Realist v Halifax ***SETTLED IN FULL***

[Realist]

Just faxed the above letter to The Halifax and a follow up letter via Special Delivery monday.

[jonni2bad]

Hi Realist - could you just sum things up for us...

 

Did you actually receive all your duplicate statements in the end?

 

Have you sent anything in relation to the claim for refunds?

 

Cheers

[Realist]

Hi M8,

 

All statements for the last 4 years of my account history have been received today. I have not received any letter in regards to any type of manual intervension so I have faxed today and sending the Data Protection Act Non-Compliance Letter asking for the said details.

 

I have given them the remainder of my 40 days to complete this request.

 

Other than that, I have not requested any refunds as yet.

 

Later

[jonni2bad]

Ok, thanks for that, it saves me some time...

 

If the statements received match the period of your account history, proceed with your claim now. Prelim letter asking for refund.

 

The Manual Intervention arguement will go nowhere. It needs to be asked for initially, but if they don't show eveidence under the DPA request, they can hardly start to argue in court that they do have it....

[Realist]

Ok I have sent the request anyway but I will start the ball rolling and send my letter for a full and final refund.

 

Thanks.

[Realist]

Ok, here is the letter Im going to send, is it ok?

 

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxx | Sort Code: xx-xx-xx

 

 

I now understand that the regime of 'fees' which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals 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.

 

I am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary.

 

I calculate that you have taken £1215.00 and I am enclosing a copy of the schedule of the charges which I am claiming.

 

I require repayment in full of the above money due and if you do not comply fully within 14 days then I shall have no alternative but to begin a claim against you in the county courts for the full amount plus interest plus a claim under ss.7 and 13 of the Data Protection Act 1998 plus my costs without any further notice to yourselves.

 

 

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Blahhh

 

Is that ok or does it need tweaking?

 

Laters

[jonni2bad]

Only the bit at the end.....

 

"plus a claim under ss.7 and 13 of the Data Protection Act 1998" - remove this as it related to a request to have prejudicial information removed from your credit files.

 

The rest seems fine.

[Realist]

Changed to:

 

I require repayment in full of the above money due and if you do not comply fully within 14 days then I shall have no alternative but to begin a claim against you in the county courts for the full amount plus my costs without any further notice to yourselves.

 

Thanks M8.

 

Will keep thread updated.

 

Laters

[Realist]

Update:

 

Received this reply this morning:

 

Completion of Request For A List Of Transactions and Charges - xxxxxxxxxx

 

Thank you for your letter requesting specific information on the above account.

 

I confirm that copies of duplicate statements have been ordered and will be sent to you under seperate cover at least by the 15th July 2006. (STATEMENTS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED)

 

With regards to your request for information relating to manual intervention on your account, HBOS plc is under no statuary obligation to record this information and therefore, Im unable to assist with your request.

 

Blah, Blah, Blah.

 

Your sincerely

 

Rebecca Hall

Data Protection Consultant

Business Risk - Retail

 

I thought they had to give this information?

 

Anyway, I have sent my request for a full refund and giving them 14 days to respond and refund.

 

Laters

[Realist]

Update.

 

Received letter saying that they are sorry for my complaint and its been past the customer relations dept at head office.

 

Now the wait begins.

[DebnRob]

I'm at the same stage as you, recieved same letter today

[Realist]

Well thay have a few days to give back my money or it will be the courts Im affraid.

[Realist]

Update:

 

Received 2 letters from Halifax saying the following:

 

Further to your enquiry I regret to advise you that, having fully concidereed your request, we are unable to make a refund of the charges applied to your bank account.

 

Blab, Blah and Blah.

 

Your Sincererly

 

Careyann Mcewan

Customer Services.

 

Now what do I do?

 

Also, received this letter as well:

 

I refer to your recent enquiry regarding your above numbered account.

 

With regard to your request for a list of all the members of staff that have manually intervened on your account.

 

The majority of transactions on your account are automated and all application of charges is automated. The only manual intervention around charges would be when a refund is made.

 

Unfortunately, an investigation of this kind would involve a disproportionate effort and HBoS plc is not legally obliged to supply this information.

 

Yours Sincerely

 

Graeme Sutton

Customer Services

 

Now what?

 

Laters

[jonni2bad]

I take it that the last letter you sent was the LBA and that the deadline for response is now up?

 

I think you know what's next - what did the LBA threaten to do?

[Realist]

The LBA (Letter Before Action) was sent and yes they responded with a flat 100% no. I did give them 14 days to refund my charges and this 14 days is not up as yet, so do I wait or do I just go for the throut?

 

Laters

[clayts]

I'd personally err on the side of caution and allow the full 14 days to lapse before proceeding to court. This prevents the banks or the court arguing that you did not give them enough time to respond. Better to be safe than sorry - would be a shame to lose out on a technicality.

 

However, I know some folks on here would argue the opposite - ie the bank has made its final position clear, so proceed to court now.

 

My reasoning for not doing the latter is that there is still time for the bank to change their mind. You should allow them this time no matter how unlikely it is.

 

Hope that....er.....helps :grin:

[jonni2bad]

You would be wise to wait for the 14 days...

[Realist]

Yep I will wait for the end of the 14 days and then go for the CCJ.

[jonni2bad]

Yep I will wait for the end of the 14 days and then go for the CCJ.

 

If only we could

 

A CCJ is a County Court Judgement - not quite the same as issuing a claim...

[Realist]

Bad choice of words but you know what I mean.

[Realist]

Update:

 

Received a letter saying they dont do refunds etc, etc but as a goodwill blah they offered me £130 and to accept it by signing their letter.

 

I called them up and stated:

 

I will accept their £130 as part payment towards the full amount and I will be seeking court action to recover the remainder.

 

The reply was "We dont do part payments" then the chap offerd me £380 I then repeted what I said and he said , no they dont do part payments. I then stated that I will be seeking the full amount via the courts, he said the same and also said go via the complaints ombudsman.

 

So, do I now have to wait the full 14 days or can I put my claim in now?

 

Laters

[clayts]

As mentioned before, you are best advised sticking to the original timetable : the Halifax could have a change of policy between now and the LBA expiry date. Unlikely, admittedly...

[Realist]

Hi All,

 

Sorting out my moneywise claim ready to send after the 5th, need advice is this reads ok and if its correct.

 

Particulars of claim

I have a contract with the Halifax Plc.

which is conducted on their standard terms

and conditions. I am claiming the return of

money taken by the defendant in the way of

charges over the last 4 years plus the

interest they have levied on those charges,

totaling £1446.13 inclusive of interest.

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 repeatedly 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 31/12/02 to 05/07/06 of £

1446.13 and also interest at the same rate

up to the date of judgment or earlier

payment at a daily rate of 0.00022%.

 

Amount claimed £1446.13

 

 

Does that look ok?

 

Laters

[Realist]

Question: Im over by 2 lines if I shrink it all down, any ideas how I can shrink it a bit more?

 

Laters

[barracad]

Take out the carriage returns before and after this bit:

 

I have repeatedly asked the bank to justify

their charges but they have declined to do

so.