Lloyds TSB..At least !!!!!! Turpin had the decency to wear a mask!!!

snakesam13

My son recently split from his partner and moved in with us. His ex then used his paypal account to buy something off ebay, without realising he had no money in his bank account and sent it overdrawn by £6.50. As soon as he phoned her and told her, she apologised and paid the £6.50 into his account (about 4 days later)
Lloyds have charged my son £75 for an unauthorised overdraft of £6.50. He is currently claiming JSA and volunteering at a local charity shop while looking for a job, but doesnt have the spare cash to pay this, any spare cash he has goes on travel to go and visit his little boy who lives 50 miles away.
I suggested he speak to someone at the bank to see if this amount could be reduced as it wasnt actually his fault, but they said the only way to write it off is if he reports his ex for identity theft. She said alternatively my son could wait until they hand it over to a debt collection company and arrange a payment scheme through them.
Surely this can't be allowed to happen £75 for a £6.50 overdraft???
Any advice?
Thanks Sam

apt

Usually a bank will let a customer off bank charges on one occasion as a gesture of goodwill. So if your son has not been let off charges on his account in the past year he should get back to the bank as ask them politely to be reasonable/lenient.

exel1966

I can't see why you're blaming Lloyds for something they're fully entitled to do.
The account was overdrawn for 4 days, therefore you have to pay the charges.

You should be holding your son's ex responsible and asking her to cough-up for the unauthorised overdraft charges if she was entitled to use the account.
If she wasn't then your son should report her to the bank/police.

snakesam13

apt wrote: »

Usually a back will let a customer off bank charges on one occasion as a gesture of goodwill. So if your son has not been let off charges on his account in the past year he should get back to the bank as ask them politely to be reasonable/lenient.

Thanks for the reply, that's exactly what i thought, but when the woman at the bank checked the statements and discovered that my son had NEVER been overdrawn before, she still said there was nothing she could do about it, even though she was shocked at the charges.

Lokolo

snakesam13 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, that's exactly what i thought, but when the woman at the bank checked the statements and discovered that my son had NEVER been overdrawn before, she still said there was nothing she could do about it, even though she was shocked at the charges.

Just because she can, doesn't mean she has an obligation.

snakesam13

exel1966 wrote: »

I can't see why you're blaming Lloyds for something they're fully entitled to do.
The account was overdrawn for 4 days, therefore you have to pay the charges.

You should be holding your son's ex responsible and asking her to cough-up for the unauthorised overdraft charges if she was entitled to use the account.
If she wasn't then your son should report her to the bank/police.

So you think that £75 charges for a £6.50 overdraft over 4 days is reasonable in your eyes?????:shocked:

exel1966

Whether I/you/whoever thinks it's reasonable or unreasonable is totally irrelevant as the only thing that counts are the facts.

Do you think they should make an exception for your son and everybodies elses son who encounters a similar problem. Banks are businesses, not charities.

Once again, your son should be asking his ex to cover it.

noh

snakesam13 wrote: »

So you think that £75 charges for a £6.50 overdraft over 4 days is reasonable in your eyes?????:shocked:

Don't think anyone said the fee was "reasonable"
The fee should be in accordance with their published charges
http://www.lloydstsb.com/rates_and_charges/current_account_charges.asp#overdraftcharges

Which are £6 a day for an unplanned overdraft of less than £25 plus a £15 monthly fee. A total of £39 for a 4 day unplanned overdraft of £6.50.

So either they have calculated the charges incorrectly or the overdraft was larger than £25.

YorkshireBoy

snakesam13 wrote: »

He is currently claiming JSA and volunteering at a local charity shop while looking for a job, but doesnt have the spare cash to pay this, any spare cash he has goes on travel to go and visit his little boy who lives 50 miles away.

...my son could wait until they hand it over to a debt collection company and arrange a payment scheme through them.

Any advice?

To protect his credit history - and if you can - you may wish to settle the charges for him, before telling him to persue it further in writing/in person with someone more senior at branch.

I trust the necessary steps have been taken to prevent a recurrence (on this and any other accounts she has access to)?

natnhay

Hi i paid my credit card on a saturday,but due to the monday being a bank holiday and didnt go through until the tuesday, i was charged a late penalty charge and interest.I rang Lloyds and they actually waived the charge because i had not had a problem before,so i would make an appointment with someone in the bank,and hopefully you could get the charges dropped.Good luck

premierfella

noh wrote: »

Don't think anyone said the fee was "reasonable"
The fee should be in accordance with their published charges
http://www.lloydstsb.com/rates_and_charges/current_account_charges.asp#overdraftcharges

Which are £6 a day for an unplanned overdraft of less than £25 plus a £15 monthly fee. A total of £39 for a 4 day unplanned overdraft of £6.50.

So either they have calculated the charges incorrectly or the overdraft was larger than £25.

Might be worth mentioning in any discussion with branch staff or in a complaint letter that you note that if a similar event had happened on or after December this year, under the slightly more reasonable revised tariff, the charges and interest would have been nil (£10 buffer zone being introduced)!

The current charges explain how they are able to maintain the 4% rate on the Vantage account.