Lloyds TSB and BLS help please

flossieflipflop

Hi all,

I agreed F and F with all my creditors in early January. Barclaycard were easy - letters out quickly, payment made and confrimation letters received within 2 weeks. But Lloyds and BLS have just been a nightmare. Basically I had to wait 5 weeks before they sent out the confirmation letters (so almost to the deadline I had been given to pay). During this time they phoned me repeatedly reminding me to pay (before deadline and letters received.) Anyway finally I got the letters so rang up to pay. All my accounts were in my maiden name so I was paying using my debit card which is in my married name but registered to same address. I paid £3500 to Lloyds using my card and that was fine. I then paid £1300 to BLS (part of LLoyds) using card and that was fine. When I went to pay the final debt of £1200 I was told I absolutely could not use my debit card as it was not in same name. I explained I had just paid 2 debts to them in this way but I was told these payments should not have been taken (they were made on different days to different people). I was then told I would have to pay in cash in branch which I refused. Eventually they gave me online bank details to pay which I did. So as of 10 days ago all my debts are paid and settled. and Yet I have been called every single flipping day by Lloyds and BLS. When I rang back (thinking it was a problem with bank payment or that maybe they were ringing as a result of my written letter of complaint). They started demanding payment for the remaining balances, when I said no I've settled they suddenly said oh yes we can see that sorry for troubling you. By the 6th call I told them they were not to phone me ever again as all my accounts with them were now closed. She agreed. Guess what? Another 3 phone calls and messages since then (needless to say I'm ignoring these). I;;ve written two letters of complaint to BLS and LLoyds about their incompetence (there were other issues which are too long winded to put down here) but they have not replied to either letter. Anyone got any ideas what I can do to stop the calls?? They are driving me mad

Sorry for the essay and thanks if you got this far!!

Thrifty_Pixie

is it not illegal to have financial products in two names? why haven't you changed all your finances over to your married name?

flossieflipflop

Is it? I didn't know that?! I use my maiden name for lots of things still - my passport is still in my maiden name (I did check that one so that's ok). I did try when I got married but they wanted my marriage certificate (original) with a letter from a solicitor which would have cost me money so I didn't bother - also as I kept maiden name for lots of things including work didn't think it mattered but I did try to tell them!

Anyway what has that got to do with anything - i mentioned it because if they can't accept the card they shouldn't have accepted my card on the other 2 debts. My main issue with them is the continuous phone calls even though all accounts are closed.

I still have my mortgage in my maiden name too (in fact everything is except my bank account). I will check it out now - thank you for letting me know I am breaking the law (I genuinely did not know that - they never even said that when I told them over the phone I was married!)

Thrifty_Pixie

firstly, don't panic

i may be wrong, but i thought you can only have one signature (hence why it's used as a form of ID) so if you need to sign any official documents with your maiden name, and you've legally changed your name to your married name, it'll be fraud? i don't want to overly worry you just in case i'm wrong, so hopefully someone else can confirm/poo-poo this, but that's what i was led to believe when i got married

you can CALL yourself what you like, but you can't SIGN with different names, and the signature used for your accounts will be wrong? (i.e. maiden name)

did you legally change your name when you got married?

as far as i can gather it was the different names that caused the card to be declined the last time, so my point does seem to be relevant. however you're right - sometimes these people don't know their ar5e from their elbow and departments don't talk to one another etc. new staff might have passed the first two payments not realising they shouldn't have...there are a hundred reasons why they let them go through and not the last - take your pick! it's not RIGHT, but, as i said, they often don't talk to one another.

if it were me i'd just change everything into my actual name and be done with it

as far as the calls go, answer the next one stating that you have sent letters and they should refer to them. say you only want to be contacted by post in future. send a repeat letter to this effect and then block their calls.

flossieflipflop

Thank you - what you're saying does sound like it might be right, will check it out ( not so worried about old accounts as now closed but mortgage is a worry - I'll just send them a copy of the marriage certificate just to be safe!

Thrifty_Pixie

might be an idea so that your name is right for house ownership purposes.

i'm surprised that they said your passport could stay in your maiden name, to be honest, considering that's considered a main form of ID and your name is not legally that anymore. if you ever had to show other docs along with it, and they had conflicting names, it could cause a whole world of pain.