HALIFAX

Advantages: Friendly efficient service
Disadvantages: none

.... However, I didn?t find them to have a very ethical approach towards their customers, after going over my overdraft limit by 72p, a mistake I quickly rectified. Despite my quick reaction to this measly but misfortunate mistake over 18 months I was hit witch charges month after month, totalling over £2000, which took me over 1 year and a solicitor?s letter to re-claim. Throughout those 18 months I was hit with bailiff?s letters, and also received a letter that came on blank paper, simply showing the words ?URGENT, Contact Ron on (for example) 07665243356. That was it. But it turned out to be The Co-op sneakily trying to get me to call them, as if I had previously avoided contacting them. Enter the Halifax. Those irritating all-singing, all-dancing adverts (you may call them) actually caught my eye and attracted me to the Halifax. I found...

mi_ke 09.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Halifax

Why get ripped off by your Travel Agent

Advantages: Great price and great cover from a high street bank
Disadvantages: It doesn't rip you off like travel agents do

...First of all, it is Ciao who seem to think Halifax Life provide this cover. It is actually underwritten by St Andrews Insurance Group which is part of the HBOS (Halifax Bank Of Scotland) Group. Apologies for me being too lazy to let Ciao know! But who cares about that? There are times in life when a rip off leaps out and grabs you! The insurance policies sold by travel agents and tour companies are so obviously poor value for bog standard protection, that shopping around for insurance is best done before booking the holiday! When Thomas Cook quoted me £169.95 to insure my clan on holiday for two weeks in Minorca, I cracked up laughing. Given that we could book a basic self-catering holiday in the UK for a week for this sum, I knew there had to be a better option. Not too much wrong with the cover offered. Just the price...

daveops 17.03.2003 (18.04.2003) · Read review
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Review of Halifax Life Limited

Cheapest I have found

Advantages: Great service, cheap prices
Disadvantages: None found so far

...I must recommend Halifax to everyone. The cost of their car insurance is brilliant. I have had a pretty poor car for a number of years and have been paying through the nose for insurance for it, now I have just purchased a very nice car!! - and trawled around the companies as you do getting quotes. The Halifax was by far the cheapest coming in at over £150.00 cheaper then my current insurance company. So please please use them - maybe it will mean that other insursance companies take the hint and start bringing their over inflated prices down. make sure though you goto the Halifax website first and get the discount code from there cause you will then get an extra 5% discount on the already cheap quote....

andydenton 24.08.2000 · Read review
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Review of Halifax Life Limited

Speed Limits Life

Advantages: Can save lives
Disadvantages: Causes more pollution

...Speed limits are something that probably most drivers consider as having to be adhered to by everyone except himself or herself. It would certainly seem so judging by the way drivers behave on our roads. As a society we have laws to govern the way that we behave towards each other and they are for the general benefit of ALL. It would be impossible to run a society otherwise, without descending into anarchy. So if we have a law that limits the speed of traffic on a road then that is that. Break the law and risk prosecution for doing so. Some people will argue that because of the inaccuracy of speedometers in cars and lorries and the parallax error that can occur when viewing a speedometer, there should be some leeway about enforcing the speed limits. These factors could mean that although you think you are doing 30 mph you are in...

jimbuck 30.01.2001 · Read review
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Review of Urban Speed Limits

Halifax - infelixible, inconsiderate, and greedy

Advantages: wide range of accounts, telephone and internet banking
Disadvantages: let me down in an emergency, refused flexibility when I needed it

...I?ve had an account with the Halifax since I was 13, when I joined a choir that paid me for singing with them. I didn't actually have a choice about which bank to put my money with - as far as my mum was concerned, it was her bank, it worked for her, so i was going with them. You can either apply the old fashioned way by going into a branch, or you can do it over the phone or the internet. I myself applied in branch, as it was directly opposite the supermarket where I go food shopping, so didn't involve an extra trip. You need to take ID with you when applying - including at least one photo ID - either a passport or driving license. You also need something such as a utility bill as proof of address. There are several different kinds of accounts which they will discuss with you, all with different features. Once you?ve opened...

Thehonesttruth 05.07.2007 · Read review
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Review of Halifax

Halifax Mortgages

Advantages: good for 1st time buyers
Disadvantages: did not offer a good rate after fixed term ended, overcharge customers

...*This is the second review I posted on Ciao and have edited it as it needed more information and an update* For the purpose of this review I am writing about my experience of having a mortgage with Halifax and am not reviewing Halifax and it?s services as a whole. I am very much aware that for some they have had a great experience with them, but for me after being a loyal customer for such a long time. I felt that they had let me down and recently I realised that I had overpaid when my mortgage came to an end and successfully received a refund from them. Halifax is a leading building society and has been providing mortgages for many years. I had been a customer of Halifax for over 10 years as my parents insisted when I was younger that I had a Building Society savings account (at the time it was the Little Extra Club) so that...

sweetdaisy 21.10.2006 (19.08.2007) · Read review
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Review of Halifax Mortgages

Helpful Halifax

Advantages: good staff, easy application process
Disadvantages: I am still still waiting for one

...I have been with the Halifax for about six years now, and have had no problems whatsoever. I have had a savings account for that time, and from when I first started, I have had no complaints. The staff were very friendly and helpful when I went in and told them what I wanted, and it did not take long for them to set up my account. Only a book account as I was so young, but as soon as I turned 16 and started earning some money, they gave me a cardcash account, which comes with a Solo card (very handy when shopping on the net, as more and more sites except it) and did not charge me for withdrawing cash from any cash machine. Any cash machine, even Natwests! I have since opened an account online which is called a 'Websaver' which has a very competitive interest rate, and can be accessed very easily from any computer, ensuring you don...

danradders 30.12.2000 · Read review
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Review of Halifax

Best Price by Far

Advantages: Cheapest policies, no-hassle insurance
Disadvantages: None

...Two years ago I was once again struggling to find a company who didn't charge the earth to insure my performance car. Having had a claim and a conviction in the past trying to insure a group 18 car was getting tricky and some of the so called "specialist" insurance companies were coming in at three figures. Then I tried Halifax and was amazed at how much cheaper than the other companies had been coming in at. Naturally, I chose to insure with them and at renewal time they wrote to me enclosing a schedule for the next years insurance. This time the quote came in even cheaper, although the insurance industry as a whole had increased their policy prices. There was no need to contact them, only if I wanted to cancel the policy. To me this is a big plus point; nobody enjoys shopping round loads of companies and sending off proof of no...

stuee 18.09.2000 · Read review
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Review of Halifax Life Limited

Misdirected cheque at Halifax Mortgages, 2007

Advantages: None
Disadvantages: Dishonest mortgage staff

...I had a very bad experience with Halifax mortgages. Sorry this goes on a bit... In the summer of 2007, I realised I could pay off my mortgage, 15 years into a 25-year mortgage. I was over the moon. Being naive (I don't pay off mortgages very often!) I asked them how to do it. Their man said - "send us a cheque". This I did, then the trouble started. A couple of weeks passed and no acknowledgement of the cheque so I called them to ask for some sort of comfirmation. They sent a photocopy of the cheque. Next I had demands for missed payments and was told to ignore them as the system was slow to catch up. Another demand came in and I called at Huddersfield branch to sort it. Staff there were very helpful and called all the right people but there was an anomaly of some sort. I showed the Halifax lady my photocopy and she noticed...

Shytalker 08.08.2008 · Read review
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Review of Halifax

Halifax Hassle

Advantages: Have a website so you don't have to come into contact with their miserable staff!
Disadvantages: See above!

...My husband has had a current account with the Halifax for many years. When we got married the account was changed to a joint one. The problems that we have had with this bank are not really with the services that they provide. We get our cheque books and statements when they are due etc. Our problems have been with the actual service within the various different branches that we have visited. The unhelpfulness and miserable staff are not confined to one branch it seems. My first bad experience happened recently. We wanted to buy a new car and finally had the funds available to do this! We went into our local branch on a Saturday morning hoping to withdraw £3000 from our account. We approached the counter and asked for the cash. We were told very abruptly that if we had not ordered that sum of money then we could not possibly withdraw...

Luckystar28 23.01.2002 · Read review
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Review of Halifax