Overdraft worries

bobbysgirl62

Hi can anyone please help, my mother was given bad advice about her lloyds bank account overdraft and emptied her account and tried to cancel it, they have now told her she cant because of the overdraft. mum is 72 and doesnt really understand what is going on, can anyone advise me on how to solve this, the overdraft is pretty high and mum is scared the charges are going to be so high she will lose her house.

CH27

How much is the overdraft?
Has she got surplus income to start paying it off bit by bit?
Does she have a free bank account or a fee paying one? If it's fee paying is it suitable for her needs?

Could you make an appointment & go with her to the bank to get it sorted?

getmore4less

what bad advice, from who, where did the money go?

bobbysgirl62

mum opened a new account and has had all her payments in and out transfered to that one, the bank want to slap 25 percent charges on the overdraft

gfplux

Hello Bobysgirl,
If you want good advise you have to give us ALL the facts.
Often advise is given and turns out to be wrong as not all the facts are known.
Can I ask you to relax and give us a lot more details about your mothers situation.
Sadly " the overdraft is pretty high" and " want to slap 25% charges" does not help us to give you and your Mum GOOD advise.

panchenlama

here's some adviCe..

pay off the overdraft and THEN you can close the account.

you can't clean out all the loan facility on the account and then close it. Isn't that attempted theft?

Farmerbob

So when your mum withdrew the money from the account did she accidentally withdraw the money from the overdraft as well and this is why they want to charge her for using the facility? Like gfplux says we need more information to be able to give advice as we're not getting the whole story!

bobbysgirl62

The overdraft is 2 thousand and she didnt realise that she was taking the overdraft she thought it was her money, mum is willing to pay it back of course, what we need to find out is can she just put money back in each month to pay the overdraft off, it was her case officer who told her to change banks, something to do with on the 5th of August the bank were reviewing her overdraft facility and would be taking everything that went in to pay it off with a 25 percent charge on top ? the details are very vague to myself as mum tends to throw letters away before I get to read them and forgets information told to her. She has tried ringing and gets nowhere becuase lloyds keep telling her she didnt pass the security questions and hangs up on her, that is the main reason she wanted to change banks becuase she would end up in tears ad her blood pressure would go sky high. this past month has very stressful for her

happycamel_2

Ok. I think a meeting with a branch manager, by appointment, and with you present would be a good start. They nay ge willing to freeze interest and charges but they dont have to, im afraid sh signed up to the terms and conditions on the account and borrowed the money.

If she is capable of spending £2000 that isn't Gershwin and not noticing the negative balance on the account then I think you should look into getting power of attorney too.

Where did the money go? Does she have anything she can sell to pay it back? Can you or another family member clear the debt for her and then she can pay you back without interest or charges?

happycamel_2

Gershwin?? Sorry Autocorrect gone mad, should have said "isn't hers"

bobbysgirl62

thank you for the advice, I will sort it on Monday