Can you legally close an account with a disputed os balance

TheRedAdmiral

I am refusing to pay any money into an old Lloyds account whilst my outstanding balance is disputed.

In 2009 alone I had over £900 worth of charge on charges

The question is can I legally close the account whilst there is a balance outstanding. I have no intention of making any payments and am taking the line that no sums are payable unless awardable by the court.

In which case I will plead (and prove poverty) and take the hit on my credit and offer £10 per month.

Premier_2

There's nothing illegal about trying to close the account.

But I doubt Lloydstsb will allow it to be closed whilst there is an outstanding balance.
Interest/charges will probably continue to accrue until the balance is repaid.

davidgmmafan

See Halifax recent change to overdraft charges... The answer is no, at least that's what they say it is.

They may state (asHalifax have done) that the CANNOT close an account where there is a balance owing. This is non-sense since they do that everyday when they give up on getting paid and pass it on...

They will ruin your credit file but you probably already knew that.

Does anybody know why they keep piling on charges and interest when its obvious they won't be paid?

the_insider

Ideally a customer would contact them and make them a reasonable offer of repayment. They will then close the account for withdrawls and make it deposit only, in which case you will cease to incur charges. OP, have you actually taken them to court?

dyfrigj

I've been in a similar situation. I was charged £300+ in charges in a single day, but as I had no money in the account on that day, it just took me overdrawn. I stopped paying money into the account, and told them that I would not pay charges which I considered to be illegal under the Consumer Credit Act.

They refused to refund them, so I have filed a Small Claim in the county court, using the new arguments presented here. By doing this, I hope that it will prevent them from taking me to court to collect the overdraft that I won't pay.

They failed to defend the claim, so today I have requested a default judgment against them. It's likely that they'll ignore the judgment, and might even try and get it overturned. But until they do so, it will be impossible for them to pursue me for any money outstanding - in the eyes of the law, they owe me money, rather than the other way around.