difficulties, then I see no harm in it.

I found my dealings with them relatively positive, however your colourful (quite literally) approach appears to be "it's my account, how dare they look, and even comment on it". Well, if you have a debt with a bank, it is very much their business how you manage your affairs, and I see little problem in a few suggestions that might save you some money.

It's obviously pretty hard to believe that a bank would ever help without some gain for themselves. Well call it managing risk, I'm not saying you are in financial trouble, I am merely suggesting, that, perhaps due to account conduct (e.g. always at overdraft limit, more out than in, etc.), Halifax want to limit the chance of you falling into arrears.

I apologise if you have spoken to someone else, but this does not sound like a debt management company as they would be demanding repayment on something. Also, please do not be offended by anything I have suggested because I do not know your financial situation, although would argue that letters like those are sent for a reason.

natweststaffmember

I think you have to be careful when any bank says they are giving "free impartial advice" because a bank employee giving a bank customer impartial advice is like saying the bank will get nothing from it. Unfortunately that is not the case.

Andystriker

Thurs afternoon phone rings, its the Halifax re account review, after explaining I didn't want a review, I'm happy with who I have.....

At this point you put the phone down.

Simple Solution

Edit:

If they ring for a second time you ask them to hang on and place a Radio by the receiver tuned to a Welsh speaking station and come back in 30 minutes and if they are still there ask them to hold for a bit longer.

jambosans

esmerellda wrote: »

interested as have been looking at this Halifax/Think Money thing for a while - Before referring you to Think Money (from which they make a commission) did they mention Citizens advice or the consumer credit counselling service at all ?

Just to give a little more information as to why I contacted them. At the beginning of summer my income dropped and I could foresee problems in budgeting etc., so I contacted them. Now the questionnaire was harmless, and at times suggestions were quite useful - "Have you considered shopping at Aldi/ Lidl instead of Tesco?", etc.

I certainly will not deny that the recommendation at the end of the questionnaire did get my back up, as obviously I'm aware of CCCS and CaB. They did mention CaB, but referred to Think Money as though it were a similar service, which I knew not to be true. When I asked what they advise, they stated that the "recommendation was to refer you on to Think Money for debt management advice".

Like I've said before, some parts were useful, and being a little more informed, I declined the referral to Think Money, and put myself on an even footing.

natweststaffmember wrote: »

I think you have to be careful when any bank says they are giving "free impartial advice" because a bank employee giving a bank customer impartial advice is like saying the bank will get nothing from it. Unfortunately that is not the case.

There's no doubt HBOS gain from referring you to Think Money, the advisor even stated that if Think Money do offer me a product it will be at a "discounted rate because of referral from Halifax". This obviously makes any service like this loose some credibility, but I would still refer to is as impartial, as there was really no "sales pitch" involved, and it was all very amicable. I suppose it can be argued that if Halifax do have a relationship specifically with Think Money, this does make the service partial. Although I think the service is more about mitigating risk with certain customers than earning a quick buck through Think Money.

Anyways, my main point is, this service is very far from a hard sell, and someone running through your in-goings and out-goings whilst providing hints and tips along the way is helpful. It is obviously something that I could have done myself in retrospect, and would never suggest anyone go on the recommendations of this service alone.

gfplux

You put the phone down. that is how you end these calls.
If you have problems ending phone calls you are liable to get in to more debt as salesmen/women just love people who do not know how to put the phone down.

deadthings

I notice how Jambosans has been posting in quite a few threads telling people they are 'wrong' and Halifax is right.

I would agree if Halifax telephone, make sure you tell them you don't have time and just hang up.

Halifax at the moment are trying to get as much money from people as they can.

The people who are doing this calling for this 'Account review' are on a bonus for any they sign up. Like PPI and charges eventually the OFT will get involved and people will be given refunds. It just another charging bank scam like banks are always doing, and always having to pay back for.

As has been said. Ignore Jambosans, and spread the word on this forum about him, and spread the work about what Halifax are up to.

D.

rb10

deadthings wrote: »

I notice how Jambosans has been posting in quite a few threads telling people they are 'wrong' and Halifax is right.

I have not seen a single post where Jambosans has said that people are 'wrong'. All he has done is to explain very clearly and succinctly how the changes work, and point out to people that whilst their initial impression of the changes may not have been favourable, there are actually ways that you can make these changes work very strongly to benefit you.

Halifax at the moment are trying to get as much money from people as they can.

Hmmm ... not sure about this. They are paying me £5 per month. That doesn't seem to be 'getting as much money from me as they can'.

The people who are doing this calling for this 'Account review' are on a bonus for any they sign up. Like PPI and charges eventually the OFT will get involved and people will be given refunds. It just another charging bank scam like banks are always doing, and always having to pay back for.

I doubt this. They are very clear about the way they charge for their overdrafts. I would be very surprised if the Office of Fair Trading could find anything to complain about.

jambosans

deadthings wrote: »

I notice how Jambosans has been posting in quite a few threads telling people they are 'wrong' and Halifax is right.

However flattering it may seem to have gained my own personal troll, I suggest you actually read my posts before passing comment. I find it particularly unusual that you have posted on this thread, when I am hardly posting a gleaming account of my experiences with HBOS Money Management.

As rb10 has mentioned, I have told no one they are "wrong", unless they are quite literally giving an incorrect statement of fact. Otherwise it is merely a subjective point of view, designed generally to be helpful.

deadthings wrote: »

As has been said. Ignore Jambosans, and spread the word on this forum about him, and spread the work about what Halifax are up to.

I have contributed to this section of MSE more than you, so there is no need to "spread the word on this forum about him". There are those who agree and those who disagree with what I say, but I like to think everyone I enter into a discussion with has a mutual respect of one another's view. However I can assure you, I will spread the word about you, straight to the MSE Admins if you continue posting defamatory and incorrect statements about me.