Halifax Opportunistically Stealing Money

RequiredField

In January this year I was assaulted and sexually assaulted by police while in the Philippines. They then filed several false charges against me and I was arrested. Cases here go on for years. Due to the nature of my alleged crimes, I am not allowed to leave the country until the cases have been settled.

My former bank, Halifax, are aware of this and decided to close my bank account for an unspecified reason. When I called them to ask for an explanation, I was told to book a flight to the UK and visit my local branch if I wanted an explanation.

Given the timing of the closure, I saw three possible reasons for them wishing to close it:

1. They screwed up on a chargeback by not reading e-mails, causing them to send the wrong information to VISA. I raised a complaint, they admitted that they had made a mistake by not reading my previous e-mails beyond the first paragraph. They raised the case with VISA again and made exactly the same mistakes as before causing me to lose a dispute I would have easily won had they sent the correct information.

They knew that I would escalate this case to Financial Ombudsman and that they would be liable to pay me £6000 out of their own pocket, so they may have closed my account out of petty revenge.

2. I had a five year ISA that was due to mature soon. They were adamant that, despite them being the ones closing the account, I would have to pay a fee (more than the interest I had made) due to closing the account early.

They may have closed the account to avoid paying out an ISA and to charge me extra money.

3. They know that I am likely to be stuck in a country I don't want to be in for another 1-2 years after they closed the account. They know I can't leave, so they closed my account with the intent of sending me cheques in the post, knowing full well that I would not be able to encash them within the six month time limit on cheques. That way they can permanently retain my money.

I already raised a complaint with Financial Ombudsman about my account being closed without explanation. FO said there was no issue with that and said that Halifax would send money I couldn't get out (the money in the ISA) by cheque, unless I provided Halifax with an alternative place to send the money.

I managed to open an account with HSBC while abroad, provided Halifax with all of the account details for my new account and told them to send the money from the ISA there when my accounts were closed.

They ended up sending me a cheque for the money that was in the ISA (minus the fee they charged me for closing it early). I raised a complaint with Halifax about them sending me a cheque rather than paying it into my account, when they knew full well that I wouldn't get the cheque within six months.

Halifax told me that there was no issue as far as they were concerned as they had sent a cheque and all I had to do was book a flight to the UK (I would be arrested at the airport) to get my money. I was told that that was my only option as I won't ever get my money otherwise.

I raised a complaint with Financial Ombudsman.

A month later, an online bookmaker were adamant that, despite my bank account with Halifax being closed, the money would have to be sent there due to money laundering regulations. I contacted Halifax, who told me that the money would be sent straight back to the merchant once they received it.

I have been in touch with Halifax regularly over the last two weeks to find out what was happening with the money. I was repeatedly told that it was being processed and would be returned to the merchant when they got around to dealing with it.

Instead of returning the money to the merchant as they were supposed to, Halifax decided to send me another cheque, knowing full well that I won't get it before the six months are up.

They have taken over £3000 from me in total. What are my options here?

worried_jim

Don't get duffed up in the Philippines.

boo_star

Couldn't you provide them with the sort code and account number of a relatives account?

FWIW I think you're being ridiculous if you think Halifax are trying to pinch your money. £3000 might be a lot to you but it's peanuts to a large banking organisation and it's not like they'd get to keep it anyway. Regardless of whether they cheques expire or not they still owe you the money and would lose in court as long as you sue them before 6 years are up.

jonesMUFCforever

Were you domiciled outside the UK for tax?
If so you are not eligible for an ISA.

RequiredField

Couldn't you provide them with the sort code and account number of a relatives account?

They have the sort code and account number of my new account. They have told me that they won't be sending the money via bank transfer. They have told me that the only way I will be getting my money is if I book a flight to the UK to get the cheques before their six months is up.

FWIW I think you're being ridiculous if you think Halifax are trying to pinch your money. £3000 might be a lot to you but it's peanuts to a large banking organisation and it's not like they'd get to keep it anyway. Regardless of whether they cheques expire or not they still owe you the money and would lose in court as long as you sue them before 6 years are up.

£3000 isn't a lot to them, but I doubt this is an isolated case. Stealing small sums of money from lots of people can amount to a lot.

Taking them to a small claims court is my current plan, but I assume I will have to wait until I am back in the UK to do this?

Were you domiciled outside the UK for tax?

No. I was on holiday and was unfortunate enough to walk past a policemen who is involved in a competition to see who can arrest citizens from the most different countries.

boo_star

RequiredField wrote: »

They have the sort code and account number of my new account. They have told me that they won't be sending the money via bank transfer. They have told me that the only way I will be getting my money is if I book a flight to the UK to get the cheques before their six months is up.


£3000 isn't a lot to them, but I doubt this is an isolated case. Stealing small sums of money from lots of people can amount to a lot.

Taking them to a small claims court is my current plan, but I assume I will have to wait until I am back in the UK to do this?


No. I was on holiday and was unfortunate enough to walk past a policemen who is involved in a competition to see who can arrest citizens from the most different countries.

Your tinfoil hat is on way too tight. No bank would risk the reputational damage something like this would cause for a few grand at a time. And besides, I suspect the vast majority of people that have their accounts closed aren't being "detained" in a foreign country so it just wouldn't happen on the scale that would make even a noticeable difference to their bottom line.

At the end of the day the explanation is pretty simple. They have a process for dealing with this that works the vast majority of the time. You're in a very unusual situation that means that the process just doesn't really work but they're (perhaps understandably) not going to make exceptions for a few cases like this. And as the FOS seem to agree with their process they're apparently right to stick to their guns.

Where are the cheques going? Can a friend or a relative pick them up and post them to your new bank?

RequiredField

And as the FOS seem to agree with their process they're apparently right to stick to their guns.

Financial Ombudsman agreed that it was fair for Halifax to close my account without telling me why. FO specifically said that Halifax would send the remaining balance via cheque UNLESS I told them otherwise. I told them otherwise and they still sent a cheque.

FO have not addressed the new complaint yet.

Where are the cheques going? Can a friend or a relative pick them up and post them to your new bank?

An empty home. Nobody other than myself has access to it.

boo_star

RequiredField wrote: »

Financial Ombudsman agreed that it was fair for Halifax to close my account without telling me why. FO specifically said that Halifax would send the remaining balance via cheque UNLESS I told them otherwise. I told them otherwise and they still sent a cheque.

FO have not addressed the new complaint yet.


An empty home. Nobody other than myself has access to it.

Well you're pretty much stuck then.

LobsterMemory

RequiredField wrote: »

£3000 isn't a lot to them, but I doubt this is an isolated case. Stealing small sums of money from lots of people can amount to a lot.

.

You're right; I saw that in Superman III

eDicky

Sorry to hear of your predicament - I hope your legal problems can be successfully resolved, at least you don't seem to be incarcerated.

Halifax may not be doing much to help in your particular situation, but they're not 'stealing' your money.

The main obstacle seems to be the lack of access to your house and the cheques - is there nobody to whom you could send the keys and take care of banking them for you..?

RequiredField

Halifax may not be doing much to help in your particular situation, but they're not 'stealing' your money.

They know full well I have no way of retrieving those cheques. They have explicitly told me that they will not be issuing new cheques if I don't encash them within six months of the issue date and that they will not be giving me my money via any other method.

The only solution seems to be to take them to a small claims court when I return to the UK. I think it is extremely unlikely that a judge will side with Halifax.

The main obstacle seems to be the lack of access to your house and the cheques - is there nobody to whom you could send the keys and take care of banking them for you..?

Unfortunately not.