Halifax ultimate : account fees claim

ScottR88

Hi,
New to these forums but thought I'd kick it off by asking for abit of advice after reading the page on reclaiming bank account fees.

Basically I've held a Halifax ultimate rewards account since December 2011. I created this with the intention of moving from HSBC but I never did fully switch and only ever used it as a separate account to pay my rent into weekly.
I've been in severe financial difficulty and at the time I applied for the account I was given the impression on their website that the only way I'd receive an overdraft facility was if I went down the 'ultimate account' root. I've paid £15 a month for this for the past 3 and a half years and I've never once used any of the privileges I'm entitled to on the account except the £100 overdraft (which I've never been out of!).

Rather than write a letter I decided to give them a call yesterday and begin the complaints process and explain the above.
The woman called back today and said its being investigated and proceeded to ask a few questions such as, have I held mobile phone/car breakdown cover etc elsewhere, to which I replied yes.

My main worry is she explained that although I'm claiming to be miss-sold this, if I actually opened a normal current account with a £100 overdraft: If I used this overdraft facility it would charge me £1 a day instead, as opposed to having it 'free' if I held the ultimate reward account which I pay the fee for.
Then £5 a day for exceeding the limit (I pay the £5 part now).
She said she will continue to investigate and contact me tomorrow with a conclusion but What bothers me is I've been in my £100 overdraft pretty much since I opened this account; so does this mean rather than refund me over £600 in fees, they can say I actually owe them money because of the £1 a day charge?, or will they just call it evens and scrap the claim?, and should I take it to the ombudsman and continue trying if they do?

Any advice would be much appreciated!,

Scott

Nearlyold

Surely if the Ultimate account is genuinely a cheaper way of obtaining an overdraft with your bank @ £15 a month instead of £30 (@ £1 per day) then I can't see what it is you have to complain about, guess the hope of getting a £600 windfall is the motivation. Incidentally if your Ultimate Bank account includes Mobile Insurance and Car breakdown cover why did you also take out this insurance elsewhere?

ScottR88

Being in financial difficulty, I figured opening an account with an overdraft was an extra £100 in my pocket. Obviously the cover I had elsewhere was already part of my contracts through my mobile phone, and car insurance.
After researching it I was given the impression that Id been miss sold because you're able to have a normal current account for free and still have an overdraft, but after raising my complaint that's when I've been informed it would have been £1 a day for using the overdraft.
So yeah my eyes were set on the £600+ but I'm hoping they don't have the grounds to make it backfire

dunstonh

If they uphold your complaint, then they are allowed to deduct the cost of you not being on that product if the alternative was more expensive. After all, that is what you are asking them to do in your complaint.

ScottR88

So basically instead of halifax refunding me with £600+ they have the right to say they'll just deduct that from the £1000+ I'll owe them?. Despite the fact if I knew there was a £1 charge on the standard current account for using an overdraft and I went down that route then I wouldn't have used the facility to begin with?... Terrific :laugh:

Nearlyold

Have you checked whether there is actually a £1 daily charge for a standard current account overdraft? Did anyone actually sell you the Ultimate account i.e. did someone in the bank advise you this would be the option for you, or did you choose to apply for the Ultimate account after looking at the website, if the latter then its difficult to see how it was miss sold to you - unless the website contained misleading information. You would have known from the website about the other benefits - phone, breakdown cover, home start, travel insurance etc. and therefore been aware that you did not need to pay for these separately as well, so again difficult to use this as a miss sale reason. You might still get lucky with your "complaint" but don't get your hopes up.

dunstonh

ScottR88 wrote: »

So basically instead of halifax refunding me with £600+ they have the right to say they'll just deduct that from the £1000+ I'll owe them?. Despite the fact if I knew there was a £1 charge on the standard current account for using an overdraft and I went down that route then I wouldn't have used the facility to begin with?... Terrific :laugh:

You are complaining that they should not have sold you this account and left you on the alternative. If they agree, they are required to put you back in the position you would have been had you not made the change.

If you have had financial benefit from the product, they are allowed to deduct that benefit. It is both logical and correct for them to do so. Although just because they have the right to do that does not mean they will exercise that right. Although on packaged accounts, it is normal for the banks to deduct benefits used from the redress.

ScottR88

Just an update:

She called back today and explained that in conclusion to my complaint they have ruled although I may have been mislead on their website; I applied for this bank account on my own and therefor signed the terms and conditions and received a welcome pack explaining everything I was getting myself in for.
However, because I mentioned I was in financial difficulty, as a good will gesture if I agree to close the case they've refunded me with £140 in unplanned overdraft charges from the past 12 months.

Winning!! :beer: