reload v Lloyds - FULL SETTLEMENT OFFERED!!!

[reload]

Excellent website, plenty of useful information - although I have to admit at struggling to find the FAQ threads at first, because of the large volume of announcements. Didn't have my thinking head on straight away, and mistook the announcements for the FAQs!

Anyway, have read a variety of the threads now, and am preparing to post my own claim too.

Fiddling about with Lloyds online banking however, I discovered it is possible to search for all of your previous Charges (Which unfortunately includes fees). It may be worth posting this information elsewhere, but:

Log in to your Lloyds Internet Banking account, and select the Bank account which you wish to search as you would normally.

Select "Statement" from the left hand menu.

From the drop-down menu at the top of your statement, select "Search Your Statements" and click "Go".

This next is a bit tedious. The site only permits you to search your statements from 01-07-2002 onwards, and only in +3 month intervals (So you need to do multiple searches, and copy/paste your results into a spreadsheet). However, adjust the search fields so they appear like the following:



Click "Search", and the next page will display a list of your charges from the period 01-07-2002 up till 31-09-2002.

NB: THIS ALSO INCLUDES YOUR ACCOUNT FEES AND OVERDRAFT INTEREST WHICH YOU SHOULD REMOVE MANUALLY, AS NECESSARY.

You can then use a simple Excel spreadsheet to total up the 'charges' as necessary. Saves you a bit of legwork.

Hope this info is useful to others, and good luck with your claims. Will be interested to see how mine comes out

[reload]

Hmmm, after totting it all up seems I'm owed £2225. This should be fun.

[dave]

Welcome, and thanks for the advice!

[reload]

... and sent my preliminary approach for repayment first class recorded for the sum of £2225. This is only for the last 4 years, and I haven't included the 8% which we seem to be entitled to as well - I'm wondering whether they might note this and settle a bit more rapidly.

[commando]

Dont think you add 8% interest untill you get to court claim.Good luck and keep us posted.

[reload]

Originally Posted by commando

Dont think you add 8% interest untill you get to court claim.Good luck and keep us posted.

After further reading - fair point

Just checked Royal Mail online tracking and my letter is recorded as delivered from Birmingham depot. Here goes!

[reload]

Apologies for the self-bumpage, but opened a NatWest Step account as a parachute this morning - should get the letters to sign etc in the next couple of days. Will keep updating this for my own benefit as it seems most people do

[reload]

Blimey - got in from work this evening to find this on my doorstep. Quite impressive turnaround, even though it is a delaying letter:

Originally Posted by "David Just

Dear Mr reload,

I am just writing to let you know that we've recieved your complain - and to say how sorry I am to learn that you're unhappy with us.

You have my assurance that one of our assistant managers will investigate the concerns you have rasied with us - this may take a little time but I would expect our enquiries to be complete within the coming 2 weeks. We will then be able to respond in full to your complaint and at that stage, I hope, resolve matters between us.

In case you haven't recieved a copy of our leaflet called 'How to voice your concerns' I've enclosed one with my letter (They didn't, actually!). This tells you all you need to know about resolving your complaint with us.

Yours sincerely,




David Just
Assistant Manager

So, as I suppose this letter is dated 04/05/2006 this means I can assume they recieved the letter then, and give them 14 days from then till I post off the LBA

[reload]

137 views and only two responses that weren't me - lol

[commando]

Hi Reload,
Yes I got identical letter in the post today.

How times have changed. I used to dread those ltsb letters, now I actually enjoy waiting for the postman. Keep us posted.

[ppauls150]

Yeap same here for me and my girlfriend this morning lol. Must be really hard for Mr Jusst to keep going to that template and printing them letters off everytime (or his receptionist does) Just goes to show they cant even look into it properly it is all the same stuff for everyone so it is never an individual case that they look at where there could of been a real issue for someone it is just a case of oh heres another one best get to that template.

[ppauls150]

Next we will all get the same letter saying sorry but not this time. They are just waiting till the end of the 2 weeks to send out the reply.

[reload]

Got this back today. Seems to be the standard reply letter, as far as I can tell:

Originally Posted by Chris Dunnett

Dear Mr Hibbert,

Re: Account Charges for Overdraft Excesses and Returned Items

Thank you for taking the time to contact us about your account.

I understand that

• You feel that the charges you have incurred are unlawful.
• You are unhappy with the amount of charges you have incurred as a result of being overdrawn and from returned items.
• You have requested that all charges incurred should be refunded for the past 4 years totalling £2225.00.

When you became a customer, we gave you details of any charge for the day to day running of your account. Details of our charges are also available from our branch staff, telephone helpline or our website.

For the vast majority of our customers banking with us can be completely free as charges are not made for services such as debit cards, cash machine withdrawals, balance requests, statements, cheque books and Internet banking. We also do not charge for processing Direct Debits and Standing Orders when they are paid through our customers' accounts.

One of the few services we apply charges for are when a customer does not have enough money in their account to meet payments they have requested us to make. If customers think they may exceed any limit they have, we urge them to contact us to discuss their requirements. Any requests for further lending are then assessed in line with our usual credit policy. Similarly, when we return an item, we are preventing a customer from exceeding their limit, and again as we explain clearly to our customers, this process incurs a charge.

Typically, we do not levy customers an excess overdraft fee the first time they go overdrawn without an agreement, as long as it hasn't happened in the past twelve months and we limit excess fees to a maximum of three occurances in any one month.

As a business we are entitled to set charges to cover additional work. These charges are not hidden and are notified in the guide to banking charges leaflet we produce. We advise our customers to ensure cleared funds are available in their accounts to meet payments due. You will also note that in the front of each cheque book we request that funds are available before cheques are issued.

You incurred charges because you did not ensure funds were available in your account to cover the payments set up by you. It is your responsibility to operate your account within any agreed limits and within the terms and conditions.

You accepted these terms when you opened your account and when you agreed your overdraft (I don't have one?). We did not agree to pay your account in excess of the amount agreeed without charges being made.

Accordingly, I am unable to agree with your request to refund these charges. We do expect your account to be run in line with the terms and conditions of its operation. This means that you must ensure that cleared funds are deposited into the account the working day before any payments are due. If you do not feel you will be able to run your account in accordance with the terms and conditions, we may have to consider withdrawing certain facilities, such as any debit cards, overdrafts and chequebooks. Alternatively, you may wish to consider alternative banking arrangements.

If you are unhappy with my decision and feel that you have something to add which might change the outcome, please get in touch. If we cannot agree on a solution at that point, I will help you refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service for independent arbitration.

Yours sincerely,



Chris Dunnett
Assistant Manager

Interesting that given the content of the template preliminary approach letter, at no point does the bank try to defend the charges as lawful. Neither does it attempt to defend the charges as proportional to their expenses. Could this angle be taken in a small claims court defense, I wonder?

[knobby1]

reload i got the sod off letter 2 days after posting the prelim letter i diddnt even get the david just 1 telling me some 1 will look into it!! there must be some 1 standing in the post room just putting letters into envelopes waiting for ones to come in so they can stick a name on it ans send it back coz 2 days is a phenominal turn arround for any company, just a shame they arnt as good as a bank as they are at posting silly letters

[knobby1]

p.s exact same letter i got m8 word for effing word

[reload]

Aye, looks it - given that most of our letters are pretty much identical template letters in any case, they're probably doing the exact same thing to us