Halifax stalling?

Jammy_67

Guys,
I hope you can help with some advice as to my next step.

I made a PPI complaint against Halifax in May. They acknowledged my complaint (14th May) and said that they would investigate fully and reply within 8 weeks (10th July).

July 10th came and went with no reply or contact from them. I called the dedicated PPI claims team for an update on 15th July and was told that they were not going to uphold my complaint and that a letter had been posted and would be with me in 7-10 working days.

Called again on 1st August, as still nothing in the post, and was told that the letter had been posted and must have got lost. I asked them to please send me out another copy, confirming my address details etc therefore, which they had correct by the way.

Called them again 8th August (12 weeks since my acknowledgement), as still nothing. Was again told that it was posted (4th August). Still nothing in the post today. Even second class post doesn't take this long! We have never had missing correspondence of this nature in the past and I complained. I was told that they could priority send the letter out, which should take 3 working days. I await this therefore, but I was wondering if there is any history of deliberate stalling regarding Halifax claims? If so, and now twelve weeks without any written response to my acknowledged complaint, what is my next step? Can I approach the FOS without a written complaint rejection from the Halifax?

Any advice welcome.

societys_child

I'd wait a few more days, it could be a year or more if you go to the FOS.

Nasqueron

Jammy - pretty much unless you accept that you were not mis-sold, waiting for the letter is not going to gain much. You have 6 months from a rejection to refer to FOS if you do not agree with their decision (though you'll be waiting 12-18 months for the FOS). What "stalling" do you mean? The bank have rejected your complaint, they don't gain anything by delaying sending a letter as they're not going to pay you.

If you explain your complaint reasons, evidence you supplied etc people might be able to advise you on chances of success at the FOS (though not ruling out bank auto-paying at the FOS if under their limit)

Jammy_67

Nasqueron wrote: »

Jammy - pretty much unless you accept that you were not mis-sold, waiting for the letter is not going to gain much. You have 6 months from a rejection to refer to FOS if you do not agree with their decision (though you'll be waiting 12-18 months for the FOS). What "stalling" do you mean? The bank have rejected your complaint, they don't gain anything by delaying sending a letter as they're not going to pay you.

If you explain your complaint reasons, evidence you supplied etc people might be able to advise you on chances of success at the FOS (though not ruling out bank auto-paying at the FOS if under their limit)

Thanks for the response.

I was purely referring to the fact that the seemed to be taking a long time to get a standard letter out to me and wondered if this was a particular tactic they used.

Anyway by way of an update. I received the re-sent letter by express parcels today.

Just as I had suspected. Their investigation seems rushed and very last minute. Bear in mind that this is after 12 weeks!!
It had wrong dates, was very generalised with no specific reference to evidence that they had used. Just assumptions made on my eligibility and suitability for PPI. This is not what I was complaining about. Yes I could qualify to take out a PPI policy and yes it was suitable to cover the mortgage I had at the time. However this was my first house purchase, I was not experienced in these products back then. I wasn't told that there were other options, wasn't given any choice and was pretty sure that the person selling the policy (sales woman for the house builder concerned) wasn't qualified to advise me.

No copy of this investigation evidence was supplied back to me either.

Is it worth me repsonding back to them with a letter of my own outlining my concerns about the thoroughness of their investigation or go to FOS now or am I wasting my time entirely?

[Deleted User]

Jammy_67 wrote: »

I wasn't told that there were other options

If you mean options with other providers then that isn't surprising since they have no obligation to inform you that you can purchase elsewhere

Jammy_67 wrote: »

wasn't given any choice

What "choice" would you have wanted? The insurance is only mis-sold if you were told it was compulsory when it wasn't.

Jammy_67 wrote: »

was pretty sure that the person selling the policy (sales woman for the house builder concerned) wasn't qualified to advise me.

That isn't a mis-sale reason, unless she actually purported to be something she was not (and you can prove it).

Jammy_67 wrote: »

No copy of this investigation evidence was supplied back to me either.

As the accuser, it is you who must provide evidence-not the accused (the Bank)

Jammy_67 wrote: »

Is it worth me repsonding back to them with a letter of my own outlining my concerns

You have received your "full and final" response. The only reason to go back to them is if you have strong and compelling new evidence not in your original complaint.

Jammy_67 wrote: »

about the thoroughness of their investigation

How can you judge just how "thorough" their complaint handling is?

Jammy_67 wrote: »

or go to FOS now

You have six months from the date of the rejection to do this.

Jammy_67 wrote: »

am I wasting my time entirely?

The vast majority of mortgage PPI complaints are rejected. Unlike loan and credit card PPI, this insurance is still retailed today and covers a very valuable asset (your home) which can have life changing consequences if you find yourself unable to pay the mortgage.
Very little of what you said actually indicates any mis-sale took place.

Jammy_67

societys_child wrote: »

I'd wait a few more days, it could be a year or more if you go to the FOS.

Thanks for your post.

TBH I am not bothered how long it takes. The fact that they can't be bothered to do a proper investigation after 12 weeks, and assume that I'll accept their botched investigation, drop my complaint and go away! Not a chance.

If it takes the long haul then that's fine. I want to make sure that I have covered every option available to me though. Have I missed anything?

[Deleted User]

Jammy_67 wrote: »

The fact that they can't be bothered to do a proper investigation after 12 weeks, and assume that I'll accept their botched investigation, drop my complaint and go away! Not a chance.

By all means refer your complaint, but it's your original complaint you must refer-not one about a "botched investigation" for which you can provide no evidence. The fact that you did not receive their original rejection letter is not evidence of incompetence by them.

Jammy_67 wrote: »

Have I missed anything?

My whole earlier post, apparently!

Jammy_67

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

You have received your "full and final" response. The only reason to go back to them is if you have strong and compelling new evidence not in your original complaint.
How can you judge just how "thorough" their complaint handling is?

You'd need to read the letter, but take it from me, when someone sends you a letter and quotes that you were completely the wrong age when you took out the policy, investigates a mortgage that was not the one from when the policy was mis-sold and both of these facts were clear on the form submitted and duplicated and clarified in 'additional information', wouldn't you start to wonder just how competent the investigation was?

Jammy_67

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

My whole earlier post, apparently!

Read every word.

It is very difficult to speak about someones case without the details to hand, but I appreciate your input.

[Deleted User]

Jammy_67 wrote: »

It is very difficult to speak about someones case without the details to hand, but I appreciate your input.

Of course I could only comment on the details you actually posted.

If you do refer to FOS, make certain you do not confuse your original mis-selling complaint with one about the Bank's handling of it.

Partridge89

Jammy_67 wrote: »

Thanks for the response.

I was purely referring to the fact that the seemed to be taking a long time to get a standard letter out to me and wondered if this was a particular tactic they used.

Anyway by way of an update. I received the re-sent letter by express parcels today.

Just as I had suspected. Their investigation seems rushed and very last minute. Bear in mind that this is after 12 weeks!!
It had wrong dates, was very generalised with no specific reference to evidence that they had used. Just assumptions made on my eligibility and suitability for PPI. This is not what I was complaining about. Yes I could qualify to take out a PPI policy and yes it was suitable to cover the mortgage I had at the time. However this was my first house purchase, I was not experienced in these products back then. I wasn't told that there were other options, wasn't given any choice and was pretty sure that the person selling the policy (sales woman for the house builder concerned) wasn't qualified to advise me.

No copy of this investigation evidence was supplied back to me either.

Is it worth me repsonding back to them with a letter of my own outlining my concerns about the thoroughness of their investigation or go to FOS now or am I wasting my time entirely?

Have you had more than one mortgage (or more than one mortgage product) and more than one MPPI policy with Halifax? If you have (which it sounds as though you may have done) they may have looked into one that you didn't complain about - hence the wrong age, etc.

You did mention that the policy was sold by the house builder's sales advisor - if this is the case I'd say they most likely weren't working for Halifax so any complaint about this particular sale would need to be made to whoever was responsible for the sale (99.99% certain it wouldn't have been Halifax.)


Maybe Halifax have looked into the one they sold and don't agree it was mis-sold? Might be worth calling them for clarification.


Just my two pennies worth