Hi Guys, I'm looking for some advice on a Halifax ISA we took out in September 2017 for a fixed 2 year rate. We took it out with £15203.51 as we had the money in a do nothing account and it wasn't expected to be needed. Circumstances have changed and we need to use the money, all of it, so we made an enquiry to close the account and Halifax have said there is a penalty of 180 days interest. Which means (if my calculations are correct) on the 0.6 interest rate we would have to pay the bank £45 to get our money back with no interest at all. I think this is outrageous as they have had and used the money since September - it is our fault as we (blame the wife) didn't read the small print of 180 days interest penalty when the account was opened. Does anyone think we have any grounds to complain and not pay the penalty?

Today, 3 days before Christmas I learned that Santander had closed my account without warning. On the phone they said they are sending me a cheque with the account balance - that is my Christmas spending money for the family. I asked them what good is a cheque when I now don't have an account - open an account elsewhere was the reply - they know that will take 2-4 weeks and probably longer at this time of year. If they were decent they would give you a warning and allow you to collect your money as cash from the branch - not send a cheque which they know very well will take weeks for you to access. They have my email and phone number surely they could have advised in advance - what if I had been in a restaurant at the time they cancelled and I could not then pay the bill or worse still been abroad with a hotel bill to pay!!! Been with them for over 25 years and have never had a complaint from them about my account - it was in credit - :mad2:

M1 closure due to man on gantry - live updates By JemmaPage | Posted: June 13, 2016 Leicester MercuryM1 closure due to man on gantry - live updates M1 closure due to man on gantry - live updates Comments (6) Part of the M1 is fully closed this Monday morning due to a man who is refusing to come down from a motorway sign gantry. The southbound carriageway remains closed between junctions 23A and 22. The man climbed up the gantry, between junctions 23 and 22, at 1pm on Sunday - and despite the efforts of police officers has yet to come down. The man is dressed in a dark hoodie, and has been seen using a mobile phone. Read more: Commuters annoyed about M1 closure as man enters second day on gantry Road users are advised to exit the M1 at junction 23A and take the A42 southbound continuing onto the M42 southbound. At Birmingham take the M6 southbound and re-join the M1 at junction 19. The northbound carriageway is not affected. A spokesman for Leicestershire Police said: "Motorists are being advised to avoid the southbound carriageway of the M1 motorway following concerns for a man on a bridge. Read more: M1 still closed as man enters second day on gantry "In the interests of public safety it has been necessary to close the southbound carriageways of the motorway at junction 23. "The Highways Agency traffic officers are dealing with the diversion routes and trained police officers are communicating with the man in order to reach a safe conclusion. "If any motorists are caught up in the closures we would like to reassure you that we have not taken this decision lightly and are aiming to open the motorway as soon as possible."

Hi, My business partner and I are going to be registering our company very soon. I know that somewhere into the process, we're going to need to open a business bank account and designate that as our main account for the business. About 3 years ago, I opened a business account and had a business loan that was connected with that account when I opened it (by Lloyds TSB). This company was as a sole trader and wasn't a registered company. I had some payment issues and the business account was eventually closed, as I'd missed some loan repayments/late payments, etc. Ultimately, the loan was sold on by Lloyds and I've been paying it back ever since. I didn't go bankrupt or anything like that, and the loan wasn't a large sum of money. But I lost the business bank account in the process. I've been paying off the loan ever since through a debt consolidation company and all is fine in that regard. I was wondering if I'm likely to experience issues when opening a business bank account now? I'd use a different bank and I wouldn't be looking to get a loan or anything like that. It would purely be myself and my business partner using it as our official business bank account. Any help on this would be much appreciated,

Hi everyone im quite desperate. I just made my new account at barclays less than 2 weeks ago with the switch service and yesterday i got a letter where they say my account is gonna be closed on 18th jan, 2016. The letters date is 17th nov. Also i recieved another letter with the date of 20th nov, which says my switch process has been successfully completed from my old bank (santander) to the new barclays account. I called them a lot of times but nobody could give me a proper reason why they want to close my account. Some said, ( also in the letter says) the bank made a review on my account and thats why, and in the letter says i broke thr terms and rules of agreement. But how? I didnt do anything. I mean until the 17th i havent even used my card. I requested a pin change on the 17th because i entered it incorrectly too many times.one day before that i called them and asked if i can transfer my money from santander to barclays without waiting for the switch process to be done. They said yes, it was on 16th. I paid in one check on 19th. Nothing else happened. Any chance that its just a mistake letter? Help me pls what can i do?

Battle of Britain chapel to 'the few' threatened with closure to save £50,000. Winston Churchill said St George's Chapel of Remembrance on the site of the former RAF station at Biggin Hill in Kent should be a permanent shrine to ‘the few’ who gave their lives during the Battle of Britain. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/11324206/Battle-of-Britain-chapel-to-the-few-threatened-with-closure.html Please open the link and click on the e-petition link in the text or click below to go direct: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/73191 The chapel floor is made of wood from wartime aircraft propellers and stained glass windows commemorate the dead, whose names are inscribed in a roll of honour.

Disabled men lose high court bid to stop Independent Living Fund closure Judge rules that Mike Penning, former minister for disabled people, had not breached equality laws over ending support to live in the community. More Here: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/dec/08/disabled-men-lose-high-court-bid-stop-closure-independent-living-fund

Hi all, After some advice regarding LA Fitness and cancelling my gym membership with them. I am sorry upfront but this is going to be rather long as I want to give all the information. I joined an LA Fitness gym in Bedford on 11/06/2014. This was under a rolling 1 month contract. I paid monthly via a direct debit which comes out of my account the 31st of every month. I received an email from LA Fitness on 29th October 2014 to inform me that my gym was closing on 14th November 2014. LA Fitness informed me in the email that: LA Fitness had 2 gym's in my town, they shut the one I went to and transferred the membership to the other one. The gym's are not that far apart, only about 2 miles at most. I called the membership line on the 30th October 2014 to ask a few questions. I was worried as I biked to the gym, about where I could leave my bike at the new gym and whether the gym would be suitable for my needs, and about the cost of the new gym. I was told the cost would stay the same and the re-assured me over the bike situation. I went up to the new gym on Saturday 15th November and it seemed okay, nice and clean etc. The problem came when I went to go last night, Tuesday 18th November. Although the gym's are not far apart (and as I said I bike there on my way home from work), it is quite a bit out of my way for biking home. It took me about 20 mins longer to get to the new gym, different route and much more traffic. And, when I got in the gym at about 6.45pm, it was very, very busy (as you might expect I guess). I had to wait up to 20 minutes to get on some pieces of equipment, and I generally did not like it. Which comes to me phoning up the membership services helpline today to cancel my membership (as my terms and conditions state I should). I explained to the lady on the phone that I had nowhere to leave my bike when I got to the gym (there is a bike rack, but it was full), it is not convenient for me (the sole reason I joined the original LA gym was that it was on my bike route to and from work) and I generally didn't get on well there last night. She said that I could cancel but I need to give 30 calendar days notice and therefore my membership would not end until December 31st 2015. Again, my terms and conditions state that notice on the first day of the month following receipt of notice of termination, so again, they are right. However, do I have any rights here as they have shut my 'Home' gym? I have no wish to go up there again. They only gave me 2 days notice that they were going to shut my 'Home' gym before they took a full months payment (the gym didn't shut for another 2 weeks so had use of my home gym for 2 weeks). I tried to argue that giving notice was irrelevant as I no longer had a home gym. She said in the terms and conditions it allows them to move me to another gym. The only bit I can see that possibly refers to this is: But, not sure if that is what she is referring to? Sorry this is rather long winded, but wanted to give as much info as possible. can I get out of giving them the notice they say I owe as the transfer isn't suitable for me. Many Thanks.

Hi Just a little confused I had 3 accounts at with Nat West Basic Account, Select Account which was to replace the Basic Account when I got around to giving the DWP the new details; and a Savings Account The Select and the Savings Account had NIL balances I have always kept my accounts in order and not had any borrowing from the bank I called today with a routine banking query and was asked to see a member of staff who then persuaded me that if I am not using the accounts (Select and Savings ) I should really close them down I understand the logic of having what were dormant accounts closed but wonder why the Bank wanted the Select account closing when it was last used about 6 weeks ago or should I not been offered an upgraded bank account in the first place

Hi Team, PLS ADVISE me on how to recover this money. Barclays bank has closed down my a/c last week. [ATTACH=CONFIG]48280[/ATTACH] I went to withdraw the balance of 1500 plus pounds couple of days ago. Bank said that they cant release the funds, that I have to write to them and proving these funds belongs to me and provide proof too. On the bank letter that was been sent it does not mention this for funds withdrwal...yet i was told to write in... by the bank manager. I asked him why the letter did not mention anything about providing proof... and he said that's the way they do it. Well I don't agree with what he said... therefore I feel they doing something wrong and that's why they do not mention anything about having to write-in, for the withdraw of funds on the letter... It sounds cagey...may be it is against the law.. that they are holding these funds. Because it was not the case .. they why couldn't they mention about it on the letter. I would appreciate advise on next steps. Are they recommended companies that deal with these matters on getting the money back? tks tom

Hi all, Does anyone know if DWP FIS let you by letter (or other way) if they have closed their investigation? Also if they do NOT intend to prosecute do they advise of this or not? My interview was 9 months ago, won my tribunal appeal 3 months ago but have not heard anything regarding if case has been closed or is still on going. Thanks

Hi all! This is my first post as I'm new to the site so bear with me I'm trying to get a default removed (Santander) The default was almost 4 years ago. I sent them off a letter asking for my credit agreement, which they provided and also requested my default paperwork. I got a rather blunt letter back saying they had sent me a copy of my credit agreement as a goodwill gesture (very kind of them) They advised they are not obliged to keep the default letters issued as the account is settled and closed. As such they say they no longer hold the letters but they gave me the months they were sent. Apparently this is all the information they are required to hold. This doesn't sound right? Can any kind soul out there give me a bit of advice?

Hello everyone, I've got a quick query please. I had recently asked for a credit increase on my Creation/Flybe Card. I received the reply stating that my account had been closed 2 months beforehand. So i replied and asked why i haven't received a Account closure notice, and that the account can't be closed as they are still charging interest every month plus default fees, etc etc. Today i received the reply that they have closed my account due to no purchases on there for 3 years, and that they can do that even with a balance on the account. Fair enough, but if the account is closed i'm wondering....are they still allowed to keep adding interest plus default fees on the account, plus sending me Default Notices whenever i don't pay in time. And i don't mean the notices to tell you that you are late paying, no...i mean proper Default Notices?? I would appreciate if someone could point out to me asap what i could reply to this, as it doesn't seem right to me....but then, i might be wrong. Thanks, Jellybabe

And on their return to work they will probably issue fines to all those who missed some renewal or notification. Such is the attitude of the DVLA. More ...

I am a student and have recently been a victim of identity fraud I reported to my bank in which they said they found no evidence to suggest that any fraud had taken place during investigation although someone has used an ATM to draw out money and also gone into phone shops to get a phone contract in my name. While the investigation was ongoing I was told that they were looking into closing my bank account due to fraud but when I phoned up again they said there was no evidence that they were closing it . I then recently phoned up to remove blocks on my account only to find out that I couldn't because they were actually closing it and that I no longer fit the criteria to hold a bank account there. I recently lost my card and I have no money accept what is left my bank account which is £122 I am currently overdrawn and they refused to let me get it out because of the closure and I have no money and the moment and I owe rent and need cash for food and I am also expected a lump sum from my uni and money transfers from parents. I don't know what to do??

I have banked with Natwest for over 40 years. I have (had) a business account in my name as a sole trader that I use to collect professional fees and salaries from two jobs. I had an overdraft facility on this account and a debit card. The account has always been managed very carefully within the limits agreed.My husband was recently made redundant and had advised NAtwest in connection with a loan agreement he has with them. He banks with Santander. Whilst I was holiday with my daughters and grandchildren in France a few weeks ago I tried to use my account to find that it had been shut down. There should have been 800 pounds available for me to access. When I called the call centre to find out what had happened and expensive call on my mobile to an 0845 number to be kept on hold, I was told that I had requested my card to be destroyed. Further holding and transfer to another department I was informed that my account had been referred to recovery and my overdraft limit rescinded. However the account has been closed and all my direct debit arrangements cancelled.I was left in a position where I could not return to the UK without access to funds.Natwest then charged a telegraphic transfer fee to have my pension that was due in the next day transferred to my husbands account. I am now in a position where I do not have a bank account. I can not collect salaries or fees for jobs and tuition given nor can I pay any of my direct debits including in addition to my share of the household, my car payments insurance and professional body fees. I have mobility issues and can not work without my car. In effect Natwest have put me in a situation where I can not continue to work at a loss of some 30000 a year. I have read the terms and conditions for the account and surmise that they can only do this if I have regularly breached the conditions of the account. I have not done this. AS an occupational pensioner I also ineligble for any state benefits. To date I have not received any written communication about this. I am very angry and upset and obviously need to continue working. The contingency is to put all my income into my husbands account that I do not have access to. Can Natwest do this and what can I do about it.

Let's hope the OFT actually act with these new powers; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18909654 Rob

Hello, My wife's Smile account has just been closed, denying us access to the overdraft facility. We have recently paid several hundred pounds in from family which was to help get by until I am paid in a few weeks. Since yesterday Smile have firstly said the account would be functioning with a usable o/d until 15th Feb. Then they changed their mind and made the account unusable. We phoned them, explained that we needed to use the facility for a few more weeks and were told this was ok, that the account would be reinstated. Then they shut it off again, saying that was that, they can't let us use the account. I really hope someone has advice on how to handle this.

A big hello to everyone on the forum – been reading your posts for two days and absolutely flabbergasted by some of your misfortunes inflicted by the banks. I m seeking abit of advice myself, for a matter that has come up as a small element in a few cases, but hasn’t been clearly addressed (I hope I m not alone here): First let me state all that found out below are through my personal, voluntary action. Up to now I still haven’t received any correspondence from either HSBC or Metropolitan Collection Service (I could still be blissfully unaware of everything!). Last Friday afternoon, I was trying to use online banking to pay for an overdraft of less than £20 into my HSBC Advance Account (upgraded from a normal current account by HSBC, offered via Telephone marketing in July), just to find that it’s not there. A few phone calls later, I discovered that the account has been closed by HSBC without any form of notification to me. Now - 1. I have been banking with HSBC for 11 years, on the same account. This account has been used to receive salaries, etc. since I have started working (before that a 16-19 account, then a student, then Graduate), and every month around £1,100 is moved to a joint account with a different bank (Halifax) for family finances. There is a £1,250 agreed overdraft limit on this account, untouched till recently. 2. I finished my previous work contract in June, and have been job hunting since. At the time I moved the remaining balance to the joint account, with a few quids’ worth left. Because I have no money coming in, this account has seen no cash flow since. In July I think, a direct debit which I forgot to cancel took around £17 out of it and made it in arrears. I am aware of it, but thought a) I should leave it till I get my next job, and b) I have the agreed overdraft. I am tracking the interests added onto this amount, which is as stated in the policy. I have since cancelled that direct debit (both with HSBC and where the payment is going to). No problems there. 3. I also understand that it is the T&C that if I am in debt, I should make regular payment into the account. But first of all, I specifically asked, when being upgraded, if I need to maintain a certain amount of monthly cash flow for the Advance Account. The answer was a clear NO. As far as I am aware, there isn’t a definition of “regular” in the legal sense. Second of all, the T&C states that HSBC reserve the right to demand immediate payment, or stop the overdraft facility completely. There has been no correspondence to me with any such demand (confirmed by HSBC staff at my local branch), or any attempt to try to agree with me a course of action. And in any case, nothing in the T&C warranted them to close my account without any form of correspondence – for a debt of less than £20, under an overdraft limit of 1,250! It has been mentioned that the bank has the right to close an account as they please, but when I demanded to see that as part of the T&C, staff at the local branch failed to produce evidence (Is it actually true, by the way??). 4. After the phone calls on Friday afternoon, and visit to the local branch on Saturday, the situation is as follows: My account has been closed by the “Collection Department” due to “bad debt” on the 8th of December, with a letter drafted to tell me that it is closed on the 7th, which I still haven’t received (and I have to stress, debt of less than £20! The bankers probably pay more to have their shirt cleaned). And everybody’s favourite Metropolitan Collection Service now has my detail to collect the money from me. I explained everything to the staff at the local branch, and pointed out holes in all their arguments, and the final answer was “once a decision has been made unfortunately it is irreversible”, and “it is not possible to reopen your account, and you won’t be able to open future HSBC current account”. So much for being the world’s local bank! I guess I need advice because: a) the bank account is my first and for a long time only personal account which has a lot of sentimental value to me, and to have it taken away in such a blunt manner without nearly enough justification is impersonal, intrusive, and downright absurd (and all for less than £20, with a £1,250 overdraft limit!!); b) Now that MCS is on my tail, could anybody advise what it’s going to do to my credit rating (Again, for less than £20!!)? I m planning to take out a mortgage in 1-2 years… L ; c) There has got to be somewhere I could complain about the whole situation? This looks to me a procedural injustice to say the least. I m not saying there is nothing I couldn’t have done better; but when the risk of something happening has not been outlined and communicated, it is surely not justifiable to inflict the consequence of such risk to a customer? And the branch manager had the cheek to say “all our decisions are carefully made, and once a decision has been made, HSBC will stand by it”. Which is basically “whatever we want to do is final, and you can just go and stuff yourself!” Would be interested hearing what you guys have to say. The irony here really is that I discovered all this when I was trying to settle this small “debt”… A massive thank you in advance! And Happy Christmas – not sure I ll have one now!