Do I have any kind of case?

jodilye

I'm not too sure of the dates just yet, I need to dig out my older statements, but I shall bullet point the problems I've had with lloyds tsb as clearly as I can.

Around 2008 (I think) I was encouraged by my bank to get a credit card.

Being young and silly, I ran it up to its £500 limit.

To cover this and my overdraft (also £500) my bank suggested I take out a loan with them for £1500. This would pay my credit card and overdraft. They also set up a savings account and put the extra £500 in there.

I was advised that 'overdrafts can be hard to get accepted so you should keep one once you have it'

In 2011 (2 years later) I had paid the loan back, but by this time had a £650 overdraft and a full credit card balance again.

Over the years I have had overdraft charges applied (usually £30), some for going over as little as 96p.

I have even been charged for missing a standing order set up to pay money into my own savings account, which they refused to refund or tell me what that £20 paid for (I had previously thought it may have been used to reimburse the recipient of lost monies).

I now have a £1600 overdraft, with around £25 interest being added every month and my credit card has £420 on it.

I have just cashed in my premium bonds (£600) to pay my credit card and part of my overdraft.

I am about to open a natwest account and hope to close the lloyds account and freeze the interest on my overdraft.

I have often thought about writing to lloyds detailing the above, but wasn't sure it was worth the effort, would anyone suggest otherwise?
Thanks!

Tiddlywinks

Just to be clear...

Which bits do you think are your responsibilty and which bits are down to Lloyds?

DevCoder

On the face of it the fees are within reason and justifiable.

Why didn't you destroy the CC when you took out the first loan, that must have been obvious at the time you couldn't afford your spending?

jodilye

I blame the fact I was encouraged to have the credit card and loan on lloyds. Also that i was recommended not to cancel the overdraft once i was in credit. I was recommended not to destroy the credit card 'in case of emergencies'. Of course hindsight is a wonderful thing, with the head I have now I would never take the credit card, let alone run it up, let alone not destroy it! I would have been better off if the bank had provided me with a loan that had simply covered the debts, rather than giving me extra, but I was under the impression for a long time that they were trying to help me.
I know of one other person who (at the same branch) was given a credit card and a loan to cover the debt he ran up and extra for a savings account, it sounds as if its a little 'tactic' they had to give these loans out. I guess in the current climate they don't do it as much but I don't know.

I have no doubt that there are 20 year olds out there thy have a good financial head on them, but the majority, given a 'free' £500 that they an 'simply' pay back later is far too tempting. Personally I don't think a credit are should ever be recommended by a bank, but sought out if you need one, but I forget that a bank is a business, not there to help

I put a lot of trust into lloyds and feel they have taken me for a fool, grabbing what they can, when they can.

I also know I have had bank charges that would be viewed as unreasonable as set out in the charges reclaiming page on this site (as my example, £30 charge for going over 96p).

I'm sure a lot of people will agree it was my awful money management skills that got me into this position, but I can say with a high degree of certainty that I would be in a much better position financially had I never been given a credit card so young.

Tiddlywinks

So, not really the bank's fault then was it?

[Deleted User]

jodilye wrote: »

I'm sure a lot of people will agree it was my awful money management skills that got me into this position

The Bank will certainly agree!
You have, I'd say, no chance of having any of these charges refunded unless the Bank make a goodwill offer (perhaps stretching back the last six months).
You can certainly write to them and try, but expect them to want you to show that you are in extreme financial difficulty (with no "luxury" outgoings to Sky, gyms etc) before they'll even consider you for refunds.

jodilye

No, I don't have any luxury outgoings. To be honest, I do think it's the banks fault for thinking that the solution to a high credit card bill, was a loan. I received awful advice from them at a time when I thought yet were the ones to trust. Having been a long time reader of this site I'm surprise to see so much support for the bank. Thanks for the help though. I will write to them anyway, on the off chance of a goodwill payment. And look forward to closing the account and being rid of any dealings with them.

DevCoder

This site is about moneysaving and responding to advice on financial situations as posters see it.

This means that sometimes the banks are to blame and sometimes the poster.

In this case your spending exceeded your incomings, you have to assume some responsibility for your spending. the wake up call should have been the requirement for a loan when racking up the CC bill, common sense then would have been to destroy the card, no-one forced you to keep it.

To then rack up the CC again as well as going into further debt with your overdraft was risking financial suicide, hopefully you'll have your LBM because at the moment it sounds like you are still blaming everyone else.

Sorry if that sounds harsh.

Tiddlywinks

Actually, sometimes it does make financial sense to pay a credit card off with a loan if:

- the apr of the loan is lower
- loans tend to have a fixed repayment period
- the person then does not run up more debt on the credit card

So... not really that bad for advice from the bank... just your own choice to continue spending on the credit card and running up another overdraft,

dzug1

jodilye wrote: »

I put a lot of trust into lloyds and feel they have taken me for a fool, grabbing what they can, when they can.

.

And what about YOU - didn't you grab what you could, when you could? Who does that make the fool?