Vicky vs Lloyds

[vckyjam]

Hi guys- im new to this site .a friend told me about this site and i have decided to try to get my money back of lloyds. I went back on my statements and i have been charged £3200 worth of unlawful charges over 3 years. Im gonna send the request letter asking for my money back. Im scared...never done anything like this before! if anybody give me some advice that would be great!

 

 

Vicky

[nicsussex]

Just follow the system and you will have nothing to worry about.

[closey]

Further to what nicussex says, take time out to read through the FAQ's on this site.

 

Can I ask why you are only claiming three years worth? Have you had the account for longer? You can claim back six years.

 

I would also recommend sending the DPA letter requesting your statements as you need to ask Lloyds if there has been any 'manual intervention' (in other words has a Lloyds representative intervened when they added a charge to your account, meaning that £30 was actualy a true cost of what it cost the bank).

 

If you follow the step by step guide laid out on this site you have nothing to worry about. Once you are sure of the process and have read the FAQ's if you have any further question please let us know.

 

Best of luck.

[vckyjam]

hi thanks for that. Im only going back 3 years beacuse before that i was always in credit. same old story split from partner and left with huge morgage, and all the bills. So started to sink further into debt.....(bit like the titanic) lol maybe i should write a book.

 

oh ive been with lloyds for over 10 years. How would i know about 'manual intervention' i phoned my bank the other day and they told me that the charge is £35 for and unpaid dd. which is on my statements!

 

 

vic

[closey]

You wouldn't know about manual intervention, and lets face it, it's highly unlikely there has been any, but like Bankfodder has pointed out, some people are making mistakes and cutting corners. I would really recommend that you stick to a method that has been tried and tested by many, that way you leave no room for error.

 

I know it makes the wait longer, but it'll be worth it in the end.

[vckyjam]

I will do just that. Gonna print out the Data Protection Act letter and get that sent today! can i drop it into my local branch? (sorry if this has already been asked by others)

 

 

Vicky

 

oh ps, what happends if i work out that they owe me over 5.000 pounds just realised that i didnt add anything on for my "over my overdraft" on 2nd thought i might wait till i know for sure- my little head will expand and blow up if i have to many options

[kotum45]

Vicky good luck with your claim.

If your claim is over 5000 then it is advisable to claim 5000 first so that your case is dealt with small claims court. After your initial claim is settled you can go for the remaining amount.

Also make sure you follow the step by step guide as it avoids possible complications at a later stage.

good luck

[vckyjam]

Thanks- im going to do this step by step, dont really care how long it takes, may as well go all the way, and do it right.

 

one thing im not sure off is this- Do i claim all the intrest back as well (for going over my overdraft because of a refused d/d or s/o???

 

Vicky

[closey]

Hi Vicky,

 

sending to your local branch is fine.

 

In terms of claiming back overdraft interest, this is a little complicated. Firstly you can only claim the overdraft interest if it was an unlawful charge that caused you to go overdrawn, NOT overdraft interest that was caused by DD/chq etc being honered.

 

It can be complicated to work out. What a lot of people are doing is not claiming this interest, with the view that if they ended up in court they could use this as evidence to the judge that they acting reasonably towards the bank by stating you aren't claiming this interest as you feel this covers the loss suffered by the bank.

[kotum45]

Eventhough you can claim the interest charged on the illegal charges debited from your account most people don't.

[Michael Browne]

There are 2 instances of interest you can claim:

 

1.When you go overdrawn the bank will charge you interest, perfectly lawfully.

 

However, if part of your overdraft is made up of penalty fees, they are also charging you interest on these too and it is this interest which you are entitled to claim back, but it's tricky to separate out from the total interest figure.

 

Vampiress has a spreadsheet, (the 2nd one), in the bank templates library, which attempts to calculate this

 

It's quite complex and unless your claim is large often doesn't amount to that much, so for simplicity's sake, some people don't bother

 

This is the interest referred to in the preliminary and LBA letters.

 

 

2. 8% interest on your claim, but only when you submit a claim at court. Don't add this interest before.moneyclaim

[kotum45]

As you can see Vicky you are not alone so there is nothing to be scared of. Go all the way and they will eventually pay back what is already yours.

[vckyjam]

Yeah im happy with just the charges back really..dont want it to get like Deal or No deal when people get too greedy and lose everything.

 

Anyway here goes, i will keep you all posted.

 

Wish me luck.........."im Going In"

 

 

Vicky x

[closey]

In you go and best of luck!

[amieharrison]

Hi Vicky

 

I'm in pretty much the same boat...and totally never done anything like this before...and head easily explodes when too much info going in.

 

I've just sent off my prelim letter for just over £1600. I haven't bothered claiming back the overdraft interest as it was just too much for my head to cope with, I have claimed for unpaid cheques, direct debits, standing orders and overdraft excess fees. It's all pretty much there in black and white what they've charged when you get your DPA stuff back.

 

Hope it goes well...

 

Amie.

[stevokenevo]

Eventhough you can claim the interest charged on the illegal charges debited from your account most people don't.

 

just to point out, the charges are not "illegal" they are 'unlawful', i am sure a mod will fill you in on the difference ;-)

[closey]

Illegal constitutes a criminal act, and although it feel like the banks are acting as criminals, in the eyes of the law they are not! it is unlawful as it is covered by civil law.

[kotum45]

wow, to date I didn't know the difference. On my letters and e-mails I keep on using the word illegal.

Thanks, I learned something new today.

[Janet-M]

Illegal constitutes a criminal act, and although it feel like the banks are acting as criminals, in the eyes of the law they are not! it is unlawful as it is covered by civil law.

 

Correct

[vckyjam]

Just opened up another account just in case. found all my bank statements. And have now sent my letter off to lloyds by recorded post.(sent to my local branch) so now i guess its just the waiting game. 14 days from monday then i will send another letter. by the way if they send me the standard "You must be having a laugh letter" should i go ahead with the 2nd letter or should i wait and give them 14 days anyway so it looks good with the judge?

 

Vicky

[Michael Browne]

should i wait and give them 14 days anyway so it looks good with the judge?

Whilst it's tempting to cut corners, forum advice has been and always will be to

stick to the 14 day timescale between steps to show that you have allowed a reasonable time to reach a settlement before litigation.

 

However, some people have gone ahead and it hasn't affected their claim. So far.

[vckyjam]

Bugger! think ive messed up here. went through all my statments for 6 years ( 3 years worth downloaded from my internet banking) and the others were paper statments, so in the end i didnt send the data protection letter!

 

i sent my 1st letter friday by recorded post, but thinking now i should have sent the data proctection letter anyway even tho i did have statements.

 

is this gonna bugger things up! can i send the the data protection letter now even tho ive sent the letter already.

 

or will it be ok without it

 

Vicky

[Michael Browne]

or will it be ok without it

 

 

Yes, absolutely fine. The only purpose of the DPA letter, other than finding out your charges, is to comfirm whether theres been manual intervention on your a/c to justify their charges. The banks neither confirm nor deny it, so it's not critical.

[vckyjam]

Thanks michael youve been a great help

[closey]

Like Michael says, it should be fine. But do stick to the timescales and follow the process through to the end and you will come out reclaiming what is rightfully yours. Best of luck with it, keep us up to date.