Halifax Agencies to close

jeppy

Halifax have written to everyone to advise them that their local Halifax agencies are closing and suggesting where the nearest branch is.

They have already closed approx 1/2 and the remainder will close in October.

You should have received a letter, but it looked more like a general mail shot.

My local has been around for as long as I remember, everyone around the area knows them. It is a convenience to many around here and they will be missed. Sadly, it is the end of an era!:mad:

preable

where i live they closed the agencie as well

opinions4u

They used to have over 3,000 agents. Down to less than 300 at the moment.

Still, the ability to transact at post offices is surely a welcome replacement.

jeppy

Unbelievably, they are closing them ALL!!

You can't draw out of pass book savings accounts at the post office, which in areas like ours is common as there are many retired locals!

Will the PO have separate counters for banking, I hate going to the PO as its usually full of people with mail, parcels to send and worse paying for the tax for their car. Its not usually a quick visit!! To be fair I am a culprit with my many returns, but I would hate to have to stand for ages if my kids just wanted to pay in their pocket money into their savings accounts.

Bye bye kids savings accounts - Oh the fun of looking at your passbook when the savings were increasing!

I am disappointed with the way in which this was done, the immediateness etc and will be changing banks, just looking for some goods deals for new current accounts and credit cards!

Whats this new High Street bank?

MoneySavingUser

jeppy wrote: »

Will the PO have separate counters for banking

No lots of banks already use them including Lloyds TSB who own Halifax and it is all done using the normal counters

adam91_2

The decision to close the agencies has come from Lloyds.

To cut costs and they thought it would be a better idea.



Adam

bobblebob

Ive not got a letter about this

samjef11_2

If anyone wants to know more click here to go to the halifax page that will give your some more info and faq.

Mikeyorks

adam91 wrote: »

The decision to close the agencies has come from Lloyds.

Not strictly true as Halifax closed my local agency, along with lots of others, several years ago. And it was made quite clear there were more 'reviews' in the pipeline at the time. Lloyds may have been holding the hammer for the final nails ..... but the coffin was mainly constructed some time ago.

A real shame - as my local Agency gave a first class service.

opinions4u

Halifax closed my local agency, along with lots of others, several years ago

There are a number of reasons why the number of Halifax agencies has reduced in recent years. It should be remembered that the costs of premises, staff and insurance fall on the agent, not the Halifax.

Here's a list of those reasons I can recall:

- the cost of insuring the premises and cash made the operation uneconomical for the agent
- the commission package paid by Halifax changed from being a transactional one to being a mix of account sales and transactions - and some agents preferred to operate their core business (e.g. estate agency) rather than focus on a side issue
- the same changes to commission packages made it impossible for lower performing agencies to make a profit for the agent
- the cost of implementing security measures required by Halifax and insurers was considered prohibitive by some agents
- the cost of adjusting premises to comply with disability legislation was considered prohibitive by some agents
- some localities are no longer the shopping hubs that they once were, leading to many agencies closing due to lack of footfall
- some agents felt it inappropriate to be acting as an independent mortgage brokerage or IFA while having the Halifax sign above their door - so ditched the Halifax
- the Halifax closed some agencies because they weren't happy with the quality of service provided by some agents

I'm sure there are other reasons too.

Look at it another way, if a full branch is viable in a location, Halifax would (pre-credit crunch) have looked to replace an agent with a branch. This suggests that many agents would have been making peanuts out of their Halifax relationship, and simply using it as a driver of footfall for their own estate agency, accountancy or legal business.

As for the customers affected by this change .... I think most of them will cope with the local Post Office as a reasonable alternative, even if the service is not quite as personable.

The demise of the Halifax agency network is, however, saddening.

samjef11_2

opinions4u wrote: »

There are a number of reasons why the number of Halifax agencies has reduced in recent years. It should be remembered that the costs of premises, staff and insurance fall on the agent, not the Halifax.

Here's a list of those reasons I can recall:

- the cost of insuring the premises and cash made the operation uneconomical for the agent
- the commission package paid by Halifax changed from being a transactional one to being a mix of account sales and transactions - and some agents preferred to operate their core business (e.g. estate agency) rather than focus on a side issue
- the same changes to commission packages made it impossible for lower performing agencies to make a profit for the agent
- the cost of implementing security measures required by Halifax and insurers was considered prohibitive by some agents
- the cost of adjusting premises to comply with disability legislation was considered prohibitive by some agents
- some localities are no longer the shopping hubs that they once were, leading to many agencies closing due to lack of footfall
- some agents felt it inappropriate to be acting as an independent mortgage brokerage or IFA while having the Halifax sign above their door - so ditched the Halifax
- the Halifax closed some agencies because they weren't happy with the quality of service provided by some agents

I'm sure there are other reasons too.

Look at it another way, if a full branch is viable in a location, Halifax would (pre-credit crunch) have looked to replace an agent with a branch. This suggests that many agents would have been making peanuts out of their Halifax relationship, and simply using it as a driver of footfall for their own estate agency, accountancy or legal business.

As for the customers affected by this change .... I think most of them will cope with the local Post Office as a reasonable alternative, even if the service is not quite as personable.

The demise of the Halifax agency network is, however, saddening.

I won't my local agency was ideal because the main Halifax branch is 30 min drive to Newport and i get home at 4.30PM so considering the branch closes at 5PM i would be able to do it unless i speed most of the way and get a photo of that nosy speed cameras.

Plus i have a halifax savings book will the Post Office accept that i don't think so.