Llyods bank cancel O/D

[fedupbanker]

Hi....Im in desperate need of some sound advise as my overdraft has just been cancelled by my bank Lloyds Tsb.

 

I am in process of reclaiming 6yrs of bank charges, my last 2 letters requesting a refund have been ignored completely by llyods bank..but straight after the high court test hearing with OFT last week I had an aknowlement/letter regarding my complaint informing me everything is on hold.

 

Thats fine I thought..at least im in the system and my complaint logged.

however..... I now discover (just yesterday) when i couldnt make a withdrawal from cashpoint, that my O/D facility has been removed!!

 

I have had my exisiting O/D facility for some years, having been a LTSB customer for 20 yrs.. I have been forced to go over my o/d limit regularly which I blame on the excessive charges applied to my a/c every month (where the bank have just helped themselves) and so the problem goes on.. with LTSB refusing to refund my charges.

 

I had a temporary increase on my o/d last July06 for £600, I arranged to repay the increase by £50 per month for 1 year until the £600 was paid back and was back to my original o/d limit of £2600.

 

I had a letter in Jul07 telling me that my temporary increase arrangement was coming to an end - after phoning several times with no joy, I went to see my a/c manager in branch to confirm my o/d limit would continue at £2600.. he assured me it was the temp increase of £600 that was ending not my exisiting o/d he even said LTSB wouldnt just cancel my O/D as tha would be mean!! and he went on to sell me LTSB home insurance.

 

the upshot is LTSB are refusing to reinstate my O/D facility even though they admit it is a banking error and must have been set up incorrectly. They are forcing me down the loan route which as I already have a LTSB loan, do not want to increase this any further.

 

I feel this has something to do with my complaint against my bank charges and I am being punished. I have spoken to Financial Ombubsman today who have logged this complaint to look into, however that can take upto 8 weeks. The problem is the removal of the o/d has left me with no access to my wages and I have 3 weeks to payday.. any money I pay in will also be swallowed up. Im at a loss as to what to do.

 

Should I insist on my o/d being reinstated-or reluctantly agree to the loan..

 

please if any one has had a similar thing happen Id like to know how it was handled.

 

thanks...D

[PeterAnderson]

bump

[fedupbanker]

Sorry, dont mean to sound stupid, but what do you mean by 'bump'. I am very new to this so not sure of the jargon.

[Goldlady]

Fedup - Peter is saying bump to get your question back up in the list of postings so someone with the right knowledge might come along and help.

 

I will offer what advice I can which is that if you do take out the loan which will get you out of your immediate problems you will be able to carry on with your claim against them - bearing in mind the delay due to the OFT case - and eventually you should get your money back with interest.

 

It is obscene that the banks can force you to take out a loan to repay their unlawful charges - utterly criminal - has happened to me more than once. But if it gets them off your back for the time being and lets you get your life back then I think I would do it.

 

I may be wrong!

[fedupbanker]

thanks for answering that, Im completely new to this..thought I was talking to myself! at least I know there are others out there ..lol

 

Im pretty much against refinancing my existing loan to clear my O/D (they also want to include my LTSB credit card in with it) out of principle as I dont think what they have done is right/ethical.

 

I have changed my bank a/c details with my employer today so that my next salary will go to another a/c. But it was too late to stop my tax credits which are going into Lloyds a/c monday..I was told by FOS that benefits cant be used to offset against o/s OD and that I should be able to draw against this money..but the bank have said it will just reduce my o/d debt sitting in my a/c. can they do this?

 

Told them they have caused me hardship blah blah ..they then increased my credit card limit by £1000 & offered to increase by another £3k !!!

 

can they really get away with this??

[Goldlady]

Hey I have just read this post - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/71000-beware-re-financing-offers-3.html

perhaps you should not do what they ask

[Goldlady]

you can stop them taking benefits - there is a letter - i will find it

[Goldlady]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/36790-bank-taking-your-benefits.html?highlight=benefits

[fedupbanker]

Well Im not sure what 'no executed agreement' actually means ..but I have sensed something fishy going on.. its like they have another agenda definately.

this site is invaluable..thank you for your help

[Goldlady]

If they haven't got a properly completed agreement for your credit card or loan they can't enforce it in court. It needs to comply with the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and some wise person has discovered that most agreements until very recently do not. For example in most cases if all they have is your application form it is not sufficient to enforce it.

 

I am learning just like you and am gradually digging myself out of the hole I was put in by irresponsible lending - which is what you mentioned before.

[fedupbanker]

have read and copied the RIGHT OF APPROPRIATION letter.. thats brilliant just hope it works. Will take it to my branch first thing tomorrow as money paid in on monday its a bit tight ..even though I requested this on the phone today I dont trust them.

I got the impression today that as far as they are concerned they have done their bit by increasing my CC limit so "I will have some money" how kind!!! at one point I was advised to take cash out of my CC and pay into my a/c to clear OD..if that isnt irresponsible lending?!!

wish you luck with your digging also.

thanks everso for help ...fedup

[gizmo111]

Ust the first right of appropriation letter to get your tax credits on Monday. If you have to use your CC for purchases (food etc) but do not use for cash as the charges and interest are high. Work out a budget and offer then what you can afford to start repaying the overdraft monthly, make sure you prioritise your rent/mortgage council tax etc. Will you be able to pay them this month, or will this put you into arrears? If it is arrears the nmake sure you ring these people as a priority and make arrangements to clear the arrears over the next couple of months.

[fedupbanker]

Thanks for the good advice.. took the right of appropriation letter to nearest branch on sat, met obstructive member of staff who refused to give me a receipt for my ltr..after passing the letter back & forth across the table & over an hour later they finally accepted the ltr but state they cant do anything till the money hits the a/c (mon). Hpefully they will honour it. My one concern is that my O/D hasnt been passed to collections yet so could they argue its not a debt & T/4 Right of Appro doesnt apply?

 

I intend on making an arrangement asap to pay O/D but I havent been asked to yet (prob cos not with collections). I would like to know what the minimum pymnt I can offer is?

 

Ive changed my salary to another a/c, does anyone know if that will affect my exisitng LTSB loan as im not sure if it was a condition of the loan for it to be D/D out of Ltsb a/c.

 

thanks for all your help & advise..D

[Goldlady]

What you want to do is be able to withdraw the whole amount of your tax credit in cash tomorrow. So if the OD is still in place you should be able to anyway, but if not hopefully the letter will do the trick.

 

I don't know of any loans that have to be paid from a particular account.

 

How much is the O/D and the loan? What you should offer is what you can realistically afford.

[fedupbanker]

OD limit of £2600 has been removed so my a/c currently shows £2400 o/d. When tax credit £300 hits a/c it will reduce o/d to £2100 which is what they want. If I went to cashpoint in morning it would just say insufficient funds! I was told in branch they will have to phone another dept to get auth.

 

Outstanding loan is £14.000 (started at £17.500) over 7 yrs..still have 5yrs to go. I pay £265.00 per mth, but im not in arrears with that & have never missed a pymnt..dont know wether to carry on with it or address all debts once and for all. Have appt with CAB debt adviser next week. I also have 2 credit cards so I have been treading water for a while. My concern is how it would affect my credit rating in the future.

[harleypups]

Hi, I've had the same thing happen to me, and no letter to tell me they have cancelled it. my account is 1,100 over it overdraft I cann't get a loan to just sort it out, so going to move my wages out of there and then just pay in £220 per month. Unless they contact me, normally I go £1 over and they phone me up. I've also not recieved the letter telling me it all on hold.

[jubaxt]

can banks really do this to their customers?-theyve cancelled and then re-instated my overdraft/stopped and unstopped my account so many times recently-i'm pursuing for £6500 in charges but cant afford to file til next week-not had any gogw payments but theyre messing eith my £2500 od

[Goldlady]

Fedup, how much are you reclaiming? I have been thinking about this idea of cancelling the overdraft which Lloyds seem to have started - I wonder if it something to do with them wanting to have something to reduce the refund by - ie if your overdraft is no more then they will be refunding that part of the reclaim to themselves and it will be an internal transaction only.

 

I think you should see how you get on at the CAB - they can be very good but I think it depends on which person you see. You will probably get a few default notices which unfortunately stay on your record for longer than CCJ's but are viewed with less caution than CCJ's by lenders, particularly as they get older. I have lots:D

[gizmo111]

Fedup - howdid you get on today?

[Pen]

Hi, I agree with Gizzmo's advice. I certainly would not take on a consolidation loan if you can help it. have you thought of opening basic account with another bank that way you can get your money paid into it, work out a budget plan the offer a set amount to lloyds to reduce the O/D until you get the chargers sorted out. It may give you a bit of breathing space and you know your money will be there when you need it. There's nothing worse then going to the Hole in the wall only to discover there is no money to draw on because the banks have taken it or worst still they chew up your card.

 

Make a offer to the bank to reduce the overdraft on a monthly basis and maybe to reduce the loan payments for a while. what ever you do I would keep the bank informed of your attempts to sort it out otherwise they may default you on your account.

 

good luck.

 

Pen

[fedupbanker]

Hi Guys..have just caught up with recent posts. Thanks for all your advice. Gizmo, The right of appropriation worked a treat, I saw a senior branch manager who fortunately had heard of it & said no problem, I was given my tax credits in full in cash over the counter..phew!! wot a relief. She also 'appeared' disgusted by what had happened to my OD..she called the complaints line for me but couldnt get thro..in the end advised me to do a written complaint & bring it back to her which I did today. I wont hold my breath for reply and doesnt look like they will reinstate especially as my salary wont be paid in this month, I have managed to jump to an old basic a/c with the Halifax, they upgraded this to proper a/c and will do all transferring of DD etc.(I was worried it might be rejcted incase recent events had affected my credit but seemed to go through no prob.)

 

I just wonder how long it will take Llyods to realise ive buggered off..will they expect me to repay the od in full?

 

Also will interest be added on and the £15 per month a/c charge still apply?? If so I might be better off closing platinum a/c what do you think?

[gizmo111]

Definetly take it down to basic account - the £15 is just a a waste of money. They will continue to add interest but work out what you can afford to pay monthly and pay it in. They may ask for it in full but they can't have what you don't have.

 

I'm glad to hear of a decent branch manager - it was my BM at nat West that tried so hard to get me a decent deal over charges, that sent me to this site.

[fedupbanker]

Goldlady, you are absolutely right..my reclaimed charges £1600 will be swallowed up by outstanding OD £2400, so bank will be paying themselves. But at least it will reduce what i owe them.

 

Can any one tell me how this will affect my credit rating.. if i make payment plan (through CAB) when my fixed rate mortgage ends in 3 yrs will I be able to get another deal or will they run a mile?

 

Thanks again

[gizmo111]

Are you making a plan for a lot of debts or justthis one?

[fedupbanker]

Thanks for advise Gizmo I will do that.

 

The BM was very nice about it which made me feel someone was on my side (I guess they are human too) but we shall see.. she definately didnt want to discuss my claim for charges that was just dismissed as nothing to do with OD situation.