halifax bank charges (merged)

elwormio

elwormio wrote: »

Thanks for this jellybugs -the situation has changed somewhat since I carried out some further investigation of the matter. Where I live (Northern Ireland) the maximum amount you can claim in a small claims court is £2000 (not the £5000 originally quoted). So now the situation is that there are approx £4900 (not including interest) worth of charges so I will probably be best to claim for individual years.

Does anyone with a legal background know if I can file simultaneous claims for each year or do I have to wait until one claim is settled before filing another?

Would I be better to employ the services of a solicitor and go to a higher court with the assumption that the Halifax will pay my legal costs if and when I win?

Just a bit of an update that may help others.

I contacted my local Court re. the above and they have told me, firstly, that a local judge has ruled re. bank charges that an individual may not make more than one claim through the small claims court i.e. if you are claiming back more than the maximum amount allowed in a small claims court you CANNOT split your claim for charges (this may or may not only apply to Northern Ireland where I live).

Secondly, if you decide to take to invoke the Civil Bill against your bank/building society the fess charged by the court are met by the bank (if you win) but the judge will rule on whether you must pay your solicitors fees or not.

Finally (and I was a bit surprised at this bit), there is nothing to stop an individual claiming via the country where the bank is actually situated i.e. in Scotland (where the maximum in a small claims court is £750) a person can claim via the English courts (maximum £5000) despite the fact they do not have a residential address in England ( I personally am very dubious about this last point).

phil_kirsty

playfire1 wrote: »

hi, I am just at stage 1. Im starting to think I may have missed the boat on this one! Im afraid the banks will come up with a defence soon. However I will have a go

I will be submitting an estimated demand to HALIFAX based on 4 months statements that I have, I have been charged 4 x Returned Direct Debit Totalling 156 quid. This works out at 2808. Has anyone else had experience at how Halifax handle estimated claims? Or should I wait the 40 days till my 6 year statements come.

Regards

did you try ringing halifax up and requesting your statements as you only pay £5 and i recieved mine in about 4 days much better than waiting 40 days and cheaper

playfire1

hi phil_kirsty,

yes, I phoned Halifax and was told it would only be a fiver for my 6 months statements and charge will come out of my account.

Is anyone else shocked that 6 years worth of statements posted out to you will cost 5 quid and its 39 quid for a returned direct debit????

very interesteing to know what the cost would have been for the statements before the OFT report. or am i just synical? lol

ps i was told that due to backlog the statements would take 3 - 4 weeks.

smarkmith

Degs45 wrote: »

hi tried again to track a 1st class signed for letter that wont go thro the website so I phoned up the number on the back of the recipt and for them to try to track it they want another £2.20... What a bl**dy cheek Ive already paid for a service .... gonna resend a duplicate .. thats cheaper .. .:mad:

Hi

It might be worth holding off sending them another letter for a few more days. I sent the halifax my 2nd letter, detailing charges and making my claim, on 15/03/07. Today it's still not showing on Royal Mail's track & trace service as being delivered, but I got a letter off the Halifax today with the usual 'we have 8 weeks to investigate your complaint rubbish'.

How long has it been since you sent your letter?

Mark

smarkmith

ladyknight wrote: »

Hi everyone i,ve just finished my second letter telling the bank that i will be taking it to court as they have told me it will take up to 8 weeks to investigate. already got the first class stamp to post it first thing in the morning!!! The thing now is that i haven't got a clue what i do from now. I've read peoples posts and some talk of a £250 fee to start the court proceedings, with all the money my bank take off me(yes they are still putting charges on my account!!!) i haven't got that amount of cash to spare. Anyone got any advice for me please, would be greatly apprieciated.

Hi ladyknight

I'm in the same position as you...today I've received a letter stating they have 8 weeks to investigate a complaint, blah blah blah!

I think I'm going to wait for the 14 days to be up that I gave them when I sent my claim (which will make 29/03/07), then I'll give them a call to see what they have to say and advise them that I'll be giving them a further 14 days written notice to refund my charges before legal proceedings commence (via the step 4 letter). If I get no joy from that, I'm screwed! I can't afford to stump up £250 either, so I'll just have to pray that they refund within the 14 days of the threat of legal action, or i'll have to keep waiting and praying that they eventually pay up.

Regards

Mark

kencokenco

dreamon wrote: »

Thanks for reply, I'm going for it .. I might try and get another card cash account raised with someone else ijust in case they cancel my account :eek:

As for charging more charges for .. yes its true .. it makes me mad

Whilst I'm here can I also bend your here and moan about this

About 18 months ago I had some cash to pay in £500.00 (wow) :j .. went to the counter of my local branch and was told they do NOT accept any cash over the counter from Card Cash holders :eek: .. If I had a current account they would take it over the counter :mad: .. So I was directed like a leper to where they had a bundle of envelopes and I had to put the money in two envelopes (max £250 per envelope) fill out my bank account details -- post it through a letter box where it would be collected that evening and credited to my account the following day :mad: ... DISCRIMINATION or what ??

Oh yes when your down, they kick you down even further :embarasse

Dreamon I would just like to say you are not alone, I too have the same account with Halifaxs that you do. I went to my local branch to pay cash into my account and with a huge que behind me was abruptly told "we do not deal with your account any longer, There is a machine in the corner that will assist you with paying cash/cheques etc into your account" I then had too go over with everyone looking and deposit cash into the machine. I have never felt so embarrased in my life. You are not alone dreamon .

playfire1

Does anyone know if you can claim back charges on a mortgage account. My house was repossesed in 2003 by HALIFAX, mainly due to spiralling bank charges (for which I am already claiming)

I wondered, if I can prove I lost the house due to their illegal charges, I could sue them for the loss of my house and subsequent bad credit rating resulting in my being unable to buy another house.

Hmmmmmm!

nicky1312

Edinburghlass wrote: »

However.... nicky1312 has filed at court and is now due his court fees and the interest to be included in the offer as the bank would have to pay this if it goes on to court.

thanx edinburghlass just was a bit worried wasnt sure to take and run or shout for the interes so thanku i will push for the interest now,when the bank phoned last night they actually spoke to my partner as i was out i thought that was wrong of them as the account is in my name only.

Degs45

smarkmith wrote: »

Hi

It might be worth holding off sending them another letter for a few more days. I sent the halifax my 2nd letter, detailing charges and making my claim, on 15/03/07. Today it's still not showing on Royal Mail's track & trace service as being delivered, but I got a letter off the Halifax today with the usual 'we have 8 weeks to investigate your complaint rubbish'.

How long has it been since you sent your letter?

Mark

sent last saturday 15/03/07.. 1st class recorded ..:T

pink_star

ladyknight wrote: »

Hi everyone i,ve just finished my second letter telling the bank that i will be taking it to court as they have told me it will take up to 8 weeks to investigate. already got the first class stamp to post it first thing in the morning!!! The thing now is that i haven't got a clue what i do from now. I've read peoples posts and some talk of a £250 fee to start the court proceedings, with all the money my bank take off me(yes they are still putting charges on my account!!!) i haven't got that amount of cash to spare. Anyone got any advice for me please, would be greatly apprieciated.

How much are you claiming? It would be £250 if you were claiming over 5k, if it's between 1-5k it's £120. Hopefully Halifax will pay out before this time, but may be worth asking at your local court if they have a payment scheme of some sort...check out the link below it has some payment options at the bottom hth a bit x

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/fees/county.htm