Halifax forced to pay out after making customer ‘homeless’

Halifax made one of its own customers “homeless” after a cancelled mortgage payments led to his home being wrongly repossessed.

The bank has been ordered to pay out thousands in redress and legal fees after a mix up over a payment plan resulted in the homeowner being evicted.

Following a ruling by the Financial Ombudsman, the national arbiter of financial disputes, the lender has been ordered to return the house – part of a 300-year- old Grade-II listed building, to its owner, a medical professional.

The eviction meant the homeowner, 50, was forced to spend £400 a week on hotel accommodation. The ombudsman ruling said: “The biggest impact…is the reputational damage that this has had.”

The homeowner had fallen into arrears five years ago after his care responsibilities for a family member meant he had to work less. He was on a payment plan which ended in March 2022, but this was not renewed. It meant the direct debits stopped. This led to arrears of £8,000.

He went into the branch to investigate. An adviser told him on a recorded phone call the payments would be reinstated, but there was no mention of an eviction date. Despite this, no further payments were taken until the eviction in February 2023. While the owner did receive letters after that phone call about the eviction, he assumed – as per the conversation – that everything was fine. The confusion meant his home was repossessed.

Halifax admitted it had transferred the customer to the wrong team when he enquired about his plan, but said it was the customer’s responsibility to keep up to date with payments.

The Ombudsman ordered the bank to pay legal fees of £3,750, hotel costs of£2,000 and £3,500 compensation.