Warning - they are slashing our credit limits

NOZ_3

Have been a fan of Martin for ages now and always recommend people to visit this site for guidance. Not had to post on here until now though.

I received a phonecall this morning from Halifax's automated credit collection service. I know I hadn't exceeded my credit limit so pressed the option to speak to a human as I thought my card may have been used fraudantly. I was told that my credit limit had be reduced and I was now overdrawn by £450. Well you can imagine my reaction... it wasn't mild, that's for sure! I was told to ring the 0800 number to increase my credit card limit 'why should I' I objected 'I already have a bigger credit limit'. I rang the 0800 and they said that on the 19th September Halifax risk assessment teams had slashed my credit limit according to their findings.

So, I did have £7750 credit limit, which they slashed to £3500 WITHOUT ANY NOTIFICATION. I had used the card in the week to pay a mechanics bill and I was overdrawn by £450. The nice lady upped my limit to £3900 so I wasn't overdrawn and waived the fee - damned right too, said I! She apologised for the cross over as the letters had not been sent. Not good enough - a clear breach of terms and conditions and not legal.

I have a standing order from Halifax One account to my Halifax and Virgin card paying each £30 per week. Because I have done this for 2 years, they kept upping my limit, which I didn't use. I was going shopping this weekend for a motorbike jacket and trousers and had allocated £300 for this - how embarressed would I have been when it was rejected?

So ladies and gents, this is happening with Halifax, it's most likely to happen to a bank near you - especially after the PM kicked off about banks being more responsible with their credit (northern rock and the american debacle).

Any advice or guidance for the stinking letter would be gratefully received. I am sure this isn't legal - HELP!? X

RTNI

There are a lot of other threads in this forum about this happening, its is happening to a lot of other people with other banks too.

From the Halifax website under the terms and conditions:

"[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]2.1 We will decide your credit limit and tell you what it is. We may change it at any time and will let you know about any change."[/FONT]

If your limit has been going up and up as you say and you had not been using it, then under this "responsible lending" Halifax have looked and due to you not using the limit, have reduced it.

A letter will be in the post, as there is no point in the bank giving you advance warning saying, "In XX days we will be reducing your limit" as some customers will go out spending on the card so as to increase the balance meaning that halifax CANT reduce the limit as you would then go overdrawn and thus incur charges.

NOZ_3

They cut it in half without any notification. I have a good credit rating and pay over £120 a month off the statement. It's poor judgement and bad customer service.

knowledgeman

NOZ wrote: »

They cut it in half without any notification. I have a good credit rating and pay over £120 a month off the statement. It's poor judgement and bad customer service.

How?

If you can only afford to pay £120 a month then its entirely just to say you cant afford a 8k debt

vwman_3

Halifax have just upped my limit by an extra £2k........

MABLE

vwman wrote: »

Halifax have just upped my limit by an extra £2k........

No doubt at the expense of poor NOZ

vwman_3

MABLE wrote: »

No doubt at the expense of poor NOZ

Why would that be then...........what do you know that I dont.

peawack

vwman wrote: »

Why would that be then...........what do you know that I dont.

Let's start with ....humour ?

vwman_3

peawack wrote: »

Let's start with ....humour ?

You've lost me now, perhaps you can explain............

WTF?_2

vwman wrote: »

You've lost me now, perhaps you can explain............

I don't think he can tell you anything that'll give you a sense of humour.

NOZ_3

Tis funny coz Halifax are willing to up my loan with them an extra £9k.

£120 a month is more than the minimum (read the back of the statement about payments). I don't have a £8k debt with them. So going back to your quote from their T&C it says they will notify you - which they didn't. It also says about bank charges apply for being overdrawn - they aren't legal either! It's bad customer service because they failed to notify me of their decision, made on the 19th and admitted they messed up.

So like the bank charges, they notify you of the charge, you pay it then claim it back because it's unfair. In this instance, they have reduced my credit without prior notification (as stated in the T&C), charged my account for being overdrawn, which in turn adds a mark against my credit rating. Not knowing would have caused me great embarressment at the checkout.

Saying in the terms and conditions that the sky is green with pink dots doesn't mean it's true, valid or accurate does it? End of the day, they failed to keep the customer informed of their decision. Normally you would get a letter sent out 1st class the day they do it, didn't in this case.

p.s - some of the replies to my post are less than constructive. I thought this was a mature forum with informed people.... how about some help rather than the opportunity for personal digs at each other? Many thanks, I appreciate the help x