Halifax account - overdraft - account being closed - what is the catch?

hereagain22

Hi all, any advice please. Too good to be true? 

I have an old spends account with Halifax which we ran up a substantial overdraft on.
I also have a main account with Halifax which wages go into and I then use another bank account for spending. This OD account has just been unused and in the minus for years. When Halifax brought in that new charges system years ago where it started adding £80 a month or something to the OD I complained and stopped using the account and have been very slowly paying this overdraft off. We now have £500 left and I was going to pay this within the next couple of months. We are hoping to buy a house in the next couple of years so need to get shot of this alongside some other debts as obviously it is a big negative on my file.

Out of the blue I have received a letter from Halifax stating that they are going to close the account and settle the overdraft. I am reading every word thinking what is the catch?
There are options to keep the account open if I pay the balance back otherwise it will be closed. I don't need the account so it can be closed no problem to me!  

It states "we'll clear the full balance of your overdraft and close the account". 

Re credit report it states "if we pay off the balance of your overdraft in full and close your account, we will let the credit agencies know. They'll amend your credit file to show this has been settled." 

The opening of the letter states "we've found we haven't given you the right support when you went into an unarranged overdraft. We should have been in touch about the figure owed to bring your account back up to date. I'm sorry we haven't let you know about this before. To help put this right we'll clear the full balance" 

So what is the catch? They are going to write off this balance and close the account and mark it as settled on my file.
Are they worried I can make a complaint about this so they are just writing it off? 
My main worry was that it would be marked as not paid off on my file and have a further impact but it says they will mark it as fully settled so - are we in the clear on this one then? Am I missing something?

Thanks 

born_again

No catch.
Banks are not all heartless. 

sourcrates

Yes they have made a commercial decision to close the account as they admit they did not provide you with the correct support previously.

Its win win all-round, they have written off a balance that only ever existed electronically, they have saved costs associated with you making a complaint, and writing it off against tax adds to their bottom line.

I had a similar experience with Halifax a few years ago, and more recently with a debt owed to them by my late Brother.