Halifax "Closed" account

jhl1987

My partner went in to Halifax to close his account following several charges resulting in overdraft charges etc. He did this in branch in May 2012. Last week he received a debt collection agency letter after calling them they demanded over £100 owed to Halifax. That night he spent around 3 hours on the phone which included being transferred to the wrong people, agents putting the phone down on him and basically being told he was a liar - it ended up with him having to prove that he closed the account as they would not investigate it with no evidence of him making a transaction or closing the account.

Luckily he found the account closure receipt and sent this over. Again these days we spent around an hour on the phone including leaving work to make calls outside.

The following day Halifax admitted that there had been a mistake and they confirm that the account had been closed and the charges should not apply. He explained the distress caused by this and Halifax moved from offering £50 to £150 compensation.

In this time he had not been able to open a new bank account due to them putting notes on his credit file and obviously the time spent on the phone sorting this, the poor customer service received and the general fact they made this mistake leave him wanting further compensation. If he had not been able to find this receipt or had thrown it away (which obviously not far off a year later is not unreasonable) Halifax would not have investigated this mistake and he would still have to have paid the debt agency.

So....I am asking what kind of compensation should he expect? Should he take this to the ombudsmen?

Thanks in advance for your responses!

Osarkon

Push to get the notes taken off the credit file first off. Then take the money and carry on with life.

opinions4u

What you've had sounds about right.

The FOS may award more. But they could award less.

I'd take the money and get on with my life.

innovate

By how much was the account overdrawn when he closed it?

What written confirmation is there from Halifax that the overdraft was written off by closing the account?

innovate

Osarkon wrote: »

Push to get the notes taken off the credit file first off. Then take the money and carry on with life.

Why should Halifax take the markers/notes off the CRA files?

jhl1987

Yes they have already said they will take all notes off the credit file as there would be no reason for them to be on there as he did everything he was supposed to.

He paid off the overdraught to close the account and the receipt shows the cash payment and account closure, they have already admitted that this was an error on their behalf the account was closed and no further payment were due.

Do you think it needs reporting to ombudsman despite the compensation?

innovate

jhl1987 wrote: »

Yes they have already said they will take all notes off the credit file as there would be no reason for them to be on there as he did everything he was supposed to.

He paid off the overdraught to close the account and the receipt shows the cash payment and account closure, they have already admitted that this was an error on their behalf the account was closed and no further payment were due.

Do you think it needs reporting to ombudsman despite the compensation?

Your partner can take the matter to the ombudsman if they have lodged a formal complaint with Halifax, and if your partner thinks such complaint has not been resolved satisfactorily within 8 weeks from the complaint date.

pmduk

They made a mistake, have finally acknowledged it and offered compensation. What's left for the ombudsman to decide?