What Next

[martyjon]

Today I recieved a letter from Lloyds TSB which informed me that I will be charged £35 for NOT going overdrawn.

 

I have 5 accounts with LloydsTSB and from one of these accounts to another of them I had a Standing Order which had it processed would have sent the sending account £1.67 overdrawn so they stopped the Standing Order and are going to charge me with £35 for the privalige of not going overdrawn on this account even though all other accounts were and still are in credit.

 

In the past the branch has always transferred money from one account to another on their own initiative if this situation arose and informed me at NO COST. I suppose this is now the new regime since they have been forced to reduce credit card charges and customers are claiming bank these totally unreasonable charges.

 

Once on a holiday abroad I met a retired highly placed Lloyds Manager who moved to Bristol when Lloyds open their new premises on the Bristol Waterfont.

 

I had a conversation with him and this conversation broached the subject of these charges and his response was that they were totally unreasonable and if the bank charged £1 for each letter they sent out they would still make a profit (albeit pennies) on each letter sent out. He detailed the cost as ;-

 

10p for the printing of a single sided letter (The same price as a photocopy in any High Street),

2p for the envelope

25p postage

Materials 37p

Doubling this for labour cost makes 74p

and add 50% for overheads (18p) makes a grand total of 92p.

 

He added that these penalty bank charges are made to cover BAD DEBTS as they 'cant get blood out of a stone' when it comes to trying to recover money from people and businesses who got none and go bankrupt.

 

Its about time our politicians stopped wasting their Parliamentary time on all those Private Members Bills and 10 minute rule bills which I very often hear on Today in Parliament 'got no chance of reaching the statue books due to lack of Parliamentary time' and passed a Bill with an associated Statutory Order, updated annually, setting a tarrif of FAIR charges that all banks regulated by the FSA must not exceed.

[MARTIN3030]

Ok nice post.

Welcome to Consumer action group.

Before I begin I must stress that the totally unreasonable charges are in fact unlawful charges.

We do not need parliament to debate something that the Banks are already beginning to come to terms with following the OFT investigation into credit card fees.

Some of the banks are now reacting before the OFT investigates them too......but the 12.00 is by no means justified as we speak.

You will be more informed by reading these threads on this site than anything I can say here.

What I WILL say however,is that there are 100s if nor 1000s of settled claims already on here,where the banks have clearly thrown in the towel in the face of defending something they know they have little chance of winning.

Parliament concerns themselves with lots of issues and maybe wont have time for the debate that you mention.

We have managed to get results already without their help.

Leave them to carry on Heckling in the House at eachother..........meantime we will keep up the pressure

here ..........Tony Blair has a nice job lined up soon but not sure about Cherie.......she would be more than welcome to join Cag and give some help here.....

[freebird]

here, here Martin!

 

Martyjon, your imput in the Lloyds forum would be most welcome and you could take a look at some of our claims. Just out of interest

Are you claiming, yourself BTW ? If so, start up your thread in the Lloyds forum so we can follow your claim.

cheers.

[martyjon]

As I always keep my bank statements I have no other charges on any of my 5 accounts with Lloyds which I can reclaim as these would be over 6 years old and then these unlawful charges were not so punative.

 

Anyway to set the ball rolling I sent a letter requesting the refund of the £35-00, yes only £35-00 on March 27th giving them 7 working days to respond.

 

Got letter back today 12th April (bearing in mind we've had Easter in between sending letter and today) which was dated 05th April which reads thus ;-

 

Dear .........

 

I am just writing to let you know that we've received your complaint and to say how sorry I am to learn that you're unhappy with us.

 

One of our assitant managers will investigate the concerns you have raised with us - this may take a little time but I expect out enquirries to be complete within the coming 28 days. We will then be able to respond in full to your complaint and at that stage, I hope, resolve matters between us.

 

Yours sincerely.

 

Signed

 

Gail Cummings (Mrs)

Customer Service Officer.

 

 

IS THIS JUST A STALLING TACTIC and do I now send a letter before filing a claim with the court or should I wait for the said 28 to elapse.

 

martyjon.

[mochamoo]

As I always keep my bank statements I have no other charges on any of my 5 accounts with Lloyds which I can reclaim as these would be over 6 years old and then these unlawful charges were not so punative.

 

 

 

Not anymore!

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/80486-claiming-beyond-6-yrs.html#post712882

 

And yes... stalling tactic! Stick to your timetable but you may want to revise your charges after you read the above thread:D

[martyjon]

Further to the letter received 12th April I received a further letter from Lloyds TSB dated 20th April as follows.

 

 

Dear ..........

 

Thank you for contacting us about your complaint. I appreciate the opportunity to look into the matter fpr you.

 

On account opening the terms and conditions for that account would have been issued. These clearly state the charges and the instances upon which they may be applied. It is your responsibilityto ensure that you have enough money in your accout at the close of business the working day before any items are due for payment to avoid incurring charges. You accepted these terms when you opened your account and when you agree any overdraft limit with us. We did not agree to pay your account in excess of the amount agreed without charges being made.

 

With effect from 1 November 2006, the charge for an unauthorised overdraft is £30.00 for every day the account is overdrawn or in excess of an agreed limit, with a maximum charge of £90.00 in any one charging month. When we have to return an item due to insufficient funds, we apply a charge of £35 per item, limited to three charges per day. Previously, charges for unpaid items were not capped.

 

Having reviewed your account, I can confirm that the charge you are referring to is correct and has been applied in accordance with our published tariff.

 

That said, as a gesture of goodwill, I have today arranged for the £35 unpaid standing order fee, to be refunded to your account within the next 5 working days. However, I should advise you that, should similar charges be incurred in the future, these shall not be waived or refunded unless they have been incurred as a result of a bank error.

 

I do hope you'll feel that the action I've propose and the explanation I've given fully answers the points you raised us. However, if you are still unhappy, please don't hesitate to tell me what more you would like me to do to put matters right.

 

If we still cannot come to an agreed solutio at that point, I will help you refer your complaint to the Fibnancial Ombudsman Service for independent arbitration.

 

S long as you feel I have dealt satisfactorily with your complaint, there is no need for you to reply to my letter/ If I have not heard back from you within 8 weeks from the date of this letter I will simply close my file - though, of course, I will re-open it should you come back at any point afterwards,

 

Yours suncerely

 

 

 

Daljit Chahal

Customer Service Officer

 

 

 

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