Halifax Bank Gesture Of Goodwill

thunderflash2004

Hi, I recently followed Martin's advise on reclaiming my bank charges.

Here's what has happened so far:


I sent the letters out, the last one threatening to take them to court was ignored although I got quick responses for the previous letters.

I started the court claim and paid my £80 court fees

Halifax acknowledged my claim so an additional 14 days is added (making 28 days I have to wait before finalising the claim)

I am claiming for £890 + £80 court fees totalling £970

I recieved a letter today from the Halifax customer relations department in Leeds offering me a goodwill gesture payment of £705 for full and final settlement of the case.


I want to refuse this offer and continue the court claim to get back my £970 in full, I will be getting a phone call from the CR Dept in the morning and will decline the payment (which they say will be paid into my bank account in the next 14 days by 26th April)

I want to push for the total £970, but if they make me a better offer then how do I stop the court claim?

The other thing is that they are saying I have 14 days to decline this offer, the letter is dated 12th April and I only recieved it today (17th April). The earliest I can enter a default judgement is 1st May this leaves me 5 days short so I either need to stall them or decline the offer.

I will see how things pan out on the phone to them tomorrow, would it be worth taking a small loss and say asking for £900?


Are there any thoughts on this situation and what action I can take next? Or what I need to say when they call me tomorrow?

anley1

Accept 100% of the money or continue with the court action.

They are taking you for a fool and you are one if you accept their offer (no offence). You gave them every oportunity to settle for less BEFORE you took them to court. Now that they realise you're serious they want to settle and rip you off at the same time because not only is £705 far less than you wanted it also doesn't include the £80.

Tell them this, basically they cannot have it both ways.

Write back to them and say thanks for your offer but unless you pay me 100% (including court fees) you will see them in court.

As for cancelling the court (but only if they pay up in full) all you have to do is to write to the court and tell them the matter is settled and please cancel the hearing.

DON'T LET THE HALIFAX PLAY YOU........

PS. I've said it before on this board - if you don't play hardball with the banks they'll try and walk all over you, as is the case with The Halifax in this situation.

Finally ThuderFlash realise it's you in the drivng seat here not them.......

thunderflash2004

Thanks for your quick reply, I am gonna refuse their gesture of goodwill and ask for the whole lot back, in one way I was relieved they offered me something (at least they were taking my claim seriously), on the otherhand I was outraged for the amount they offered it was an insult which would as you say leave me forking out yet another £80 for court charges not to mention loosing all my interest. I am not gonna rush in to accepting anything unless they are willing to hand back the £970

I will keep you updated and post again tomorrow to let you all know what the outcome of the phone conversation is.

thunderflash2004

Hi, here's what happened today.

I phoned the Customer Relations Department in Leeds and refused their offer of £705, I said I wanted the total of £970 that I was claiming. The guy put me on hold for a few minutes then came back to me and said that the best offer he could make was £822.

I stuck to my guns and said that it was not good enough and if they refused to pay the full amount then I would let the courts handle the case. I then left it at that and finished the phone conversation.

Later that day I checked my account and found that the Halifax had deposited the full amount I asked for £970 into my account. I phoned them again to double check this was the case and they told me the money was what I had claimed.

I am delighted on this result, I have already contacted members of my family and I will guide them through this process too.

It seems that banks are very quick in taking money from the customer, but when it comes to claiming money that they owe you it seems like a hard battle....but at least in my case it was worth it. This just shows that if you stick to your guns, the banks WILL give in because they want to cut their losses and not have to fork out for solicitors and court fees.

I hope this has helped inspire others to stick with it

PS: Thank you Martin Lewis for the info and the help, I have recommended your site to all my friends and collegues

Beate

I am delighted for you. Don't forget to phone the court to cancel the court case though.