Cautionary tale - Lloyds bank took the refund of charges back!!

honory

We are posting on this site out of desperation having failed to make any headway ourselves. We are minded to put the problem we have with Lloyds TSB down more to !!!! up than conspiracy but if it is a deliberate move on their behalf then it is sinister and bodes ill for all account holders of Lloyds.

In October 2006 and January 2007 we had three claims against Lloyds for unfair bank charges settled by Lloyds, the money owed repaid into our joint account and personal current accounts. On the 19th March 2007 we had our final claim settled but noticed that somehow the claim had been added to another claim number (not ours) and we’d been refunded two amounts into two different accounts. On discovering this mistake, my wife phoned Lloyds Solicitors, Sechiari Clarke & Mitchell, who said they would look into the matter.

Late one evening on the 21st March 2007 I logged onto our accounts to check my balance before booking a business trip to Dublin. I was horrified to find two debits named 'BANK CHGE REVERSAL' on both my current and our joint accounts. Suffice to say Lloyds had reversed the awards to the tune of £456, £102 & £103.

The latter charge needed to be reversed as it was credited in error but both other claims had been settled out of court with solicitor’s letters to confirm and verify all payments. At no point did we sign any document to restrict the amount of claims we could file against Lloyds or agree to any conditions. We were more than happy to meet them in court as we were well advised (by this site and others) and very confident of success given the relatively small amounts concerned.

We are on a tight budget and this reversal bounced us temporarily into unauthorised overdraft territory with charges and increased interest rates to boot. It also meant that the flights I so desperately needed could not be booked at a cheaper rate, resulting in additional costs of around £100 to myself.

As if this was not bad enough what has happened since the 21st March is flabbergasting! I have spent no less than eight hours on the phone to Customer Services, Collections Department and my Branch in Brackley and have travelled the 240 mile trip to my Branch (I live in Staffordshire) complete with difficult two year old in tow. To cut a very long story short, we were told by everyone we approached at Lloyds that they had not authorised the reversals and that they were in no position to help. Eventually, the Branch Manager (to his credit) concluded that the Customer Recovery Centre in Birmingham had authorised the reversals but despite his best efforts, he has not been able to get a response or explanation from this notorious department. His advice to me as my Branch Manager is to forget efforts on the phone and commit all correspondence to writing as he is powerless to move the matter forward at all.

We have contacted the Financial Ombudsman who have not heard a response from Lloyds (despite a formal letter being sent to Lloyds giving them a week to respond to and acknowledge our formal complaint) and we have sent recorded delivery letters of complaint to the Branch, Customer Recovery Centre, Sechiari Clarke & Mitchell, the Customer Complaints Department of Lloyds and the Ombudsman, all to no avail. It was also left to me to do the investigation works to find out where the error had occurred and what Lloyds needed to do to put it right.

It is the May bank holiday now and we have received no money, no correspondence and no clue as to why the money won through legal process has been reclaimed. We would appreciate any help or advice and any publicity that this situation can get. We followed all the rules and have not claimed anything other than our money back. I'm sure all of you who read this site will be disappointed but not surprised by the actions of one of our major high street banks!


We thank you in advance of any help you may be able to offer us.

Kurt_Hamster

Personally I'd continue the process you'd started and take them to court. When you issue the claim make sure you include what has happened (though at this stage an abbreviated version will suffice e.g. Lloyds settled out of court, then subsequently went back on the settlement and took back the payments).

They are in a position to pass you on the complaints relay race as long as they like. You need to take command and hit them with the courts.

daveturney

ok first of all you bit them, then u let them bite back, you should of changed banks IMO.

secondly you should be well within your rights to claim for damages now
KEEP ALL RECEIPTS and seek legal advice

tnook_2

That is nasty. Can you hit them again and go for compounded contractual interest to add a sting?

Best of luck.