unavailable bank - debt increasing?

5cally

Is there another way to contact the Halifax from abroad??? (other than the phone no on their website, which is the only method they give?)
Halifax (I'll be there) is NOT there for friend who is currently volunteering overseas in area without mobile coverage and cannot ring the number. He certainly can't afford to phone anyway. An email would be ok but there is no email contact given.
He had thought he left his Halifax account in good order when he left the UK 7 months ago. Meanwhile post has been recieved at a previous address claiming he owes money. He has no idea what this could be and no way of finding out.
Yet when I asked at the Halifax they said whatever the debt is, it could be growing by £5 each day! Of course they won't provide me with any details.
Is there a way I can help from the UK? It seems like data protection laws are unhelpful in this case.

maninthestreet

Halifax are unlkely to enter into correspondance via email concerning a confidential matter such as this, as they would not be able to confirm the identity of the person sending them the emails.
Is the creditor claiming the debt actually Hailfax ???

whitepaper

5cally wrote: »

Is there another way to contact the Halifax from abroad??? (other than the phone no on their website, which is the only method they give?)
Halifax (I'll be there) is NOT there for friend who is currently volunteering overseas in area without mobile coverage and cannot ring the number. He certainly can't afford to phone anyway. An email would be ok but there is no email contact given.
He had thought he left his Halifax account in good order when he left the UK 7 months ago. Meanwhile post has been recieved at a previous address claiming he owes money. He has no idea what this could be and no way of finding out.
Yet when I asked at the Halifax they said whatever the debt is, it could be growing by £5 each day! Of course they won't provide me with any details.
Is there a way I can help from the UK? It seems like data protection laws are unhelpful in this case.

Is this really an issue that you think warrants the resources of the valuable and already overstretched services of the CAB?

Your friend could write to the bank. The address is also on the website.

Alternatively, if your friend has access to email (and so the internet) then why can't he use VoIP to make cheap phone calls?

meer53

Your friend doesn't have any other option but to contact them. There's a telephone number on their website for people abroad to contact them, it's +44 1132 422229

Atidi

Does your friend have internet banking?

If so, he could see recent transactions on that. Most online banking applications I've seen also have the possibility to send & receive secure electronic messages with the bank, if necessary.

5cally

Thank you everyone, yes I know about the phone number, that is the first thing I said.
The only internet access is on a paid publicly-used machine so voip phoning is out of the question I'm afraid, that's why email is so important. He does not own any machine to communicate on, and is not set up for online banking.
Writing in this case would be too long-drawn-out to be of much use, though is worth a try.
£5 a day is huge.

Wywth

5cally wrote: »

Thank you everyone, yes I know about the phone number, that is the first thing I said.
The only internet access is on a paid publicly-used machine so voip phoning is out of the question I'm afraid, that's why email is so important. He does not own any machine to communicate on, and is not set up for online banking.
Writing in this case would be too long-drawn-out to be of much use, though is worth a try.
£5 a day is huge.

How's he going to settle the debt without writing, unless he has internet or telephone access? :huh:

Perhaps if you are a real friend, you trust him enough to settle his debt and he can repay you later? :cool:

5cally

Wywth wrote: »

How's he going to settle the debt without writing, unless he has internet or telephone access? :huh:

Perhaps if you are a real friend, you trust him enough to settle his debt and he can repay you later? :cool:

Thank you Wywth, that is exactly my position. That's why I am so annoyed with the Halifax, they should have several forms of communication, not just the most expensive one.

Wywth

5cally wrote: »

Thank you Wywth, that is exactly my position. That's why I am so annoyed with the Halifax, they should have several forms of communication, not just the most expensive one.

What alternative forms of secure communication would you like the bank to offer other than internet banking (and it's secure messaging service), telephone or snail mail?

zzzLazyDaisy

I don't know why you are annoyed with the Halifax? They cannot communicate by e-mail as that could come from anyone claiming to be your friend - have you not heard of e-mail hackers and phishing scams?

However, they do have another form of communication - the internal message procedure on internet banking. It seems that his only option is to set up internet banking from where he is (who goes abroad for an extended period without doing this before leaving the country, anyway?)

The alternative is for your friend to buy a phone card, which are available in most countries, and use a phone box to call the Halifax.

If you tell us which country your friend is in, someone here can probably help you to find a cheaper way for your friend to call home.

maninthestreet

Why can't your friend get to a phone to call Halifax? If the cost is an issue, offer to lend them money, which you can send via a cash transfer agency.