Had graduate overdraft removed and now stung with bank charges

[PJHilder]

Grrr.

 

I have a graduate account with Lloyds TSB which I wasn't using but paying off my graduate overdraft £100 a month. It was down to £1600.

 

Next thing I knew they'd removed the whole thing. So I called them and was told I had to speak to collections. They said ok we'll set up a new payment plan and temp overdraft which will go down by £100 a month. Fair enough I thought. The temp overdraft would be for £1900, which seemed a bit high so I asked why it was so high and was told this was to cover the bank charges due.

 

What bank charges? £36 for Dec and over £200 for January!

 

Naturally I was fuming about this.

 

Of course I've never received any letters or calls regarding either the overdraft being removed or these new outrageous new charges.

 

I really don't know what to do, he said i should speak to my branch but seriously what are they going to say other than sorry it's with collections, nothing we can do, charges are fair, i really shouldn't fart when I'm speaking out my arse etc.

 

Is it worth complaining or just pay it and hope to nab them all back when we hopefully win the test case?

 

Many thanks,

 

Paul.

[Guest vortex]

I would check with the bank whether they have either a) set up an overdraft with an expiry date or b) when they actually sent a letter out to you with regards to it.

[PJHilder]

I would check with the bank whether they have either a) set up an overdraft with an expiry date or b) when they actually sent a letter out to you with regards to it.

 

From what I remember the plan I set up was to pay £100 a month and have the overdraft go down by the same amount until it was £0. No mention of reviews or anything similar.

[Guest vortex]

were all payments on time every single month?

[PJHilder]

were all payments on time every single month?

 

Yup. I just feel this is too much of a coincidence with the new style charges being brought in around the same time.

[elsinore]

 

What bank charges? £36 for Dec and over £200 for January!

 

 

Which year?

 

Els

[PJHilder]

Which year?

 

Well the £36 is due to go on in Dec 07 and the £200 odd in Jan 08. But I think these are all charges based on being overdrawn this month.

[elsinore]

So, LTSB want you to agree to a loan agreement which has in it an element of charges which have not yet been incurred? Are they kidding?

 

Els

[elsinore]

Did you receive formal notice from LTSB of their intention to withdraw the original overdraft?

 

Was the overdraft interest free?

 

Els

[PJHilder]

Did you receive formal notice from LTSB of their intention to withdraw the original overdraft?

 

If I did then I never received it. I got the letters regarding the overdraft charges over a week after it was sent out. Which meant those 7-8 days £20 was being added up in charges to put on in Jan.

 

Actually I received one letter saying "we're going to charge etc" and then the same day another letter dated 2 days later saying "sorry for the letter saying we're going to charge you but it was wrong". Of course when i spoke to them Sunday afternoon they said I was going to be charged. So I don't even know what's going on to be honest.

 

Was the overdraft interest free?

 

I think the first £1000 was, the interest free amount was going down by £500 each year.

[pt2537]

Hi,

 

Im not sure if this will help, but i had a student account with lloyds, in actual fact i still have the account, a while ago i had a problem with the overdraft and the Branch manager was a clown so i made a complaint through their complaint procedure. i didn't get anywhere with this and fortunately a friend of mine who works for the bank informed me of the fact that each area has its own local area directors office. i contacted mine and the guy met me at the branch, he gave the branch manager a right roasting for not helping me, and the manager even came in and appologised to me, i played on that i can tell you

 

it may be worth inquiring as to the contact details for who is in charge of your local area and see if they can help as it seems rather unfair what the bank have done. i would even go so far as to say that they have unilaterally terminated the contract which could be an unlawful rescission of contract

 

its gotta be worth a phone call to see if there is anything that can be done,

 

regards

paul

[elsinore]

PJ, you might like to take a look at this thread, which has similarities to your own case:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/hsbc-bank/116976-will-make-you-laugh.html

 

Els

[PJHilder]

PJ, you might like to take a look at this thread, which has similarities to your own case:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/hsbc-bank/116976-will-make-you-laugh.html

 

Thanks will take a look.

[PJHilder]

Im not sure if this will help, but i had a student account with lloyds, in actual fact i still have the account, a while ago i had a problem with the overdraft and the Branch manager was a clown so i made a complaint through their complaint procedure. i didn't get anywhere with this and fortunately a friend of mine who works for the bank informed me of the fact that each area has its own local area directors office. i contacted mine and the guy met me at the branch, he gave the branch manager a right roasting for not helping me, and the manager even came in and appologised to me, i played on that i can tell you

 

it may be worth inquiring as to the contact details for who is in charge of your local area and see if they can help as it seems rather unfair what the bank have done. i would even go so far as to say that they have unilaterally terminated the contract which could be an unlawful rescission of contract

 

Thanks for that. If I don't get anywhere in the bank today I'll find out those details.

[PJHilder]

Ok small update.

 

Went to the branch today, not busy at all. Spoke to someone who said take a seat, I'll get someone. 30 mins later no one had come out to speak to me and I needed to get back to work I left. Called the main number when I got back to the office and made an appointment for Friday.

 

I think maybe I used the magic words "bank charges" while at the branch to put them into ignore the bugger maybe he'll go away mode.

[elsinore]

It's nice to know they have your best interests at heart, eh PJ?

 

Maybe you should have mentioned 'large deposit'

 

Els

[PJHilder]

Well that was a waste of time.

 

Basically ended up calling collections from the branch who gave me the same rubbish after telling me last week I had to go to branch to get the charges sorted out.

 

So I re-arranged the overdraft so I don't get charged further but found out they're going to be charging me high interest on the whole amount when before the first £1000 was still interest free. So paying £65 a month £35 would be interest.

 

He said if I wanted to complain I'd have to write to an Andover address. Why he couldn't have just bloody told me last week I don't know.

 

So, is there any pre written letters on here I could use or at least some pointers, who it should be addressed to, any names to mention in a CC or key words and phrases to use to make things happen quicker and in my favour?

 

Many thanks.

[PJHilder]

Hi all,

 

Ok so I was told to write to Lloyds TSB if I wanted to complain about the way they've treated me regarding my graduate account and overdraft.

 

I've basically wrote out how it played out, including dates as necessary. I wasn't sure exactly what to say to push things in my favour? I mentioned what I wanted, i.e my account back to how it was, no fees etc.

 

Should I mention that I will write to the FSA if they refuse to help? Or will that make it more likely they wont help?

 

Thanks,

 

Paul.

[elsinore]

Hi PJ.

 

If you are not confident that you have said the right things in your letter and you would like someone to check it over for you, why not post it on here.

 

You can certainly mention reporting the bank to the FSA in your letter, but you must follow through with it if LTSB do not play ball.

 

Also, you don't need to start a new thread. I'll ask a moderator to move this to your main thread.

 

Els

[PJHilder]

If you are not confident that you have said the right things in your letter and you would like someone to check it over for you, why not post it on here.

 

Ok I'll post it when I get home. Always welcome some constructive criticism.

 

You can certainly mention reporting the bank to the FSA in your letter, but you must follow through with it if LTSB do not play ball.

 

Oh I will, just wanted to make sure I wasn't jumping the gun.

 

Also, you don't need to start a new thread. I'll ask a moderator to move this to your main thread.

 

Cheers.

 

Paul.