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I would be grateful for some advice.
In December 2015 I got myself into financial difficulty and contacted my creditors to advise this. Most were very sympathetic except for my own bank (Lloyds) to whom I owed £11,000 across two loans and an overdraft. I was put onto repayment plans but my bank only did this after I had complained to their complaints department in London for the lack of response. The very first month they reneged on the plan taking the reduced payments for the plan plus the contractual payments from my current account leaving me with a significant deficit.
I made another complaint to the banks complaints department, received an apology, a small amount of compensation and the plan was reinstated.
In March 2016 I started on my second year of a work based nursing degree which is funded by my local health authority. In this a set amount of money is paid to my NHS employers for each year and the student is not subject to any cost of living or increment rises. Two weeks into the course I became seriously ill, was admitted to hospital where I remained in a critical condition for several weeks. I was diagnosed with an incurable condition called Crohn's Disease and was then signed off work for almost five months completely depleting all of my sick pay entitlement.
Due to my illness I was forced to defer my final degree year until March 2017. Despite presenting the medical evidence of my illness to my bank which included letters from consultants and a repayment plan being in plavce I continued to receive demands from the bank's recoveries team for all arrears to be paid.
In November 2017 after making yet another complaint to the banking groups complaints department I was advised to contact a debt advise agency - Lloyds Bank recommended StepChange, who advised a debt management plan. It took Lloyds Bank another 2 months to confirm they had extended my repayment plan where the monthly payments they agreed to exactly matched the amount StepChange's was offering them, but to date their collections department have never formally acknowledged the debt management plan nor that StepChange are acting on my behalf.
In May 2017 I restarted my degree but due to funding issues with the health authority my 'wage' dropped by £4000/year. Again they were presented with the evidence (via wage slips) and communications from StepChange. In the same month LLoyds issued default notices for both loans and in June final demands.
In August 2017 after another demand I wrote to Lloyds Bank collections providing further evidence of my student nursing pay pointing out that when I completed my degree in October 2018 I would be a qualified nurse with a significantly higher wage which would allow me to increase my payments to my creditors. I asked for their understanding whilst I was working full time and doing a degree on a reduced wage.
Their collections department did not respond however they have continued to accept reduced monthly payments from StepChange and took no further action. The default notices stated that my loan agreements would be automatically terminated if I did not pay the full amount outstanding. I did not receive any separate termination notices.
However this week (less than 3 months before I qualify when my wage will also increase significantly) they have issued a letter stating that my repayment plan has come to an end, that my contractual monthly payments will reinstate and interest will be applied in accordance with the original terms and conditions of the loan. They have also stated that I must call them for them to consider other options if I am unable to meet the contractual payments (ignoring my legal right to have all communication to be in writing which I exercised in Dec 2016).
Sorry for the length post but my simple question is; can LLoyds Bank legally reinstate the original loan agreement having already automatically terminated said agreement (as per their statement in the default notice from May 17)?
I also believe Lloyds Bank have failed to take into consideration my medical condition and may have also breached section 7.3.10 paragrah 1 of the FCA handbook as they have continued to make demands for lump sum payments whilst having previously agreed to a repayment plan?
many thanks
In December 2015 I got myself into financial difficulty and contacted my creditors to advise this. Most were very sympathetic except for my own bank (Lloyds) to whom I owed £11,000 across two loans and an overdraft. I was put onto repayment plans but my bank only did this after I had complained to their complaints department in London for the lack of response. The very first month they reneged on the plan taking the reduced payments for the plan plus the contractual payments from my current account leaving me with a significant deficit.
I made another complaint to the banks complaints department, received an apology, a small amount of compensation and the plan was reinstated.
In March 2016 I started on my second year of a work based nursing degree which is funded by my local health authority. In this a set amount of money is paid to my NHS employers for each year and the student is not subject to any cost of living or increment rises. Two weeks into the course I became seriously ill, was admitted to hospital where I remained in a critical condition for several weeks. I was diagnosed with an incurable condition called Crohn's Disease and was then signed off work for almost five months completely depleting all of my sick pay entitlement.
Due to my illness I was forced to defer my final degree year until March 2017. Despite presenting the medical evidence of my illness to my bank which included letters from consultants and a repayment plan being in plavce I continued to receive demands from the bank's recoveries team for all arrears to be paid.
In November 2017 after making yet another complaint to the banking groups complaints department I was advised to contact a debt advise agency - Lloyds Bank recommended StepChange, who advised a debt management plan. It took Lloyds Bank another 2 months to confirm they had extended my repayment plan where the monthly payments they agreed to exactly matched the amount StepChange's was offering them, but to date their collections department have never formally acknowledged the debt management plan nor that StepChange are acting on my behalf.
In May 2017 I restarted my degree but due to funding issues with the health authority my 'wage' dropped by £4000/year. Again they were presented with the evidence (via wage slips) and communications from StepChange. In the same month LLoyds issued default notices for both loans and in June final demands.
In August 2017 after another demand I wrote to Lloyds Bank collections providing further evidence of my student nursing pay pointing out that when I completed my degree in October 2018 I would be a qualified nurse with a significantly higher wage which would allow me to increase my payments to my creditors. I asked for their understanding whilst I was working full time and doing a degree on a reduced wage.
Their collections department did not respond however they have continued to accept reduced monthly payments from StepChange and took no further action. The default notices stated that my loan agreements would be automatically terminated if I did not pay the full amount outstanding. I did not receive any separate termination notices.
However this week (less than 3 months before I qualify when my wage will also increase significantly) they have issued a letter stating that my repayment plan has come to an end, that my contractual monthly payments will reinstate and interest will be applied in accordance with the original terms and conditions of the loan. They have also stated that I must call them for them to consider other options if I am unable to meet the contractual payments (ignoring my legal right to have all communication to be in writing which I exercised in Dec 2016).
Sorry for the length post but my simple question is; can LLoyds Bank legally reinstate the original loan agreement having already automatically terminated said agreement (as per their statement in the default notice from May 17)?
I also believe Lloyds Bank have failed to take into consideration my medical condition and may have also breached section 7.3.10 paragrah 1 of the FCA handbook as they have continued to make demands for lump sum payments whilst having previously agreed to a repayment plan?
many thanks
