I received this email from my friend today. She has inherited a sum of money from her uncle :
HALIFAX FIASCO - DAY ONE
"This morning I got a cheque from the solictors for £9700.00 from my uncle's estate. I went down to the Halifax to pay it in as a temporary measure til I decide who I am going to open a savings account with.
The Halifax informed me that if I want to withdraw any of this money after the cheque clears next Saturday, I will have to bring the letter down with me that came with the cheque to prove that the money is actually mine....all this is because of that fuckwit Gordon Brown and his new terrorism laws, to prove that I am not money laundering.
The fucking cheque is made out to me in my name and the cheque also clearly states the Solictor's name and address from which it has come from. I spoke to my dad afterwards and he said go back and speak to the manager, so I did, and he is the one who confirmed the details above.
He also has said that in the next 6 months, the next thing to happen will be anything over £2000.00 whether depositing money or buying something in a shop for over that amount, you will be asked by the shop owner and bank personnel to prove where you got this money....how the fuck will that work then?.....
How will that get us out of a recession if we have to prove where all the money a normal citizen gets?
Do we have to walk round with our bank details on us to prove who we are when buying something and paying for it with our wages that went in on this date,
Please see my bank statement and my life fucking history.....it's madness Sue, shop keepers will lose out as people just won't bother, and the country will crash and burn".
There you have it. If you spend money on goods worth over £2,000, you will be asked to prove where it came from!
After this episode, I advised my friend to try the Co-op. I have had an account with them for years and never had any problems, my friend decided to transfer her money there instead.
THE CO-OP (OPENING AN ACCOUNT) DAY ONE
It was a smooth account opening and I only needed my passport and a utility/credit bill to verify my address, and he said because I have lived at my address for 12 years now that there really is no problem at all with me or any account I would like to open.
I was treated like a normal valid person not a criminal. They don't want me to verify where the money has come from and it is not their policy to either. If they suspected anything untoward, then they would report it, but that is good practise, I have no problems with that, I just don't want to be made to feel like a criminal for having money in the first instance.
The proof will be when I go back in today or tomorrow pending weather conditions. If all ok, my account should be fine for me to go down there today and put the cheques in. I really don't anticipate any problems and if I do you will be the first to hear.
It was noted that "Someone did say to me over the phone when I booked a appointment to see the manager of the Co-op that he (the voice at the other end) had said he "worked for the Halifax and that he thought they took things too far".
No shit, Sherlock!!!
HALIFAX ORDEAL - DAY TWO
Went up to the counter, nice young girl, very helpful....gave her the details of the 2 cheques I needed drawn up.
She took and verified details with me all ok....then
She said I need Photo ID to do this, that was ok as I had my passport with me....would have been mightly pissed if I had not got this as she would have refused...so, if Photo ID is required, why do I not have Photo ID on my card or book with them?
Then she said I need to go through some security with you to further prove that it's you, (so my passport is now not sufficient) ....strange, it has my name, address and photo and date if birth.
Then she asked me where the money came from so I told her, (she did not ask for the letter, but I guess the lad before had put notes on my account). Then I was asked if I had any other accounts with them and I said "No", she replied that as I did not, I had to go through further questioning.
She then asked me when I opened my accounts. Of course, it was years ago and I was unable to tell her. She then asked where I had opened the account and I said "When this place was out on the street round the corner".
I think that was sufficient. Then I had to list the last load of transactions to further prove who I was and that it was my account.
The only thing I could tell her was the last it was used regularly was 2006 with my wedding money.
Then Sue, the sting came. she informed me that she was unable to sign the cheques herself, that she had to first get appoval from the manager who would then sign the cheques.
I said "are you telling me there is a chance I won't get my money and she said YES!!!!"
After waiting at the counter for a further 5 mins plus, she came back with signed cheques. The cheques were only £2800.00 and £6971.00, yes it cleared out the account all but £20, but I wasn't trying to get out tens of thousands of pounds, Sue.
Halifax again has made me feel like a criminal. I do feel insulted that I have been made to jump through so many hoops just to get my money back. I am seriously thinking of closing the account totally.
Do you think that Halifax have so many immigrant customers that they have had to employ this strict procedure?
When you go in there you always have to wait for ages to be served and it's always full of dark foreign people (Luton Branch) and Darth Vadars!
I expect she will close the account with the Halifax now.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Before you deal with a bank/building society, find out how anal their policies are!!!!
