Jayy:

Which gives a grey area from the 2808 - 03/09. After whats happened to me it seems any payments made in this limbo go towards the previous months statement

That is true. I agree it is a "greyish" area but not an area that is not fully covered by the agreement terms and conditions. The payment was credited to the August statement, served to reduce the balance and the September statement would have provided a statement balance, the minimum payment required and the due date.

This is a difficult one to contest because not only have you made a mistake which I fully accept was genuine, but you also appear not to have read and understood the September statement. That is very difficult to contest.

ISTM that you have come unstuck because of Faster Payments. If Halifax had not enabled Faster Payments into the card account you would have been OK. I wonder if Halifax have informed cardholders of the implications of a payment being sent as a Faster Payment (something the card holder has no control over). I myself have a Halifax CC and do not recall being informed about this potential issue but as you say the statement still says allow up to 4 working days.

I suggest that you tackle Halifax on the Faster Payment issue you have identified through the complaints process. If you remain dissatisfied after 8 weeks seek FOS referral. I cannot promise that the FOS will review your complaint favourably (because you didn't comply with the September statement) but Halifax will be hit with a hefty case fee which might make you feel better.

Go for it. I think you have a point.

Hi huckster,
When I say pay too early, I mean in 'my eyes' I paid too early. My August payment was made within the correct period and is not in question. The september payment which I believed to be going towards my september statement was also included right at the end of my august statement.

Now this being said My August statement as you have correctly said was to be paid, at the latest, by 28/08/09. Which gives a grey area from the 2808 - 03/09. After whats happened to me it seems any payments made in this limbo go towards the previous months statement.

So when I called the gentleman I spoke to saw that there was 2 payments on my august statement and none on my September statement (hence the late fee). He pointed out that the 2nd payment on my August statement was made 1 day before my September payment was due.

Jayy:

As for this being my own fault, I am well aware of that thanks.

I'm not trying to apportion blame but to understand the mechanism at work. You used the term "early" but the payment (as Huckster suspects or suggests) was either late for the August due date (probably around 28/08) or it was an early payment for September which was registered before the September statement date. Only you know the answer to that and if it was a mistake, how it came to happen. If the former why the rant about "penalised for paying too early". If the latter try your charm on the Halifax complaints procedure.

In responding to posts I always hope that others will learn something even if its not what the OP wants to hear. In this case I repeat the learning point to avoid any chance of inadvertantly not paying or paying late or paying early, make the minimum payment by direct debit. Another point to note is that the payment must have been a Faster Payment as it has been credited same day. The "allow 4 days" is to ensure that BACS payments arrive by the due date.

Jayy

I am confused as I do not believe anyone is penalised for paying too early on a credit card.

Sometimes the accounts screen that the banks use can be very confusing and therefore some of the information they give out on the phone can be inaccurate.

I suspect that your payment which left your account on 1/9/09, was for August and this was late as the payment date would have been 28/8/09.

If this is not the case, if I were in your shoes, I would submit a complaint to the Halifax, Head of Card services. Phone them up and ask them for the person who is the Head or Director of their division and their address. Then write a complaint about the clarity of information being provided on the phone which you have found to be very confusing. If you tell them that Halifax staff have told you that you are penalised for paying too early, they will be very annoyed. Send the letter by recorded delivery.

Huckster

Hi Jalexa, thank you for your response.

The date of the statement in Dispute, I can now see on my online banking, begun on the 3rd of September, with the payment due date being the 28th of September

From looking at this I would get the impression i was 2 days early, but having spoken to 2 halifax consultants and a manager, they have all told me I paid 1 day too early.

As for the fund leaving my bank, the Date showing on my current account statement is the 01/09/09.

The date on my CC statement showing the fund arriving, is as above 01/09/09

Halifax advise the following when making payments "Please allow 4 working days before your payments to reach us by date."



As for this being my own fault, I am well aware of that thanks. My question was ,"Is there anything else I can try? Or anyone I could write to?"

Jayy:

Before you fight this you need to review the circumstances of the payment not the various things you have been informed by different Halifax staffers.

You think you made the payment "1 day too early", the Halifax computers (note not people) think you were late.

So what was your payment due date, what date can you prove the payment left your payment account, how many days does the CC statement say you have to allow for the payment to reach your CC account and what date does your CC statement show the payment was actually credited to your account?

Once you have analysed that you can identify where the problem lies.

If you can prove Halifax have blundered what you have been told about the marker being wrong is not true and can be dealt with through the complaints process.

If however you made a payment which was credited before the next statement date (is that what you mean by "1 day too early"?) then Halifax are right. In that case too late for you on this occasion but this is best avoided in future by making the minimum payment by direct debit.

Well I checked my credit profile last night after successfully winning against British Gas and having a default removed, only to find a late payment strike on my Halifax credit card. Now I already knew about this, however, I received a letter from Halifax last month stating I had missed a payment. I had in fact, paid it 1 day too early. I called and spoke to a very helpful guy who sympathised with my error and told me he would refund the charge. At £12 the charge wasn't my biggest concern so I asked "Will this also stop anything being noted on my credit profile?" to which he replied "yes once I refund this charge and put the reason in, it'll update that you paid for last month". Great, I thought, done and dusted and i'll have to be careful in future.


Now after speaking to Halifax today to see why I have this missed payment strike they informed me that the person I spoke to should not have told me that, and 'By law' they are obliged not to remove any such strike from one's credit profile. I asked for a manager to pull the call from their tapes and call me back. They did so, without listening to the tape, only to apologise for the mis-information I was given and that there was absolutely nothing she could do. Before I move absolutely everything away from the Halifax, I have a current / savings and my credit card with them, is there anything else I can try? or anyone I could write to?

Thanks in advance.

Jason