Fishy vs Lloyds (2 x business + 1 x personal)

[Fishy Dave]

Hello,

 

I've set up an parachute account with the Co-op (via FSB), so am feeling safe and ready to go.

 

Have spent a bit of time reading through the site, and have decided the best course of action is to treat my two business accounts (sole trader) and my personal accounts as if they are seperate? Would you agree?

 

I have three seperate letters addressed to Penny Berryman at Lloyds, with three seperate amounts of £10 payable to Lloyds TSB (or should that be Lloyds TSB Plc?).

 

Ooh, this is going to be fun!

 

Cheers, Fishy Dave (the name comes from my aquarium business if you're wondering? )

[downsouth]

Welcome Fishy Dave:D

 

Good to see it looks like you've done a lot of reading here. That helps.

 

I claimed on 2 personal accounts together (1 was joint) with no problem: just had a full settlement offer (just under £5k) although as you probably have sussed, Lloyds TSB Plc are unlikely to cough up before you at least commence court action.

 

So yes, you can lump accounts together. As a sole trader (not a limited company) I believe I am right in saying that it's the same as a personal account as far as the laws (and the data protection act) are concerned, so I'd put one request in (with all 3 account numbers etc) and one £10.

 

Once you know how much yr claiming, you can then split the claim up if you need, to keep under the £5k limit for (the faster track) small claims court.

 

I think the consensus is to only issue one claim at a time though.

[GuidoT]

Do you mean a parachute account?

 

Cannot use SAR for business accounts. To overcome you should be able to print the statements on line, I think they go back around 4 years and the banks should keep statement for the balance and they should provide them to you if you ask nicely, make up some excuse like a revenue inspection - no lies though!

 

Business and personal account will have to be separate claims as there are different arguments relating to each. I am not sure if you can combine 2 business accounts, I will leave that for some one else to advise on.

 

Anyway you have your work cut out obtaining all those statements.

[Fishy Dave]

Thanks both, and yes, I did mean a parachute account, oops!

 

It will be interesting to see how they class the business accounts. One has always been in just the business name, the other is Fast Films t/a David Smitheram, although they are both the same type of account.

 

I think i'll continue with 3 seperate requests for data, worst case it is an extra £20 spent.

 

Will let you know how things progress....

[GraemeC]

Morning Fishy, good luck!

[GuidoT]

I realise you meant a parachute account, just playing.

 

If you are not sure if they are business accounts then a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) will do no harm, they should not cash the cheque if they do not provide the statements.

 

Ordinarily I would say one SAR and £10 for all the accounts, however you do not want to prejudice your personal account position.

 

You never know they may just overlook and provide the statements even if a business account.

[Fishy Dave]

 

You never know they may just overlook and provide the statements even if a business account.

 

Looks like you could be right. I received a letter today from the Copy statement unit, which lists all three accounts at once in the same letter, and mentions only a single £10 charge.

 

In brief the letter mentions i will have statements as far back as September 2001.

It does offer the option of having them before this date, although I don't think there is any point?

 

The letter is dated 07/03/07, with their reference being 26/01.

 

Will update when the statements arrive.....

 

Dave

[janecobwebs]

Dear All,

I wrote a letter on the 20th jan 07 with a 4 single cheques of £10.00 I have two business accounts and one persoanl and no responce, do you get ann acknowledgement letter back.. Can anyone help..

 

Jane

[Fishy Dave]

I sent mine on the 23rd of January, and the letter which arrived yesterday is the first and only acknowledgement I have had.

Others will be better at advising, i'm still very new.

 

You are welcome to stay on my thread, but you may be better to start a new thread just for you?

[janecobwebs]

I am not good with computers how do I do this help.. Jane

[Fishy Dave]

I am not good with computers how do I do this help.. Jane

 

If you click here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/lloyds-bank/ This will take you back to the section of this forum with all of the Lloyds TSB claims. Look for the button saying 'New Thread' ( above all of the 'sticky threads', to the left of all of the page numbers.

Click on 'New Thread' and start typing your title and then the message. Let us know what you have done so far, dates and letters etc.

I will keep an eye on your situation too as it sounds like we have similar circumstances with both business and personal accounts.

 

Hope that helps, cheers, Dave

[Fishy Dave]

I've added up all of the fines across all three accounts and they add up to £4756!

So, if going for the 8% interest it makes £5291.61.

 

I wonder whether to go for the 8% instead of pushing for compound interest? Thinking it must be a lot easier?

 

Would you be tempted to put my three bank accounts into one claim (two sole trader business, one personal account)?

 

Cheers, Dave

[wilky423]

Fishy - I'm still quite new to this myself, but I think there is a max amount of 5k for the MCOL if your going down this route.

 

I'm not sure but if you ask the question on here I'm sure you will get a good answer.

 

Good luck with it all, I'm thinking of doing the same with my old sole tradere account £1,500, but I still have two business loans to consider, both for about £3.5k each, I dont want to put myself in a difficult situ with these.

[Fishy Dave]

I thought the £5k limit was before interest and court fees? If so, then I guess I should be ok with either the 8% or compound?

 

Main things putting me off the compound route is the complexity of working it all out, and secondly if it's likely to make the claim a lot longer?

 

Thanks, and good luck with your claim Wilky.

[Fishy Dave]

Hello all, I could do with your help please.

 

I'm at the stage where I have sent off my letter before action last week, and have had a response from Lloyds this morning.

 

Just to recap, i'm claiming for the charges on my personal account and my two sole trader accounts, and have put this within one claim.

 

The response from Lloyds is fairly long, with the usual type of content you'd expect to hear. The areas of concerns for me are -

 

'The office of fair trading has published new guidelines on credit card default charges. We're still talking it through with them, but the important point is that the guidelines are about 'default' charges that people pay when they break an agreement with us. This doesn't apply to your charges as these were for dealing with your request to go over your agreed overdraft limit. They are not default charges because you haven't broken your agreement. They are our prices for the service we provide in these situations.'

 

 

Surely a charge is a charge?! If I have been charged £35 for exceeding my overdraft limit this is more that it costs Lloyds in admin costs and time, which is the principal behind us claiming back these charges?

 

 

Secondly -

'I've noticed that you've referred to the unfair contracts terms act 1977 and the unfair terms in consumer contracts regulations but these don't apply to you as you're a business customer and these acts and regulations only apply to consumers.'

 

 

I was expecting this bit in a way, but seeing as one of the three accounts is a personal one it still has some relevance.

 

So, what next? Proceed as normal, wait another week then start the court claim?

 

Many thanks, Dave

[broke dave]

Dave,

 

Don't worry about the first bit as this is part of their standard blurb. Not sure about the second as I have not started on my sole trader account yet. There is a thread somewhere mentioning how to go about business accounts; I'll see if I can find it. Whilst the charges are unfair regardless of the type of account they are governed by different acts.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

broke dave

[broke dave]

Further to my last. Go to Claiming on a Business Account - Lets Join Forces. You'll find it under the general header.

 

broke dave

[photoman]

Hello all, I could do with your help please.

 

I'm at the stage where I have sent off my letter before action last week, and have had a response from Lloyds this morning.

 

Just to recap, i'm claiming for the charges on my personal account and my two sole trader accounts, and have put this within one claim.

 

The response from Lloyds is fairly long, with the usual type of content you'd expect to hear. The areas of concerns for me are -

 

'The office of fair trading has published new guidelines on credit card default charges. We're still talking it through with them, but the important point is that the guidelines are about 'default' charges that people pay when they break an agreement with us. This doesn't apply to your charges as these were for dealing with your request to go over your agreed overdraft limit. They are not default charges because you haven't broken your agreement. They are our prices for the service we provide in these situations.'

 

 

Surely a charge is a charge?! If I have been charged £35 for exceeding my overdraft limit this is more that it costs Lloyds in admin costs and time, which is the principal behind us claiming back these charges?

 

 

Secondly -

'I've noticed that you've referred to the unfair contracts terms act 1977 and the unfair terms in consumer contracts regulations but these don't apply to you as you're a business customer and these acts and regulations only apply to consumers.'

 

 

I was expecting this bit in a way, but seeing as one of the three accounts is a personal one it still has some relevance.

 

So, what next? Proceed as normal, wait another week then start the court claim?

 

Many thanks, Dave

 

 

Fishydave

 

STOP !!

 

You should read up on the issues concerning the differences in claiming on Business accounts compared to Personal accounts before going any further.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/68191-claiming-business-account-lets.html

 

Sorry, but I think it would benefit you greatly to read the whole thread. Make yourself a cuppa, and sit down.

 

When you submit your claims, do not cut corners by trying to lump them all together. Treat each account as a seperate claim.

 

Don't worry, you have not done any harm to your claims yet.

I would suggest you issue new seperate LBA's for each account, taking care to use the case law and format of letters most relevent to each account. ie; an LBA for your personal account using Personal Consumer law, and an LBA for each Business account using the law and reference most relevant to Business claims.

 

ABOVE ALL, DO NOT RUSH, DO NOT CUT CORNERS. READ, READ, READ !!

 

Best regards

 

Photoman