unavailable bank

A question about : unavailable bank

Is there another way to contact the Halifax from abroad??? (other than the phone no on their website, which is the only method they give?)
Halifax (I'll be there) is NOT there for friend who is currently volunteering overseas in area without mobile coverage and cannot ring the number. He certainly can't afford to phone anyway. An email would be ok but there is no email contact given.
He had thought he left his Halifax account in good order when he left the UK 7 months ago. Meanwhile post has been recieved at a previous address claiming he owes money. He has no idea what this could be and no way of finding out.
Yet when I asked at the Halifax they said whatever the debt is, it could be growing by Ј5 each day! Of course they won't provide me with any details.
Is there a way I can help from the UK? It seems like data protection laws are unhelpful in this case.

Best answers:

• Halifax are unlkely to enter into correspondance via email concerning a confidential matter such as this, as they would not be able to confirm the identity of the person sending them the emails.
  Is the creditor claiming the debt actually Hailfax ???
• Your friend doesn't have any other option but to contact them. There's a telephone number on their website for people abroad to contact them, it's +44 1132 422229
• Does your friend have internet banking?
  If so, he could see recent transactions on that. Most online banking applications I've seen also have the possibility to send & receive secure electronic messages with the bank, if necessary.
• Thank you everyone, yes I know about the phone number, that is the first thing I said.
  The only internet access is on a paid publicly-used machine so voip phoning is out of the question I'm afraid, that's why email is so important. He does not own any machine to communicate on, and is not set up for online banking.
  Writing in this case would be too long-drawn-out to be of much use, though is worth a try.
  Ј5 a day is huge.
• I don't know why you are annoyed with the Halifax? They cannot communicate by e-mail as that could come from anyone claiming to be your friend - have you not heard of e-mail hackers and phishing scams?
  However, they do have another form of communication - the internal message procedure on internet banking. It seems that his only option is to set up internet banking from where he is (who goes abroad for an extended period without doing this before leaving the country, anyway?)
  The alternative is for your friend to buy a phone card, which are available in most countries, and use a phone box to call the Halifax.
  If you tell us which country your friend is in, someone here can probably help you to find a cheaper way for your friend to call home.
• Why can't your friend get to a phone to call Halifax? If the cost is an issue, offer to lend them money, which you can send via a cash transfer agency.
• I work for a bank, we don't communicate with customers via email. It's not secure enough. We have an internal secure messaging service via our internet banking website too. Why can't your friend set up internet banking ?
• A big thank you to all for your time and thoughts. It's complicated but basically my friend is volunteering longer than planned in a tiny rural settlement with few resources and limited transport, hard to imagine in the UK.
  I appreciate the need for privacy but I am not asking for any details of the account, just to be able to inform them on his behalf to try to find out what the debt may be and to stop it building so quickly. I just find it frustrating that this does not seem to be possible, it's not as though they are being deliberately evaded although that is how it makes me feel.
  It will no doubt sort out, but sloooowly. We have to be patient.
  Thank you again, everyone, for your answers.
• The Halifax cannot deal with you. The debt/reason for the debt is personal to your friend and they are not free to discuss this with you. Data protection laws would be broken if they did.
• You say post is being received at a previous address. Therefore statements for this account must also arrive at this address. Those statements will tell him what he owes and why.
• Hi 5cally, thank you for your query regarding unavailable bank.
  Unfortunately a bank will not correspond via e-mail due to security issues and if your friend is unable to use the telephone themselves the only other option they have is by using letters or internet banking which I appreciate has delays attached unless they are willing to give permission for you to deal with their financial affairs on their behalf but they would still need to a complete third party authorisation procedure which would have to be done in writing so would not really save any time and would still not allow you to request credit such as an overdraft facility (which may be what is needed in this case to stop the unauthorised overdraft increasing further). Your friend write to the bank and ask for a hold on the charges whilst they are sorting out the disputed debt and making arrangements to pay and a bank will usually agree to this for a short amount of time as breathing space. You can find more information about dealing with debts at www.adviceguide.org.uk.
  Hope this is of assistance.
• This far-flung rural community seems to have internet access, so surely a land-line telephone is available?
• Exactly. In my experience, far flung places are much more likely to have access to internet cafes and public telephones, precisely because it is unusual for private homes to have them.
  I did ask OP a few posts back whereabouts his friend is so we can suggest what public call facilities might be available, but he hasn't responded. Also, since he is volunteering, there must be some form of communication with the outside world between the volunteers and the coordinators, after all, what happens if there is an emergency - say someone is ill or injured?
  In any case, it is probably safe enough to use skype in an internet cafe to talk to the bank in an emergency with head phones and booths it is actually quite private - and if it is the remote and isolated place that OP describes, it is highly unlikely that the local villagers will speak/understand English - or even care.
  With interest of Ј5 a day going onto the account, I would have sorted it by now!