Halifax help!!!!

groblin3

Hi,
I am writing this on behalf of my daughter, she ahs held a bank account with Halifax for many years, and they talked her into the new account which was going to cost her £12.50 a month, she thought it was a great idea initially!
However, Last year she realised she wasn't using any of the 'benefits' and went into her local branch and closed the account, all direct debits were tramsferred to her other Halifax account and that, as far as she was aware, was the end of it.
Until she recieved a bill saying that the account was overdrawn and that she had to pay off all utstanding debt!
She called them up and naively agreed to pay £25 per month and unassumingly thought that this would be an end to it and her £100 that she now owed would be gone in 4 months.
The debt is now £240 as Halifax have not only still be charging her the overdraft fee of £1 per day but also charging her £12.50 per month!!!!!!!
I adcised her to go to the CAB and they advised her to write a letter saying that she was not going to pay off anymore of the debt as it was not her fault, that she wanted in writing from them an agreement to not make anymore charges on to the account until an agreemen could be reached, and a letter stating that the accoutn was closed as had been first agreed.
They have now sent her a letter of foreclosure...
:eek:
She is scared!

She has no other debt, not even a credit card and is so worried that this will have a bearing on buying a home, what should she do next? is it normal to get this letter?
Unfortunatley the CAB did not give her any idea of what would happen next..
Please help

Linzi
x

samjef11_2

groblin3 wrote: »

Hi,
I am writing this on behalf of my daughter, she ahs held a bank account with Halifax for many years, and they talked her into the new account which was going to cost her £12.50 a month, she thought it was a great idea initially!
However, Last year she realised she wasn't using any of the 'benefits' and went into her local branch and closed the account, all direct debits were tramsferred to her other Halifax account and that, as far as she was aware, was the end of it.
Until she recieved a bill saying that the account was overdrawn and that she had to pay off all utstanding debt!
She called them up and naively agreed to pay £25 per month and unassumingly thought that this would be an end to it and her £100 that she now owed would be gone in 4 months.
The debt is now £240 as Halifax have not only still be charging her the overdraft fee of £1 per day but also charging her £12.50 per month!!!!!!!
I adcised her to go to the CAB and they advised her to write a letter saying that she was not going to pay off anymore of the debt as it was not her fault, that she wanted in writing from them an agreement to not make anymore charges on to the account until an agreemen could be reached, and a letter stating that the accoutn was closed as had been first agreed.
They have now sent her a letter of foreclosure...
:eek:
She is scared!

She has no other debt, not even a credit card and is so worried that this will have a bearing on buying a home, what should she do next? is it normal to get this letter?
Unfortunatley the CAB did not give her any idea of what would happen next..
Please help

Linzi
x

Well first the bank will threaten to do this and that to scare you what i would do it send a letter of complaints by recorderd mail so they can't say we have not recive it or make a phone call to their complaints department and see what happens next if they don't seem to help then the next step is The Financial Ombudsman Service is aimed at settling complaints between consumers and businesses providing financial services but only after you went to the bank first.

preable

Citezens advice buru maybe

samjef11_2

preable wrote: »

Citezens advice buru maybe

What post is this it offers no advice or information what so ever you are just a troll poster and if you re-read the thread starter you will see that they have alread seeked help from CAB.

rb10

Your daughter clearly does not know what she has done with her accounts, and where she stands.

I would suggest that she goes into a branch (probably taking you with her, as it sounds like she could do with someone there to help her) and ask the bank to explain exactly how she has incurred these charges.

With things like this it is near impossible for you to get decent advice from an internet forum, as we have no idea how she got into this debt. Only the bank or herself can find this out.

Old_Wrinkly

groblin3 wrote: »

Last year she realised she wasn't using any of the 'benefits' and went into her local branch and closed the account, all direct debits were transferred to her other Halifax account and that, as far as she was aware, was the end of it.

This would seem to be the pertinent point.
Your daughter believes the account was closed at that time.
The actions of the bank would indicate otherwise.

If it was closed, then difficult to see how subsequent debt could arise from charges and overdraft fees. Was it likely to have been overdrawn immediately prior to 'closure'?

Does your daughter have any written records to confirm her view of events?
Otherwise a trip to the bank to clarify matters seems appropriate (as rb10 says).