Halifax plc madness: further detail

Last week, after a tedious delay in connecting with Halifax plc staff, I was assured that a letter had been sent to me by Halifax plc in September advising that my account would be closed. Also, they said, they had sent me a cheque for £2,500 on 10th November with a further letter explaining why this is so. None of these documents have yet been received. (I may add that a cheque is not satisfactory since it can get lost in the post between me and the successor bank - in any event it takes a week to clear.)

Theoretically I can take this matter up with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). But FOS takes months to do anything and, in any event, typically gets the solution wrong. This would leave me having to sue and, as most know, the Courts have ceased to function in this country.

However, I can take this up with Lloyds Bank since they own Halifax plc in entirety. Given Lloyds's delay in attending to correspondence this option is no comfort at all.

Written by Simon Cawkwell, November 2025