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Thank you for that letter, will get it typed up tonight and off tomorrow record delivery, with a copy to the council. Many thanks for taking an interest everyone, I am really amazed as to how generous everyone is on this site with their time and advice, it is so much appreciated Mixhele

Hi It is Swindon Borough Council. I have gone from being upset and frightened to furious about this. I understand now that the £120 was a van fee but at no time did the bailiff mention this, he said it was "for defaulting, and we can charge what we like, there are no government guidelines" I have asked Chandlers for a breakdown of these costs, bet they put it down as Van fee, then it is just my word against his as to what he called it. Either way, I am determined to take this further as it is disgusting that these people can threaten and frighten you into such a state you will pay anything to get rid of them

Just firstly wanted to say thank you all so much for your help Got nowhere with the council, they were not interested at all, just kept saying that it has gone to the bailiffs so they cant do anything. Spoke to the bailiff again and basically begged him for another day or so to try and get this money together. No luck, he was rude and nasty, didnt listen to a word I said. Said that if it wasnt paid by noon today he would be back with his van and a locksmith. I told him I would be at work and that my teenage daughter would be home alone as she has no college today, again not interested. I asked him how he justified the £120 added fee, just kept saying that they can charge for a default and dont need to forewarn me as they have a walking agreement. he put the phone down me in the end. Have somehow managed to scrape the money together (after having to phone work and tell them I would be late in) by using the rest of this months food money, my sons birthday money which I feel terrible about, smashed open my £2 coin jar which I was saving for my car tax and borrowed £50 off my nan., while feeling like the lowest of the low. Paid the nasty man, still in tears, I asked him for a breakdown of their "fees" and he just laughed and told me to ring head office. I then had to go and do a days work, still very upset and after having no sleep from worrying about this. I appreciate that I was acouple of days late paying this, but have been paying it for months and never been late before, have almost cleared this account until today

Hi I hope someone can help me as I am at my wits end. I have a debt for council tax which I have been paying Chandlers Bailiffs £50 a month for a while, there is £137 left to pay, and I pay every month on 23rd. Tonight I have had a visit from a bailiff from Chandlers who turned up right in the middle of my son's birthday party. he said that I have defaulted on the Fabruary payment and they are now demanding full payment plus £120 immediately, £257!! I said I was unaware of a default, he said that the Feb payment was made on the 26th and not the 23rd. I explained that I get paid on the 23rd of every month, which in this case was a Saturday which means my money doesnt clear until the Monday, therefore the payment went through the following day. he was having none of it, said that even though it was paid, it was still a default and they will be back tomorrow morning to seize goods, with a locksmith if there is nobody in. I am supposed to be at work all day tomorrow. They have a walking agreement from before. I am in a hell of a state, no idea what to do, can they do this?? Is it right to add £120 to the final amount? For what? I queried this with him and they said they can add on what they want for a default. I told him that it isnt a defualt, I paid it, I told him I have had no correspondence from Chandlers about this, he said they dont need to warn me, they can just turn up. I am here alone with my children, in an absolute state, this has ruined my sons birthday and I am terrified they are going to be back banging on the door at 6 am. Then what do I do? I could probably scrape together the £127 but no way another £120 Please can someone help me? I am so frightened [email=abuse@moneysavingexpert.com?subject=Reporting post http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=4591062][/email] [/url]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I will undoubtedly be claiming any charges back, trouble is that doesnt help me next week, with no money and 3 children to feed on fresh air! Grrr I HATE banks, and that guy who said to talk to the banks who will possibly help you with returning back the charges, obviously hasnt spoken to anyone at the Halifax!! I wont even waste time on the phone call to them, I know what they will say, they are within their rights to dip in to your account whenever they like, with no notice, and if it makes you go overdrawn then they will whack a few more pounds on to make you suffer abit more. Money to feed your children and live on? Pah, who needs it!!

Next installment! I have sent the letter as advised above off to Halifax re my current account saying the amount is in dispute due to the charges etc. BUT today, have checked my Cardcash account which should have been in credit , only to find the Halifax have helped themselves to £53.00 from this account to transfer to my other account. I understand they can do this (offsetting??) but in the meantime, I had a couple of payments already committed to going out of this account and by them taking 53 quid out, has now caused this account to go overdrawn (surely they could tell on their system before they helped themselves that there were some pending debits waiting to come out?) This account is now also overdrawn, thanks to them, and I am pretty sure they will now turn round and whack a load of charges on this account now too! Also, as it now overdrawn, when my Tax Credit goes in next Tuesday, this will almost all be swallowed up, leaving me no money for food and petrol next week. I phoned Tax Credits people just now to see if they can pay my money into a different account and they said they cant guarantee it will be processed in time for it to take effect. I am so annoyed with Halifax, I know there is very little point in phoning them as they will say they can do this, but has anyone got any suggestions? I am really worried. Thanks

Thank you so much

I have a current account with Halifax which is at present £337 o/d. Of this £235 is due to charges. I have received a default letter from them saying that if I do not pay the amount in full they will be taking further action etc etc. I am not sure what to do now, do I write with preliminary letter template asking for my £235 back and what do I say about their or default letter (I have successfully already claimed back my charges on my Cardcash account) or do I word it differently seeing as they have already written to me? Thanks!

Hi i am on Round 2 with the Halifax. They settled my first claim end of June, now have taken another £300 in charges. Sent prelimary letter and LBA to which no reply at all, not even a standard letter, have now sent them another letter telling them I am taking court action again,still nothing from them. Court papers sent off friday so watch this space!

HI Thanks for your reply. I did pluck up courage to phone them this morning, the lady in Accounts said that the original figure I was quoting from the Walking Possession Form didnt include Levy Fee and Walking Possession Fees which had been added on later. These fees were actually included in the breakdown on the form, and I told the lady as much, turns out they have charged me TWICE on both accounts for fees which had already been included. Naughty naughty. She also said that although I should be charged £1 per transaction, their system had charged me the rate for CREDIT CARDS, although I had paid by Debit Card and she refunded that to the account as well. I was very insistent that it was their error, they admitted that it was and that if I hadnt spotted it, then they probably wouldnt have! She was actually pleasant enough , and said she would amend it immediately on their system and put it in writing as well. I asked if I could pay directly to their bank, she said no that wasnt possible and said I could pay by cheque although they dont send out receipts for them, so I think I will continue to use my Debot Card, as least I know they have definately got it!

Just checked my online accounts with Chandlers before making this months payment, and the starting balance on both accounts differs from the Total Amount Outstanding on the Green Walking Possession Forms I signed ie On Account 1) the starting balance online is £671.36 and on my form it says £615.56 On Account 2) the starting balance online says £661.80 when on my form it says £612.71 Is there a reason for this? ie is there another fee they add on after you have signed the WP Form? I have also noticed that although on the WP form it says that they charge £1.00 per transaction for Debit cards, online they have charged differing amounts from £1.90 to £6.17 as transaction fees. The differences in my balances outstanding are therefore quite large, in account 1) their outstanding balance as showing online is £541.56 whereas it should be £487.56 and in account 2) they are showing it as £322.54 whereas I make it £294.71. A difference of £80 odd over the 2 accounts, that is nearly a month's payment! is there any obvious reason for this that I am missing? I want to get my facts straight before I call them tomorrow, they are not the easiest people to deal with and I will find it very daunting if they insist their figures are correct due to charges I should have been aware of being added on. can anyone advise? thanks michele

As well as wanting my latest Tax Credits Award letter, my court also wanted copies of my last few bank statements to see the Tax Credits going into my account every week. Good luck michele

Just about to fill in my N1 forms for the Halifax, is there a downloadable version of the Exemption from Fees form? (I filled this in last time as I receive Tax Credits and didnt have to pay a fee)

Hi gang Tomorrow I will be issuing my 2nd County Court claim against the Halifax. Not scared this time as I won before so I will do again! Has anyone else succeeded 2nd time around and did they make you close your account like they have threatened me with? (ooh I am so scared!!)

I didnt want to start an argument , I just wanted some easy to follow advice guys! Thanks anyway, will try and get my head round what's best to do next. Michele

Thanks for all the posts which I am in the process of reading. I have to hand 1 of the green Walking Agreement forms, the amounts are as follows: Council Tax 524.56 Levy Fee £41.00 Walking Possession Fee £11.00 Attendance/removal costs £39.00 Total amount outstanding £615.56 The other things I was unsure of was if it was right for my partner to sign one of these forms in my absence? The bailiff came when I was at work and even though the debt is in my name, was happy for my partner to sign the Walking Agreement Form. The house is in his name by the way, and the contents are some mine, some his. Not sure if he should have signed the form? I signed the other one cos I was too scared not to, I was here on my own with my baby and the man was so vile, I was terrified. I did tell him I couldnt afford the £50 he was asking for a month and he just said that was the minimum they could take as they are obliged to clear the account within 8 months. Is this true? Thanks again for all your replies, it is such a relief to know someone is out there on my side!

thank you so much

Hi I am in the process of making my 2nd claim against the Halifax, first time round I received standard letters saying they were looking into things, then 2 offers which I refused, then a letter saying there would be no further offers then nothing more till they paid out! This time round I have sent off preliminary and LBa and heard not a sausage, phoned them today and was told they have recived my letters but havent dealt with them yet and didnt know when they would get round to replying. ! I told them that their 14 days runs out on Moday then I will be issuing court proceedings (again) they were not interested and told me they will not be making any refunds and will be looking at closing my account. So dont worry is what I am trying to say, they make it up as they go along! I did want to say to the lady today "If you wont be refunding any charges, how come you already have refunded me to the amount of £3000?" but I thought better of it! Good luck, you dont need it though

Oh yes indeed! Any recommendations for a new bank account??

I just phoned the Halifax to see what they are up to. Spoke to a lady called Heather who confirmed that they have my letters but have not dealt with them yet as it is about an ongoing complaint. I said this was a new complaint, she checked and said it was the same as the previous one, therfore they are not in any rush to look at it and will be doing so when they can get round to it basically. She said "I see you issued a County Court Claim against us" I told her I would be issuing another one on Monday as they have failed to pay me back my charges. She said they will not be paying back any more charges, they do not think they are unlawful and they will be looking to close my account as it was up to me to run it correctly etc etc ! I said thanks very much and hung up.

Hi Am after some advice. We currently have 2 "accounts" with Chandlers Bailiffs for council tax arrears (this goes back years from when my ex-partner lived with me and didnt pay anything, unfortunately all was in my name and I ended up with the debt) We are paying £50 a month on each account, £100 in total, one account is about £600 the other about £400 left to pay. Chandlers made us sign a form when they accepted the payment plan, I understand now it is called a walking Agreement. I signed one, and in my absence my partner signed the other one (although the debt is in my name, not sure how this stands up?) Anyway, we said at the time that £100 a month was too high, but Chandlers refused to budge, saying that we only had so many months to clear the account and that £50 was the minimum they could take. This amount is crippling us, my partner is currently out of work and claiming Job Seekers Allowance (although 6 weeks into the claim they have yet to process it or pay any benefit at all) and I work part time for 10 hours a week, so obviously we have a very limited income at the moment. I have tried to telephone Chandlers to tell them we need to reduce the amount, but they just said that is not possible, now we have signed the Walking Agreement we have to stick to it. Is there anything at all we can do? I dont want to pay nothing at all, just £100 a month is taking all our money and we are left with virtually nothing to feed all 5 of us and pay the mortgage and all other bills. I am terrified of getting on the wrong side of these guys as they are not exactly understanding, is it worth going back to the council to appeal to their better nature or will they just say the debt is now with Chandlers? Help!

Hi again LBa which was sent 24th July has been completely ignored as was my preliminary letter! What do I do if I dont hear anything, just go ahead and issue proceedings anyway on the 14th day? I was at least expecting a snotty letter from them this time, but nothing! Any suggestions?

Hi all Having successfully claimed back my charges and received a refund on 28th June, we are off again! This time claim for £290 which is the total charges taken since I submitted my previous claim to court. Sent preliminary letter 10th July and LBA 14th July. To date had no acknowledgement or reply, think they are ignoring me! Has anyone else claimed for a 2nd time with the Halifax and if so, did the Halifax do it any differently to before or did you still have to issue court preceedings before they paid up? Thanks

Hi congratulations on winning! feels great doesnt it? I won my case for £3000 about a month ago, in between filing my court claim and getting my money back, the Halifax took another £290 in charges. I have written the preliminary letter again over a week ago, but no response as yet. Seems ridiculous that they are going to put us through the whole process again, when we know we will win in the end, but hey that's the Halifax for you! I did get the letter saying "we reserve the right to close your account if you imcur any more charges" but no action so far! Good luck to you anyway!