Absolutely Mad And Going For It!!!!!!!!!!!!

[annie44]

I Have Held An Account For 6yrs With Lloyds, For The Past 3 Yrs I Have Had To Stop Working And Am Only In Receipt Of Credits From Disability Benefit And Income Support For Which You Have To Have A Bank Account To Recieve.(unbelievable). They Do Not Always Pay In On The Correct Day (quite Often) Which Causes Me To Go Overdrawn And Of Cousre They Charge Me And D.debits Bounce And They Charge Me Again.

I Have Quite Often Had To Miss Hospital Appointments Because Of Lack Of Funds (no Fares) And Very Often Not Been Able To Even Buy Food.

Very Often Their Charges Have Taken A Whole Week Or Two Weeks Payments.

This Has Been Happening For Over 3yrs And Looking At 2.5yrs Statements It Adds Up To Around £1300.

I Cannot Afford For This To Continue I Have Two Children Trying To Do A Levels And The Stress Of "waiting To See Whats Left In The Bank" To See Whether They Can Eat Or Travel To School Is A Nightmare.

I Used The Template Letter On Site To Request Refund Of Charges They Replied In 6 Days - Standard Letter Sorry To Hear You Have A Complaint- But You Signed A Contract On Opening Your Account-they Have Legitimate Costs When Customers Go Overdrawn And It Is My Resposibility To Ensure Enough Funds Are In My Account At The Time Of Representation. If I Am Still Unhappy They Can Pass My Letter To The Ombudsman.

I Have Until August 7 And Then They Will Close My Complaint.

What Next?

 

Annie44

[reload]

Hi Annie, and welcome to the club

 

Which template letter did you use? I'm guessing from the response, but I'd say the Preliminary Approach for Repayment?

 

You can actually claim back charges for the last 6 years. It is possible to force your bank to send you statements/a list of charges for £10 total - you will need to send the DPA Subject Access Request letter to do so.

 

The standard proceedure for Lloyds involves:

 

1) DPA SAR (If necessary) to get your statements for the last 6 years. Total up your charges, then...

2) Preliminary Approach for Repayment. Wait 14 days for their response.

3) Letter Before Action. Wait 14 days for their response.

4) File a Moneyclaim online (http://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk), advice on the Particulars of Claim are available on this site.

5) Wait for Lloyds to file their defense, and the court to send you an Allocation Questionnaire.

6) Wait for Lloyd's solicitors to send you a settlement offer (Usually for 100%). You may need to return the Allocation Questionnaire before you will receive this - it seems to vary from case to case.

 

As you can see, Lloyds drag the process out as long as they can in the hope that people will abandon the claim through stress or fear of going to court. The 14 days between Preliminary Approach/LBA/Filing are somewhat optional with Lloyds, to the extent that Lloyds have a tendancy to respond negatively in very short order. However, bear in mind that if you do not wait the full 14 days your case could be affected as the Judge may deem you have not provided enough time for a response.

 

Oh, lastly - you don't need to capitalise every word in your posts

[Bean]

Hello annie44, welcome to the forum!

 

I suggest you read Spiceskull's "how I got my bank charges back":

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/hsbc-bank-action-group/11407-recouping-bank-charges-hsbc.html . It relates to HSBC but the information is just as relevant to Lloyds TSB too.

 

Getting mad is entirely understandable but it only succeeds in hurting you and those around you with stress and bitterness.

 

As you have said you are going for it, now is the time to direct this energy to recovering what the bank has unlawfully taken from you. As for most people here, it sounds like getting your money back is the first priority. You can complain at any time* but recovering your money is presumably top of the list. *I may be corrected on this but be mindful of the timing of complaints to the Financial Ombudsman - I think they have to be made within 6 months of an unsatisfactory response from the bank.

 

When you have recovered your charges (unconditionally) you may wish to complain via the Office of Fair Trading, the Financial Ombudsman, your MP, the media, as you choose. You may also consider taking advice on consequential loss. Yours is a particularly vulnerable situation and the taking of charges resulting in little or no food and missed hospital appointments is at face value a ruthless and pitiful exploitation.

 

If you keep a steady head and tackle this systematically, things will improve and you should get a growing sense of relief and satisfaction. Take in as much as you can from the site, there are lots of good and knowledgeable people here who have been wronged - always bear in mind that it's freely given advice from people in a similar claiming situation, is subject to common sense and you are ultimately responsible for how you tackle it, but help is here if you ask for it. If in doubt, get confirmation from several sources, and seek professional advice as you think necessary.

[Bean]

annie44, another thought:

 

If you are still having items returned and expect charges to be levied shortly, it will presumably be important to you (for luxuries like food and hospital visits) to stop this nonsense at the earliest opportunity.

 

If you have not already done so, it would be worthwhile contacting your branch with information on how this is affecting you. They may choose to cease charging you till this claim is resolved, but you will not give them this choice if you do not spell it out to them.

 

There is a superb letter on this subject by Spiceskull and it should do the job, but I can not immediately direct you to it. I will track it down and get back to you.

[Bean]

Hi annie44,

 

If you are currently having problems with returned items and are about to be charged for them, this should help till your claim is resolved.

 

This is the letter I had in mind. Courtesy of Spiceskull:

 

"Dear Sir/Madam,

 

I find myself in the position that your actions require my intervention for the [HOWEVER MANY] time in the space of a few days. I am seriously reconsidering my view that [bANK] has the capacity to act as my fiduciary in a responsible and lawful manner, as implied by the terms and conditions between both parties.

 

[WHENEVER] I received a statement from [bANK], stating their intent to unlawfully apply penalty charges to my account on [DATE]. These charges are to the sum of £XX.

 

As you are aware, I have asked you to demonstrate to me that these punitive charges are fair and just, that they are lawful, and that they are being lawfully applied. You have failed to demonstrate this to date, and therefore it is implied by your refusal or inability to supply such demonstration, that these penalties are, indeed, unlawful.

 

Therefore, I would draw your attention to the following point: you have stated that these charges will be applied on [DATE]. If these charges ARE applied, then you will be required to explain why you have, in my view, committed a pre-meditated breach of the law, and I will be reporting such breach to all of the relevant authorities.

 

However, as this has not yet happened, I require that you take action forthwith, and cancel this transaction prior to its execution. Furthermore, I require confirmation, in writing, that this transaction will, indeed, be cancelled.

 

I shall be checking my account on [DATE], and if I see that the penalty charges have been unlawfully applied to my account, I shall lodge a claim at the county court to recover these charges, plus my costs and interest calculated at 8% APR, without hesitation. Furthermore, I shall require that you confirm whether these unlawful charges have resulted in a default notice against my record with credit reference agencies, and if so, I will seek appropriate action to have this notice removed.

 

In view of my first paragraph, and considering your apparent incompetence to act as my fiduciary in a lawful manner, I will start to consider a course of action whereby I may seek redress for all the inconvenience you have caused me."

 

Many thanks to you Spiceskull.

[annie44]

hi

I think i jumped the gun and wrote to lloyds asking them to refund charges without sending a data subject letter listing all charges or giving me copies of statements over last 6 yrs.They wrote back and said 'sorry to hear you are unhappy ( but we are not going to do anything about it ) so i am now sending the template letter on your site.So hopefully they will react to that.

new to using this site so i hope this is starting a thread that i can continue to update you on progress? and get help if needed? Just been charged £35. again today which is taken from benefit rec'd today! annie

[maverik1979]

yes this is now your thread, any further questions or developments , you can post in here, it helps us keep track of your claim , i think that by now following the tried and tested method, you will have much more success

[reload]

Hi annie44. I'd suggest you read the Frequently Asked Questions forum, in particular the Step-by-Step Instructions, the FAQs themselves, and the Rules of Engagement. You'd do well to read the other threads in there too

 

Once you've got those under your belt, take a look at the Bank Templates Library. It contains all the letters you should need to see your claim through to the end

 

Bleh, teach me to check the names on posts I respond to

[lindyloops]

Hi Annie, I am not an expert, just a single mum living in the real world, I am hoping I can help you out a bit with my experiences!

 

I have been reading through your threads and was wondering how things are going for you? I used to keep getting my benefit taken in charges and found the bank unsympathetic(to say the least), so I openned a new account with another bank and had my benefits paid into that one whilst i got myself sorted!

Not that I am sorted yet but at least now I can put food on the table each week.

 

That way you don't have to worry about any new charges and can concentrate on getting them back with the others.

 

Not that I am sorted yet but at least now I can put food on the table each week.

 

Another thing I do now is to check my new account online daily and if it looks likely that a direct debit is going to go out and i don't have the funds, I can cancel it and save getting more charges, not ideal I know, just a suggestion,

 

I wish you well, Linda

[mooreda]

Hi Annie

 

One piece of advice to you is if you are on Benefit - open a Post Office Card Account - you will definately not get charges on this account.

[lindyloops]

great suggestion, do the post office card account deal with all banking needs ie: direct debit standing orders etc? thanks

[Smila]

Hello

You can only have benefit paid into a PO account you can not have wages paid in,you can't use cashmachines, can't use cashback, do not get issued with a cheque book,cant use direct debit and no overdraft is available .

 

Have a look at Direct Payment redirect

[annie44]

Hi all

 

I have now received a response from lloyds sending me full list of charges for the last 5 years, after sending the letter you suggested. MANY THANKS FOR YOUR HELP SO FAR. am now sending the letter for preliminary approach.

So heres hoping.

 

annie

[annie44]

hi all

 

i have just had a response from lloyds after sending letter for request repayment of charges with copy of all charges- response sorry to hear you are unhappy you entered an agreement at the time of opening your account. which letter do i send next?

 

annie king:mad:

[Michael Browne]

Each step is explained (with links) here:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=31460

[Guest Mumofthreeboys]

If you sent the Preliminary letter, the next one is the LBA.

[annie44]

thankyou i will send the letter . here's hoping:rolleyes:

[annie44]

Hi All

 

I have today issued a court claim via moneyclaim online for refund of my charges. I had negative responses to all letters sent to LLoyds.They just don't give a damn!

Fingers crossed they may now sit up and take a little notice of me.

Any further advice at this stage.?

Once again thanks to all for help so far.

Just a little scared I have never taken any action legally before.

 

annie 44

[elsinore]

You'll be alright, Annie, there are plenty of people on here who will 'hold your hand' and help you along the way.

 

Remember, we're all in the same boat!

 

Elsinore

[annie44]

Thanks Elsinore i'll keep you posted. And i'll keep reading all I can on the site for help along the way.

annie

[annie44]

my claim was issued on the 26/2 and served on the 31/1 they have responded by acknowledgement of service indicating they intend to defend all of the claim. they now have 28 days to file a defence.

is this standard procedure?

 

annie:confused:

[Michael Browne]

Yes

[annie44]

thank you

[annie44]

i have received an allocation questioaire. And a copy of lloyds defnce and counterclaim?

contention that the statement is insufficiently particularised and is EMBARRASING. ETC.......

THE STATEMENT OF CLAIM SHOULD BE STRUCK OUT PURSUANT TO RULE 3.4 2A(A-C) OF THE CIVIL PROCEDURE RULES.

 

PLEASE HELP

[jimfishybob]

Hi Annie, this isn't the first time they've tried something like this.

 

Don't panic.

 

They are still probably trying to put you off. Like Karnevil says, post you POC up here and let's have a look.