No response from Halifax to letter 1

[nij4t2]

Hi all,

 

I sent my first letter (requesting refund of fees) on 22/3 - and posted it Special Delivery - it was received the next day at their head office address.

 

I have not yet had a response! After 14 days!

 

That means I am now at the stage of persuing them with a second letter to give 14 days further notice of possible action.

 

Could I just confirm, the letter I should write today should be very similar to the first, perhaps with some comments about them not responding to my previous letter, and now they have just 14 days before I commence action against them?

 

I enclose the text of my first letter below; I changed the format from the library version a little bit, as honestly, I had to look up what 'fiduciary' meant and it really is not likely to make it into my everyday vocabulary!

 

As a side note, a Halifax ATM recently 'stole' my Link card - it was about to give me my cash but it could not eject the card (I could see it stuck near the outlet of the machine). That is to say, it was a fault with the ATM. I assumed that the staff at the branch would somehow forward the card to issuing bank (not a Halifax card) - and then back on to me (as naturally, they would realise that there was no fault with the card or PIN entry). A few days later, as I had not received my card back, I went back to the Halifax branch that the machine was at, and they told me they destroyed all the cards (there were obviosly a lot on that night) as they had 'no way of knowing why the machine had taken the card'. Whilst the reasoning may be valid in case of invalid PIN entry etc - I can't help but feel that they destroyed my property! As they also did not inform Abbey they had destroyed the card, it introduced further delays in getting a replacement, during which time I can not access ATM's OR my on-line banking which is the only way I can access my 'eSaver' type account!

 

Any thoughts that you have on the above would be much appreciated,

Nij

 

Letter text follows (sent 22/3):

Halifax PLC

Trinity Road

HX1 2RG

 

Dear Sir / Madam,

Re: Account No.: XXXXXXXX Sort Code: XXXXXX

I am writing to ask you to refund to me the charges which you have levied from my account over the last 6 years.

Due to recent media coverage, I now understand that the regime of fees which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations.

I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law. Needless to say, I had previously believed that an institution such as the Halifax would operate my account within the law and Consumer regulations etc., and I am appalled to find this is not the case.

I calculate that you have taken £744 in charges in the last 6 years. I require that you repay this amount in full.

I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me about this matter and I am writing this letter to you on the assumption that you will prefer to do this than merely respond with standard letters and leaflets.

I will give you 14 days to reply to me accepting unconditionally my request in principle and letting me know a reasonable date by which I will receive payment.

If you do not respond or you do not respond positively within this time period, I shall send you a letter before action giving you a further 14 days in which to reflect. I believe that these targets are more than sufficient for a large company such as yours with dedicated staff and departments.

After that will be no further communication from me and I shall issue a claim at the expiry of the second deadline – however I am sure that you would prefer to settle this matter without the need to resort to legal action.

 

Yours faithfully,

Nigel XXXXXX

[Bookworm]

Letter Before Action, I personally would only give them 7 days, since they already have had 14, then on the 7th day, sue.

 

As for the bank card, it's not your property, it's the bank's, so forget the "damaged property" part . Halifax wouldn't get involved in the whys and hows of your Abbey card getting stuck in a Link machine, they'd hold the view that it's between you and your bank, and they wouldn't waste any of their resources in picking up a card, tracing which branch it came from (if it even shows on the card, some don't) and returning it to them or advising them. There is always the possibility that the card would in fact have been tampered with resulting in it getting stuck. You know that's not the case, they don't.

 

However much I dislike the banks, I can't actually find they're to blame in this instance, sorry.

[nij4t2]

Thanks ML / Bookworm,

 

Yup - I knew that the card is not an issue to raise in the course of the whole charges issue - but it did make my blood boil when I found out their approach to it (especially as the machine itself could be programmed to alert the staff - or the Link network - that the card had been retained for xxxx reason... even if on this occasion the 'reason' would probably have been recorded as 'customer did not take card' rather than 'help me, I'm a broken cash machine'.

 

So, anyway, I am resolved to push this all through.

 

I'd probably better stick to the original 14 days as that was what I put in my first letter to them, though I do regret giving them as long as that, not the 7 days you suggest.

 

Best Regards,

[nij4t2]

Oops, I forgot to ask...

 

On the Letter Before Action template, the words 'LETTER BEFORE ACTION' are placed before the 'Dear Sir'. Is the placement of this wording important, and / or necessary?

 

e.g. could I put it like this:

Dear Sir / Madam,

re: Account XXXXXX

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

 

Thanks!

[Bookworm]

Go with your instinct, my friend!

 

Since they don't give a toss, you could have it in psychedelic colours 1 foot high, they would still ignore it.

[nij4t2]

 

Well, I did receive a standard letter from Halifax today, but as I wrote my letter yesterday I'm going to ignore it for the main letter, which I'll send Special Delivery, and then send a small follow-up letter to the named individual on the letter telling him it's not a complaint, its a legal matter etc.

 

As a side note, all my other post has been getting here in 1 day so it's intereesting that Halifax's took 3 (based on the date on their letter)

 

Nij

[nij4t2]

Well I woke up this morning and was just starting to create an account on the MoneyClaim website when a representative from Halifax called up and offered me £308 as a 'goodwill' gesture.

 

I said that my gut reaction was that I would accept - but continue through the courts to reclaim the rest. The lady said to me that the offer was conditional on me signing something in 'full and final settlement'.

 

I said that I was keen to see their offer on paper - and that I would welcome a break-down of their charges so that I could review my outlook with respect to their charges. She said that "we are not obliged to provide ... a breakdown of costs". She would however provide a list of all their charges

 

Well, perhaps I was wrong to allow a small delay to wait for their letter? But I must admit, I was a bit of a bumbling eedjit on the phone as I could not even remember the word 'punitive'!

 

What do you think?

[Maria]

Hello there

 

Ive been following you're little adventures with the lovely people at Halifax. I am just sitting here poised at my keyboard thinking of what to say to the Halifax who have given me over £600 in charges since last August!

 

Have you nay advice on what needs mentioning in the initial complaint letter to them?

 

Maria

[Guest Lueeze]

I think you should carry on with the claim!

 

its up to you of course but good luck!

[nij4t2]

Hello there

 

...

 

Have you nay advice on what needs mentioning in the initial complaint letter to them?

 

Maria

 

Hi Maria,

 

First you need to read the FAQs for the site - they look daunting but you really do need to work through them before posting or approaching the Halifax. The 'Library' section also has a very useful set of letters (Initial Approach and the 'LBA' or Letter Before Action') which you should refer to - although there are plenty of threads like this one which outline alternative letters where (in my case) I did not want to use words like fiduciary because I had to look up what they meant!

 

Second... I would recommend that you start your own thread if you have specific questions following reading the above items. You may notice that most threads here are specific to one person's case... so although I just posted to 'my own thread' that I originally titled about the first letter I sen, things have now moved on!

 

Hope this helps,

[nij4t2]

Received the letter from Halifax today - very obviously an almost-standard letter from other posts in the list... paragraphs start like:

 

Thank you for your recent letter and for allowing me the time to discuss your complaint this morning.

You understand that like other organisationswe incur costs for every transaction made...

We clearly outline our charging policy in the terms and conditions...

We are keen to help you avoid anu unnecessary chargesby providing...

As a gesture of goodwill I have offered to refund £308.00. Please understand that we are not prepared to refund all of the chargesthat you have incurred on your accoutn since your account was opened. I must stress that future valid charges will stand and we reserve the right to close your account if you do not manage itcorrectly. If you are prepared to accept my offer in full and final settlement...

You recently received a copy of our leaflet...

 

:? Wait a minute! I didn't ask for refund of all charges on the account since it was opened! I asked for refund for the last 6 years! I also find it interesting that there is an implicit admission that the cost of applying the charges is less than what they charge us... otherwise they would surely not offer any money back?

 

Oh well - looks like I will be revisiting the MoneyClaim website...

[nij4t2]

OK, My previous thread covered up to this point, and I am now on the MoneyClaim website filling in a claim. I'd be grateful if someone could give me some feedback on the exact wording I should use in the Particulars of Claim in step 5 - I have used the wording from Library and FAQs - but got a bit confused about a number of points:

I have had an account with the Halifax Plc since 1992 which is conducted on their standard terms and conditions. In the last 6 years the defendant has levied charges totalling £744.00 on my account, and it is these charges that I am claiming the return of. The bank's charges are a disproportionate penalty and therefore unenforceable as they are contrary to common law. Further, as a disproportionate penalty they are invalid under the Unfair (Contracts) Terms Act 1977 s.4 and under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Para.8 and sch.2(1)(e). In the event that the charges are not a penalty then they are unreasonable within the meaning of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 s.15.

I have asked the bank to justify their charges but they have declined to do so.

The claimant claims interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% a year from the date of each charge to 27th April 2006 of £218.78 and also interest at the same rate up to the date of judgment or earlier payment at a daily rate of 0.022%.

 

I've highlighted the bits I'm uncomfortable with in bold.

 

1) Should I refer to myself as 'the claimant' at all times, or should I use I / Me etc?

2) Not sure about the wording in the 'it is these charges I am claiming the return of' - am I making this more complicated than it needs to be?

3) In the standard S69 text, I am unable to fit the date of each charge in, so is it ok to say 'the date of each charge'?

4) If the MoneyClaim site gives us standard text for the '8%' why do they not also provide the Daily Rate of interest? Is 0.022% correct (taken from the spreadsheet)?

 

Any help you can give would be gratefully accepted!!!

[jonni2bad]

I've highlighted the bits I'm uncomfortable with in bold.

 

1) Should I refer to myself as 'the claimant' at all times, or should I use I / Me etc?

2) Not sure about the wording in the 'it is these charges I am claiming the return of' - am I making this more complicated than it needs to be?

3) In the standard S69 text, I am unable to fit the date of each charge in, so is it ok to say 'the date of each charge'?

4) If the MoneyClaim site gives us standard text for the '8%' why do they not also provide the Daily Rate of interest? Is 0.022% correct (taken from the spreadsheet)?

 

Any help you can give would be gratefully accepted!!!

 

1) It makes sense to stick with 'the claimant' since the court and the other side will be reading this, and it's standard terminology to them.

2) You're always best advised to stick to templates - they do work. But if you have an alternative to suggest, you can make a seperate thread and see what response it gets ???

3) Sorry, not sure on that one

4) In the FAQs it states daily inmterest is 0.00022

No idea why they didn't include it though......

[nij4t2]

1) It makes sense to stick with 'the claimant' since the court and the other side will be reading this, and it's standard terminology to them.

4) In the FAQs it states daily inmterest is 0.00022

No idea why they didn't include it though......

 

I had real problems fitting the text in to the limited number of characters and lines, even though I changed it a little to be based more on the standard text. The S69 interest stuff really takes up a lot of room!

 

The FAQs state that 0.00022 is the multiplier... as a multiplier of 1 gives 100%, you need to multiply that 0.00022 by 100 to get the percentage rate, surely? i.e. 0.022% per day.

 

 

 

 

 

MODERATED threads joined .please keep to your original thread when updating this is for your benefit and the benefit of everyone who is following your claim

[nij4t2]

I've received a letter today saying that Halifax intend to defend the court case.

 

Shame! Would have been nice if I had been one of the people who (seem) to have had success without the court case at all...!

 

Oh well... best start revising the case notes just in case

[nij4t2]

Wow!

 

Just logged in to my Halifax online banking and there is a 'cash' deposit there for £744 and one for about £300.

 

As the former ties up exactly with the amount claimed as charges, I assume that they have decided to pay me without letting the case get any nearer to court deadlines etc (The £300 is a bit more than I would have expected for interest... but I won't complain!)

 

So, hopefully I will receive a letter explaining this 'mystery' deposit in the next couple of days!

[nij4t2]

Well, I did get a letter from Hfax about costs etc of defending the case, and that they were therefore settling by paying all claimed amounts, without admission of liability blah blah. The letter asked I write to the court to say that they had paid.

 

Just in case someone else might read this... what happened next (before I could get round to writing to the court) is I got a letter from the court saying that Halifax had written to say they had settled. I had to fill in the supplied form (saying essentially that I agreed with their defence that they had already paid) send it back to the court, and send a copy to the Halifax Interestingly, the fact they paid is considered a 'defence' with respect to the court.

 

Oh yes - and of course, I hadn't got paid more interest than I was due - I had forgotten about the court charge that was refunded, in addition to the interest and charges.

 

So, I made a donation to this website! Thanks so much to all who have assisted me!

 

Hurray!

[nij4t2]

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