LLoyds TSB Mastercard

[Despairing Stu]

Hi - my position with Lloyds is getting poorer on a daily basis and they now phone/harrass me on a regular basis and i don't know what to do.

I have had a credit card with them for a number of years, which i virtually had to live on through my divorce etc. It now stands at £10500 with monthly repayments of £210 but when th einterest is added it barely repays anything. Last year they put me on an agreement of £150 for 6 months and a lower interest which took it down to just under 10k last october. They then restored it back to its original terms which i said i couldn't afford and now the card is back up to £10500 ! They just don't help and now ring constantly trying to get money and it is making me ill with worry. My business went under last year and i now have a prt time job that with o/t makes up a wage. Can anyone tell me how to get them off my back?

[comebackjimmy]

Ok it is time to hold your head up and start to move forward with the exciting thing that is life!! Start by getting the Black Horse under some control.

 

The strategy will be to a. shut them up, b. manage them, and c. reduce your liability to them.

 

1. Send them the telephone harassment letter here:

 

Harassment by telephone - Consumer Wiki

 

2. If you bank with them, get another account.

 

3. Start to use the other account and stop all DD's SO's etc on the Lloyds account. (I would say there is no harm in keeping the Lloyds account open but don't use it).

 

(Items 2 and 3 will remove any control of your money they may have).

 

4. Send them a CCA request as here:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html#post162367

 

(Send by recorded delivery, don't sign, check it is delivered using GPO track and trace and print off the web page for your own records).

 

Wait 12 plus 2 days. If they have not responded by then, optionally stop paying them until they provide what you have asked for. This will give you a breathing space.

 

5. Send them a SAR costing you £10.

 

6. Do a personal Income and expenditure sheet. The priority debts are:

 

a. Mortgage or Rent

b. Council Tax

c. Utilities food Transport

d. A small reserve.

e. everything else.

 

7. Offer them a repayment based on e. above provided they freeze the interest. Do not let them or anyone else tell you what to pay. You are uniquely placed to determine what you can afford and that is it.

 

8. Keep to that payment.

 

9. Once you get the responses to the SAR and CCA there may be points there that allow you to challenge all or parts of the agreement. Challenge them.

 

10. Keep all correspondence, from wherever it comes, including the envelopes they came in. (I staple the envelope to the letter and file in date order).

 

I would not be surprised to find that once you go on the offensive they will look to cut their losses and come back with offers, particularly if they cannot find documents, or there are irregularities.

 

11. No phone calls. Not ever. If they call, put the phone down. If they call back, leave it off hook. Written comms only. Never sign anything, never acknowledge the debt.

 

WAIT FOR OTHER CAGers TO COME ON HERE AND CONFIRM/CORRECT WHAT I HAVE SAID.

 

Post back with any developments.

 

Good Luck.

[comebackjimmy]

Forgot to add;

 

If you are still using the card, consider giving it up.

[Despairing Stu]

Hi - thanks for your help.

OK - here goes...

 

 

1. Will have the harassment letter in tomorrows post

 

 

2. Have already opened up another account after they reduced my overdraft overnight which meant i would have been unable to access money for four weeks had i not changed account.

 

3. Lloyds account still open with a few small dd's .i.e. contact lens etc.

4. Will have a CCA request done asap

5. Send them a Subject Access Request costing you £10. -Can this be done immediately or do i need to wait 12 days?

 

6. Doing income/expenditure sheet at the moment - doesn't leave me with much

7. They are trying to make me pay £150-200 but in reality it is too much especially with the interest they add.

8. Keep to that payment - its all i want to do.

 

9. May need more advice of what to look out for...

 

10. Keep all correspondence, from wherever it comes, including the envelopes they came in. (I staple the envelope to the letter and file in date order) - certainly will do !

 

11. Should i ever call them? They want me to discuss income/expenditure over phone and not in writing?

 

WAIT FOR OTHER CAGers TO COME ON HERE AND CONFIRM/CORRECT WHAT I HAVE SAID. - Finger s crossed for some help

 

Also i haven't used the card for approx. 3 years

 

Once again - thankyou, thankyou, thankyou

[comebackjimmy]

Ok excellent news regarding the other account.

 

This does mean you have two debts with Lloyds, your card and your account, assuming it still does have some overdraft on it.

 

Best to get your remaining payments away from them, and close the account to avoid any more charges. They will then have no control over you. Then you can repay this at an affordable rate from part e. of your income/expenditure sheet.

 

The SAR is not linked to the CCA request. You can send both at the same time and should consider doing so.

 

Do not be bullied. Only you can determine what you can afford to pay, not them. Make them an offer you can stick to and stick to it. (PS, if you set this up do not agree to Direct Debits, as they can take any amount they like. Standing orders only).

 

Also, you are under no legal obligation to provide them with an income/expenditure sheet, either your's or any they send you to complete. Only a court could make you do this if it ever got that far. You may choose to do so if you want but I personally wouldn't.

 

Once you get the SAR response post back here to say you have got it and I am sure there will be many CAGers to help out.

 

11. No. No more calls.

 

They are expert on the phone and you are not. They can get you to agree to things or to say things you will regret. You need time to think and measure your responses and that is why you need to conduct business in writing. It is your right and don't let them tell you otherwise.

 

Also, there is no record of what is said on the phone and that will be to your disadvantage.

 

Also, written stuff is a PITA to them. Good I say!

 

Still wait for some other CAGers.

 

If you haven't used the card and it has no available limit it is probably worth getting rid of it.

 

If you need a card in order to make payments etc and you don't have one with your present bank may I recommend the good old Post Office who do sterling pre-payment cards (VISA and Electron). There are also others out there.

[Despairing Stu]

Hi - one other point that is troubling me is .. can they contact my partner at work and at home and discuss this with her? I know it is wrong but she is totally unaware of this debt although she does suspect something is amiss as she knows roughly what i earn and knows i won't marry her until my debts are cleared as i don't wish for her to be dragged down with this like i am.

[comebackjimmy]

In theory they should never discuss your financial affairs with any third party, unless either of the debts is a joint one with her as co-signatory.

 

Having said that you should consider telling her where you stand financially. If you are holding back and she is picking up on it she may think there is something else. Also if she wants to get married and you are holding back she may think there is some other reason why.

 

Also, it is just possible she has some debts of her own. 1 in 4 people do.

 

Think about bringing it into the open.

[Despairing Stu]

Hi, Thanks for your reply. The card is not connected with her at all and so i feel they should not discuss it with her, let alone call her at work. I do wish i could come out in the open about it but it is easier said than done, believe me it does get me down keeping it all to myself. She knows i am depressed about things but does not really know what. It must be the Lloyds effect !!

[comebackjimmy]

Are you saying they have already contacted her?

 

If not I do not think it is very likely.

 

With regard to telling her the situation why don't you write her a letter telling her everything you are concerned about. Take your time and get the paragraphs in order etc and get what you want to say exactly right.

 

You do not have to send it to her but it could be said to her instead. Alternatively, you could print it and give it to her to read whilst you were there. In that way the whole situation will be presented to her in the order, and with the emphasis you want, rather than having a conversation about it that might go out of control.

 

You have done a pretty good job of expressing it on here.

[Despairing Stu]

Hi,

Well ...it was a difficult weekend but i felt i had to let my partner know. It was just as well though as today i have received a letter from lloyds saying that i am in default of my agreement and need to pay 3 months of payments (£600+) by mid march or proceedings will start. I have attempted to speak to lloyds on several occasions about reducing my payments with no success..hopefully you guys can give me some advice.

 

Many thanks

[comebackjimmy]

Was the letter for the card or the overdraft?

[Despairing Stu]

The letter was for the card, i have looked at ways of switching the debt but due to my history with Lloyds i can't get a 0% card or a loan etc. and they don't seem very helpful in aiding me in any way.

[comebackjimmy]

In your post 4 above 28th Jan you said you had done the CCA request.

 

Did this go?

 

If so did you get anything back?

 

If not you can lawfully withhold payment until they do.

[Despairing Stu]

Yes - it was sent a little after the posting, i haven't had anything back to date.

[comebackjimmy]

OK you should be able to legally withhold payment. Wait for some other CAGers to come on and confirm this.

[Despairing Stu]

Ok- i had a call from Lloyds last night (despite me asking for the calls to stop) and they started asking questions about income/expenditure etc. I questioned what this was for and pointed out that i was under no legal obligation to disclose what they were asking for and pointed out that i had been trying since before christmas to have a reduction in payments but with little success.

I told them i could only afford £125 per month and they have now put me on a plan for 9 months @ £125 with the interest frozen. They did say however, that the phone calls & letters etc. will not stop but to just keep paying the £125.

So now i feel that after this i will in nine months time be in the position i was before christmas and then they will raise the payments and add interest and get me back to where i am now.

[comebackjimmy]

Hi Stu

 

They are in breach of the CCA request as they have not provided the information they must lawfully do. You do not therefore need to pay them anything until this is provided.

 

They are in breach of the letter of harassment both by calling you and telling you that they will continue to call you.

 

You are in a minor breach of post 2 part 11 on this thread by talking to them!!!

 

However, it is interesting that they were prepared to finally offer you a plan of some sort. I wonder if this was simply their standard process for dealing with arrears or as a response to your correspondence.

 

What you do now is up to you.

 

We could really do with some more CAGers to come on here and lend their brains because currently I am the only one offering support and I am out on a limb, as most of what we are talking about here is what I have picked up on other threads. Can I ask for some other CAGers who have been here to chip in please?

 

Please read the thread and advise what to do regarding the breach of the CCA request and the breach of the harassment request.

 

If no one else posts in the next 24 hours just put a quick comment in and I will receive the CAG email and look back in.

[Despairing Stu]

No news yet Jimmy - i do really appreciate your support.

[comebackjimmy]

OK

 

Telephone Harassment First:

 

Presuming you have sent the telephone harassment letter and done it recorded delivery you have at least some proof it was sent.

 

I would wait until they call you one more time just in case they take notice of the letter anyway. If they do call again get the name of the caller and his department, and note the date and time of the call.

 

I would then send a complaint letter to OFCOM naming names and the date and time with copies of proof of delivery and also copy Lloyds TSB in the letter.

 

Then see what happens.

 

If the problem continues and is a nuisance say so by posting back here.

 

2. CCA Request

 

Your position at the present time is that you have made a lawful CCA request and they have not responded. You are therefore at liberty to withhold payments until it is provided. Whether you do so or not is up to you.

 

In addition, you have the choice of whether to follow up your letter with another one telling them you are now legally withholding payments. This is a personal choice. Some people on here do send a letter, others say the meaning and intent of the first letter is entirely clear and no further elaboration is necessary. I think the latter myself.

 

The difference in approach between ourselves as debtors and the debt collecting establishment should be that we do not send a stream of communications that become meaningless. Instead we only write when we wish to achieve something and the outcome is either we achieve it or failing that, take action. That action should not be another letter repeating your previous position. In this case we tried to obtain a copy of the agreement and have not achieved it. The action we take is to withhold payments. The situation is clear and no further action is required on our part.

 

Please note I have had a successful career at ignoring correspondence and not playing letter tennis and as such I have not been in the position you are now in. My advice therefore comes with a strong health warning as what I am suggesting to you is largely picked up from other threads on this forum. I therefore suggest, again in the absence of any other comments from other CAGers, that you have a good look around the site at other similar threads to get the corroboration of my views that I would dearly like to see on this Thread.

[Despairing Stu]

Jimmy,

Many, many thanks for your kind words of support and encouragement. Even if everything fails around me i will always appreciate it.

Thanks

Stu

[Thun1964]

Please advise,

 

I have a CC debt with Lloyds, for about 13,000 have not used this card for at least 4 years over the last 6 mths have received mail about the debt.

 

Letter dated 15th Feb giving me 21 days to pay reduced amount however rang 5th March and they said debt gone to AIC so I wasn't given 21 days I didn't have money anyway but are they in breech of any contract.

 

Received a letter from AIC(Allied international Credit) dated 18th of March so How if they get this debt so quickly???

 

Some questions

 

1 Is it worth sending for CC statements re any charges interest and if I paid any Payment protection?

 

2 Can I reduce the amount owed if these charges are taken off?

 

3 Can court proceedings from AIC be placed on me whilst awaiting this info.

 

I realise I owe something, just unsure how much. Due to going this far, could I still dispute amount and then pay a monthly amount or now AIC are involved thats it???

[comebackjimmy]

No problem. Don't expect it to be that bad.

[Despairing Stu]

OK - a quick update..i have had two replies from Lloyds

 

1. A letter acknowledging complaint and it is being looked into ( telephone harrassment i expect)

 

2. A letter c/w what looks like standard copies (unsigned as they are trying to locate original) of CCA. The letter from Lloyds is what i expected really ..i will try and post it soon.

 

Thanks

[comebackjimmy]

Hi Stu

 

Have you had any more phone calls of late?

 

Also, if you get the documents you have received posted up here there may be someone who can comment on their enforceability.

[Despairing Stu]

Hi Jimmy,

 

No phone calls of late so hopefully the letter helped.

 

I will try and post some of the docs up here now, it appears to be a standard T & C document.

 

Thankyou again