:grin: :grin: :grin: Received letter over the weekend. Something along the lines of 'Halifax wishes to defend your claim. However it is not considered financially viable to defend this..... Therefore without admitting liability Halifax agrees to repay all charges plus interest and refund court fees - Woo Hoo!! Perseverance pays off. They simply want to hold out a long as possible to see if you if you lose your nerve and accept their offer of settlement. Don't do it guys - follow the excellent advice on this site and take them all the way!! Let's all give'em Extra until they clean up their act and stop charging!! Now off to make a donation - thsnks all.

Thanks for the 'heads up' guys. Has now been 10 days since I filed my MCOL application and around 5 days since Howard and his gang took up the challenge - would prefer a settlement without the need to knock his glasses off in court but we'll wait and see. Will keep you posted and will also get revising via the templates section.

Thanks Okonski I think I'll take your advice and write another 'robust' letter along with the correspondence received from Npower and see what explanation they come back with. Frankly I'm pretty amazed that a) banks can do this and b) it seems that there is little that can be done about what I feel is a massive breach of confidentiality in, as I said before 'an age of identity theft' etc. I really feel that such a breach should be worth a great deal more than the small amount they paid out from my account without my knowledge. Thanks for the pointers anyway guys.

I have gone through all processes as outlined on this very useful site. After my initial LBA I was offered an initial £90.00 of the almost £300.00 I calculated was owed to me. As advised I agreed to accept as part payment only. They then offered me £188.00 again I accepted as part payment only and notified my intentions to take court action. I have now done this and my claim with interest and costs amounts to around £400.00. Comparing this relatively paltry amount with other claims on this site I was somewhat suprised to receive confirmation from the court that they intend to defend the case in full. Are they bluffing and trying to prevent me from sticking to my guns or are we really likely to meet in court? If so is there a definitive guide that may help me prepare my case? Apart from the usual info re the OFT ruling etc I have one or two 'aces up my sleeve' re the Halifax's mis-management of my account. Should I write to them threatening to expose these in court in the hope that they may rethink and settle or simply wait for the 'big day' - any advice would be appreciated.

How did they get my account details? That's a good question! Don't know - when I phoned to query they eventually confirmed that I did not and never have had an account with them. Interestingly though they did at first ask if I had lived at a certain another address (interestingly, in my town) which I confirmed had not been the case. It sounded to me like they had an account in arrears from a customer who shared my surname. When raising this issue in a letter again both the bank and Npower denied knowledge of this. This makes me think that there perhaps was some liaison between Npower and Halifax and that it wasn't just an automated process where perhaps someone had pressed the wrong button and requested a payment from my account. Both organisations have refunded the monies taken but I remain concerned about what I still consider a breach of confidentiality - proving it is I guess the difficulty here!

Thanks for the response, was beginning to think i'd raised a 'taboo' subject! Yes they did refund the money but I remain concerned about how easy it was for the organisation concerned to get money from my account. Have written to Halifax and Npower and they basically blame each other. I'm simply looking for an explanation, someone to accept responsibilty, an apology, assurance that similar mistakes will not occur in futrure and possibly some kind of compensatory/consolatary payment for the worry caused as a result of their actions! Not much to ask for is it?!!! Well actually i guess it is! :o Was considering runing my complaint past the financial ombudsman if both organisations continue to pass the buck. My only concern here is that I have been to them before regarding another matter and found them to be pretty ineffective and to be honest downright unhelpful. Any other suggestions? This must has happened to other people or am I the only one who is concerned about such breaches in confidentiality in these current times of ID theft etc.

I am in the process of completing a claim via Moneyclaim having been offered almost £100.00 less than the amount owed to me by Halifax Plc (a paltry amount I know compared with many other cases on this site - but MY money nonetheless!!) My claim amounts to £283.00. With interest the amount becomes £350. I note that the costs for applying for the claim rise to £50.00 with any amount over £300. My question is if as appears most likely they agree to settle having received the claim will they also refund my costs or would I only get this back if I have my day in court! Also does the same apply to the amount in interest I am claiming i.e. if they settle out of court can I would not get this either? Any help is greatly appreciated.

I have taken the advice offered and again gone back to the Halifax stating I am only prepared to accept their offer as part payment. I have again re-iterated my intention to submit a claim against them. I have since received a response stating that they are unwilling to increase their offer (the tone is quite terse and doesn't even make clear if the offer still stands!). They have also kindly enclosed a financial ombudsman leaflet. I now intend to go ahead with Moneyclaim submission. It has now been around 21 days since my LBA - is the delay in my submission likely to affect my prospects of winning and obtaining a full refund?

I calculate that the Halifax have imposed charges on my account totalling around £250.00 over the past 6 years. I have followed the guidance on this forum and after my initial claim letter was offered £90 as a full and final settlement. Following the guidance I found on this site I then sent an LBA again requesting the full amount be refunded. I have today received another 'full and final' repayment offer of £188.00 within one week of sending my LBA. My question is as the title suggests do I accept still being around £60.00 short of the full amount and consider myself to have avoided the need to go through litigation procedures? Or, do I again write back stating that I want the full amount or else serve a court order? I appreciate your help - would also appreciate some help with my other query titled ' unauthorised direct debit' (relating to both the Halifax and Npower)posted in the general consumer issues forum (shameless plug I know but it seems everyone is reading it but no-one has any suggestions!! Come on guys gizza clue!)

I recently had a direct debit taken from one of my accounts by Npower. I have never had an account with this company so was understandably concerned as to how this company was able to take money from my Halifax account. I have written to both organisations concerned who have effectively blamed each other without adequately explaining what happened and how. Npower have offered to repay the amount but have ignored my request for a consolatory payment (made via Energywatch). I requested such a payment due to the undue worry caused as a result of what I consider a breach of confidentiality and ultimately a 'theft' from my account. I also spent 20 minutes reporting the problem to Npower all at my cost having done nothing myself to instigate the problem. Can anyone advise as to what action I might be able to take against either organisation? Should I close the account as I am now concerned that my account/personal details have been compromised? Has anyone else experienced a similar instance?