Bank charges

johnlong_2

Hello all,

I inadvertantly went overdrawn on a current account with Lloyds (while on holiday) by £166, for 9 days.
They want to charge me £190 in charges. I immediately explained the situation and said this was ridiculous. I telephoned them and called in to my local branch.
They then sent me a letter saying they are not willing to reduce the charges.
They have already taken £35 charges from my account, on the 1st September. The remaining £155 is due to be taken on 1st October.
I have sent them a letter saying that I think these charges are unfair etc. As yet they have not replied and they may not reply until after 1st October. Can I insist that they do not take this £155 as the charges are in dispute?
Another alternative is to close the account but I am not sure if that is the best option.

Regards, John Long

llr

I'd try closing the account...not sure if you would get away with it mind! After all you may find that other accounts don't charge so much.

You could also look into how the charges arose, are there any mitigating circs? was there a fault on the bank side? ie could you go to the ombudsman? or a problem with pay, for example, going in? take it up with the other person.

You may just be stuck with the charges unless you can show financial hardship

banks will take the money out of your account before other bills are paid so you may want to use the first right of appropriation to ensure that these are paid, but it wont unfortunately stop the banks taking the charges from the rest of your money, or stop you from becomming overdrawn.