Halifax Reward Account - Scottish address holders will be rejected

iblametheparents

Use this form to make a complaint: https://www.halifax.co.uk/HelpCentre/online_support.asp?!!!!!online_form

I did that and I received an email from a complaint handler the following day. I'd not received the £100 joining incentive because I had an Easycash account from years ago that I'd never used. She thought this was unfair so credited my account by £100. So, miss out Customer Services and go straight to Complaints

Shona6540

having read this thread
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3737715

it seems they are manufacturing reasons not covered in the terms so they don't have to pay out the incentive or at least thats the way it seems.

jamja

Hi there,

As a BoS customer I can log into the Halifax online banking where you can sign up to the reward account online. If your OH is a BoS customer could he open a reward account online in his name and then you could add yourself to it to make it a joint account next time you can get near a Halifax branch? A good excuse for a weekend away in York or the Lake District? :-) Or maybe you might be lucky this time and a visit to a BoS branch and a more knowledgable member of staff might get you added to the account to make it a joint one.

I have noticed that BoS have been phoning both my OH and I more regularly to ask us to 'review' our accounts. We have a reward account each and a joint one - two of them appear on online banking as BoS and one appears as a Halifax account. I expect over the next while they will be encouraging the Scottish customers to review their accounts to include only BoS accounts - lets hope this does not involve pulling the reward account for us altogether!

Shona6540

So finally I have had word from the Halifax after starting a complaint with the Ombusman and writing a letter to Halifax complaints, I would appreciate any advice on their offer.

They have not issued a final responce in writing but have phoned in reciept of my complaint letter not the Ombusmans and offered £200 to cover the incentive and inconvience, plus they will start the account by faxing my partners ID from a Bank of Scotland to Halifax branch, they still have no idea where our ID documents are he imagined inhouse somewhere.
I still have no clarity or confirmation regarding the Scottish residency issue.

Does this seem a fair resolve or should I let the Ombusman further this?
It has been 4 weeks since the Ombusman sent a letter of complaint and still no reply to that. Can anyone help?

jakirk

I live in Scotland and I have a Halifax reward current account.

I also had a Halifax reward savings account and when the interest dropped I tried to open another Halifax savings account but I was told it would now be a Bank of Scotland account and any future accounts I opened via phone or online would be Bank of Scotland accounts.

The person on the phone alluded that Halifax did not want to open accounts for Scottish residents as all the branches had been rebranded to Bank of Scotland.

Same with my Halifax ISA, it has now become a Bank of Scotland ISA.

So now I have a joint Halifax Reward current account and a joint Bank of Scotland vantage current account so money into Halifax for £5 then straight into Vantage account for the interest and pay the direct debits from

Shona6540

I think Halifax need to be clearer, if you go online and apply through there website it does not stop the application when you put in a Scottish address and as there website states the applicants should make sure
"

• you are a UK resident
• you are aged 18 or over
• you are an EU national or have permission to stay in the UK for at least 12 months" Scotland is still part of the UK the last time I looked!

jakirk

If I wasn't getting £5 a month I would close the Halifax reward current account.

I have now transferred all my DDs to my BoS Vantage current account so all my income goes into the Halifax account then I will immediately transfer it to my Vantage account to get my interest and pay my DDs.

I wonder if I will be allowed to keep my Halifax account if I keep the balance at £0?

Pension in at midnight transferred out at 1 min past midnight.

Good job I'm a nightime person.

auto-man

jakirk wrote: »

I wonder if I will be allowed to keep my Halifax account if I keep the balance at £0?

Don't see why not. :j

LIZZIEMIK

I tried to open a Halifax ISA which is being advertised as paying one and a half % more than most other banks. When I put in my post code I couldnt get any further. I e'mailed the complaints dept which is based in Stirling! and after lots of excuses they finally told me that the web site is set up to stop the application form if a Scottish post code is inserted. They advised me to apply for a Bank of Scotland ISA even though the interest is much less. Nowhere on the Halifax web site do I see 'These Rates are not available to Scots' Although it does say you must be resident in the UK.