halifax bank charges (merged)

phingers

My claim was acknowledged by the Halifax on the 12th March and I received a letter from the court which I read as saying that the Halifax will be defending against me...Is this just standard practise? Surely they are not going to defend a piddling £250 are they? Any action I should be taking or do I wait the 28 days then push for settlement? TYIA

dami150

pink_star wrote: »

Hiya

I received my standard 8 week letter on the 22nd March & sent off the step 4letter 1st recorded on the 23rd, so am giving them 14 days as of Monday as they should receive by then (will check track & trace). If I've not heard by the 10th April (taking into account Good Friday & Easter Monday) I will file a claim. Though I am going to call them before just incase it gets their bums moving...ha ever hopeful :rolleyes:

From what I've read on here, we do need to give them 14 days before issuing a court claim, so get that letter out & good luck! x

Thank you for your reply to my post, but my quandry is this.

Do I give them 14 days from the day I think my claim letter may have been delivered because the Royal Mail can't tell me the exact date because their postmen are idiots. If that's the case I can fire of my next letter as their 14 days will have expired on the 21st or 22nd.

Or do I play safe and give them 14 days from the date of their 8 weeks letter which would be March 30th.

I want to play it by the book so I can get my money back without any grey areas about delivery dates.

Also I have read a few posts on here saying that you must give them the 14 days notice of filing court claims. I don't think that is necessarily the case. Martin's tips on the home page say that some people use that approach instead of starting court but others skip straight to filing a court claim.

The BBC's Money Programme site which also features excellent advice doesn't mention the 14 days notice to file issue at all and advises that you go straight to court claims after the 14 days from your 1st claim letter are up.

So there seem to be varying viewpoints which I think from reading other posts may be causing some confusion at times.

andrew55_2

dami150 wrote: »

Thank you for your reply to my post, but my quandry is this.

Do I give them 14 days from the day I think my claim letter may have been delivered because the Royal Mail can't tell me the exact date because their postmen are idiots. If that's the case I can fire of my next letter as their 14 days will have expired on the 21st or 22nd.

Or do I play safe and give them 14 days from the date of their 8 weeks letter which would be March 30th.

I want to play it by the book so I can get my money back without any grey areas about delivery dates.

Also I have read a few posts on here saying that you must give them the 14 days notice of filing court claims. I don't think that is necessarily the case. Martin's tips on the home page say that some people use that approach instead of starting court but others skip straight to filing a court claim.

The BBC's Money Programme site which also features excellent advice doesn't mention the 14 days notice to file issue at all and advises that you go straight to court claims after the 14 days from your 1st claim letter are up.

So there seem to be varying viewpoints which I think from reading other posts may be causing some confusion at times.

I just sent my second letter 14 days from the date i sent the first

Edinburghlass_2

dami150 wrote: »

I want to play it by the book so I can get my money back without any grey areas about delivery dates.

Also I have read a few posts on here saying that you must give them the 14 days notice of filing court claims. I don't think that is necessarily the case. Martin's tips on the home page say that some people use that approach instead of starting court but others skip straight to filing a court claim.

The BBC's Money Programme site which also features excellent advice doesn't mention the 14 days notice to file issue at all and advises that you go straight to court claims after the 14 days from your 1st claim letter are up.

So there seem to be varying viewpoints which I think from reading other posts may be causing some confusion at times.

I'm not sure where you see Martin suggesting that people go straight to court as he recommends that you send the "letter before action" after 14 days if you haven't had a satisfactory reply to your first letter.

Send off your letter before action on Monday and you'll be okay.

dami150

Edinburghlass wrote: »

I'm not sure where you see Martin suggesting that people go straight to court as he recommends that you send the "letter before action" after 14 days if you haven't had a satisfactory reply to your first letter.

Send off your letter before action on Monday and you'll be okay.

I think this is why there is a little confusion because in fact when referring to step 4 he writes this :-

"Some people skip this step, but it’s often worth a shot, as if it works it saves actually having to start the court process. "

My interpretation is that he's saying some do it and some prefer to go straight to court action. As I say the BBC's excellent site makes no reference to the 14 day notice of a claim at all.

stuartw21

On Monday 26th, it will be the end of the 40 day period since my first letter. Halifax cashed my cheque weeks ago and have not replied. If we are talking business days, then they'll still have time though.

What do you do if you get no reply? Phone and ask?

Thanks

natalie1980_2

stuartw21 wrote: »

On Monday 26th, it will be the end of the 40 day period since my first letter. Halifax cashed my cheque weeks ago and have not replied. If we are talking business days, then they'll still have time though.

What do you do if you get no reply? Phone and ask?

Thanks

Im in the same boat, my 40 days is up on Tuesday 27th. When I phoned them a few weeks ago they told me it was 40 days from when they cashed the cheque (aye right!!), which was some 19 days after I sent the letter, Ive sent them two further letters reminding them that under the DPA they only have 40 days from the date of the letter and that I must recieve details by the 27th March or I will be reporting them to the Information Commisoner.

helpme43

Hi all, this is the first I knew of this thread - I have been reading the successes thread for a little while and was stunned at how few successful mentions of Bank of Scotland were made - Halifax, yes, but not Bank of Scotland. This surprised me as I am aware that they have been one of the banks making the highest charges and so I would have expected lots of claimants.

I wrote to my branch of BOS in Edinburgh (as I have always been telephone banking) on 2/3/07, requesting refund of £7.402 of charges. I included the interest I could claim if we went to Court, as per Martin's template and the total due, if we get to Court rises to over £8,000. On 16/3/07 - at the 14 day deadline, I received a holding letter from BOS customer relations in Dunfermline. This is the standard letter most people seem to get, explaining that they have 8 weeks to respond to my claim. I read other postings on this site and decided to progress straight to my letter before action - and sent this on 16/3/07 - I have heard nothing more, as yet.

Am I right in assuming that unlike some other Banks, including Halifax (supposedly part of the same business) BOS are playing hard to get on bank charges? It seems to me that they are very slow in responding and are not very good at making reasonable offers?

Also, I have read on another thread that the process I will enter into, if i get to MCOL is the English one - as I am based in England and governed by English law. Is this the case, even though my branch is in Edinburgh?

My other concern is that my claim is over the £5,000 limit on MCOL and that therefore I will have an exposure to Costs should I lose.

I have some nightmare stories of BOS over the years I have been with them. I have no overdraft with them any more, after sweating blood to pay my overdraft off in 2006 - however, I have encountered some nasty, bully boy tactics from the bank over the past couple of years - and when I think that my maximum overdraft was £3,000 (authorised at £3,000) - on that amount, over the space of 2 years only they took the £7,402 of charges, in addition to the overdraft interst they charged me. In one month they charged me £795 - even though I had told them that my ex-husband had withheld maintenance for my children unlawfully, and this was going to cause me to exceed my authorised overdraft limit - they refused a temporary overdraft for one month, till I resolved the issue, and charged me £39 per day overdrawn and £39 for each item they bounced.

phil_kirsty

ive just sent my 2nd letter to the great halifax demanding my £1755 including interest or court action will commence in 14 days even the post woman at post office said you dont mind me asking if its about bank charges i said yes and she asked what stage im on because she had sent hers to halifax but hadnt heard anyone get theres back from halifax i recommended this site

heleno_3

Hi
I've been going through the process of reclaiming six years charges from my Halifax current account. I sent the first letter asking for £401 including interest. They replied with an offer of £255. I wrote back declining and gave 14 days to refund in full before I issued court proceedings. The 14 days is up on Tuedsay or Wednesday, but yesterday I received a letter saying they would like to speak to me about my compalint but they haven't been able to contact me. They then ask me to call a number to discuss the situation with them further. I am nervous about phoning them as I don't want to be bullied into backing down and accepting a low offer. If I don't phone them can I still issue proceedings when the 14 days are up. Has anyone else had a similar situation? Not sure on the best course of action!