Whats the consensus here, halifax charges?

nearlyrich

I used to have a Halifax current account, I changed to FD when they changed ts & cs to state that if the account was not in credit by £100 min throughout the month they would charge some ridiculous fees for every transaction. This was in 1992 so I can't remember the full details but I thought it was unfair on people living on limited money then.

I hope you can vote with your feet and choose another bank.

happymummy

I didnt start this topic as a debate on my personal circumstances, I just wanted to ask what peoples views were on the way the Halifax make charges.

I tried my best to keep enough money in the account, but unfortunately at the weekend I had to withdraw £10 because I just wasn't convinced that feeding my children dust would be nutritionally sound!

I've been wanting to switch banks for ages, but unfortunately I live in a small town and there aren't that many bank branches here, we have a choice of, halifax, lloyds tsb, abbey, clydsdale and RBOS, I have the paperwork to apply to the RBOS I just haven't gotten a round tuit yet, anyone know where I can buy one of those cheap? lol

Malestrom

Had a similar thing today, letter from the Halifax telling me that I would be charged £35 because there were insufficient funds when a cheque for £18 was presented.

Totally my fault as I have two accounts with the Halifax and two identical cheque books and I simply wrote the cheque from the wrong one. First time in my life i've ever made such a simple, but costly, mistake. Needless to say, the offending cheque book now has red marker pen all over it....I'm not going to give Halifax a free £35 again!

So...where do they get this £35 amount from? I remember when banks used to charge £15 for 'administration' on matters like this

WeirdoMagnet

I do think their charges are extortionate - Martin was on Watchdog the other week saying how because CardCash customers don't make the Halifax any money, they (HBoS) don't want them as customers, so they don't do anything to help them.

Here's a link to the Watchdog article. (hope this works as it's the first time I've done it on this new chat software.)

I think if it is your first 'offence' and you ring up and complain, they might waive the charge.

Good luck.

Georgina

davidcampbell

im almost 100% sure that banking code regulations state you must be given minimum 14 days notice before a charge is debited.

cifpower

I am sure if you go to your local Social Security Office they will issue you with a giro instead of transfering your benefits to the bank account. They can do that in NI anyway.

student100

I do think it's slightly odd that a bank can NOT pay something and then charge you for the privilege of NOT paying something.

(Imagine taking a basket of goods to the till in a supermarket, finding you haven't got enough money to pay for the goods, and then asking them if they'll let you have them anyway. Not only do they say "NO", but they say "NO, and as you were cheeky enough to ask, you owe us £35".)

If this has never happened before, and you ask the bank nicely & apologise for your error, you're really sorry, blah blah blah, they MAY remove or reduce the charge on this occasion. It's worth a try. (See this thread in the credit cards board).

nearlyrich

I've been wanting to switch banks for ages, but unfortunately I live in a small town and there aren't that many bank branches here, we have a choice of, halifax, lloyds tsb, abbey, clydsdale and RBOS, I have the paperwork to apply to the RBOS I just haven't gotten a round tuit yet, anyone know where I can buy one of those cheap? lol

Try here if you really want a round tuit, I'm sure we could all use one LOL.
However you would be better advised to spend a little time and change your bank. I haven't been in a branch for 14 years, I do all my banking online or by phone with First Direct but there are several other banks which offer fee free banking and you can even get a small no-cost overdraft.


Martin did an article here which may help you to choose.

Walletwatch

happymummy wrote:

...what I am saying is, the halifax will not grant you an unauthorised OD unless it is them taking the money off you for a charge.

Personally, I don't think you should be blaming Halifax at all. They would have covered these charges in the T&Cs. And who's ever heard of a bank "granting you an unauthorised overdraft" - Banks only grant authorised overdrafts, which are charged lower interest rates than the unauthorised overdrafts.

You expected a payment to be made from money which was not yours, which I don't see why the Bank should. On the other hand, by having a returned DD, the Bank is now owed the charge as set out in the T&Cs which is the Bank's money, and they are well within their right to claim it (even if they have to push you into unauth overdraft to claim it)

The additional £28 charge is only a compounding of the effect of your funds being inadequate, for which they have sent you a letter. While I may agree that the amounts of charges involved may be a bit harsh, if you check the T&Cs, there's nothing here that would not be covered there - and in all fairness, you do sign a declaration saying you are in agreement with the T&Cs when you sign up for the account and start using it.

As I have said before, the charges do sound steep, and maybe you could call them and try and have one of them waived, especially if this is a first time 'offence', chances are, they will waive part of it. Going forward, this is more of an indication to better plan and manage your outflows from your bank.

Sorry if that sounded brutally honest, and my best wishes should you attempt to get some charges waived.

happymummy

Yes, thanks for that, I did acutally *know* it was my fault, the reason I posted was not to get a lecture but to see what other people thought about the way the halifax charge people. It seems there is a division in opinions and thats what I wanted to find out.