halifax bank charges (merged)

tycooncico

I've been trying to reclaim in excess of £500 of charges from Halifax and got as far as sending them the letter threatening to take them to court (sent 5th June). I havent heard anything at all from them so now i'm at crossroads what to do...???

should i call the ombudsman or do i continue with the court route?

Cheers!

Stephen_Leak

tycooncico wrote: »

I've been trying to reclaim in excess of £500 of charges from Halifax and got as far as sending them the letter threatening to take them to court (sent 5th June). I havent heard anything at all from them so now i'm at crossroads what to do...???

should i call the ombudsman or do i continue with the court route?

Cheers!

As you say, you have to decide between referring your claim to the Financial Ombudsman and starting court proceedings.

If you don't think that you could successfully handle a court claim, or can't afford the court fees and aren't eligible for fee relief, then the Financial Ombudsman is an alternative. It is free of charge and handles everything for you. They charge the bank involved £400 for each complaint they accept. However, they cannot award interest like a court. Their success rate is good but, if the Financial Ombudsman is unsuccessful or the settlement is unacceptable, you can still start court proceedings.<O:p</O:p

If you threaten to refer your claim to the Financial Ombudsman, give them until 8 weeks from the date of your first letter to reply. However, if the reply either suggests that you now refer your claim to the Financial Ombudsman or says a definite no, then you can refer your claim to the Financial Ombudsman straight away. If you have not received any reply for the 8 weeks, you can then refer your claim to the Financial Ombudsman.

If you threaten to start court proceedings, give them 14 days to reply. If you have not received an acceptable reply by your deadline, then start court proceedings on Money Claim Online.<O:p</O:p

Applecider_2

Can I just say a massive thanks to everyone on here!! especially psychofly Ive just had £550 / £579 charges wooooooooooooooooooooooo!! I asked for interest but they were having none of it!!! ahhhhhh well Thanks again especially to martin, revenge is sweet xx

big_gaz_4

Hi all,

Am not sure if this is the right place to post, so sorry if i have got it wrong.

anyway....i have followed the advice on this website..i.e
got list of bank charges,
wrote to bank asking for them back - got letter from back saying they are in the right

so wrote to back again saying they have 14 days from the date on the letter to give me the money or i will take them to court.

anyway 14 days past and nothing, so i did all the court stuff online. and was just waiting for the time to tick down so i could win by defult

this morning i got a letter for the back, 30 days after i sent last letter offering me about a 1/3 of what i was cliaming

basicly am not sure what to do now...do i ignore letter or phone them to tell them i do not accept this?? bear in mind that they have not replyed to the courts. plus this letter refers to the last letter i sent them and not the court case. so am i right thinking if i tell them i do not accept this will not affect courts and i can still win by defult as this letter was not in response to the court case?

hope this makes sense and i am sorry it is so long, but would really apreciate people views and advice on this

Thanks Gaz

Stephen_Leak

big_gaz wrote: »

Hi all,

Am not sure if this is the right place to post, so sorry if i have got it wrong.

anyway....i have followed the advice on this website..i.e
got list of bank charges,
wrote to bank asking for them back - got letter from back saying they are in the right

so wrote to back again saying they have 14 days from the date on the letter to give me the money or i will take them to court.

anyway 14 days past and nothing, so i did all the court stuff online. and was just waiting for the time to tick down so i could win by defult

this morning i got a letter for the back, 30 days after i sent last letter offering me about a 1/3 of what i was cliaming

basicly am not sure what to do now...do i ignore letter or phone them to tell them i do not accept this?? bear in mind that they have not replyed to the courts. plus this letter refers to the last letter i sent them and not the court case. so am i right thinking if i tell them i do not accept this will not affect courts and i can still win by defult as this letter was not in response to the court case?

hope this makes sense and i am sorry it is so long, but would really apreciate people views and advice on this

Thanks Gaz

If it is a full and final settlement, write back to the bank, politely refusing it. Continue your claim.
<O:p</O:p
If it is a gesture of goodwill, write back to the bank, politely accepting it as a "part payment without prejudice". Continue your claim for the rest.

big_gaz_4

it says at the bottom of the letter that it is a gesture of good will and is in full and final settelment.

do i still take it that this does not affect court procedings as it is not a reply to the court case??

big_gaz_4

have just checked court website and they have Acknowledged is ur advice still the same

Stephen_Leak

You need to check this with the bank: legally, it is either one or the other, it cannot be both. Anyone writing letters about this on behalf of their employer should know the difference.

A gesture of goodwill is just that, an amount (not usually the exact amount under dispute) offered in the spirit of goodwill.

Full and final settlement is more like this is all you are getting (especially if it is the full amount), take it or leave it.

You can, and indeed should, try to reach a settlement before the claim gets to a court hearing. Even if you cannot, it will do your case no harm whatsoever, when the judge sees that you have tried.

DSW2405

Hi,
I apologise if this has been asked before but I am unsure what to do next.
I am in the process of reclaiming charges (£2200 inc interest) from the Halifax and after following the advice/process on the website I issued Court proceeding on 28/6/07, today 5/7/07 I have received a letter dated 29/6/07 offering me £1445.
I find it odd that the letter is dated one day after I started proceedings and that it has taken a week for the letter to arrive First Class Post. I feel that it may be a way to try to get me to settle quickly/quietly.
I was going to telephone them and tell them that I was not prepared to accept the offer as I had already started court proceedings (costing £120) and would not settle at that figure.
Has anyone else been in this situation and if so what would you suggest?

Thanks

GarethR

DSW2405 wrote: »

Hi,
I apologise if this has been asked before but I am unsure what to do next.
I am in the process of reclaiming charges (£2200 inc interest) from the Halifax and after following the advice/process on the website I issued Court proceeding on 28/6/07, today 5/7/07 I have received a letter dated 29/6/07 offering me £1445.
I find it odd that the letter is dated one day after I started proceedings and that it has taken a week for the letter to arrive First Class Post. I feel that it may be a way to try to get me to settle quickly/quietly.
I was going to telephone them and tell them that I was not prepared to accept the offer as I had already started court proceedings (costing £120) and would not settle at that figure.
Has anyone else been in this situation and if so what would you suggest?

Thanks

Sounds like Natwest!! Thats what happened to me mate, is the £1445 what your charges came to without interest?

If it is then its your call on whether to take it but I agree what your saying re the MCOL fee, thats why I kept on the court route as they refused to up it.

Halifax are pretty good and do negotiate so try giving them a ring, check the Halifax Insider Thread for the number, I will say though that the onyl way you will get the interest is via the courts so dont think they will let you negotiate your interest out of them.

If you decide to continue down the court route then send them a letter, another member sent me this to use, hope they dont mind

Thank you for your letter dated xxx which I received yesterday.

I am disappointed to learn that you are not willing to refund all of the fees I have requested from you.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

I will accept the part payment of £xxxx as part payment only, and without prejudice

As you have not refunded me the full amount of my claim within the timescale I set out in my letter of xxxxx, I have/will be filing a claim against xxx Bank with the County Court, who will issue my claim against you in due course. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
For your information, I am enclosing a spreadsheet detailing the full amount of my claim. As you will note, I am also claiming interest and my Court Fees should they be required.

If you decide to forward me the balance of my claim by cheque, I will cancel the Court Claim once your cheque has cleared.

Yours faithfully<o:p></o:p>