Lloyds TSB Collections - So Frustrating

TheLostSheep

I'm having real problems with the Credit Card element of Lloyds TSB Collections - they are just so difficult to deal with and I'm doing my nut in phoning their Indian Call Centre in reaction to conflicting letters in the mail.

Due to citing financial difficluties, they agreed to me paying less than the £350 DD along with lower interest for a period of time. This meant I'd pay £200 but also have interest adjusted to under 9% APR, compared to double that previously on a £15000 debt - Yes you can imagine how long I serviced interest!

Anyway, despite all the frustration, the only comfort I can take is that they have more than halved my interest charges which has been a huge benefit to me in terms of what I pay to the actual debt and not just interest. I think the change to their T&Cs have also helped in terms of the order I pay off the debt.

There's still problems though in that they send me letters saying that I am in arrears with my payment plan to them when I quite clearly am not. Since I set up my arrangement with them back in October, I've had three letters confirming it's been set up with slightly differing conditions. The latest was a letter today saying I owe them £50 which is rubbish as I've been paying £350 each month and we agreed £200!! Thats £150 more. They've not even adjusted the direct debit which the letter claimed would happen automatically, nor informed me that the payment date was moved to the 1st of month from the 16th of month. I'm finding this frustrating constantly having to phone them - but as i say, at least the interest on this major debt is way less.

Anyone with similar experiences. As you can see I'm shifting the debt a bit quicker but when I write to them I get standard or conflciting replies to what I'm told on the phone. Some of the stuff their call centre staff come away with is just completely false. I appreciate them helping me out but it's not been easy.

Shortly I may be in a position to offer Full and Finals - I can't begin to imagine the problems I will have then.

NAEFAGS

Hi
i noticed you are with lloydstsb for many accounts just like me

i never phone them now due to the problems with there call centre staff say one thing do another .

i wrote to them with my problems ie wrong payment date amounts saying i was late with payments

when i got a letter back i kept the person name and address i sent all letters to them and when things got bad they phoned me i have to say ive never had any more problems since

hope this helps
ps make sure you keep you wages etc away from a lloydstsb account there are very good at helping them selfs

TheLostSheep

Wages don't go into Lloyds. Everything goes into a seperate account. I just find their call centre staff so frustrating as what they actually tell me is completely different from what they say in writing.

What they have done in writing is often very confusing. It might be an idea to only write to them now.

mozzyc

Their statements are confusing, and what they didn't put on mine, was that each time i payed the agreed rate, they would have an arrears balance of what it should be (if i had never gone on a dmp), and that balance just kept going up and up.

My brother could make no sense of it (accountant), so he made an appointment for myself and him to see his local Lloyds bank manager, to ask them to please explain our statements. They even struggled! That's when we realised that even though our payments were being made, the overall balance wasn't going down, due to arrears. But they don't put this on the statements!!!!
Bloody confusing. I just wish i hadn't waited so long to do this, coz it was then that i realised that i could be paying this back the rest of my life without making a dent in the arrears.

TheLostSheep

That's very interesting that....

From what I can see, via the paper statement, the written letters and the online statement, the account balance is reducing having negotiated this reduced rate.

For some reason, I get the feeling that there's 'dirty' tactics' at use by them, to try and make you slip up. Ie - this 1st of the month thing and constantly re-setting up an agreement that was already in place. I really don't understand how that works.

As I've posted elsewhere, I'm close to going down the route of F&F, so will see what annoyance that brings when done in writing.

TheLostSheep

Another query - has anyone ever negotiated just with Lloyds TSB with regards an excessive CC debt then got an 'early' settlement figure on a loan for example?

pure_dead_dopey

Don't ever speak to them on the phone, they are ill trained, ignorant (one guy confused my DMP with the BNP and wanted to know why I could pay my subscription to the BNP but not my credit card bill!!!!!!) and positvely chaotic. Keep everything in writing, send everything recorded so that you have proof and complain to everyone FOS, TS, your MP your counciller and anyone else you can think of. All in all they are a disgrace and need to be brought up short and sorted out.

boo80

They are a nightmare! I've given up with the credit card people, there is such a communication problem and they are really unhelpful and rude when you can get past the language barrier. I'm hoping my account will go to recoveries now so I don't have to deal with them anymore. Good luck with your F&F's. x x

mandrake75

Yes utter nightmare they are! The early part of last year i was getting letters saying 'call us immediately as you are in arrears' (despite me having a letter saying i was on a payment plan) - and when i rang them the first thing they'd say was 'ah i see from your details you are on a payment plan with us!' Sheeesh!
As an aside, my payment plan was for a credit card debt at a reduced APR like yourself, which they'd keep going every six months. They'd say each time that at the end of the six months it'd be withdrawn and i'd have to pay the full minimum payment but this never happened as i could not afford to pay any more. In the end they put the interest down to zero!

TheLostSheep

I’ve actually no idea what I’m meant to be doing with the payment dates and amounts due to Lloyds collections now. I’m happy in that I know I’ve paid my obligatory amount. In fact I’ve been paying much more than I should by £150.

Their interest calculations from the past continue to baffle me. Their Indian call centre staff I find very polite but the supporting processes and scripts for what they read through are in complete contrast to what you receive in the mail. I’ve said so many times, that all I want to do is pay off this debt. To get a letter telling me I am in arrears is very confusing too. Despite my gripes, the lower rate of interest now though is much more acceptable. I can’t work out how they keep re-setting up the same agreement about 3 times though. They’ve also confused me by saying the DD would automatically switch over to the correct amount, which it hasn’t.

If/when it gets to April, I’ll see what I hear from them. I’ll just say that my financial situation is not likely to change and will continue to make payments. I can’t see them increasing the interest again, but nothing would surprise me.

As per my other post, I’m hopeful a F&F settlement can be agreed soon of around 40% but not fully gone down that route yet.

Thanks for the comments. Do you think it’d be worth writing to them complaining about the way the whole thing has been handled or may that open up another can of worms….

happycrafter_2

I have copied and pasted this from the banking thread it was originally posted in by myself last night.

I am so fed up with LLoyds TSB and hope you get yours sorted.

I was OD with LLyods TSB £118 paid it off in November and have just had a letter from them charging me £214 in charges from October.

OH phoned up LLoyds and was told they couldnt remove the fees or help us in anyway by creating an overdraft. OH logged it all as a complaint and was told someone would phone him back.

They have just phoned back 7.45pm on a Sunday night they still cant remove the charges plus as its with the collections agency (their own) they can't set up an overdraft to cover it and we pay it off monthly (I don't have £214 to pay for it all) we would have to go into the branch to sort out an overdraft but the branch wont be able to sort it as it with the collection agency.
I am so annoyed with LLoyds why did it take so long for them to notify us of the charges we thought we had paid off the debt and were looking at clearing another debt now we have to start all over again, they said they would except £25 a month but wont freeze the interest.