Lloyds Tsb - Will They Play Silly Buggers?

[Fred Bassett]

Thanks Cossy.

I've just realised that Lloyds have not responded to my CCA request which was sent on 30th April.

Now I'm going to force the issue in the best way possible by stopping payment. THEN the b*st*rds might sit up and take notice.

I'm going to enjoy this.

Regards.

Fred

[Fred Bassett]

This will be going out on Monday night should there be nothing in the post when I get home:

21st May 2007

Dear Sir/Madam

ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxxxxx


I refer to my letter dated 30th April 2007 regarding a copy of the credit agreement relating to this account. This letter was sent by registered post and was delivered to you on May 1st 2007.

You have not responded to my letter within 12 working days as stipulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

I will now withhold payment on this account until such time as I have received the relevant information.

Yours faithfully,


Fred Bassett

[Fred Bassett]

Another question. With regards to my Lloyds current account, I can't seem to get them to stop charging for the overdraft. Every month I pay a certain amount through the CCCS and every month Lloyds add more overdraft interest at just over the rate I'm paying them.

How can I get this stopped?

Thanks.

Fred

[Fred Bassett]

Update: Got a very conciliatory letter today from Customer Service Recovery Centre which contained all the right, soothing noises. It's a load of b*ll*x of course but I don't care. If I've got a genuine claim then there will be interest added for every day. If I haven't then I won't get anything anyway.

Interestingly, the letter only mentions the S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) request, but I sent my CCA request in the same envelope (with my £1 PO) on the same day and I have proof that it was delivered. I think I'll sit quiet on that because they're now in default. 25 days to go before they commit a criminal offence. And counting.

Regards to all.

Fred

[Pondfish]

Hi Fred,

I too am paying token payments towards my overdraft, after Lloyds agreed to a repayment plan worked out with myself and the CCCS (£1/month token repayments to be reviewed after 3 months when other key debts are sorted.)
I asked if they would stop the interest on this, but they declined. I was told they could not consider this unless i was paying at least £20-£30/month. At the time I could not afford this, so did not persue it any further. But i might soon be in a position to offer more in return for them stopping the interest.
This might be total B*****cks. They might have just been trying to get more money out of me, but i thought i'd share this with you, might be of use?

Pondy

[Fred Bassett]

I've just had a complete set of transactions from Lloyds - but only for my current account which I have already downloaded for myself from the Internet. They've sent me nothing for my Credit card account.

Separately, they have also sent me nothing for my CCA request.

I've already complained to the Information Commissioner regarding the Subject Access Request request but now I'm just going to wait for the CCA stuff because they're in default and in another 12 days time this will turn into a criminal offence.

No hurry, I'll give them enough rope and they can do the rest.

Fred

[Pondfish]

Ah!

A game of hangman while your waiting eh!

I like your patient approach, your the only CAG'er i know who can outwait Lloyds.

Pondy

[Fred Bassett]

Pondy,

I can't outwait Lloyds. I've just checked what they sent me and it's actually a list of charges. They've already sent me the same thing once so it's back to square one.

It really does look like I'm going to have to take them to court just to get the data. As a last throw of the dice, I've just compiled a letter (somewhat bad tempered) to send on Monday, to the woman who wrote to me on 18th May. In this she admitted that Lloyds TSB had exceeded the 40-day limit. Here's my letter:

FAO zzzzzzz

Your reference: ABC123

11th June 2007

Dear zzzzzzz,

ACCOUNT NUMBERS: 77000000000000 AND 49000000000000

I refer to your letter dated 18th May and my reply to you dated 1st June.

Yesterday I received the response from your colleagues in the Copy Statement Unit. It contained ….. wait for it ….. wait for it, a complete list of charges for my bank account!!!! Fantastic! I’ve now got 2 copies.!!!

Now what I am trying to work out is what part of “…a complete list of transactions and charges relating to my banking history with your organisation…” do you not understand?

You have now sent me the list of charges on my bank account TWICE and you have sent nothing in relation to my credit card account. Nor have you sent me anything relating to instances of manual intervention. Given the number of threatening ‘phone calls I had from you a couple of years ago, I find it hard to believe that no such records exist. You will note that there are 2 account numbers in the heading of this letter, as there were in my letters to Lloyds dated 24th March, 30th April, 8th May and 1st June. That is 4 letters all quoting the same 2 account numbers. I didn’t put them both there for the fun of it. For your information, the bank account is the one beginning with the sort code, in this case 77. The one beginning 49 is for my credit card.

It is now 79 days since my original request and 24 days since your letter to me. In that letter you conceded that “the 40 day limit (sic) has already expired….”

I enclose a copy of my original letter. Please read it carefully as it contains everything I require. If I have not heard from you by Friday 15th June, then I will start a court action to recover my data. I will name you personally as the person who is too incompetent to understand a simple requirement.

Please note that I have already made a complaint to the Information Commissioner regarding your lack of action in respect to my request.

This letter is your final opportunity to redress the matter and I will accept nothing less than EVERYTHING that I have requested already in my letter dated 24th March.

Yours faithfully,

Fred Bassett

[Pondfish]

Fred,
I have got to hand it to you, wish i could put a letter like that together!
I'd love to be there when it's opened.
I was just thinking you had the patience of a saint (And still do!), but everyone has a limit eh?

Looking forward to the response - if you get one.

Pondy

[Fred Bassett]

It is perfectly clear to me that Lloyds have absolutely no intention of supplying my data, so a few weeks ago, I made a complaint to the Information Commissioner.

Below is their reply, with my comments underneath in blue italics. As you can see, I'm not impressed.

Dear Mr Bassett

Complaint to The Information Commissioner’s Office about unfair penalty charges and your subject access request to Lloyds TSB for information held as part of credit card/bank account statements.

Is a subject access request necessary in order to reclaim any unfair penalty charges?

No. Information from credit card/bank statements should not be needed in order to reclaim any unfair penalty charges from a financial institution.

Well how the hell am I supposed to know how much they have charged me and when?

Following an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) ruling about ‘unfair penalty charges’ relating to credit card accounts, the number of individuals making subject access requests under the Data Protection Act 1998 for information held as part of credit card statements has increased significantly. Although the OFT ruling only relates to credit card accounts a number of individuals are also making subject access requests for information relating to other financial services before attempting to reclaim any penalty charges associated with them. Many financial institutions are struggling to respond to these subject access requests within the 40 calendar days permitted. We are aware of this and are monitoring the situation closely.

'Monitor the situation' is modern-day parlance for "We can't be arsed to do anything but we'll attempt to give the impression that we're doing something to earn our nice fat salaries".

What’s the best way to reclaim penalty charges?

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is the most appropriate organisation to assist you when seeking to settle disputes about unfair penalty charges with Lloyds TSB. The FOS can be contacted on 0845 080 1800 Monday to Friday from 9am-5pm.

All well and good, but I don't know the extent of my dispute until I have got the bloody details of charges etc.

The FOS was set up by Parliament as an independent, free service for settling disputes between businesses providing financial services and their customers.

Complaints about unfair penalty charges fall outside the remit of The Information Commissioner’s Office. This is why we are unable to directly assist you in seeking the repayment of these charges.

I didn't make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office in order for them to adjudicate on unfair charges. I made the complaint so that I could get my data and then complain to somebody else about the unfair charges.

What will the Information Commissioner’s Office now do with your complaint about the failed subject access request?

Monitor it by any chance?

We acknowledge that in pursuing the unfair penalty charges a valid subject access request was made to Lloyds TSB and although the information requested may not be needed to recover any unfair penalty charges, financial institutions are still required to provide it.

At long last, after 10 or so paragraphs of waffle, they finally get to the point and guess what? They think Lloyds should have answered me by now!!!

From the information you have provided to us it seems unlikely that Lloyds TSB have complied with their obligations under the Data Protection Act on this occasion as they have failed to provide you with the information to which you are entitled.

We will therefore be writing to Lloyds TSB with the details of this complaint. We will ask them to ensure that they provide you with the information you are entitled to as a matter of priority. Furthermore we will ask them to take any steps necessary to ensure their future compliance with the Data Protection Act.

I bet Lloyds are crapping themselves.

What happens next?

We would now recommend that you contact the FOS if you wish to begin the process of reclaiming any unfair penalty charges. (but I don't know how much to claim until my S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) has been complied with!!!) If when we contact Lloyds TSB there is any doubt as to whether they received the subject access request you sent to them we may need to contact you again. However, in most cases, and certainly where you have been able to provide us with proof of postage or receipt for your request, we would not expect to need to contact you again and you should await the receipt of the information to which you are entitled from Lloyds TSB in due course.

If you would like any further clarification having read this letter please contact our Helpline on 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 545745 if you would prefer to call a national rate number.

I think I've had all the clarification I need thank you.

Yours sincerely

Mike xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Case Reception unit
Information Commissioner’s Office

Well that's it. For anyone else thinking of contacting the Information Commissioner's Office, my advice is don't bother. What a bunch of donkeys.

[dpick]

Hi Fred on advice after having had similar problems with MBNA I have just printed off 3 copies of my N1 form for Monday morning to file in court. MBNA sent me the normal on this occasion we are not treating this as a full Subject Access Request and sent me the 3 years of statements from when I was not getting charges. Will let you know progress in case you take same route.

dpick

[Fred Bassett]

Originally Posted by dpick

Hi Fred on advice after having had similar problems with MBNA I have just printed off 3 copies of my N1 form for Monday morning to file in court. MBNA sent me the normal on this occasion we are not treating this as a full S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) and sent me the 3 years of statements from when I was not getting charges. Will let you know progress in case you take same route.

dpick

Cheers dpick

I never know quite how to play it with Lloyds at the moment. I was going to send them a snottygram at the beginning of the week, but then I got a thingy from the Post Office to say that I have a recorded-delivery letter waiting for me. Unfortunately, I can't collect it until tomorrow and I don't know who it's from. It could be Lloyds, BOS, Halifax, MBNA or Egg/Credit Solutions.

The other reason I might tread slightly more carefully with Lloyds at the moment is that I also have a CCA request that they haven't replied to. By Monday, they will have committed a criminal offence and then I've really got them by the gonads. I'll see what happens and let you know.

Cheers.

Fred

[Fred Bassett]

By the way, I notice that I have been promoted to 'Classic Account Customer'. How did that happen?

[Pondfish]

Don't worry Fred!
It's not like the sneaky Bank account upgrades that have been happening!

I think the various accounts work on the number of posts you make.

Well, cover me scales in finrot! Just noticed i too have just been upgraded - I'm a "Gold-fish" now.

Pondy