HBOS aka Halifax Bank of Scotland

lindilou39

kittykat1898 wrote: »

Hello all,

I am new to this forum lark so I appologise in advance if I've posted this in the wrong place!

I have been trying to reclaim my bank charges from 2 separate accounts with 2 different banks. One (RBS) paid up the full amount, no problems when I sent the 2nd letter. However the 2nd (Halifax) is giving me nothing but problems.

I sent letter 1 on 08/02/07 and got the statements. I sent letter 2 requesting the charges be refunded on the 16/02/07 and recieved the standard "your responsibility" letter, so I sent letter 3 on 27/03/07 threatening court action.

However as a single mother I have been unable to find the spare cash to lodge the court papers.

I have had a couple more charges added since then, the latest of which has made my blood boil... I realized that I would not have enough money in my account to cover all my direct debits so my daughter lent me the money and paid it into my account the morning they were due, the bank haven't paid it and are slapping a £39 charge on. I have rang them and they said that the money has to be in the account the day BEFORE the DD's are due so the charge will stand!!!

Can I add the charges added to my account since letter 3 to the claim? Has anyone any idea what I should do now?

What makes all this worse is that my daughter and future daughter in law both work for the Halifax!!

yes you can add them on as you havent made a court claim yet, try phoning your local county court as to whether the fee could be waivered or reduced, are you on any benefits as such???

kittykat1898

yes i'm on tax credits and working tax credits but thats all.

lindilou39

kittykat1898 wrote: »

yes i'm on tax credits and working tax credits but thats all.

thats enough....phone your local county court tomorrow see where you stand on the fee....can I ask as to how much roughly you are claiming?

kittykat1898

It was £2,434.31 at the time of the last letter to them.

fourlanded

HelloNot sure if I already posted this, sorry if my blonde side has come out to play!We got a letter from the bank today asking if we accept or reject the offer they have already credited to our account. (Full draft below) Can anyone offer advice on what to do?Dear Mr & MrsWe refer to your complaint about bank charges.We wrote to you recently making you a goodwill offer in full and final settlement of your complaint about these charges.We believe that charges are fair, transparent and lawful. Since we last wrote to you, the bank (and several other banks) became involved in legal proceedings with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) about bank charges which we believe will resolve the legal issues on the fairness and legality of your bank charges.We have asked the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to suspend the normal timetable for dealing with bank charges complaints, and the FSA has agreed to this request subject to conditions that protect your rights.However, the goodwill payment the bank made to you still stands and you can accept or reject this offer. Please return the attached form, in the enclosed pre-paid envelope, within 2 months from the date of this letter. You should be aware that if you accept this offer, this will be in "full and final" settlement of your complaint. This means that it is unlikely you would be awarded a further sum even if the test case indicated that you could be entitled to a potentially larger amount. Though this does not preclude you asking for repayment of any future charges if the court finds they are unlawful.If you decide to reject this offer and await the outcome of the legal proceedings with the OFT you will need to return the money which we have already paid to you. We will reconsider your complaint once the test case is resolved. We can assure you (in that instance) we have registered and stored your complaint.If we do not hear from you by 5th October 2007, we will assume that you have decided to reject this offer and await the outcome of the legal proceedings with the OFT.Please retain your bank records, as this will make it easier for you to support your complaint on resolution of the test case.Once the legal proceedings between the OFT and the banks finish, we will resolve your complaint as quickly as possible and apply the (test case) principles. This may produce a larger or smaller figure when compared with the current offer.We are sorry that we have not been able to respond in full to your complaint now, but we (together with the FSA and the OFT) think that it is necessary to resolve the key legal issues before we decide how we should respond to your complaint.Obviously exactly what will happen next will depend on the courts. We do not know how long the case will take - we have promised to proceed as quickly as possible but inevitably given the importance of the issues being considered this may take many months to finally resolve. But we can assure you that once the legal proceedings are completed we will resolve your complaint as quickly as possible. If at that stage you do not agree with our conclusions you will of course be able to refer your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) (or to the courts).Given this court case we have asked the FOS not to proceed with any other case they are hearing until the test case is resolved. FOS has indicated that as a general proposition it will indeed not proceed with cases which rely on the legal issues being considered in the test case.Similarly, you should be aware that if you choose to issue a claim in the Courts, the bank will immediately apply to the Court for an order to stay your action until resolution of the bank's proceedings with the OFT.We will keep you updated appropriately about the proceedings with the OFT. You can also check the latest position on our websites at www.halifax.co.uk or www.bankofscotland.co.uk

ninja1981

Hi I hope someone out there can help me.

I have recently tried to reclaim my bank charges back from Halifax and they replied with a letter saying that they are declining my complaint, does anyone know what I should do next?

Edinburghlass_2

Standard letter from the bank, you need to send out the next letter telling them you will be taking them to court, you'll find the template in Martin's article...

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

lyndareid

Hi
I had gone through the reclaimation of bank charges process with HBoS, receiving the usual letter stating they were fair etc. I told them I wanted my claim re-evaluated and the girl told me that they were already in breach of the time allowed for response so she would fastrack my claim. Two days later OFT put hold on all.
Should my claim still go ahead as they were in breach before the stay?
Lynda

nickmack

lyndareid wrote: »

Should my claim still go ahead as they were in breach before the stay?

They will probably stop investigating under citing the waiver.

This doesn't mean you can't still file your court case if you wish. Note that the court claim pwill probably be subject to and get granted a stay until the test case is heard.

highflyer07

hi

i have sent my bank HBOS the letter staing that i wasnt happy with the decision they come to about rejecting my initial claim. I have still not heard anything from them, even though my mum posted her letter the same day as me, she has had her letter back sayin they are putting it forward to see if she should get the money or not.

anyone got any ideas on what i should do? i have given them a few days as we had a postal strike and also i know they have a back log - any ideas would be great.

also, what should my mum expect to happen after this stage?

thanks