Not a happy bunny with the Halifax

lilmissdanni

Ok, i'm 100% to blame for the situation i'm in now but I have been making amends since starting this new job. Basically, Ive had an unarranged overdraft with the halifax since august last year and its just hit £600. Had 2 pay days from my new job and paid £100 off it each payday but they refused to freeze it so its just carried on going up and up despite me making payments.

Had a phone call off halifax on Tuesday afternoon when I was in work...my mum took the call...this is despite the fact that I told them that the best time to contact me now is after 6pm at night and on my mobile.

Checked my bank online as soon as I got in tonight and saw....£90. This is despite me getting paid on Monday. Looked at the other account Ive got (maybe I should explain, I have 2 accounts with the halifax, the overdraft one and the one I use at the moment which my wages get paid into) and saw that the overdraft still had £175 owing but had been mostly paid off.

I rang the bank....they tried to say to me that they contacted me to tell me that this is what they were planning on doing and that they wrote to me telling me that this would happen...the only phone call I had was on Tuesday (whilst I was at work) and I have had no written correspondence off them for a long, long time. They have agreed to put the money back in my account (the one with no overdraft) but I am still not happy with the situation and the fact they have been saying they have contacted me when they quite blatantly hadnt! I could understand if one letter had gone missing from them but considering that I have had no correspondence off my bank for a long, long time I think its quite obvious that they havent been writing to me.

I'm debating taking this further through the sheer fact that I have never been informed that this is there procedure or policy. The cheeky get tried to say that they took the money "due to the sheer length of time I have been in debt for" so any advice would be greatfully appreciated.

Danielle.

zppp

Overdrafts are designed for short term borrowing. Overdrafts can technically be withdrawn without notice, however they should give you some notice if they don't wish to renew it. Halifax review their overdrafts annually - I used to get letters advising me of it when I was with them. The letters would be online, so if you use online banking, I suggest you log in and read your correspondence. I imagine if they don't like the look of your account conduct or credit file etc, they may not renew, which means your overdraft will fall off.

In your case, the bank has used the offset rule against your other overdraft, which they are also allowed to do.

jen245

It's called right of offset, and is written in the terms and conditions of the account that you agreed to when you opened it. If you are in debt with your bank, they can use money you hold in other accounts you hold with them to pay it off. The best thing to do, would be to open an account with another bank for your salary to be paid into, and then try to come to some agreement with halifax to pay the overdraft off.

lilmissdanni

Right, thanks for your help. I'm going to go into town on my lunch tomorrow and make an appointment for a new bank account with someone else!