Problem with Bank a/c being Upgraded

froufroufox

Hi,

I've had a current bank a/c with Lloyds TSB since 1997. Only in January this yr did I realise that this a/c had been upgraded and I have been paying for this upgrade since at least 2002...Lloyds say that their records only go as far back as 2002 so they have no record of when the upgrade first took place. Even without evidence I know that it was probably upgraded prior to 2002.

As I say I only realised this recently from looking through my statements that the 'Account Charge' I have been paying all this time was to do with this upgrade...I actually thought it was overdraft charge as I have been overdrawn for a long time. I have also had health problems for several yrs which affects my concentration and memory and this didnt help when looking through my statements and realising what the charge was for.

Also, I do not actually remember agreeing to my a/c being upgraded which is another reason I did not question these monthly charges. I am pretty certain that I would not have agreed to having my a/c upgraded either...partly because I was overdrawn anyway and also because the benefits that come with this upgrade (eg cheaper holiday insurance or mob phone insurance) were not relevant to my lifestyle. Of course as I wasnt aware of the upgrade I didnt benefit from any of these benefits anyway!

This makes me suspect that my a/c was upgraded without my active agreement. I know that some banks send letters out to ask if you want your bank a/c upgraded and if you do not respond by letter to actively REFUSE their suggestion, they upgrade your a/c anyway, so it is done by default. HSBC does this as the same thing happened with me last yr and because I didnt return the letter (i dont even remember receiving it) they upgraded my a/c. Luckily I realised what they had done and cancelled. I suspect that this is what has happened with Lloyds too.

Anyway I put a complaint in to Lloyds to ask for a reimbursement of all the monies I have paid for no benefit whatsoever and they refused, because they say they are unable to establish when and by whom the a/c was upgraded. They gave me a £50 as a goodwill gesture. However I am still going to try and have all of the money refunded and have now taken the issue to the Financial Ombudsman who are looking into my case.

I just wanted to ask peoples opinions here of whether they think I have a case?? Also can it be true that a bank would only keep records for 7 yrs and every transaction prior to this has been forever lost?? I find this hard to believe as surely they would keep records of EVERY single decision/transaction for their OWN records?

Has anyone here had the same problem with regards to their a/c being upgraded?

Cheers

willo65

I would say in my opinion that if they have no paperwork then you may have a case but I would also say that the bank could argue that you haven't questioned this in six years so you must have been happy with it. Re: keeping records for longer than six years it is very rare to need the records after 1 year never mind 6, it just takes up space and is a waste of money keeping them in my opinion.

Extant

Yes, as said, it is highly suspect that you haven't questioned this charge as of yet and are only now questioning it, after at least seven years of paying. Coupled with you being overdrawn, it looks more like you're after some money than anything else.

froufroufox

Hi thanx for the replies!

I totally understand what you are both saying...I am sure the bank will question why I didnt question it before now as so much time has elapsed, tho as I explained in my first post the truth is it was because I didnt even know it was a charge for the upgrading, I thought it was a charge for being overdrawn....otherwise I would have cancelled.

In fact when I put my case in to Lloyds with regard to having bank charges being refunded a couple of yrs ago I mistakenly included these "Account charges" as I thought they were just regular bank charges for being overdrawn!! Also as I said as Ive been ill I simply did not realise.

I'm not actually overdrawn now so they cant throw that one at me :-)

Also I would be more likely to question the charges WHILST I was actually overdrawn, not now, as it was then I could have done with saving the money and would definitely not have been happy to continue to paying for something that not only could I not afford but gained no benefit from! It just wouldnt make sense. But I didnt question it as I didnt know they were for the upgrading. So tho I hear what you're saying, that argument wouldnt really stand up.

Thanks for the info on keeping records, that makes sense. Oh well, hopefully the Financial Ombudsman will look favourably on my case.

Thanks again!