Mother sues bank for harassment in landmark legal action

Alison Turner, 31, claims she suffered anxiety and stress after the Halifax Bank inundated her with correspondence - even after it had agreed to leaver her alone.

Solicitors acting for Alison had already successfully forced the bank to wipe £775 worth of charges from her account which it imposed for going overdrawn.

But the money wasn't wiped off until March 23 in which time Alison, a personal assistant, received dozens of phone calls from the collections department.

Alison, of Plymouth, Devon, says the "unprofessional and disrespectful" calls at "all times of day and night" left her so stressed she suffered emotional problems.

She has now launched a civil action under the Protection From Harassment Act 1997 seeking an injunction against the bank and "substantial damages".

Her solicitor Neil Mercer said the continued contact caused "significant alarm and distress".

He said: "What you have here is the case of a woman who had hundreds of pounds worth of charges put on her account for going a few pounds overdrawn.

"The bank subsequently agree to remove the charges, but in the interim period the customer services department and the collections team seemed to have no contact.

"She was constantly harangued for money she no longer owed. The calls were coming in at hight, in the morning, and at weekends. Her two young children would often take the calls and be asked to provide security details.

"It caused sleepless night and great concern. There is absolutely no question that the bank's conduct amounted to harassment.

"Proceedings have been issued and we are optimistic for our client's prospects." In January this year Alison's solicitors, Nash & Co of Plymouth, Devon, wrote to her bank asking officials to remove £775 worth of charges from her account.

The legal team argued the string of £30 charges had unlawfully penalised her for going overdrawn and the bank agreed to take them off.

On January 23 Halifax agreed to stop contacting Ms Turner but it took the bank until March 13 to clear the debt.

In the interim period the collections department contacted her 33 time by phone and letter, between January 27 and March 13.

Mr Mercer says the "significant number" of calls was in breach of what Halifax agreed and constitutes harassment under the law.

Alison said: "I was bullied by the bank and made to feel a failure for getting into debt.

"If customers are having problems, banks should listen to them and understand and try to get them back into the black - not make their position worse harassing them by telephone.

"I got telephone calls at 6.20pm on a Friday and early on Saturday morning. The constant calling reduced me to tears." A spokesman for Halifax Plc said the bank could not comment on specific cases or ahead of any court hearing.

But he added: "Where accounts are in arrears we make calls to customers and try to make arrangements.

"If there are other circumstances involved then we will always consider them." Alison's case will be heard before a circuit judge in the County Court in Exeter on May 21.

According to experts, banks are only allowed to charge the actual admin costs for recovering debts, and not add on any further charges to penalise customers.