Halifax harassing me! All automated or should I complain?

misterbarlow

Over xmas we finally hit the wall and contacted CCCS over our debts and started a DMP.
One of our creditors Halifax rejected the offer, but CCCS said dont worry.

The DMP started anyway and we have now made 2 or 3 payments to CCCS.
Since then all our other creditors have written to us, basically saying they are not happy about it etc, but have accepted it...

But I have had several letters from Halifax which are really arsey, and also I get about 2-3 missed calls/voicemails a day to our landline, and about the same to my mobile.

Everytime it leaves a message saying "This is an important message from HBOS group for 'my name' please ring us urgently on.. 08 blah blah.."

I am getting them several times a day, every day, even on sat, sun, at 9pm on sunday, the lot...
I have logged them and have had about over 50 missed calls in the last month...

Last week I had a letter from them saying despite many attempts they cannot contact me can I please ring them asap.. which I havnt...

I have now had another one today saying we still cannot contact you, and so to give me advance warning, a representative will ring me AM on 20 March please can I answer.
Are these all automated letters cos I dont get them from anyone else who accepted the DMP, or are they being deliberately awkward??

Should I just ignore them or write back and complain about being harrassed???

DevCoder

Why don't you talk to them?

Hiding your head in the sand and ignoring them is not going to help at all, you need to be seen to be making inroads to your debt with each creditor.

Creditors do not need to accept a DMP, they can carry on asking for their money back.

You can *write* to them and ask them to put all future communication in *writing* as well but you can't just keep ignoring them.

fatbelly

Yes, write and complain. Point out they are infringing the OFT's Debt Collection guidance

3.7 Examples of unfair or improper practices are as follows:
a. contacting debtors at unreasonable times and/or at unreasonable intervals

3.9c c. refusing to engage, appropriately or at all, with a third party representative, such as a debt adviser at a free advice centre or a debt management business, or with a debtor developing his own repayment plan, unless there is an objectively justifiable reason for doing so

3.9d. contacting debtors directly and bypassing their appointed representatives, without permission from the debtor or his representative, unless there is an objectively justifiable reason for doing so

You could also remind them that they are signatories to The Lending Code, which says

208. In general, subscribers should then be prepared to accept an offer of repayment which is based on the principle of equitable distribution of available income (after priority payments), in line with the amount outstanding to each creditor.

You require their response in writing within 8 weeks as you will be referring this matter to the OFT and complaining to the FOS.

happy_bunny_2

What kind of account is this and how old?

misterbarlow

Its for a credit card. Balance is about 3k. Stopped making the min payment in dec last year.
Thing is the min was only 35 and cccs are paying them 22 so its not like a huge difference.
I am not burying my head in the sand. I have written to them three times saying I understand they have rejected the dmp' and that's up to them, but none the less it is still going ahead and they will be getting the notified payment from cccs. so as far as I am concerned I have nothing more to say to them so I choose not to answer their calls.

fatbelly

Well you need to keep an eye on this. If you're paying £22 and they're charging £22 interest then there's no point persevering with that strategy with them. Or at least there's no point just lying down and not kicking up a fuss.

It's worth asking CCCS if they can help but you may find a response like 'we'll sort it out at the end of the DMP', which really isn't good enough.

The guidelines I linked to earlier are your ammunition.

If you've put your points to them in writing, kept a copy and got their response ... then maybe now is the time to ask The Financial Ombudsman Service (with a copy to OFT) to take a look at it to judge whether you've been treated 'positively and sympathetically' (see start of Section 9 of The Lending Code).

Snowedunder

Are you able to in anyway 'block' their calls etc.?

misterbarlow

I wrote back to them again in the end...
I have today had another letter from them which is a default notice saying if I dont pay a certain amount by 14days they will default and close the account and pass it to a DCA.

Do I need to do anything or reply to this or just wait it out???

DVardysShadow

misterbarlow wrote: »

... Do I need to do anything or reply to this or just wait it out???

Wait it out. Obviously you cannot meet the demand of the default notice. If it goes to a DCA, it probably means that interest will be stopped and in due course you may be able to make a full and final settlement.

misterbarlow

fatbelly wrote: »

Well you need to keep an eye on this. If you're paying £22 and they're charging £22 interest then there's no point persevering with that strategy with them. Or at least there's no point just lying down and not kicking up a fuss.

Update!

I have had a statement from Halifax this wknd which I havnt had for a while for some reason, and although CCCS are paying them just under £20 a month, they are still charging me £41 interest plus a £12 late payment charge EVERY MONTH!!

My balance has actually gone UP since we started the DMP as we have paid off just under £60 but they have added on almost £200 in interest and charges!!

I have now just written my FIFTH letter to them asking to help us out and remove/reduce interest and charges, but they just seem intent on being awkward!!

We owe our other lenders up to 4 to 6 times what I owe Halifax and they all instantly agreed to help and have frozen interest and charges, but Halifax are being a right nightmare!!!!

BevieB

Hi, If you read my other messages you can see that the Halifax have been the bain of my life. I think you should ring them and discuss over telephone.
They have reduced our interest rate but still high so only paying a tiny amount off balance. I have written to ask them to reduce but still no joy even though repayment period would be over 60++ years. I have now written to FSO for them to look at. Like you I have several creditors who all stopped interest apart form the Halifax.
Therefore why not ring make a complaint about treatment if still no joy write to FSO. good luck.