How to deal with Halifax..

arcon5

Not sure if this is the most appropriate forum or not....

I have 2 accounts with Halifax (1x £2500 OD; 1x £100 OD).
About a year I run into financial difficulty and going over my over draft limit regularly. At first I just paid in money to cover the fees for the days I went over and managed it like that.
As time went on it started snowballing and over the last 12 months incurred charges of about £1500.

Anyway, about 5-6 weeks ago I decided to telephone the bank to see if they can help.... they agreed to increase the OD limits and I can pay £100/month towards the repayment.
I made the first payment into the account by cheque --- big mistake as I stupidly forgot about the 3 days clearing time :eek: and as a result the OD balances returned to the original ones.

Since then I have tried telephoning the bank many many times to see if I can return to the same arrangement, and although staff have been very pleasant none have been able to deal with my query 'I will put you through to the correct department sir' only to explain the same to the next person and go round in circles like scuh.

This was by telephoning the number on the letter I received. A member of staff gave me a direct line which was useless and got the same old response.

So after exhausting this... I sent a letter explaining my mistake, asking if we can agree on the same terms again, and explained I had tried telephoning many times and considering making a complain with the financial ombudsmen...

... this was several weeks ago now and no response.

At time of sending the letter the £100 OD is now £400 as a result of fees.... and still incurring £5/day in fees so on my next statement will be about £550 and on and on and on.....

Any advise on how I would go about being heard by Halifax would be greatly appreciated.......

Although I accept I made the mistake, the fact the £100 overdraft has more than quadrupled in the matter of a few months is killing me!!

The £1500 paid in fees to-date excludes the fees i'm currently incurring :eek:

MrsTUS

Hmmm, if it were me, firstly, I would open a basic bank account with another bank - co-op do a great basic account - and get your wages/benefits and direct debits moved over to that account - this will stop more direct debits and standing orders being bounced on your accounts and causing more fees for returned payments.

Then, I'd contact the bank and try to agree some sort of payment plan with them for paying back the ODs and ask them to stop adding daily charges as you intend to repay and close the bank accounts...

That's just what I'd attempt - and in the meantime, I'd also go to CAB and seek their advice on whats best to do, you may be able to reclaim some of the charges with a hardship claim, but as I say, best of going to CAB who will have more clout acting on your behalf than you may have yourself - it's shocking of banks to continually and knowingly get people into more and more trouble with each passing day. You'd think they'd cut their losses and close your account down rather than quadruple and quintuple your original debt with them..

Hope you get this sorted - and I apologise in advance if I have given you any incorrect advice, that's just what I'd do personally to try and get a handle on the situation..