halifax harrassment most foul. help me

[steven4064]

THat's better than my average with Track and Trace - I have found that about one in three never show up on their system (they all seem to be delivered though, just not put on track and trace)

[leeds1]

today 24th December Halifax rang my parents.

they wanted to talk about the complaint my parents made about the way Halifax have been treating them.

it was from a witheld number but the caller said she was calling from Scotland.

[steven4064]

Add it to the list.

 

 

Happy Christmas Amanda (and anyone else reading this thread) and a much better 2009.

[leeds1]

thank you,

 

Seasons Greetings for a Very Merry Christmas and a Joyful and Triumphant New Year.

 

Amanda

[leeds1]

this whole thing gets to me.

Edited November 17, 2009 by leeds1
bleating

[leeds1]

sorry for my last post. drama queen moment. just gets to me sometimes. wont happen again.

[banker_rhymes_with]

sorry for my last post. drama queen moment. just gets to me sometimes. wont happen again.

 

Don't you worry at all! If you feel the need to blow off some froth, let rip!

 

This isn't easy, we all do appreciate that and all will understand I am sure.

 

But keep a sense of humour and laugh at the idiot bankers and you will soon feel much, much better!

 

Happy New Year by the way, I really do hope that 2009 is a good one for you. Indeed, I'm sure it will be.

 

Cheers,

BRW

[leeds1]

thank you, BRW.

 

Halifax wrote to my parents today. another waffling letter of rubbish regarding their (mis) service and general nastiness towards human beings.

 

what part of "leave us alone" dont they understand?

 

i am calmly fuming and looking forward to the New Year with steely determination on a mission for justice.

 

New Year Greetings to every one.

look out bankers, here i come...

 

Amanda

[banker_rhymes_with]

Hello Amanda!

 

You just have to laugh at these bankers, and soon you'll build up a certain excitement at what they'll send next in the Post!

 

But it'll be next Year before you get anything else from them!

 

 

Have a good one.

 

Cheers,

BRW

[leeds1]

today, 2nd January 2009, i received 2 letters in one envelope.

one letter dated 30th october 2008 (dated wrong - nearly 3 months ago) from Halifax giving me notice that on the 22nd November(?) my credit card debt has more than doubled and been sold to Apex Credit Management CV37 6PA

it says that further communications must be addressed to them.

 

the other enclosed letter is from Apex and dated 30th December 2008 giving me notification that Apex have purchased the debt and all rights, interest and claims have been assigned to Apex as of 22nd November.

it says that Apex are now the data controller of my personal data contained in the records of this account.

etc etc

it gives me seven days to reply.

 

unbe****ing-lievable!

 

what snakes.

 

Amanda

 

p.s. Apex were previously known as the BCW group PLC.(it says on the bottom of the letter)

Edited September 11, 2009 by leeds1

[steven4064]

I would reply with a request under s78 of the CCA 1974 enclosing £1 and reminding them that they have 12 days to reply. I would include in the letter that the account is the subject of ongoing proceedings, both civil and criminal.

 

Hopefully, Apex will have the sense to send it right back where it came from.

[steven4064]

Amanda

 

Remind us when you sent the LBA?

 

I think a nice fat juicy N1 will sort this lot out

 

To that end, here is a draft POC - what do people think?

IN THE XXXXX COUNTY COURT

 

 

BETWEEN

 

 

XXXXXX

CLAIMANTS

 

AND

 

 

HBOS Plc T/A Halifax

DEFENDANT

 

 

 

---------------------------

 

PARTICULARS OF CLAIM

 

---------------------------

 

 

1. XXXX (“the first Claimant”) had an account number XXXXXXX ("the Account") with the Defendant from date or thereabouts until date or thereabouts.

 

2. From some time in 2006 until the present, the Defendant has subjected the Claimants severally to a sustained campaign of telephone harassment, despite repeated requests by telephone and by letter for them to stop and only communicate with the first Claimant in writing (AR1-ARx). (these attachments will be copies of the letters complaining and asking for communication only in writing)

 

3. From around date, the first Claimant sent the Defendant several requests under s7 of the Data Protection Act 1998 for information concerning this campaign of harassment, which the Defendant has answered only in part. The defendant provided a list of over 170 calls to the first Claimant (ARx – list of calls from Subject Access Request) between 22 December 2007 and 20 May 2008 – a period of 5 months - sometimes as many as 4 times a day, demanding payment of the Account.

 

4. The information provided by the Defendant does not cover the large number of calls they made from August/September 2006 until the end of 2007, nor does it cover the large number of calls they made later in 2008. The information supplied does not include any records the Defendant made on the first Claimant’s file concerning the various complaints made nor records of any action they took as a result.

 

5. Late in 2007, the first Claimant started keeping detailed records of phone calls made by the Defendant (ARx – your list of calls from Halifax) and also made recordings of many of the calls which have been transcribed (ARx – transcript of calls from Halifax). The information supplied by the defendant did not acknowledge all of these calls.

 

6. Late in 2007 and going on into 2008, the Defendant even went so far as to subject XXXXX (“the second and third Claimants”), who are the elderly parents of the first Claimant, to 10 months of calls, again up to 4 calls a day. This campaign only stopped after the first Claimant issued a formal complaint to the Defendant (to which they replied on 20 October 2008 – Arx their letter). This campaign of harassment against the second and third Claimants is not covered by the information supplied by the Defendant, either.

 

7. Quite often the calls to the Claimants were aggressive and/or rude (see ARx – transcripts) and with the sheer number caused the Claimants severe distress. The first Calimant has been diagnosed by her doctor with a stress-related disorder as a direct result of this harassment. (ARx – letter from doctor). The first Claimant has supplied copies of the recordings of the Defendant’s phone calls to a number of people to listen to and they all agree that these calls amount to a sustained campaign of harassment against the Claimants.

 

8. Despite reminders, the Defendant has failed to comply fully with their obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 to provide all the information they hold of which the first Claimant is the subject. The Claimants know from their own records that the Defendant must hold much more data of which the first Claimant is the subject and can only surmise that their failure to supply it is a deliberate attempt to cover up or minimise this campaign of harassment.

 

The Claimants therefore claim:

 

i) An order of the court that the Defendant should fully comply with the first Claimant’s request under s7 of the Data Protection Act 1998 and,

 

ii) Compensation not exceeding £15,000 (fifteen thousand pounds) under s3 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 for the distress caused by the Defendant’s harassment of the Claimants, and

 

iii) An order under s5 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 to prevent the Defendant contacting the Claimants by telephone about this or any other matter.

The bits in red are for you to fill lin, the bits in bue are notes.

 

Edited August 30, 2009 by steven4064

[leeds1]

the LBA's were sent by Royal Mail Special Delivery 22nd December 2008

 

Amanda

[steven4064]

So we can assume they were received on 24th and we need to give 10 working days at least, which means we can file in court after the 12th January.

[leeds1]

i can't wait.

 

 

BCW have a great reputation already,for harassment, it seems.

 

a google search bought up quite a lot about them and associated companies.

 

Amanda

[banker_rhymes_with]

Hello Steven and Amanda!

 

The N1 looks good.

 

One issue, would it be an idea to say that Witness Statements will be provided, i.e. to show that the people who have listened to the Recordings and who regarded them as Harassment, are ready and waiting in the background to add their Statements to support this Claim?

 

IOW, make it clear at the N1 stage that Amanda has this covered already, and these Witnesses are on standby to help her.

 

Cheers,

BRW

[steven4064]

BRW

 

I'm not sure we will need to do that - I think it is implied. However, we do need to begin to line people up. Also, Amanda's parents wil need to do a short statement as will Amada herself. We can write these.

 

I have seen the transcripts, so I can be one witness. Any other volunteers? (it may require attendance in court in Leeds although I doubt the civil case will make court)

 

Amanda, We need to start gathering the attachments together. The key one will be the letter from your doctor - can you ask him/her?

[leeds1]

i will ask my doctor for a statement.

 

also,my parents.

 

there are other people who have witnessed this prepared to stand up too.

 

Amanda

[steven4064]

i will ask my doctor for a statement.

 

also,my parents.

 

there are other people who have witnessed this prepared to stand up too.

 

Amanda

We don't actually need witness statements until we get a court date and, as I said, HBOS would be complete nuts to allow this to actually getto court (but then, when have they shown any sense ) However, it would be good to get people lined up ready. Once you have a list we can get them to produce draft statements and review them here.

[leeds1]

my parents wrote a letter/statement a few months ago explaining what had been happening to them. it just needs updating.

 

i have already asked a few people if they would go to court as witnesses if needed and they said yes.

 

in the meantime i just need to see my doctor and get a letter from her.

 

Amanda

[banker_rhymes_with]

Hello Steven and Amanda!

 

I have seen the transcripts, so I can be one witness. Any other volunteers? (it may require attendance in court in Leeds although I doubt the civil case will make court)

 

Leeds is a little too far away from me, otherwise I'd be glad to help. If desperate, I'll see what I can do.

 

Cheers,

BRW

[pt2537]

Just a quick point, the POCs

 

I think that you need to show that the defendant ought to have known that the conduct they were carrying out would cause alarm or distress and would be harrasment as a result

 

1. Prohibition of harassment.

— (1) A person must not pursue a course of conduct— (a)

which amounts to harassment of another, and

 

(b)

which he knows or ought to know amounts to harassment of the other.

 

 

As it stands i dont think you have shown that the Defendant ought to have known that their conduct amounted to harassment

 

 

also, this quote

The first Claimant has supplied copies of the recordings of the Defendant’s phone calls to a number of people to listen to and they all agree that these calls amount to a sustained campaign of harassment against the Claimants.

 

if you have done this and the other side did not know that they were being recorded you are committing a criminal offence under RIPA 2000, a dangerous point to plead in my view and one that is of little relevence, it matters not what i think, only what the judge who is listening to the recordings thinks

 

Also i think , and its just my personal view, but you could do with

 

A. setting out clearly the dates which the several subject access requests were made.

 

B. setting out a little background into the running of the account, you say that you were subjected to harrassment but it doesnt really set out why? i would frame it, such as .................. the claimant fell into financial difficulty on or around xxxxxxx with the account and notified the Defendant of such, making offer of reduced payment. the Defendant ignored this offer and persistently contacted the Claimant making demands for payment of outstanding amounts despite being advised of the Claimants financial situation

It just adds a little meat to the bone and makes them look even more unreasonable , other wise the judge may just take the viuew that they are entitled to call to recover their monies

 

C.

The first Calimant has been diagnosed by her doctor with a stress-related disorder as a direct result of this harassment. (ARx – letter from doctor). The first Claimant has supplied copies of the recordings of the Defendant’s phone calls to a number of people to listen to and they all agree that these calls amount to a sustained campaign of harassment against the Claimants.

is there any way in which this can be tightened up? my concern is over the linking the stress disorder with the telephone calls. if the doctors letter clealry says that the calls are the cause then say exactley that, as at the moment it doesnt say that.

 

i dont mean to be picky but i am just trying to give a view from an outsider

[steven4064]

THanks Paul, that is (as usual) exteremely valuable input. I will rewrite the POC later and incorporate these and any other comments. Keep them coming.

[leeds1]

I think that you need to show that the defendant ought to have known that the conduct they were carrying out would cause alarm or distress and would be harrasment as a result

 

in 2006 i rang head office of Halifax (in Yorkshire) to complain to them about the sheer number of calls i was getting and to say i found it harassing and it caused me distress. i told them i had been harassed before by my ex and i was sensitive to calls like that.

 

the woman i spoke to was very helpful and apologetic. she checked my accounts and could see that i was not overdrawn or late paying anything and it was a mistake on their part. she told me she had put notes on my file to say i did not want to be contacted by phone at all and to only contact me by mail in future, should the need arise.

 

The first Claimant has supplied copies of the recordings of the Defendant’s phone calls to a number of people to listen to and they all agree that these calls amount to a sustained campaign of harassment against the Claimants.

 

i did tell them that i was recording them more than once. it will be on the recordings and is mentioned in the letters i sent them.

 

.... the claimant fell into financial difficulty on or around xxxxxxx with the account and notified the Defendant of such, making offer of reduced payment.

 

i paid 4 bills around xmas time 2007 by debit card on the phone. they went through but my loan with Halifax didn't.

then the problems really started. they took £150.00 in charges off me causing me to go over my overdraught and stopped my account and started bombarding me with phonecalls. i couldnt access my account at all, then there was over £800 paid in, i was not overdrawn but i still couldnt access anything as they had control of my account and refused me service or access to pay in or out.

 

i put in the first of many formal and written complaints and hoped to have things sorted out quickly but it did not go that way at all.

 

recording number 19 clearly says that this started through no fault of my own and is Halifax's mistake.

 

i have not made any offers of reduced payments. i have simply been trying to sort this out through the proper channels by putting in a complaint about the way it was handled. i didnt expect it to go on for so long or for it to turn into this or for so many complaints to be ignored completely by them as they pride themselves on their customer service and complaint handling which is completely not true and misrepresentation on their part.

 

the doctors letter clealry says that the calls are the cause

 

my doctor could clearly see that this is what has caused me great stress and made me ill. i hope she will write me a letter to say so.

 

Amanda

[leeds1]

i wonder about the recordings..

 

if HBOS is now partly owned by the public, and harassment is being used and crimes commited, is it in the publics' interest to hear the recordings under the freedom of information act?

 

tho it is 6am and i havnt been to bed yet.

 

i have been going through the complaints and requests for data sent by recorded letters, e mails, phonecalls etc, and also listing names of staff spoken to regarding this. there are a lot.

most, if not all, have been totally ignored by them and the only times anything has been acknowledged is to say we are looking at it and will get back to you or to say we cant help you. there havn't been any

replies or action taken that has looked into anything at all, really.

 

i am trying to condense it all and simplify it.

 

Amanda