Halifax customers beware

rh57

For many years I have been paid on the last working day of the month and had arranged for my standing orders and direct debits to be paid at the same time. Today - 30 aug I noticed that I was overdrawn and that my standing orders had ben paid when my salary is not due to be paid until tomorrow.
Just had a lengthy conversation with someone from the Halifax where I learned that this was my problem as they had sent out a pack some months ago changing terms and conditions and I clearly hadn't read them properly. Apparently I'm not the only customer this has happened to. Halifax would be charging me £1 for every day I am overdrawn. Needless to say I wasn't over happy with this. I asked for the charge to be waived which was refused and then asked to make a formal complaint also making it clear that I would not hesitate to move this account .
Fortunately common sense prevailed. The complaints people agreed that the charge would stand but they would compensate me by £10 for the cost of phone call and upset caused.

YorkshireBoy

So your standing orders normally go out on the 31st of the month?

I would have thought your complaint should have been based on why they'd sent them a day early, rather than asking for a pound back!

dalesrider

Why dod people set up dd & s/o to pay out on the same day funds are paid in.....
All it requires is a hickup in payment and you are facing charges.

Allow at least 3 days. Or make payments via faster payments each month, when you know payment is there.

rh57

Thanks for the comments. I,ve had this arrangement for 30 years without problem. Maybe I've just been lucky!,

McKneff

So what happens in February each year.

YorkshireBoy

McKneff wrote: »

So what happens in February each year.

...and April, June, September, and November?

I believe they're sent on the next working day.

However, Halifax say (in their standing order guide and T&Cs) that you should...

Please ensure you have sufficient funds in your account the day before any payments are due.

...so it appears OP has been very lucky with his strategy anyway. Either that or they've used his O/D facility to make the payments and his salary credit has ensured the closing balance was positive by the end of day.

I note OP still hasn't said what reason Halifax gave for sending his standing orders a day early!

StephenM_2

dalesrider wrote: »

Why dod people set up dd & s/o to pay out on the same day funds are paid in.....
All it requires is a hickup in payment and you are facing charges.

Allow at least 3 days. Or make payments via faster payments each month, when you know payment is there.

I have one DD on the same day that I'm paid, but rather than treat it as the first DD of the month I treat it at the last DD of the previous month.

opinions4u

McKneff wrote: »

So what happens in February each year.

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

...and April, June, September, and November?

Up until September 2011 Halifax standing orders could be set up for a fixed date (1 to 28 of each month) or the final day of the month.

So a final day standing order would go out on 28th Feb, 31st March, 30th April etc. As long as the OP funded on or before the final day he'd have been fine.

I've no idea what the set up is these days. All mine go out a week after my salary goes in. And that means in the following month.

As for the OP, change your standing orders to the first of the following month or later.

I can't find anything in their T&Cs about it though. Perhaps the payment in question is a direct debit?

poorgirl-54

I had this problem with halifax, and changed the date and set up standing orders for 1st/2nd of month

realaledrinker

Another example of the reduced functionality available on the Halifax online service since it migrated to Lloyds systems.

Ben8282

rh57 wrote: »

For many years I have been paid on the last working day of the month and had arranged for my standing orders and direct debits to be paid at the same time.

This is a very strange arrangement as standing orders/direct debits etc always come out first thing in the morning and would therefore have been paid before your salary arrives later the same day. If you say all your direct debits/standing orders are for the 31st and your salary is received on the 31st, then unless the outgoings are paid from funds already in your account or by using your overdraft I don't see that this is correct.

Also, even if your bank, for unknown reasons, decided in error to pay your standing orders one day early I can't see that this error could have affected the direct debits as they are instigated by the company collecting them, not your bank.

You will need to ask your bank why they paid the standing orders one day early.

You will need to contact each company that you have a direct debit set up with and ask each company individually why they took the direct debit one day early this month.