Halifax £30 Bank charge

worcester1

Hi everyone,

1st time user after many months on the sideline what a great site.

All my dd and standing order comes out of my Halifax current account on the 1st of each month;

Halifax Mortgage = £690
Halifax loan = £170
Halifax regular saver = £250
AA car loan = £160


I also have an overdraft of £1000

This month all my DD and SO out on the 1st of this month apart from my car loan beacuse there was only £134 left and was therefore insufficient.

Now the bank has written to me that they will be charging me £30 for not having enough money in my account to meet the £160 car loan payment.

The thing is that I had £300 cash I wanted to pay into my current account but couldn't because of the chritmas/new year holidays. When I logged on my internet account on 2nd January (day after after my payments had gone out of my account) I saw that my car loan DD didn't go out. So I went straight to the bank on the 3rd (1.30pm) and paid the £300 cash I had with me through out the holidays. When I logged on my online banking (3pm), I saw that the car loan dd had been taken, I felt reliefed. This was until I saw the paper free letter demanding that they will be taking £30 from my account (24th February) because I didn't have sufficient fund to meet the car loan DD.

My question is, Since the car loan dd has gone through, am I still going to pay the £30 charge. Can I dispute this charge? Technically I was only a day late and surely couldn't make the cash payment on the 1st due to the bank holiday.

Also When they took out all the DD and SO on the 1st, why didn't they just not take ignore my regular saver payment of £250. It looks to me that they decided to take all what's due to the bank 1st and then refuse to honour my car loan DD.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

SunderlandBlackCat

The charge is illegal & can be reclaimed. Check out the Consumer Action Group website. You might also want to re-post your question in the bank charges forum on here.

bluetimone97

To be honest if you do not get charges very often, a quick call to Halifax help line should be able to get it refunded for you.
08457203040, you may need to set up telephone banking first but they are pretty good at returning charges after a call.

maninthestreet

Move your current account somewhere else - that way the Halifax DDs cant be paid until the 2nd, if the 1st is a Bank Holiday.

thesaint

Someone at the bank should have called you to let you know that New years day was a bank holiday.

mrsc_4

I've had a simular problem, I have an internal transfer going from my current account to our bills accout both with Halifax, stupidly I made the transfer when I got paid in December but thought I had cancelled Dec's transfer, but boxing day they took the £500 again, taking me over my overdraft limit.

When I went into the branch the lovely receptionist tells me i've been charged £30 for an unpaid direct debit (which its not) and then £28 for going over my overdraft limit - charming!!! All for an internal transfer which i'd rather they hadn't taken!

This is only the second charge I've ever had and I was fuming I've written to the Halifax and had no joy as yet!

Phoenix79_2

worcester1 wrote:

The thing is that I had £300 cash I wanted to pay into my current account but couldn't because of the chritmas/new year holidays.

I'm sure your Bank would have been open between Christmas and New Year. Its not their fault that you couldn't make it there to pay it in.

As for the 'reclaim bank charges' mentality on here, the phrase 'sledgehammer to crack a nut' comes to mind when its just one charge of £30. Just politely speak to Halifax, explain the situation and they will probably refund it.

Hope you get it sorted

thesaint wrote:

Someone at the bank should have called you to let you know that New years day was a bank holiday.

Why? Should all the millions of other customers have been called as well? Don't people realise New Years Day is a bank holiday anyway??

raq

Depends who you speak to.

I spoke to 3 different people christmas weekend who wouldn't bend over a £30.00 charge. The took it out the same day I had my benefits paid it. It was like talking to robots.

I put in a claim this week for all charges over the last 4 1/2 years.

bukhaariuk

Agree with Phoenix79, stop blaming the bank for your mistake. You did not have sufficient funds to cover your direct debits.

The banking system is computerised, no room for common sense or leaniency.

bobbadog

I think if you ring and talk to them, they'll waiver the charge. This year was unfortunate as Christmas fell on the Monday, meaning a lot of bank holiday days. They should be kind to you, as really, you just transferred all your funds to other Halifax products (loan, saver etc). x