| HBOS (was Halifax) plc and Halifax Building
Society
Courtesy of John Dunsmoir
In 1997, the Halifax Building Society converted to a bank and is now
known as Halifax plc. This conversion was fraught with controversy
as a result of the perceived unfair share allocation practices implemented
by the Halifax. The Sunday Times initiated the "The Fair
Shares for Heirs campaign" which was coordinated by Cranswick
Watson Solicitors from 1997. The objective of this
campaign was to obtain a fair allocation of shares to all the heirs.
Cranswick Watson commissioned a QC report (and
you can review it here).
The Halifax also excluded residents from some countries from receiving
shares. A campaign to address this arbitrary exclusion is being
coordinated by by Brian Hazlehurst of the UNHAV
(UNITED HALIFAX
plc VICTIMS)
group. Brian has a group of regional coordinators across the world
who exchange information by email.
Various test cases are being prepared to be brought against the Halifax
plc and as soon as we have results, they will be available on Brian's web
site.
The author believes he has a legitimate claim against the Halifax plc
following alleged incorrect advice provided by the Halifax Bognor Regis
Branch about demutualisation. He initiated a County Court action
against the Halifax which was heard in 1998. However, he was
unable to prove that incorrect verbal advice was given and so the claim
failed. Full details of my case are being documented at http://www.halifaxsucks.co.uk
In March 1999, the author attended the HBOS,
Halifax
1999 AGM where you can review the report and hear Nick Ashby Live on
BBC Radio 5. At the AGM, the Halifax stated they they would revisit
my claim, however, they immediately reiterated their earlier position in
their reply. The author remains bitterly disappointed that this
dispute has not been resolved. All I am able to do is remove all
family investments and mortgages from the Halifax and with the January
2000 redemption of my TESSA, this has now been achieved bar a strategic
investment in just a few shares in Halifax plc.
In April 2000, the author attended the HBOS,
Halifax
2000 AGM and on this page you can see a photographs of the Harrogate
Conference Centre and the interior of the AGM. There is also a list
of shareholder questions and there is also an mp3 file available of my
questions for download. In November 2000, the Halifax, trading as
Intelligent Finance, published a series or advertisements in the national
press; the author believed that these advertisements were highly
misleading and he complained about them to the Advertising
Standards Authority The
ASA's has upheld the complaints and the
details of the adjudication are here.
Also, full
details of my ASA complaint here. Also read about the Anna
Kournikova virus that was sent to us from the Office of the Chairman of
the Halifax Group. On 5 March 2001, we were sent a further
"I Love You" virus from the Office of the Chairman of the
Halifax Group. We should all be on our guard against viruses
by implementing effective anti-virus disciplines and software and never
ever open unsolicited attachments.
Dibb Lupton Alsop (the Halifax's solicitors) and
the Halifax should note that they are expressly forbidden from visiting
this site. If any employee of those companies visits this site they must
immediately review the Copyright page.
A similar page has now been set up for owners of the Woolwich
Building Society who did not receive their conversion shares: please visit
Janet Hodgson's
page here.
Useful E-mail addresses:
Useful URL links:
Brian Hazlehurts's
UNHAV web site
QC's report on the Halifax Conversion
Captain
Sparrow and the Halifax
Janet
Hodgson's Woolwich UNWOVIC site
Read Janet's story in the News of the World Advertising
Standards Authority Adjudication on Halifax The ASAs
web site above will be updated with a direct link to the adjudication on
14 February 2001.
If any part of these pages are found to be
incorrect in any way, they will be corrected immediately and and apology
made. |
Redoak
e-mail address 