Help....Has anyone claimed bank charges back from Halifax?

jessica4

Hi,

I sent a SAR reuqest in and recieved all of my info. back. I went through everything and highlighted all of the charges I want refunded and calcualted the final amount including interest etc.
I requested this within Martin's template letter and sent it back to Halifax on 23/03/12 advising I would give them 14 days to reply.
That time is nearly up and I haven't heard anything yet.

Does anyone know how long a reply from them at this stage normally takes?
I have a direct line for the guy dealing with my case from the letters but he never answers and I have called the normal Halifax customer sevice line numerous times and they say they can't call the SAR team they can only email which they have done but I haven't had any call back.

Any advice will be appreciated.
Thanks

dunstonh

I requested this within Martin's template letter and sent it back to Halifax on 23/03/12 advising I would give them 14 days to reply.

Since the banks won the case on bank charges they no longer refund in most cases and the FOS no longer take on bank charge complaints about unfair charges. Only goodwill refunds apply now. They will generally consider those currently in financial hardship, a spiral of charges that you cant get out of or first time mistakes.

Your request for them to deal with it within 14 days in unreasonable and they dont have to take any notice of that. You cant do anything if it goes past 14 days either.

You havent said why you are requesting your bank charges back. So, we cant comment.

jessica4

Thanks dunstonh, I requested the charges back due to financial hardship and included all of my evidence in my letter.
I wasn't aware that they didn't have to reply within the 14 days so as it is just a case of goodwill I guess I will just have to see what they say when they do reply.
Thanks again

dunstonh

They have 8 weeks and can take longer but you can go to the FOS after 8 weeks. Although it isnt always wise to at that point as the FOS queue is very long at the moment and waiting a few more weeks for the bank may be quicker than waiting 3-18 months for the FOS.

Lisamapi

They today have pAyed me my charges for the last 24 months also they have frozen further charges for 12months on my accounts including the 1pound. Adayboverdraft fees and over my planned overdraft fees. All in all I have saved around 800pound 2day they was very helpful

dunstonh

So, the wait wasnt too bad after all and you got a good result.

redfragglebiker

I've just written the intial letter to Halifax with a statement of what I am trying to claim back. I believe I can claim back around £500 under the hardship guidelines but we shall have to wait and see. I shall keep you updated on my progress!

Geeza

Great stuff glad to hear some of you got your money back.
Does anyone have a template so i can also send it off please.

your help would be very appricated.

redfragglebiker

I've just received a letter from Halifax basically saying they are not willing to refund me anything. I now plan to send them a second letter based on the templates that Martin has so kindly provided on this site. Having read through all the guides I believe I am entitled under the hardship conditions laid out but Halifax are simply claiming that "the fees are in accordance with their banking terms and conditions" Any advice on the best way to approach this second time around would be greatly appreciated as I still think I should be able to claim somewhere in the region of £500. If I still don't get a positive response to my second letter is my next step to take it to the ombudsman?

redfragglebiker

Geeza wrote: »

Great stuff glad to hear some of you got your money back.
Does anyone have a template so i can also send it off please.

your help would be very appricated.

Have a look here at Martins guide to claiming back bank charges. There are links to template letters which you can alter according to your own situation.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges

Good Luck!

Loubie_Loo

After spending a whopping 15 minutes on hold with intermittent sorry we can only send statements that cost you over £5 each, me reminding them about my rights to my records, and being told actually you can't claim, I finally got the guy to agree to send me my records. After a twenty minute phone call I'm to expect my records in 7 to 10 days.
Am going down the hardship route so hopefully I'll get my money back!
Halifax clearly don't want to play ball....

Anyone else managed to get their money back after the ruling?