HBOS aka Halifax Bank of Scotland

digitalphase

Hi

I'll give you some background on my case.

Quite a few months ago I paid for some shopping at Tesco using my Halifax card. Unfortunately it appears I was £11.00 short, although the payment still went through. I don't have an overdraft on the card either. I received no letters from Halifax notifying me of this but eventually got a phone call telling me I owed them £50 in charges! I paid this off and thought about re-claiming later but really just wanted to forget about it.
A month or so later I get more phone calls telling me I owe them £80! I said I had already paid the charges but the 'advisor' said that the interest kept building and I should have been informed of that. I said I thought it was absolutely ridiculous and said I would not be paying.

I have sent the first two of Martin's template letters, but a few weeks ago received a letter informing me of the FSA's investigation into bank charges and that any claim I make would be stayed. I have found out one of my local courts is still processing claims as normal though.

I'd like a bit of help/advice on where to go from here. Should I continue to file a case using Moneyclaim online and specify the court which is still processing these complaints? Halifax have sent me a letter informing me of serving a default notice against my account. They are also phoning me up to 3 times a day.

Any help appreciated - I just want out of this mess but don't see why they should get £130+ out of me for going £11.00 overdrawn.

Thanks.

denyse_marston

I have been disputing my bank charges for over 7 months and have got nowhere, I wanted to go to court but the current situation is as we all know on hold because of the pending high court case, however halifax have now taken the money from my savings account which I could not get access to because they prevented me from doing so in March when this situation first began, I have written again (Yawn) to them telling them that I do not agree with this and informing them that they have taken the opportunity of this pending situation not to pay people (i.e. stays of execution of judgement) yet they have not afforded me the opportunity of waiting for the coutt outcome.

What should I do - just go for the courts regardless?

To add insult to injury, they took the money without informing me 10 days ago and today their solicitors sent me a letter telling me they we taking me to court for the full amount.

Any help would be gratefully received.

nickmack

denyse_marston wrote: »

What should I do - just go for the courts regardless?

Unfortunately, the situation doesn't favour the customer while we're in this limbo. You can file the court claim, but it will most likely been stayed (although this hasn't happened in every case). At least then, when the decision does come, your claim can be recognised and the appropriate decision made.

lindilou39

I would go to the courts now regardless, file it in your local county court...then write to the OFT and report their behaviour.

nickmack

digitalphase wrote: »

I'd like a bit of help/advice on where to go from here. Should I continue to file a case using Moneyclaim online and specify the court which is still processing these complaints?

If you want to ensure your claim is dealt with at that court, you can file in person there.

Halifax have sent me a letter informing me of serving a default notice against my account. They are also phoning me up to 3 times a day.

Tell them the amount is under dispute and you will consider their calls harassment and complain to the relevant authorities if they continue.

denyse_marston

Thanks for the advice, I've just phoned the court for the claims form because online applications are not available at the moment, I'm just going to go for it, the Halifax have used this situation to 'stay' orders made against them but refuse to acknowledge the situation when being asked to put charges on hold until the decision is made - hardly equal opps!! I think they are just hoping people will lose faith and forget the claim - not a chance with me, so we will see

digitalphase

Thanks Nick.

Can I not specify a court to deal with my claim on the Moneyclaim website?

beardface_2

digitalphase wrote: »

Thanks Nick.

Can I not specify a court to deal with my claim on the Moneyclaim website?

No firstly as any defended case would automatically to the nearest court to you home and secondly any defended cases on MCOL will be stayed automatically.


You could try to claim via the court still proceeding with them but there is no guarantee that it willl not be transferred to your local court anyway.

digitalphase

OK thanks.

So if I file a claim and it's stayed, what do I do regarding charges etc? Also the 'phone calls and interest being added?

nickmack

digitalphase wrote: »

So if I file a claim and it's stayed, what do I do regarding charges etc? Also the 'phone calls and interest being added?

Unless you can claim financial hardship, not much until the test case outcome is known. Check Martin's article for the possible scenarios.