Halifax Help

smiller15

Good morning, please excuse me if this is in the wrong thread,

I currently have a halifax ultimate reward current account, for 6 years i have been recieving huge fees for an unplanned overdraft. This has been made worse in the last 12 months since my overdraft was increased from £100 to £2,750. I did not apply for the increase to my overdraft but one day it was just on my account. This has made my situation worse.

I am currently in financial hardship with debts totalling over £10,000 i am currently in a debt managment plan with 6 pay day lenders which i had to take out just to pay for my fees and cover living costs.

I am a gambling addict who is currently recieving help from GA for this. Halifax giving me the overdraft which i didnt apply for has made my situation so much worse and forced me to stay with them as a bank meaning i pay £60 a month in "arranged overdraft fees" and regular £20 a month in unaranged overdraft fees on top of a £15 account fee which i am forced to pay as i cannot downgrade my account due to my overdraft.

Is there anyway i can claim any of these charges back through financial hardship? I know this is totally my fault as i didnt have to use the overdraft but with the gambling addiction its like sittong a beer in front of an alcholic and telling them not to drink it. but surley they could have seen my account status with money leaving to gambling sites the day i was paid and missed direct debits etc so why would they increase my overdraft?

Im torn between writing to them and requesting the charges back because if they say no and then say right you have to pay it all back now then im in a worse situation then i am now because i obviously do not have £2,750 laying around.

Any help or advice would be very helpful right now im not sure which way to turn.

Thank you

Steve

[Deleted User]

Ask them for help.

Pixie5740

Nothing ventured nothing gained. Write to Halifax requesting a refund of the charges. You should also open up a new basic bank account outside of the Lloyds banking group which owns Halifax. Start having all your income paid into the new account and then include the overdraft in your DMP.

smiller15

Thank you for your replies,

The debt managment plan i have in place (if i can call it that) is not with a company i did this with each of the creditors myself, which is currently payed from my halifax account, i have been looking at opening another basic acount i do have a 2nd account with llyods which obviously halifax can use to offset so its not a good idea getting my money paid into that account.

Do you know if TSB since there break up with llyods is now a seperate bank with no affiliations with Halifax as i have had an offer to open up a TSB cash account (the most basic) which i could get my wages paid into.

Thank you

Shakin_Steve

The bank may look at it the other way round. You could have rung them on day one and asked them to remove the large overdraft facility, so negating any further debt problems with them.
As for them noticing that a large amount of your income was going on gambling, it doesn't work that way. It's all just debits and credits to them.
But, as has been said, they may be sympathetic if you ring them up and state your case. Good luck.

Please keep working with GA, talking to other people in the same boat makes you realise that you are worse than some, but not as bad as others, and that you are certainly not unique.

Pixie5740

TSB are no longer part of the Lloyds Banking Group. Nationwide Building Society offer a basic bank account as well and are not connected to Lloyds either.

What I meant about including your overdraft in your DMP, which I'm glad to hear is not with a company, is that Halifax are one of your creditors along with pay day loan companies so just treat them all the same i.e. ask Halifax to freeze the interest and accept token repayments.

Good luck on your debt free journey.

smiller15

Thank you for your reply,

I have opened a TSB account, the most basic one they offer (cash account) with this i have no overdraft etc so cannot get into any more trouble then i am in already.

Do you know how accommodating Halifax are? When u say freeze intrest does that mean the £2 daily fee? Or could i possibly include the £15 monthly fee aswel? I currently pay on average £100 a month just in fees so if they stopped charging me i could put that money towards paying it off.

I know everyones situation is diffrent but on a £2,750 debt what would they realistically take as a "token payment" each month.

Thanks

Steve

Pixie5740

Yes just ask Halifax to freeze all interest and charges. You could just offer a token payment of £1 a month if you want. What have you already arranged with the pay day lenders?

If you're going to have all your income paid into TSB from now on it doesn't matter too much how accommodating Halifax will want to be because they won't be able to touch your income. They can only get what you are able to give them.

smiller15

Hi Pixie,

Thanks for the reply. I have arranged with my payday lenders to pay £5 a week on each, that totals £30. I also have a gurantor loan which i pay £70 a week on (310 per month) and a unsecured loan which i pay £25 a week on (100 per month) then on top of that i have rent food, fuel costs car insurance etc. So i would be more then happy paying the £100 a month saved on charges to clear this as i already pay this to yhe Halifax anyway.

I have not moved my income to the TSB account at the moment im waiting for the card and online banking details in the post. Should i wait for these to arrive and move all the details over before contacting Halifax as im guessing they are well within there rights to hold all my income once a raise a complaint.

Thank you again

Steve

BrassicWoman

smiller15 wrote: »

I also have a gurantor loan which i pay £70 a week on (310 per month)

If you default on this your guarantor will be asked to make the payments on your behalf, so I would warn them.

smiller15

Hi BrassicWoman

My gurantor is aware of my situation, and at the moment i can afford to make this payment now i have set up a debt managment plan with my pay day loans.