Hi all,
Have spent some time this morning reading through various posts etc and familiarising myself with peoples claims and versions etc.
Being in financial difficulty myself I decided to take a look and see for myself what I can do. I have totalled my overdraft fees paid since 2012, and I must admit I didn't realise it was so bad. I have been in my overdraft for a total of 58 months out of the last 67 (dating back to September 2012) which is astonishing.
I have drafted a letter which will be sent to Halifax on Tuesday when I return to work.
Is it possible someone can offer any advice on the letter prior to sending it? It would be much appreciated. Letter below:
"I am writing to request that you repay all the charges in relation to direct debits, overdrafts and standing orders that have been applied to my account in the past six years.
I believe the fact that I have been incurring bank charges goes contrary to the aims of the Lending Code (Section 9) and Banking Conduct of Business Sourcebook (section 5.1.4 !!!8216;in particular, a firm should deal fairly with a banking customer whom it has reason to believe is in financial difficulty!!!8217

. My personal situation has been affected by the charges leaving me in financial hardship and I am writing to request that you take the following grounds into consideration:
!!!8226; Loan and Credit Card payments !!!8211; As I am sure you can research, I had a loan and a credit card with yourselves with fairly large sums (loan £14,000 and Credit Card £6,000). I was making monthly payments on the loan, with the odd payment that was missed and payment holidays taken but wasn!!!8217;t making many payments on the Credit Card until I was forced to sell my home to pay these debts off in 2017. I believe without the added pressure to having to make monthly payments on my account I could have made more payments on the Credit Card, ultimately resulting in keeping my property. I am now back in the renting sector.
!!!8226; Income being offset by charges !!!8211; Since March 2017 I have been self-employed with a substantially lower !!!8220;guaranteed!!!8221; wage every month. Prior to going self-employed my wage was consistent every week/month, whereas now my wage is consistently £917 a month with added payments if work comes my way. I cannot guarantee on a month by month basis that I will earn enough to cover all of my outgoings, especially now the overdraft fees have increased by approximately 150%.
!!!8226; Living off credit !!!8211; For a long period in my life from 2015 I have been living solely from credit. I had the £14,000 loan with yourselves, a £6000 credit card with yourselves, a £5000 credit card with Barclaycard and a £7000 loan with Zopa. I since sold my property and paid off the loan and both the credit cards but the loan with Zopa is still outstanding. This payment along with daily living and my lower income mean that paying this substantial overdraft is near on impossible, especially paying £4 a day fee.
As I am sure you can see, I have tried numerous times to increase my overdraft on both my current accounts when times get tough, yet I am rejected every time. I am struggling financially and right now, cannot see a way out of this overdraft anytime within the foreseeable future.
!!!8226; Time spent in overdraft !!!8211; Since September 2012, I have spent a total of 58 months out of a possible 67 in my overdraft in one form or another. Without the charges being implemented on my account and snowballing to an extent from one month to another, I believe that I wouldn!!!8217;t have been in my overdraft for such a long period of time.
The charges total £1840.39 and I ask that you repay me the full amount.
Plus as I believe I have been unfairly deprived of the money I have calculated £259.31 interest at the statutory rate, the amount a court would award and I ask that this be added to my claim to give a total of £2099.70
I have attached a full schedule of the charges with this document.
Ultimately, I want to be out of my overdraft and live my life without the everyday stress of constantly having to pay fees. I want to use the figure above to substantially lower the overdraft amount, and then focus on paying the remainder of the overdraft across this year, with a view to be overdraft free by the end of 2018.
I look forward to a full response to this letter within 14 days and if I do not receive a satisfactory response I intend to pursue my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service or small claims court at the earliest opportunity.
Yours faithfully"
Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you all