Hi all, thanks for your replies. We are a partnership of 3, myself my husband and a friend. I think the cover gave each individual enough to cover the loans from the bank. Yes the account is and has been in unauthorised overdraft several times, I need to clarify if the Lending Code applies or not. We did not want and could not really afford the insurance but it was made clear that we would not get the 2nd loan unless we signed up for it. Surely this is undue pressure to buy.

Hi Slick123 and everyone else. Thanks for your reply and warm welcome. I am unsure how to proceed re Hardship, does this apply to the business or the owners, we are a partnership, working other jobs to make ends meet and repay business related credit card debts. The business struggles on a day-to-day basis as takings fluctuate greatly week to week and seasonally. I would welcome opinions on the following points:- 1,Does the original BMs verbal agreement to give us an overdraft upon opening carry any weight. We certainly would not have opened an account where we had no possibility of getting one. 2, Can we reclaim the life insurance we were mis-sold? 3, If so should we repay the charges with that money get the account active again before moving to another bank. 4, The state of our account reflects badly on the business and would, I assume , make it very difficult to open another account. How should we proceed? I would be grateful for any advice, its great to find somewhere supportive after a tough 3 years.

Hi I am hoping to defend our business from further damage by Lloyds bank and want to know how best to proceed. We opened our account in 2010 with a loan of £60,000 from an apparently supportive bank manager who promised to give us an overdraft when we opened. We met the repayments for 6 months whilst rebuilding before we even opened. We needed a further loan of £25,000 to complete the refurb which we received on the understanding that we took out life insurance with Lloyds. We did so and received the loan which enabled us to complete the project. Sadly 2 weeks before we opened the manager suddenly passed away. When we first met our new manager she appeared to take a very dim view of us and dismissed any notion of an overdraft on the grounds that we had not met our targets 2 weeks after opening. We had never been warned that our admittedly (with hindsight) over-optimistic business plan was a binding document. Since the start of our relationship the new BM has been rude and unhelpful has repeatedly allowed payments to go out then called them back then charged us, probably at least £100 pcm and sometimes more. This has made it extremely difficult to manage the account as we are never sure what will come out next sometimes payment are made and recalled 3 times! We have shut down as many DDs as poss and use the account as little as possible. We feel we have been unfairly treated as an overdraft would have prevented these charges, the business overall is not in much debt and is improving and has the potential to grow into a sustainable business currently employing 5 people. Currently we owe £900 in charges and cannot use the account at all. We feel we were mis-sold the life insurance at £120 pcm which we paid for about 1 year and we are being unfairly treated and exploited to raise revenue through charges when an overdraft would resolve the situation. any advice gratefully received.