Halifax awful complaints team - FOS upheld

Luciasc

Hi - Has anyone had a complaint PROVISIONALLY upheld by the FOS (Ombudsman not adjudicator) but struggled to get any details from Halifax as to when they will go back to the FOS and/or process the refund?

The FOS kindly sped up my complaint on financial hardship grounds, have provisionally upheld, requesting a refund from Halifax last week. But Halifax call handlers don't seem to understand any of what I am saying on the phone and cant give me any updates.

[Deleted User]

Luciasc wrote: »

The FOS kindly sped up my complaint on financial hardship grounds, have provisionally upheld, requesting a refund from Halifax last week.

What has been actually upheld? A complaint about Bank Charges? FOS has no authority to "uphold" a complaint about Bank Charges, all it can do is ensure that you are dealt with fairly. They therefore cannot somehow speed up the complaint process and the bank has eight weeks to consider any complaint.

In other threads you state that you are approaching the end of your DMP and are no longer in financial hardship..

Provide far more detail and you'll get a more informed response..

Luciasc

I am out of my DMP thank you for checking. I have however had to take a significant amount of unpaid leave due to my child being unable to attend school on many occasion. Not that it should matter why I am in financial hardship.

The complaint is in regards to PPI on a credit card.

Halifax declined the complaint over a year ago. The FOS have said they should refund all PPI costs plus interets etc but have given Halifax one last go at sending any additional info (not sure why when they already sent their business file to the adjudicator several months ago and then again when I referred it to an ombudsman.)

[Deleted User]

Luciasc wrote: »

Halifax declined the complaint over a year ago. The FOS have said they should refund all PPI costs plus interets etc but have given Halifax one last go at sending any additional info (not sure why when they already sent their business file to the adjudicator several months ago and then again when I referred it to an ombudsman.)

Obviously you'll have to wait for the Bank to respond. They can still appeal the decision. Not sure where financial hardship comes into the equation, since that only applies to Bank Charges I'm afraid. The FOS has no power to "speed" up the complaint process simply because your money is tight.

There really is no point contacting the Bank yourself in the current circumstance, any communication should now be via the Ombudsman. It will be through the Ombudsman that you'll receive updates, not the Bank. Don't waste your time calling the Bank, their call centre operatives will know nothing about your referred complaint.

Luciasc

Sorry I wasn't aware it only applied to bank charges.

I know Halifax can provide further info which may change the FOS provisional decision but as I understood it, an Ombudsman (not an adjudicator) decision once finally upheld has to be adhered to? Is that not correct? If not, whats the point if the bank can appeal? They've had two opportunities to provide info already. Its not exaclty a complicated case.

I have already contacted the FOS as Halifax are claiming they haven't received anything. The FOS are kindly resending their letter.

The main point of my post was to gain an incite in to other people's experiences with Halifax PPI complaints that had been provisionally upheld by the FOS. And to see if anyone had struggled to get any updates. I thought I was well within my rights to ask the bank for an update on a PPI complaint for which i had not applied for!

[Deleted User]

Luciasc wrote: »

The main point of my post was to gain an incite in to other people's experiences with Halifax PPI complaints that had been provisionally upheld by the FOS. And to see if anyone had struggled to get any updates. I thought I was well within my rights to ask the bank for an update on a PPI complaint for which i had not applied for!

You need to understand and appreciate that your complaint has only been provisionally upheld, that means a refund is not guaranteed as yet I'm afraid.

Luciasc wrote: »

Halifax call handlers don't seem to understand any of what I am saying on the phone and cant give me any updates.

As I said earlier, as you have referred your complaint, there is now no point in you contacting the Bank directly because any decision will now be communicated to you only via the Ombudsman.
The "awful" complaints team will be unable to assist you now in any way.