LloydsTSB Is this legal?

Monkeyboo22

Hi all. Im new to this so please bear with me.... My direct debit for my loan payment got cancelled and Lloyds sent me a letter stating that I would have to make the payment for the 27 of October over the counter and i would then have to set up a new direct debit as they would be unable to collect the money from my account. They enclosed a new direct debit form for me to sign and post back. I paid the amount (94.00) in the branch on the 27th as requested.
Imagine my surprise on the 29th of oct when i checked my account to find that £93.34 had been MANUALLY taken from me by Lloyds collections department.Is that even legal? When i spoke to an advisor in branch she either could not or would not answer that question. She did however phone collections and asked them to give me back my money. I was told it would take 48 hours. So it should have been back in my account on Friday. It wasn't. I went in again on Friday. no response. I went in again on Monday and was told that collections did not say 48 hours they said 5 working days and my money would be in my account by weds morning. That's today. It wasn't. I went back in to the branch again today only to be told that the request for the refund had been cancelled and it would now take another 5 days to go into my account! Any thoughts ideas or suggestions would be great. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

minimike2

Yes it legal and will be in your terms and conditions.

They have however made an error and you should be compenstated for that. Work out your lost interest on the amount in quesiton and the total cost of your calls and cost of getting to the branch, petrol / parking etc, total it all up and put in a complaint asking them to re-emburse you.

Out of interest, why was the direct debit cancelled?

Monkeyboo22

The D.D. was cancelled accidently by an advisor in the branch. In fact she managed to cancel all of them! Cheers for the advice.

LiamJ

Monkeyboo22 wrote: »

The D.D. was cancelled accidently by an advisor in the branch. In fact she managed to cancel all of them! Cheers for the advice.

How about writing a polite letter to Lloyds, explain the circumstances and the hassle caused to you and invite them to make you an offer of compensation for your loss and worry?

minimike2

Yeah, given it was thier fault in the first place I think a little extra on top of your expenses would be in order.

Also ask them to confirm in writing that they havent marked the payment down as missed on your credit report. (And then check it in a few months time to make sure they havent).

Monkeyboo22

Thanks very much for your help guys I have now posted my letter and detailed exactly the issues that i have. I will let you know the out come. Thanks again xx

minimike2

Good stuff, let us know!