Halifax switch chasing money that was paid

Greentea44

We are after some advice from either experts or others who have experienced this and can shed some light on what’s going on.

I bank with Halifax and in recent years also had a joint account with my husband with Halifax. We switched the joint last year to Santander. Switch was ok but we didn’t realise the Halifax were going to close the old joint account literally the same day, it even disappeared from online banking immediately.

We knew there would be a small overdraft balance once the switch happened but we had the funds ready to put over to the old Halifax account to sort that.

With it disappearing from online banking we were in the dark about the balance. I rang Halifax but no-one was helpful. A few weeks later I had a telephone call from Halifax who said “you need to pay X”. After splitting hairs about whether they were the Halifax, I paid the amount. It’s showing on my Santander account as paid but I never received a receipt, letter from Halifax, nothing. Don’t worry, I am already realising that was irresponsible on my part but they did confirm it was Halifax.

Since then I have had a lot of telephone calls from a call centre with poor language demanding the money. Each time, I explained it was paid and often they would just hang up on me. I started to think it wasn’t the Halifax and stopped taking the calls. I get a few suspicious calls and these had all the hallmarks. I called Halifax and they confirmed it was one of their departments calling me.

I have now received a letter from a bailiff saying I owe it to them. I have made a written complaint to Halifax and I have taken a copy of the Santander bank statement clearly showing the amount as paid to the Halifax account number.
What concerns me is this will be on my credit score despite it having been paid. It is also just me not the joint account holder that is being targeted.
Any advice is welcome.
Thanks

Nebulous2

It's not clear to me what has happened.

You switched to Santander while the account was in overdraft. What moved across, did Santander show a negative balance?

Where did you pay the Halifax from? Again I'm not clear why it would show in the Santander account.

Any payment made to the Halifax account should be forwarded to Santander if you used the switching service. It's possible the Halifax employee who phoned you didn't realise it had been switched and took a payment which was then sent to Santander.

If that's the case then you still owe the money.

Greentea44

The switch was from Halifax to Santander.
The switch handled most transactions but was always going to leave the old Halifax in overdraft for us to clear. We are talking a small amount.
I was called about it having not received anything and the account not accessible.
I paid that amount from the new Santander account. It is clear on the statement that it went to the old Halifax account.
I continue to get requests for it.
I am unable to ascertain if the requests are legit.
If I call Halifax they don’t seem to link up to the dept dealing with it (when it was still Halifax chasing it).
Now a bailiff company is chasing it.
But I can see the payment on my bank statement as having paid it 2 weeks after the switch.
I will await the complaint process and see if it results in better communication over the matter with Halifax.
I won’t engage the bailif at this time as this is not something they can resolve. They have just been given what they would view as a legitimate debt.

bazzyb

Greentea44 wrote: »

I paid that amount from the new Santander account. It is clear on the statement that it went to the old Halifax account.

This payment would have been forwarded to your new account, as part of the switching service. Therefore you have not paid anything and the debt is still due, which is why they are chasing you.

Greentea44

It!!!8217;s bounced back in. I didn!!!8217;t think to check that.
Why would Halifax take the payment for an overdraft balance left after the switch and pay it into a switched account for it to bounce back. On top of that, why when I have been saying I paid it a zillion times when they call, didn!!!8217;t they check this might have happened. It taken less than 24 hours for someone on this forum to suggest it.
I don!!!8217;t work in a bank or financial setting (as you can guess), thanks for letting me know that can happen.
I can sort.

clivep

Greentea44 wrote: »

It!!!8217;s bounced back in. I didn!!!8217;t think to check that.
Why would Halifax take the payment for an overdraft balance left after the switch and pay it into a switched account for it to bounce back. On top of that, why when I have been saying I paid it a zillion times when they call, didn!!!8217;t they check this might have happened. It taken less than 24 hours for someone on this forum to suggest it.
I don!!!8217;t work in a bank or financial setting (as you can guess), thanks for letting me know that can happen.
I can sort.

But Halifax didn't take the payment did they?

You said that you "paid that amount from the new Santander account. It is clear on the statement that it went to the old Halifax account".

The old Halifax account had been closed so any payments sent to it would automatically be re-routed to your new Santander a/c.

The CASS switching is very clear about this...

Question: "What happens to payments that people send to my old account?".
Answer "The Current Account Switch Service will redirect payments to your new account".

So your payment from your new Santander a/c wasn't to Halifax at all but to... your own new Santander a/c.

Halifax were probably never aware that you had tried to pay them as it's the CASS system that will have automatically re-routed the transaction. How were Halifax supposed to have checked this? They could see you hadn't paid them. Your Santander a/c shows that you paid yourself.

eDicky

Greentea44 wrote: »

I paid that amount from the new Santander account. It is clear on the statement that it went to the old Halifax account.

Is that how Halifax specified that the payment should be made - to your old account that was already switched and closed? If so, that should be the main point of your complaint against Halifax.

BooJewels

I recently had to repay some money to Halifax that had been put in my Halifax account (by them) in error - the only way it could be done apparently was for me to send them a cheque made payable to something like 'Halifax Banking Group' with a specified reference on the back. (it then took them over 7 weeks to actually 'cash' the cheque, despite telling me it would be done with days.)

What instruction did they give you in that first phone call where they gave you the amount? As eDicky just mentioned, if you actually followed their instruction and it turned out to be incorrect, then that would be cause for complaint - that you'd been hassled after following their instruction.

Greentea44

The payment was taken over the phone by a Halifax person. I didn’t have any control over that Halifax employee then posting it on a switched account rather than clear the amount they needed clearing.
The amount will get paid on Monday but I will be asking / ensuring they don’t do this again.

Greentea44

Apparently it’s a known issue that less experienced staff have done this.

When I was on the phone making this payment, it could not have been clearer what was being done and why. They phoned me to clear an overdraft balance left due after the switch. After checking they were Halifax I got my new bank card and made the payment. That’s all I needed to do.

bazzyb

You said earlier that you transferred the funds into your closed account, now it sounds more like you made a card payment over the phone - what actually happened?