Thanks Michael, I feel a lot more at ease now!

Hi guys! I haven't yet started proceedings at court, and I received another letter from Lloyds this morning. I'm after a little advice; is this just another stalling tactic? Anyway, here is the letter: --------------------------------------------------------- Dear Miss P***** Thank you for getting in touch with us. I am sorry you are unhappy about your bank charges. Like any business, we do make a charge for some of our extra services. When customers don't have enough in their accounts to cover a payment, this always means extra work - and it has to happen very quickly. We have to agree to make the payment by setting up or increasing an overdraft, or tell customers we can't agree it. We feel it's fair to charge for this service. Of course it's only fair too, that we're completely open about any charged-for services before you might need them. That's why we take care to give every new customer the latest guide to our charges. You can also get up-to date details about fees and borrowing rates at all our branches, through our helpline and n our website. Just as importantly, we do everything we can to help customers avoid these charges. You can also get an up-to-date balance at any of our cash machines, over the phone, on line and by weekly text to your mobile. If you know a payment is going to take you over your agreed limit, you're welcome to see if there's anything we can do. The Office of Fair Trading has published new guidlines on credit card default charges. We're still talking it through with them, but the important point is that the guidlines are about 'default' charges that people pay when they break an agreement with us. This does not apply to your charges as these were for dealing with your request to go over your agreed overdraft limit. They are not default charges because you haven't broken your agreement. They are our prices for the service we provide in these situations. I do hope you can see that we make our charging system as fair as possible - and why I can't agree to cancel your charges. I hope this fully answers the points you raised with us. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do help. If we cannot come to an agreement, I will provide you with details of the Financial Ombudsman Service so they can consider your complaint independently. If you are happy with the way I have dealt with your complaint, there is no need for you to reply to my letter. If I have not heard from you by 18/06/2007 I will close my file, though of course I will re-open it should you come back at any point afterwards. Yours Sincerely, Stuart Ross Customer Service Recovery Centre Andover -------------------------------------------------- Now my question is, is all this just bluster? Or are they right in saying this? As far as I was aware, I'm not challenging them charging me...what I am challenging is the AMOUNT of these charges considering it costs them about 10p to send out an automated letter! I really need some reassurance on this one....:-|

Hi guys! Just a brief update. I sent out my letter before action on the 31st March, and got a response on 15th April. Basically it was just another fob-off letter: '...we would have hoped to have resolved this by now. I am sorry to say that despite our best efforts, we have been unable to do so yet. We will write to you within the next four weeks...' blah blah blah! They don't even promise in this letter that they will resolve the issue within another four weeks, just that they will write with '...our response to your complaint or with an estimate of when you can expect it.' How long does it take?! Anyway, just to let you guys know that I will be attempting to get my paperwork together over the next couple of days and then filing papers at court next week. Eeeek! Am getting a little nervous now!

OK....my LBA is sent! Posted it off yesterday and am beginning to feel a little nervous. Is that normal?! I think it's because I KNOW from reading on here that they are highly unlikely to settle until they are literally on the court house steps! Am glad there are plenty of people on here to offer advice

Thanks wilky!

Thought as much

Thanks for the tip dolly. Wasn't sure how to proceed.

Ok, so I received a reply from LLoyds this morning which I want to share with you guys. I would also like some advice on how to proceed. Anyway, here it is: Dear Miss P***** Complaint Reference: ***** I am just writing ti let you know that we have received you complaint - and to say how sorry I am to learn that you feel you have cause to complain. Please get in touch if we've misunderstood your concerns or if you have some more information you want us to have. If we don't hear back from you in the next couple of days, we will carry on with our investigation using the information you've already provided. We expect our enquiries to be complteted within the next four weeks but we will try to get our response to you sooner if we can. If there's a delay, we will let you know why and we'll give you an idea of when you can expect to receive a full response to your complaint. I hope we can sort things out for you. In the meantime attached to this letter is a document called 'Voicing Your Concerns'. This tells you all you need to know about resolving your complaint with us. Yours Sincerely Kerry Parfitt Customer Services Recovery Ok. So now I'm not sure if I should just carry on with sending my second letter, or should I just take this as an acknowledgement of my complaint and give them their 4 weeks? I'm thinking that this might work in my favour if I allow them that time...? Or should I just go at it all guns blazing and continue with my next letter to them? Any help with this would be greatly appreciated

Good luck Wilky! They won't know what's hit 'em!

Hi Piggin! The best place to start really is to write to Lloyds Data Protection people (address is in the Contacts section) and request all details of charges on your account for the last 6 years. There are template letters on this site for every step of the process. Once you get that info (they have 40 days to send it to you,) then you can start to add up exactly how much they have taken from you. Be aware that they bank can charge UP TO £10 to send you this info. You can save time and send them a cheque for this amount with your request. Once you have added up the charges, you can then contact them to request a refund and go from there. Hope this helps!

Thanks for the encouragement! Am expecting trouble...they can bring it on because I'm in that kind of mood!lol

Am just starting out on this one! In fact, am only just writing my letter requesting a refund (I already had all my statements so I didn't need to ask for those.) My calculations have come out at them charging me 676.50 in charges since April '02 (797.74 with statutory interest.) I know from reading the forums on this site and others that LLoyds are notorious for dragging their heels when it comes to these cases, so wish me luck!

Thanks Mochamoo! Have only used the statements I have already because I was in a pretty good financial state before that time and so I don't think I had incurred any charges. Am finishing up reading the FAQs about now and finding it all really helpful!

Hi guys and gals! I have been pondering over whether or not to pursue my bank for charges, and after some searching around online and some calculations this afternoon, I have decided to go for it! The charges relate to an account with Lloyds TSB and as I understand it they are notoriously good at dragging their heels right up to the 11th hour! As I'm a bit of a hoarder, I have all my statements since 2002 and so far I have calculated an amount of £676.50 minus statutory interest. Am gonna go for it, so wish me luck! 8)