Really need some urgent advice reHallifax and their offer!

ollie48

Hi Happy Easter

At the beginning of the year I sent my first letter to Halifax to try and claim back bank charges dating from the last six years. I went down the route of financial hardship, etc. I tried to explain the reasons why I was over drawn and how their charges had created more problems for me, such as trying to pay my credit card bill but couldn't because they had taken out charges; being charged over £70.00 for being overdrawn, overdrawn by £8.00 and so on.

At first they offered my £70.00. I refused and said that I wanted it to go further.

Then after about two weeks, I received another offer, this time for over £400.00 for charges incurred during 2009.

The total amount that I was asking for is over £3.500, which includes interest. I was told by the gentleman that they would not be paying the interest so I should forget that. He also told me that he could not understand why I wasn't able to keep a check on my account. I tried to explain that in one particular year I was ill after loosing a baby and that I didn't keep a check on my account, but when I realised that I was in trouble I took out a loan to help me. These conversations were done over the telephone.

A few days later, I received a letter telling me why they could not accept what I was asking for and that they would be willing to pay out £400 +. He also took the liberty of sending me a list with details of how many times I accessed my account, for example, the number of times I used my debit card, made withdrawals from a cash machine, etc, in other words he was trying to say that I did have a chance to check my account.

Reading the letter, I do think that yes, maybe I did have a chance to check on what I was doing, but I also remember being in denial about my finances. I do remember going to the bank to try and sort things out. Also, when I was pregnant, I was in a terrible state. During this time, over £500 worth of charges were made.

Do I reject this offer and go to the ombudsman, or will they say the same. I have less that 28 days to decide.

If I say yes, the 400 + will go straight to my IVA account.

the_insider

Looks like this is one for NatwestStaffMember but the real question is, will the £400 alleviate your financial hardship at all? FOS will look at whether the bank have treated you sympathetically or not and there's no guarantee that you'll get anything more back.
Is the Halifax account included in the IVA?

natweststaffmember

I tend to agree with the_insider in the sense of would the £400.00 alleviate your financial hardship?
Furthermore, what action did you take at the time the charges were being incurred?
£400.00 is a pretty good offer regardless of the total amount of the charges. The issue is that if you go to the FOS you have to have a good argument why you think the bank is wrong in their offer.
You need to go back to when you started incurring charges that meant that the amount of charges and the amount of money coming in was less to cover essential outgoings.
The ATM issue I think is arguable based on your circumstances ie the loss of a baby I cannot even comprehend what it would do to your state of mind. The loss of someone close, I can, but not the loss of a baby.
If you can argue that the bank did nothing to contact you as well then you may have a case to argue that the amount is insufficient and that the banks' failure to contact you could have prevented a further spiralling of charges.

ollie48

Thanks for your replies.

No, £400 will not alleviate my financial hardship. I guess it is better than the £70 they were offering in the first place. In 2005 I was in a terrible state I tried to ask them not to put anymore charges on my account and they said no. They did not try to contact me to find out what the problem was. The charges just kept on coming. I guess I was in a depressed state. At the time, I was also living with someone who wasn't working - and a child, which made things worse.

My Halifax account is included, and he told me that, that account was on hold - in the IVA. If I accept the amount he offers me, it will go straight to my IP.

Do you think I should accept and cut my losses?

natweststaffmember

ollie48 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies.

No, £400 will not alleviate my financial hardship. I guess it is better than the £70 they were offering in the first place. In 2005 I was in a terrible state I tried to ask them not to put anymore charges on my account and they said no. They did not try to contact me to find out what the problem was. The charges just kept on coming. I guess I was in a depressed state. At the time, I was also living with someone who wasn't working - and a child, which made things worse.

My Halifax account is included, and he told me that, that account was on hold - in the IVA. If I accept the amount he offers me, it will go straight to my IP.

Do you think I should accept and cut my losses?

This is not about accepting losses. At the moment, the current state of play in reclaiming is such that I would not recommend the legal route currently.
There is nothing to stop you asking the FOS to look at your case but you have to read exactly what the bank are saying and understand that. Furthermore, you have to put to the FOS that the bank did not do enough to help at the time the charges incurred for the amount to be raised.
Do you have priority debt arrears today and are charges still being incurred today?

ollie48

I understand.

The charges on the Halifax current account has stopped and is included in the IVA. Currently, I do have outstanding debts with my mortgage and a huge gas bill, everything else is under control. So, what I could do is ring the FOS and see what they say? And to look back at the time that they put a huge amount of charges on my account within a three month period and argue that they did not do enough to warn me or contact me?

natweststaffmember

ollie48 wrote: »

I understand.

The charges on the Halifax current account has stopped and is included in the IVA. Currently, I do have outstanding debts with my mortgage and a huge gas bill, everything else is under control. So, what I could do is ring the FOS and see what they say? And to look back at the time that they put a huge amount of charges on my account within a three month period and argue that they did not do enough to warn me or contact me?

Read my signature and look at the figures you have and see how you believe that they have worked the figures out. You need to argue that the charges that were incurred during the period of the worst part of your financial hardship(potentially up to the point of the IVA) were higher than £400.00 and allow the FOS to decide who they think is write on this specific issue.
Do you have a current account today? Are you incurring charges today?
If you have a large electric bill have you approached your provider about hardship funds which some utility providers have to help customers in financial hardship?

ollie48

Thanks. Yes I have a current account which is running ok. I have had a few charges but I've got that under control now. I'm intending on ringing my gas company tomorrow to try and come to some agreement.

Yes I will look at my figures again and see how they come up with £400 - although I don't think that it will be higher than 400. I remember Halifax telling me it was the charges incurred for 2009.

You say 'read my signature', sorry, but what do you mean?

davidgmmafan

He's put the lending code in his sig so that people can refer to it easily, this is what banks are supposed to go by and wht you are relying on if you go to the FOS.