Halifax Appalling Treatment

noms_2

I'd appreciate any shred of help with this as I'm not sure what else to do.

My fianc!e has always dealt with our finances including mortgage payments but we recently (in the last 3 weeks) received the devastating news that the cancer she has has spread to her brain and now she is unable to communicate properly or remember details.

We received a letter from Halifax telling us we'd missed a payment on our agreement and that a further £30 would be added with a possible extra £125 plus legal action and visits from bailiffs.

I called them back on the number on the letter and explained the situation but was told that unless I had the password I could not talk to them about the account. When I asked how I was supposed to get access I was told the same thing but that a note would be placed on the system. I wrote to Halifax explaining the situation and asking for help. A few days later we received another letter, again charging us another £30 and threatening us with bailiffs etc..

Since I became my fianc!es carer our business has suffered and with not much coming into the house we can really do without the arbitrary charges not least the threat of losing our home. I've written to the ombudsmen but they say Halifax has 2 months to deal with my complaint. We don't have 2 months.

I wrote a stronger letter to Halifax last week but 1 week on have still had nothing from them. I'm angry and pretty exhausted so I'm not sure what to do next. God forbid they turn up on our doorstep looking to take our home or belongings away.

Just to clarify, I can afford to pay their fee they just don't seem to want me to.

Wh05apk

Sorry to hear off your predicament, who's name is the mortgage in?

noms_2

The mortgage is in my fianc!es name.

Wh05apk

That will be the problem, Halifax cannot and will not talk to you without your fiance's authority, is she able to sign a letter giving them authority to speak to you?

Depending on the circumstances, you may wish to arrange formal power of attorney so you can deal with all of her financial matters.

noms_2

Thanks for the advice. She's not currently able to sign anything but I just want to pay the arrears payment to stop the bailiffs, not to take over the mortgage. I understand the need for security but given our circumstances I'd have thought Halifax would at least write to her with some advice. I'd then be able to pick up the letter.

Jimbo1976

Might be worth emailing one of the national personal finance journalists and asking for their help. The Times has a great column each Saturday called Troubleshooter. Its written by a journalist called Laura Whateley. She solves people's financial woes and i think it would be a decent case study for help of how badly banks treat people by hiding behind rules when if they used common sense they could help.

Am sure you could contact her via twitter or via the times switchboard.

martinsurrey

First of all I am so sorry to hear of your terrible news.

but, think of this from the banks point of view, they have no emotional involvement.

Someone who they have no record of is trying to get information about a customer, they would be negligent to tell you anything.

This situation is not going to get any better, the best way to deal with it is formally, have you seen a solicitor about getting power of attorney for your fianc!s affairs? if not, think about it, with that in place you can sent it to the mortgage provider, who will then deal with you as if you were her.

again sorry about the horrible situation, I hope you get through it as best you can.

opinions4u

When it comes to making payments, you could you post them a cheque with the mortgage details on the back.

When it comes to other issues, like cancelling direct debits and obtaining information about the account, the Data Protection Act stands rather heavily in the way.

If you can obtain POA great. More likely you will need a Court of Protection order. The sooner you move to obtain one or the other, the better.

themull1

Does she have life insurance where if she becomes ill, the mortgage is paid?

Yorkie1

OP, can you find any paperwork in the house about the mortgage? It will have the account number etc on it so that you can go into branch and make payments while you sort it out.

So sorry to hear about the predicament, I can't imagine how awful it must be.

beecher2

Is there anything on here that can help you?
http://www.macmillan.org.uk/howwecanhelp/financialsupport/financialsupport.aspx

You might find them to be more supportive in your branch so definitely take in the sort code/account number to your branch and pay what's owing by cheque.

Good luck.