Wardmaster v Halifax

[wardmaster]

What a brilliant web site! My first letter to Halifax plc should hit them this morning. I am claiming £93 for DD and overdraft charges and am now awaiting their reply with pleasurable anticipation. I will let you know as the case progresses.

[richardc]

Welcome and well done! Keep us posted.

[wardmaster]

My letter sent on Monday 13 March has not, according to the Royal Mail computer, been delivered. I am told by my local Post Office that this could be because there was no-one to receive it at the time that the postman tried to deliver it. ("They just leave a card") The fact that two large, modern organisations cannot not get their backsides sufficiently in gear to have a letter delivered says everything about Britain in the 21st Century. I have now sent the letter by normal First Class to Halifax complaints division.

[wardmaster]

Halifax has now replied to my recorded delivery letter, even though the Royal Mail computer tells me that the letter is still in their system. Their reply is the standard one in these circumstances. ("We will let you know")As I was getting negative responses from Royal Mail, I assumed that the letter had not been delivered. Looking again at my statements, I noticed that there was no entry which showed the account overdrawn over the agreed limit. It was close, but funds transferred from another account were posted in on the same day that the letters were issued. The Halifax computer was obviously too quick off the mark. I therefore sent another letter by normal First Class mail asking for the charges to be repaid as I was not overdrawn at the time. This should cause confusion which I have no intention of resolving yet.

[garethwmorgan]

I have the same Royal Mail problem so I know how you feel. Transfering of funds to cover DD's has caught me out before. I was told by my local branch that as long as the money is transferred before 2pm that day then the charge won't be levied. WRONG. I received my latest charge by following this advise. Time to go back and fnd the person who told me that and ask again!

[wardmaster]

I received a telephone call from Halifax this morning offering to pay me back the charges provided I signed a letter agreeing that "this would be the end of the matter". I agreed. My claim was only for £93, my account had only been overdrawn on this one occasion, and the overdrawn state had existed for only a few hours, so I not claiming any great legal victory. However, if it were not for moneysavingexpert.com and for this site I would still be in ignorance. You CAN get your money back! Thank you! Good luck to everybody who is trying to get justice.

[Bookworm]

Well done.

 

A word of caution though: Be careful how the "end of the matter" letter for you to sign is worded.

 

Even though there have been discussions on whether an agreement of full and final compensation would be legal if it made you give up the right to further action, I feel that it migth be wise to avoid this particular hurdle at this point.

 

Feel free to post the contents of the letter when you receive it if you have any doubts and we'll try to help.

[wardmaster]

I today received a letter from Halifax (Ray Bredavs, Customer Relations Manager) together with an acceptance form for me to sign. The form states: " Confirm that we accept the offer of £93 from Halifax/Bank of Scotland in full and final settlement of our complaint regarding bank charges made on any of my Halifax/Bank of Scotland accounts". That seems fair enough. The letter, though, is bullying and threatening. I quote; "I must stress that future valid charges will stand and we reserve the right to close your account if you do not manage it correctly." I have decided not to accept the offer yet, but to write and ask Mr Bredavs "to itemise the extra costs involved in paying an item against an unauthorised overdraft or returning an item unpaid?" If he can itemise the costs I would be willing to have them deducted from my repayment. If, however, he cannot or will not itemise the costs, we can assume that they are a penalty, and not a repayment. Does this sound reasonable? Advice please.

[colour-me-happy]

I would reply and say you are more than happy to pay VALID charges.... it's the illegal ones you object to!

[Maxie]

I today received a letter from Halifax (Ray Bredavs, Customer Relations Manager) together with an acceptance form for me to sign. The form states: " Confirm that we accept the offer of £93 from Halifax/Bank of Scotland in full and final settlement of our complaint regarding bank charges made on any of my Halifax/Bank of Scotland accounts". That seems fair enough.

 

No No! The first bit needs to be altered. if you issued a claim at court you need to write back saying 'we accept £93 in full and final settlement of claim number XXXXXXX issued in XXXXXX county court.' By signing that agreement it is ver binding on you!

 

If you didn't issues proceeding write 'we accept £93 in full and final settlement of all charges detailed in my letter of..."

 

What this does is leaves you free to persue any past charges you find or future ones without given them a get out of gaol card!

[wardmaster]

I have drafted a letter to Halifax saying that I do not propose to accept the repayment yet as I need something clarified. I will say that I agree that any costs incurred by the bank by paying items against an unauthorised overdraft or returning items unpaid should indeed be passed on to the accounts affected. If they give me an itemised account of the extra charges they can take them out of my repayment. If, on the other hand, the charges are greater than their costs, then they are applying penalties, which are unlawful under contract law. I will also claim interest on the excess of charges over costs. I have eight weeks to claim the money, so I have time to get the Acceptance Form re-worded as suggested above.

[wardmaster]

This topic was closed on 03/06/19.

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