Got a letter in the post today, the Halifax have accepted my settlement lump sum offer of £500. Hurrah.

I have to say I am in shock as their original "shortfall" was £30,872, but I have denied this since 1996 when they first wrote to me. I did pay them £10 a month for 5 years, so in effect they have actually settled for £1100. But still, it's a bit different to 30 grand!!!!

Hopefully, I'll be able to sleep at night now.

I hope this gives you all some hope and if any of you want any help or advice, please don't hesitate to ask.

Good luck to everyone and don't let the bastards win.

Tracey

-- Tracey also Madcow678@hotmail.com (tracey@francisjackson.co.uk), November 14, 2002

Answers

I'm so sorry, in my excitement, I forgot to say THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed answers, advice, and support on this site.

Also thank you to Lee for setting up the site, which provided valuable advice that I would never have had access to otherwise, and gave me the confidence to carry on being a stroppy cow!

-- One Angry Mother (madcow678@hotmail.com), November 14, 2002.

Tracey, did you have to fill in a I&E form before they would settle?

-- gary ausley (gary@pc-x.co.uk), November 15, 2002.

Good for you Tracey, well done and sweet dreams.

Stephen

-- (stephen.pooley@ntlworld.com), November 15, 2002.

Fantastic - have a glass of bubbly and a good night's sleep. Good for you!

-- Too scared to say (iwasduped@yahoo.com), November 15, 2002.

I second the above.

Mark.

-- M Amos (idgroms@hotmail.com), November 16, 2002.

Well Done Tracey, hopefully there will be more of us posting good news as a little good news like yours gives us all hope.

Well done again.

Christine

-- Chrsitne Singleton (Middleforth1@aol.com), November 17, 2002.

Well done Tracey, very pleased for you and good on you for fighting. Congratulations. Best of luck for the future.

-- Chris (chris@anon.co.uk), November 18, 2002.

Thanks for your lovely thoughts everyone.

In answer to your quesion Gary,

No I didn't fill in an I&E form. Instead I made a real pain of myself.

First, I numbered and listed all the documents I wanted to receive, as per the advice on this site. There were 15 items I requested, plus a little note saying that once these were received, I may ask for more.

When I received a reply, I listed the same points as per my previous letter and again stated which documents I was still waiting for. When they still refused to supply them, I asked my MP to write to them asking why they wouldn't co-operate, then I copied him on all correspondence.

My two main arguments from the start had been mis-selling of the MIG, because we were told it would protect us against shortfall loss and at no time was it stated that we could end up with a big debt - naughty! and underselling my property - naughty naughty!. When they wrote back and said the MIG was not undersold, I stated that in that case, they were obviously trying to claim money from me that was not due - naughty, naughty, naughty!

Luckily, we had had our property valued before we handed the keys back, one of the estate agents was the Halifax, so they couldn't really argue with that valuation! They sold for £13K less than the valuation. Oh tut, tut!

If you receive an I&E form, ask the question why they want your NI number, after all you are advised by the Inland Revenue not to give this out as it is a VERY personal reference to you, and could be used to commit fraud in the wrong hands, i.e. benefit fraud, getting a new bank account, etc. Therefore you are advised not to provide - BUT WHY DO THEY WANT IT ANYWAY? - ask the question.

Why would they need to know what car you drive and the registration number? I don't see how this is relevant to their PROVING shortfall claims!

Is your new partner related to the debt in any way - no? Why do they need his/her name and proof of income then, it's just not cricket!

Do their figures add up? the Halifax charged £130 to change the lock (note 1 lock) on a 1 bed flat! They already had a key to gain access to the flat, and you can go to Wickes and buy a really good lock for 30 quid and fit it yourself so that sounds really expensive to me - what do you think?

My advice Gary is 1. copy your MP on all paperwork. 2. Ask questions, list them all and when they don't answer, use the same number and ask the same question again - keep asking it until they answer. 3. Ask for proof to substantiate their answers, i.e. estate agent valuations, a copy of the MIG (they won't provide them until later). 4. Ask for bank statements to substantiate any any bills they had to pay, your audacity will really p*ss them off!. 5. Check ALL figures and dates, and keep asking questions, if it doesn't look right to you, it won't look right to someone else either, (in one of their unrelated internal memos enclosed in my SARn, they say that 18 months from Sep '91 to Apr '93 is TWELVE months (these are people who work with figures every day)!. 6. Drip feed your questions. If they answer one, give them another two to mull over. 7. Use the little bits against them and use your amunition progressively (i.e. save the best 'till last).

If you want any more help, please just ask. Wishing you the very best of British luck

Tracey.

-- One Angry Mother (madcow678@hotmail.com), November 18, 2002.