overdraft fees

smadams11

hi, this is my first time on here so i could be in the wrong place etc, sorry.
i had a bank account with hsbc years ago and once i turned 18 i suddenly went overdrawn-i called them and paid the fees and told them i didnt want any sort of overdraft-they told me that all their bank accounts had an 'unplanned overdraft', so i decided to mive banks.
i then got an account with lloyds tsb-after i stressed to them that i absolutely DID NOT WANT ANY SORT OF OVERDRAFT.
i used this account for around a year, then me and my partner decided to get a joint account. i went to llotds to close my account-they said i was £1 odd(literally) overdrawn-which i was mead about, as apparently i didnt have an overdraft-but i paid it then and there annd tried to close my account. they said i needed to come back after the accounnt hadnt been used for a month, then close it. i moved house 2 weeks later. i didnt bother to go back and close my account as i simply didnt use it anymore.
that was in march 2011.
i recently received a letter from a debt company fr over £300 in overdraft fees. it turns out that after i went in to lloyds and paid the £1 odd, an amount of £30 had gone out-i admit this may have been me, bbut cannot be sure, as it was so long ago. lloyds had apparently sent letters to my previous address and i obvioulsy hadnt received them.
i am more tahn happy to pay back the £30 as this was probably me, but i really cant afford to pay the fees-nor do i think i should have to.
do i have to?
sorry this is so long. thanks

DevCoder

Ask the debt company for a statement of the amounts and charges.

But in all probability you will need to pay the £300, if the debt was still with lloyds then you could ask for a gesture of goodwill but I dont think that will work with a DCA.

amcg100

In all probability the debt has been sold to the debt collectors and as such as been written off by Lloyds. The debt collectors only way to get you to pay up is to harass you until you do. You will get lots of threatening letters and possibly even visits and/ or phone calls if they have your number. After a while they may sell your debt on to another agency and the process keeps going on and on until eventually it peters out. I suppose it all depends on whether you think the £300 is worth all the hassle.
The other route is to seek a refund of the interest and charges since these make up the bulk of the debt. There are specialist solicitors who will help you with this. As the previous poster says, a good place to start is by approaching your old bank and suggesting they be reasonable and call off the dogs. If they don't want to play ball, then stick your ground.

Fishingtime

It surprises me how many people do not pay for Royal mail redirection.
Spending £30 or whatever it is for a year would have saved you quite a lot of money