Goldlady's OH v Lloyds

[Goldlady]

"These are not just default charges, they are a demonstration of our kindness to you in helping you become further overdrawn, developed by the finest legal minds grown in exotic and expensive offices; these are not just default charges, these are lloyds tsb charges"

Have ongoing battle with LTSB over account no longer used with £966 overdrawn balance. Unlawful charges alone amount to £1778. Have had discussions and correspondence with DCA and LTSB solicitors over last 18 months - sent LBA on 2 May 2007 via solicitors in response to their third threat of legal action, and have had the new standard reply about how these are not 'default' charges but charges for a service they provided. Have letter from April 2006 which contradicts this one.

Also, as OH was a bit stressed at the time and didn't cancel direct debits we couldn't pay, LTSB continually allowed these to be bounced and I seem to remember reading somewhere that the bank should cancel them rather than letting the charges mount up and up.

Further problem is that when account was frozen and OH had agreed to pay off o/s balance in weekly installments LTSB allowed two payments to be made using OH's out of date debit card to a company which was at the time a subsidiary of Lloyds. This completely messed up the payment plan and he has paid them nothing since. We have complained several times about their unlawful use of the debit card number - you can bet your boots if OH had tried to use it it would have been declined big style. Have asked subsidiary company to compensate us but they refused.

In the LBA we asked for the outstanding charges less the balance on the account to be refunded to us. After getting their lovely obviously bog standard letter saying how they had so kindly charged us for the services I am unsure what to do next. I know if they issue proceedings we will have a good counter claim, but suspect I should start the ball rolling first. I am not usually lost for words but this load of waffle has left me speechless. I need to carefully study both letters to identify the contradictions I guess. Any suggestions welcome.

[Goldlady]

The 2006 letter

Parts of the 2006 letter:

"Background: following some financial difficulties you recently made an arrangement with us to convert £650 of charges into an overdraft which would gradually reduce. In mid March you spoke to one of our advisors in India who informed you that XX had taken a payment from your account for £43.97, which you had not authorised. You paid in £60 cash only to find that XX had taken yet another payment of £11.44, so you transferred another £5 to ensure the account was kept within the agreed limit.

As far as you are aware you had cancelled your direct debit to XX as the policy had lapsed. You received notification but as you did not wish to continue you did not contact them. You believe that XX is connected to LTSB and request that these payments are refunded together with the charges imposed as a result of their actions.

On your recently received statement you can see that you have been charged overdraft interest of £14.31 which you were not forewarned about and was told there would be no charges on the account while it was being sorted out. You have also been notified that a further £60 charge is to be applied on 2 May 2006.

You understand that the Office of Fair Trading is taking an interest in excessive and unfair bank charges and you are suggesting a full overview of your account, including the reason it is £750 overdrawn in the first place.

My Conclusion:
Following a review of your account I can see that the two items to XX dated 15 & 28 March 2006 have been debited to your account using your (out of date) debit card details. You mention in your letter that you have not given them these details and that you paid them via direct debit. (this was actually misunderstanding on our part - it was debit card, albeit out of date and they had not used it for a long time). Then goes on to suggest we try reclaming this money and charges incurred from XX.

I understand the concern you have relates to the charges you have incurred on your account. We levy charges for overdraft excesses and unpaid items and these form an integral part of the terms and conditions of the account you have with us. You would have been given a copy of the charges tariff when your account was opened, along with the terms and conditions.

At present, the current charge for an unauthorised overdraft is £30.00 for every day the balance increases over the agreed overdraft facility by £10 or more, with a maximum charge of £90 in any one charging month. When we have to return an item due to insufficient funds, we levy a charge of £35 per item. Therefore, the charges you are referring to are correct and have been levied in accordance with our current tariff.

Whilst I can appreciate that you feel these charges are excessive, I am sure you can appreciate that there is a large amount of work involved in maintaining accounts that go overdrawn (!!!) and those that have items returned. We have to employ large numbers of staff (!!!!!!!!) to deal with all aspects of this administration, therefore, we ask those who overdraw, or who do not have sufficient funds in their account as and when their payments become due, to make a contribution towards these.

Charges are pre-notified to you by way of your bank statements at least 14 days before they are debited. This is to give you the opportunity to ensure sufficient funds are in your account to meet all charges due and therefore preventing a further unauthorised overdraft.

I regret that at this time, I am not upholding your complaint and I am unable to justify refunding any of these charges to your account. I appreciate that this may not be the answer that you were hoping for (lol) and I am sorry that I am unable to assist you further."