sarah v Lloyds

[sarahsarah]

Lloyds have been trapping me in a cycle of debt for a long time now

 

I had to take a loan with them to clear charges and debts a couple of years ago. Now apparently because my loan went to collections, i cannot have an overdraft or rearrange the loan terms

 

In May I went very overdrawn due to having to pay out for something very unexpected. I went to the bank when this started to happen and cancelled all my direct debits there and then, on their advice to stop charges

 

But this month i have had to pay £90 charges

 

I queried this with them, because i had £127 in my account. Over Thursday and Friday i spent £100 on my debit card, on bills and shopping

 

Although they could see this, they took the charges on Monday - thus the debit card amounts bouncing, and creating more charges. Because the money was 'showing' on the account, they claim that the charges were NOT what made me go overdrawn, but my DC usage. BUT i used the debit card BEFORE the charges came out, and they should have been able to see this

 

Now my child benefit has gone into my account, eaten up completely into the unauthorised overdraft, and i am going to be £90 down next month... and the next

 

I dont know what to do, i have nothing

[lee6370]

Well you've come to the right place.

 

Read the FAQ and take it from there, first thing you need to do is work out how much the robbing gits have taken from you.

 

It is also worth opening another account.

 

Best of luck, it takes a while with Lloyds, they like to drag it out but you will get your money.

[sarahsarah]

ok just called them on the phone

 

Rude lady put me through to a free phone number. I questioned this and said i didn't want help to pay the charges, i didn't want to pay them but she said i needed to speak to them

 

I just spoke to a man who said this - they will give me an overdraft (which was refused in the branch at the time of original unauthourised overdraft, how strange they can suddenly do it!) for £90 paying off £10 a month. This will then give me back some money for now

 

But i am going to call someone else first. I am not sure whether to accept that

 

When i went overdrawn (in May) I had paid in £100 on that morning, and that was eaten. I then had to borrow £200 from my mum, and i paid £100 of that in too

 

I want my child benefit back!

[sarahsarah]

They have taken off £60 charges so far

[lee6370]

Sarah,

 

You can try phoning and getting the last few charges returned but don't hold your breath, and whilst it's not going to be easy best to be humble, (just to get the last lot back)

 

Once you've done that, you need to let them know who's calling the shots. Write a Data Protection Act letter (use the template) and sit back and wait for your statements, then you can work out how much they have taken from you.

 

In the meantime, i would strongly advice you to open another account, at the very least it will stop them taking any more of your money.

[sarahsarah]

I have sorted it out so far - the £60 but i wasn't very happy with the way they spoke to me

 

I didn't wish to go through to the department who go through your account activity with you but I had no choice. The man on the telephone felt the need to inform me that from looking at my account i wasn't very good at managing money as i had a lot of debit card transactions. I said that i did not withdraw a large amount of money in one go and as i have young children i often do use the card here there and everywhere! I also get not just my wages but money from my partner transferred frequently and surely what i choose to do with it is only my business?

[Vicki Ayers]

Best of luck mate, they like to tell you how you should spend your money, they told me I was bad at managing my account too, then fell over themselves to try and make me take a loan out to pay for my wedding!! I didn't!! Hang in there sounds like you're on the right track!! xxxxxxx

[sarahsarah]

I am going to have to ask for all my statements as i have managed to find nearly all of them but not quite

 

Will this include internet statements that they will send for my £10? I went paperless a year ago.

 

Also i wanted to ask, i am still currently getting charges from them for returned direct debits. So at what point is like the 'cut off' that I am submitting reclaiming my charges? So far they are approximately £1000 and I know there is more.

 

I have read a lot of the information but which is the actual correct address to send the SAR letter for Lloyds?

 

I am on dial-up and its very slow which is why I haven't read as much of the other posts as i could do to get this information i thought it would be best to ask in one place lol!

 

Also i do have one other query i am not sure of. A while ago i did make a post here about charges (very complicated) but i managed to get £60 back. But they were also charging me £90. They refused to refund these over the telephone so arranged for it to be made into an overdraft. This i have been paying off £10 a month (currently down to £60 overdraft). How would this work would i still be claiming for the £90?

 

If anyone can help me i will be so grateful x

[sarahsarah]

Do i need to open a new bank account first?

[skbuncks]

Hi Sarah

Not sure which is the best address to send DPA too, dont think it really matters as LLoyds will forward to the appropriate dept through they're internal slow mail. Just make sure you send it recorded delivery. Alternatively you can take it into any branch or send it via email to [email protected]. Your SAR will contain all statements for the last six years, regardless of whether you went paperless.

 

To the best of my knoweledge you can keep adding charges to what you claim right upto submitting your court claim. Any that occur after this you can request payment for when lloyds settle your claim, but if they're being arsy you may not get them - in whichcase you start another claim. To answer your other question if they have converted £90 of charges into an overdraft then you have still been charged so you can claim it back.

Although lloyds do not tend to close accounts of people who have taken action against them it is always a possiblity so is best to open a parachute account.

 

hope this helps, and all the best with your claim

SKB

[sarahsarah]

If i send request by email how do i make a payment at the same time? Do i just ask them to debit the money

 

thank you for all your help x

[livelylad]

If i send request by email how do i make a payment at the same time? Do i just ask them to debit the money

 

thank you for all your help x

 

 

i would hnd deliver it or post it.

[sarahsarah]

I have gathered all my statements and gone through them entered them onto a spreadsheet and calculated it all - i am only missing 3 pages out of 6 years, which i have been able to access online and contain no charge amounts but is this important? Do i still need to pay the £10 to ensure i have the actual statement sheets before going any further? Or will the online statement printed be fine i am concerned about this (i know its only £10 but i have painstainkingly found them all!)

 

I have also found the statements straight forward to calcuate charges but not the overdraft interest and I have searched and searched the library and cannot find any guidance on this subject. Would Lloyds charge interest for a 'normal' overdraft or just for an unauthorised one? If i do not submit these amounts (which are small anyway) would this affect my claim for the other amount in any way

 

Thank you if you could point me in the right direction i would appreciate it. I do not want to do all this work and then it all go wrong!

[BARTY]

Hi

There is no need to send the £10 for the SAR if you have all the details already, the online statements will be fine.

I personally didn't bother claiming the o/d interest, it wasn't worth calculating it in my case. You would have to use one of the "complex" spreadsheets in the library to work it out properly.

Good luck, let us know how you go on.

Barty:)

[sarahsarah]

Thank you. I dont think its worth it in my case either! My claim amount currently is £1355 in account charges

 

I am going to open a new bank account this week before I send my request letter and I will let you know how i get on! (and ask another million questions to you all!)

[Bigmac versus]

Hi sarahsarah, good luck with your claim, any questions ask away.

[sarahsarah]

Can anyone explain about contractual interest this is definately a new thing to me i didn't see this before. I have a select account but seen as i am not claiming for OD amounts does this not apply to me, and i only ask for the 8% only if i go to court

[GuidoT]

This is a good place to start:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/18313-why-no-one-claiming.html?highlight=contractual+interest

[Bigmac versus]

Yes the 8% is judicial interest which can be claimed only at court.

The CI is a rate that you charge the banks for using our money, usually the unauthorised rate the bank charge you, to claim this you need to mention it in both the prelim and the lba, this route will be defended by the banks and expect them to fight and possibly appear in court, some have had success with CI (settled before court) but a lot havent, your choice but if you are to go for it i would suggest you read some threads in relation to it before going down that road, good luck.

[sarahsarah]

thank you so much. I did find that link earlier on but can't find it again in my history!

 

I am unsure whether i want to make this more complicated but obviously its a lot of money. I will read it carefully thank you xx

[Michael Browne]

CONTRACTUAL INTEREST ADVICE

There is no definitive answer to this issue. If you’re confident, then go for it, if you’re not, then don't. It’s entirely your decision. Here are three opinions:

 

From Gary H

A quick note of caution to anyone intending to claim contractual interest.

Firstly, keep it reasonable - it has to be seen as that in the eyes of the court. Claiming five times in interest what the amount is in charges certainly won't endear you to the court, and in fact could well be seen as undue enrichment which would make you nearly as bad as the banks. If need be, claim the lower contractual rate if the unauthorised rate gives a ridiculously high amount.

Also, please understand the issues behind claiming the contractual rate. Its important to remember that there is no express term or provision that entitles you to it as such, as there is with the 8% statutory rate. You are arguing an implied principle, that the banks term of contract relating to interest should be reciprocal. You are perfectly entitled to claim it, whether you get it or not would ultimately be for a judge to decide. Obviously it's not likely to get that far, the banks on the evidence so far would rather pay the contractual rate than defend the claim (ie justify their charges!) in court. Which brings me to the next point....

IMHO accepting part-settlements is not a good idea. Halifax have recently been offering to settle the charges part plus their own estimate of the stat rate, whilst denying the contractual rate applies (obviously that’s not for them to decide!). If you accept the offer it lets them off the hook of having to defend the charges part of the claim. If you then tried to pursue just the contractual interest they would almost certainly try to get it struck out. IMO you need to present them with a stark choice - pay the full amount of the claim or see you in court!

 

From Karnevil

The contractual rate is not proven in court, some people have managed to negotiate it prior to court and many others (more) have accepted the 8% or pushed the contractual into the court room to a not great reception and gone on to stick with the 8%.

We have to take into account the pre-action protocols and note that the judge will take these into account when dealing with costs - and yes even in small claims.

Contractual interest can be requested in letters and taken to the court steps, but if an offer for the full amount, s.69 and costs is given prior to the hearing you should take it - unless you have worked out a very good argument for it. It is not a right.

With standard interest, not applicable till court at all, if you receive an offer to refund ALL your charges before taking court action you must accept it.

The important thing is to research the issues and understand the arguments and also the potential risks. If you’re confident, then go for it, if you’re not, then don't.

 

From Lucid

But I stand by my opinions on the matter in that anybody who doesn't understand contractual interest and who can't put their arguments forward regarding it, should not consider adding it to their claims. I believe that if you are confident enough to bring a thoroughly researched case together then the Judge would look upon you favourably - no matter what their opinion on contractual interest is, and even if it got to court and the Judge was against contractual interest, I don't think it would go as far as getting your claim struck out. But if you turn up to court and don't have a case prepared and you have basically added contractual interest because you thought it was an easy way to increase you claim amount then I don't think the Judge would appreciate this at all and they would probably be more inclined to take a harsh approach - and possibly award costs against you. That's the way I see it anyway, but obviously I could be completely wrong as I'm very far from being an expert.

[sarahsarah]

thank you so much... i dont think the contractual interest route is for me somehow but i really appreciate your advice and help all of you

 

I am going to reclaim my Lloyds Credit Card charges but i do not have all the statements and will get my current account sorted first i think, as that is the higher amount and the credit card is approximately £200

 

This situation has almost cost me my relationship and i found myself hiding all my statements and have got in a worse and worse situation over the years. I ended up getting a personal loan with them to help me out (little other choice i felt at the time) but they have basically made it so hard for me when i have gone for help and advice and now they wont give me any leeway with payments or overdraft (once they took all my child benefit out in charges and left me with nothing but i did get this back on demand!) They have never sent me a default letter but i am surprised i still have a debit card i can't wait to leave them although i know banks are all the same i can't bring myself to stay with them any longer!