Halifax rejected my claim for packaged account

DownbeatD

Hi all
I am new here and hoping to get some advice.

I filed a claim against Halifax because I believe they mis-sold my Ultimate Xtra account. In 2010 I was struggling with a bad credit rating and needed a bank account. I aimed to get back on my feet as I had a new job and wanted to build my credit score. I went into my local Halifax branch, and they gave me a standard bank account, as they described. I asked for an overdraft better than the £100, and they said only the Xtra account would qualify. Okay, so I was naive to expect more than £100, but if you don't ask, etc. About three weeks later, I was in the same branch and asked again about a bigger overdraft. The staff member again said I could only qualify with their Xtra account. They explained all the benefits of insurance, discounts, but none of them interested me. They added it was my only way to get a bigger overdraft, told me it was easy, and I could complete the application online in the branch. They even held my hand during the process. They granted me the account and when I applied for a larger overdraft they declined. I asked to revert to my old account and informed I would lose my overdraft facility. I repeatedly applied for an increased overdraft and was declined each time. If I remember correctly, there was a time I had to wait to reapply for the increase.

It was ten years ago, and I am struggling to remember all the finer details. Halifax says I was given an overdraft for free anyway, but that is not how I remember it. Obviously, I even remember being offered the first month's fee for free if I proceeded. The claim manager has since confirmed that I did not have to pay for the first month.

I read about mis-sold packages and filed a claim in August 2020. COVID caused a delay, but now Halifax says they reject my claim because I applied online, and no staff member advised me. Despite explaining it was done in the branch, they say I still used my bank login, releasing them from any agreement. I am fuming, I remember how much they pushed me into the account, and I honestly felt like I had no other option. The other irony was a declined insurance claim when my mobile phone was stolen. It was declined as I had not registered my phone; something I did not know was necessary!

I am currently ill and awaiting a PET CT scan to determine tumour size; I am sure you can guess the rest! I would love to get this resolved so I can avoid further stress.

Can I now move to the Ombudsman?

TIA

eskbanker

You can escalate to the ombudsman once you've been through Halifax's formal complaint process - has your claim thus far been processed as a complaint?  Once logged as a complaint, if their final response isn't to your satisfaction or you've waited eight weeks, then you can take it to the ombudsman, but be aware that this isn't a swift process either, with a backlog of many months.

It's obviously up to you to decide whether it's more stressful to pursue this than to leave it, but if your recollections differ from Halifax's ("I am struggling to remember all the finer details", "that is not how I remember it", "If I remember correctly") and you don't have documentary evidence to support your version of events then there's no guarantee that you'd be able to persuade FOS that Halifax have rejected your claim unfairly....