Just to encourage you, I have just (this week) got back a full refund of £4,500 + 5 years interest from Lloyds !! This was on a consolidation loan I took out five years ago when I was 'persuaded' that the PPI would be, shall we say, 'helpful' with my application. All I did was to write to write two letters, where I refered to the OFT 'super complaint'. This site will be shortly getting a donation from me! One thing I would say to all concerned about claiming anything is - keep on complaining and NEVER take no for an answer. It's about time us docile and timid Brits stood up for ourselves.... Best of luck !

Thanks Will, I'm now 'threading' ... JP

This is a very interesting thread. Like many people who get into financial difficulty and then take the banks' advice on how to 'get straight' I find I have been clobbered again. I am in the process of claiming back £3000 in unfair charges from Lloyds, but this is going to be much less than the PPI + interest I paid on a consolidation loan. Many, many thanks to all the contributors to this site!

Thanks NicSussex for the swift answer - greatly appreciated. I would agree that all were true. But what would be the strongest line of attack? Are there any templated letters I could 'pinch'? I expect that this claim would not be as clear-cut as 'normal' penalty charges?

I haven't posted for some time, as I am still locked in battle with Lloyds - however another query has arisen, and I would like some advise please. Over 4 years ago I took out a consolidation loan with Lloyds of £20K, repayable over 5 years. I was 'encouraged' at the time to also take out payment protection insurance, costing a wapping £4333, which was added to the loan sum. The insurance, according to the contract was optional. The repayment alone on this is £93 p.m, and with less than a year to run on the loan, I don't need the insurance - in fact I could back the loan earlier if I could 'knock this off'. With the science of hindsight, is was this just a mistake on my part or are these 'insurances' unfair? Is there any history of banks mis-selling these? Can I 'drop' the repayment for loan insurance, if I no longer need it? Thanks for any advice !

Thanks Brechiner - I hope there are no problems getting the forum back and running soon, as there were quite a few radical posts there.

I am wondering if anybody else is concerned that BankChargesHell.Co.Uk - a parallel support site - has been 'offline' now for some time. Has anyone any information when this may be back?

I have raised a similar point on the MoneySavingExpert site. A contract exists by virtue of a mutual agreement, and the contract with the bank is not irrevocable - i.e either party can terminate the contract at any time by closing the account. From time to time banks send out letters stating that they are varying the T&Cs - but I question whether this is lawful (or enforceable) if they have not obtained your consent. A non-reply to a letter would definitely not constitute consent to amend the terms. So, if you have written to your bank saying that they no longer have permission to remove funds, the bank has no further authority to do so - but it does have choice : i) If it says, fine, so you have chosen to terminate the contract, the account is now closed. ii) It could continue to operate your account. But in these circumstances, (even in an interim period) it has accepted your change of T&Cs., and the bank can no longer withdraw funds.

What happens if you have a loan and a credit card with a bank that closes your current account. (especially if you applied for the loan and card at the bank) Are these contracts automatically deemed to be terminated? If this is the case, although any debt remained, the bank could no longer charge interest, and would have to negotiate a new repayment T&C. This may be of value with someone with a high level of debt, because the 'interest' charges and repayment period would be frozen.