PLEASE HELP -Bank Error Compensation?

rg84

In Oct 09 I had £450 dissapear from my LTSB business account even though I only had £90 available and no overdraft.:mad: I reported this straight away and was told " this looks suspiciouse as it doesn't show how the funds were withdrawn".
After 2 years of not being able to use the account, refused an overdraft until the matter was cleared, charged £300 in UOD fees, 100's of phone calls, being passed from pillar to post, having my account CLOSED and receiving formal demands, having to write to the FOS, they have finally admitted defeat.:T
They have offered me £150 in compensation which I appreciate - however I dont think this makes up for all the stress & hassle it has caused.:(
Can anybody offer advice on whether I should accept there offer or take it further?

Any help would be V.much appreciated!

smartiedriver_2

Only you know whether it's worth the hassle you experienced. As a guide you can claim £10 per hour for time spent trying to resolve the issue.

Presumably they have also refunded the missing £450 and the £300 of charges; if not, you'd want those back as well I assume?

£150 as goodwill isn't a bad offer provided your costs etc are covered on top of that.

pmduk

Try and quantify exactly what this has cost you. Then write to them listing this and ask them to re consider.

rg84

Thanks so much for your advice, yes they have refunded the charges but havn't offered to pay back the original £90 that was in the account - so really are only offering me £60. They have also called this morning to open up a new business account as they cannot re-open the old one. I have to take all my documentation in again - So that's another afternoon off work!

Naf

What have they called the £150. If they're calling it compensation, you should be able to argue that this would be on top of your actual costs and the original £90. But if they have just asked you to accept it to close the matter, or called it redress, then you will need to fight a little harder I suspect...

jalexa

rg84 wrote: »

... having to write to the FOS, they have finally admitted defeat..

Are you saying that you have asked the Financial Ombudsman Service to consider the complaint, (on "deadlock" or after 8 weeks, whichever occured first). If so, is the "£150" the FOS award?

rg84

In their recent letter LTSB state ' To put things right I would like to pay you £150 for the distress and inconvenience caused'. So it doesn't actually state it as compensation? It goes on to say that if I wish, I can now ask the FOS to stop their investigation but if I would like it to continue this letter can be accepted by them as a 'Final' reply.

jalexa

rg84 wrote: »

In their recent letter LTSB state ' To put things right I would like to pay you £150 for the distress and inconvenience caused'.

You answered this yourself earlier.

"They have offered me £150 in compensation which I appreciate - however I dont think this makes up for all the stress & hassle it has caused."

Did you know that if you refer this to the FOS (though check the time limits) it will cost you nothing, but LTSB will incur a £500 case fee, win or lose?

Still uncertain?

rg84

I didn't know that so thank you very much for your reply. I'll call the FOS on Monday morning to check time limits etc.
I just feel it's so unfair that they can put charges on an account so easily but when they cause so many problems both personally and financially - they can offer a small token and think that's ok.

Naf

What do you think your costs are? Don't include the £90 you started with or the charges they already cancelled for you...
Phone calls, account transfer, loss of earnings due to no access to account/transfer (that you could reasonably prove) etc.