Lloyds TSB/Co-op branch transfers. When will we be told what to do?

Jaycee_Dove

I have banked with Lloyds TSB for over 30 years (as TSB originally) and have shares in them from TSB days.

I have lived in North Wales for 10 years and when we moved here my new branch said that it was no longer practice to switch accounts on moving even that far as it was not relevant these days that our old branch was in a town 100 miles away.

As you can no doubt guess - it is relevant now!

That old branch (one I have not visited in a decade) is part of the transfer to the Co-Op. The one I have visited every week for those same 10 years is not moving.

I have asked several times in my local branch what to do, because there is no way I wish to leave and want to resolve things as soon as I can. But am getting no real help as the staff appear clueless themselves on detail. I was initially told I would get a letter in August setting out options and there would be no hassle involved and I could stay at LLoyds, of course.

Then, when no such letter arrived, that it would be 'sometime next year probably now...The sale is not even done yet. There is no rush, or need to worry etc etc.'

Aside from brand loyalty to Lloyds for so many years, I have taken out new products (eg ISAs) with this current branch over the past decade. So I have no idea if these form part of the sale to the Co-op or not. If the local branch is irrelevant then are my ISA and bank account both owned by TSB, or by one branch or two???

Moreover, I have been a full time carer for my very elderly mum for several years and purposefully transferred her Nat West account to the same branch of Lloyds that I visit weekly. As a carer I get just two hours per week to travel miles by bus to do things like banking whilst a respite carer looks after her and so it is essential both our accounts are together in one bank. There is not even a Coop branch anywhere near where we live anyhow.

Of course, as the Wales branch is staying as a Lloyds TSB her account is completely unaffected as it was opened there by me.

It is just mine in flux. And this is why I am concerned.

I read a piece in the Daily Mail this week implying that customers who want to move will have to ask (and it is not a given that you will be allowed to stay as many accounts have to be transferred for the sale to work). Moreover that well before the actual sale a year from now the branches to be transferred will become an intermediary bank under a new name (possibly TSB) and customers of these will not be able to use Lloyds TSB branches. So this suggests it is not a problem a year away and so not worth worrying about just yet. It seems a little more urgent.

Hence writing here to ask for advice, as I assume others will be in similar confusion.

If customers do stay - the article suggested - they must close their account entirely and open a new one. With several direct debits etc that seems like a daunting task which will involve a lot of the hassle that I was promised in branch would not occur - as I assume all new accounts and numbers will be involved for the current account.

And what about my ISA (opened at the current branch but possibly also to be moved?) and my Lloyds TSB credit card that I have had for years (???)

Anyone in the know who can offer advice/or reassurance, please. I would be very grateful.

jonesMUFCforever

You are not getting help from branches because the staff themselves don't know.
If you transfer to CO-OP then your account number and sort code will stay the same but you will not be able to transact in Lloyds branches after end 2013.

There are not many CO-OP branches in N Wales so this might inconvenience you then (on the other hand it might not).

At the moment you need to do nothing.

Jaycee_Dove

Thanks.

As noted, I cannot visit two banks in my very limited time to do all the shopping, so if my account was switched to Coop (even if there was a branch anywhere close, which there is not) then my mum's TSB account would have to be switched to there as well.

So either way it looks like some switching will be needed.

I just find it disappointing that this situation has occurred simply because the North Wales branch would not transfer my account on moving here because they said it was totally unnecessary and no longer done for that reason.

When, fairly obviously, that was a short sighted comment.

I guess they could not foresee this move. But they might now need to rethink that strategy as a consequence.

jonesMUFCforever

My understanding is that staff are not allowed to proactively encourage you to transfer your account at present.

You can't transfer a LTSB account from one branch to another.

pmduk

Sadly, nobody (at branch level) could have predicted the crisis which has ultimately led to this branch sale - and that of RBS group. So the advice given at the time was correct.

RBS customers were (are?) being allowed to transfer to non-affected branches, so I wouldn't be surprised if some similar arrangement was made for Lloyds customers.

ChiefGrasscutter

As we discussed some time ago the whole concept will run into a real problem if the majority of the customer base decides to stay with Lloyds and starts moving their accounts back accordingly.
The new buyer will then simply end up with a load of empty bank branch buildings and no new customers.

MoneySaverLog

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

As we discussed some time ago the whole concept will run into a real problem if the majority of the customer base decides to stay with Lloyds and starts moving their accounts back accordingly.
The new buyer will then simply end up with a load of empty bank branch buildings and no new customers.

Sadly I suspect a lot of customer will decide to do exactly that and vote with their feet. Co-op will more than likely end up with just a property portfolio as a result. Then what will happen is they will start selling them off one by one.

It's flawed and not good for the number of branches in the long term is it?

minimad1970

My Lloyds branch is one that is changing to Co-op. I already have a Co-op account so don't want another one. I understand that I will have to close the Lloyds account and open a new one at another branch. Does anyone know why I can't do it now? Thanks.

jonesMUFCforever

minimad1970 wrote: »

My Lloyds branch is one that is changing to Co-op. I already have a Co-op account so don't want another one. I understand that I will have to close the Lloyds account and open a new one at another branch. Does anyone know why I can't do it now? Thanks.

Because you have a Lloyds account and you want a new Lloyds account - if you do it now your new account will be transferred as well!

Jaycee_Dove

If I understand minimad they want to close their Lloyds account at the branch being sold and open a new one at a branch that will not be sold.

This is similar to my problem as noted in post 1 here.

I cannot possibly visit the branch that holds my account as it is a three hour train journey away and totally useless to me. So I would need to close that account and open up a new one at the branch where I visit every week and have done since 2002 because it is 5 miles from where I live not 105 miles. I wanted to do that in 2002 but Lloyds told me it was not necessary. Now it is but I cannot as yet.

So we are not being given that option at this time and are being left in limbo even though I have been a loyal customer of Lloyds TSB for over three decades.

I am feeling let down by a lack of communication from the bank I have trusted for so long and should not be needing to read Daily Mail articles or ask for advice on this forum to know what is going on. They have had three months since the announcement and by now should at least have written to all effected customers to give reassurance IMO.

A coop bank is no use to me as I have checked and the nearest branch is 35 miles away.

pmduk

You can undertake most coop transactions at the post office. Remember, this is being to done to satisfy regulators and eurocrats. The customers are hardly taken into consideration, if at all.