Disgraceful situation with son's bank

tinacee1

I posted this originally on another section of the forum but was advised by a forum member that I received a helpful reply from to post this in Credit/Debit card section - again any advice or thoughts about this situation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

My son went to his Lloyds bank hole-in-the-wall to withdraw some money today (29th November 2007). I was with him as I had accompanied him earlier to the doctors after he had been discharged from a lengthy stay in hospital. He could not get any money out of the machine, so he went into the bank to find out why he could not withdraw anything. When the bank teller looked at his account she stated that all the money he had in his account (£250) had been taken out and paid online to a company called UNIBET INTERNATIONAL whom he had never heard of on 27th November 07( 2 days previously) . On closer inspection the card number on the onscreen statement was different from the card number on his card. The card number next to the £250 transaction was the card number of the stolen Lloyds card which he had lost in November 2006 and which he had reported to Lloyds when he reported it lost in November 06.

When the cashier in Lloyds turned the computer screen towards us it showed onscreen the word STOLEN Card on his account next to a November 06 date.

We spent quite a long time getting through to The Debit Card Fraud Team from a room in the bank. My son started to explain what had happened and that he couldn't understand why the money had been released to a company he had never heard of based on his stolen card details. The official at the Debit Card Fraud Team said the transaction wasn't authorised by them/the bank and that the money which was stolen would probably be put back into his account. As he is convalescing from a serious illness all this has just set him back again. How could this happen when he had reported the loss/theft of his card directly to his bank last year? He is very; very apprehensive about allowing any payments of any monies i.e. Invalidity Benefit/Disability Living Allowance to be paid into his account now and expressed this to the local Lloyds branch bank official who had been made aware of the situation after he had spoken to the Debit Card Fraud Team . He asked if a new account could be issued but she seemed reluctant to do this. We left the bank and he then opened a Post Office account at the local Post Office in the town in order that future payments could be made into a new account as he has lost confidence in the bank. When we got back home a strong letter was there from Lloyds to tell him that they had been asked to make a number of payments from him on 27th November and that there was not enough money in his account to cover all of them. The letter then went on to say that they have provided him with an Unplanned Overdraft to cover the payments they made and that they would be charging him a fee of £31 now and daily fees of £15 until the overdraft is paid back to them ! The knock-on effect of this ‘unauthorised transaction’ by the bank is horrifying.

There are some things that I would like you to clarify for his peace of mind;

1. Could you please reassure us that as it is the bank's fault that the money that was taken out of his account will be returned to him

2. What did the official in the Debit Card Fraud Team mean by the 'transaction wasn't authorised by them/the bank'

3. Could you give us some indication of why this has happened?

4. How can he get assurances that it won't happen again on a card that was declared to the bank 'LOST' last year!

5. How do we get assurances from the local Lloyds that he will not incur these Unplanned Overdraft charges as a result of this fraud?

Your advice would be much appreciated as this situation is causing him much concern and worry. Thank you.

missile

I would suggest you write to LTSB Head Office "Customer complaint". Keep it brief and ask them to put a hold on this account to prevent further fraud, add if I do not recieve a satisfactory response you will complain to The Financial Ombudsman Service:
[URL="javascript:popWin('/it/cmf/exturl.asp?asset=/assets/link/lloydstsb2004/external/financial_ombudsman_link.xml','640','480','scrollbars=yes,toolbar=yes,location=yes,status=yes,menubar=yes,resizable=yes');"]www.financial-ombudsman.co.uk[/URL].

You need to arrange benefits payments etc to be paid into PO and any DD from said account. Alternatively, it is very easy to switch to a current account with a.n.other bank, e.g. http://www.rbs.co.uk/private/current-accounts/g2/switching.ashx

GeorgeUK

Did you receive any paperwork or a case number from the Debit Card Fraud Team?

I would not purely rely on what was said at the branch but write a letter of complain to to customer services. I would definately want something in writing from them saying how they intended to clear this up. If i hadn't heard anything within a few weeks, i'd be straight on to the Financial Ombudsman.

I'm afraid i can't answer your questions specifically, but you definately need something in writing. Did they say they would contact you again? Going in to a branch i would recommend for getting answers, but they don't really seem to have committed themselves to saying that they were at fault or that the moey is going to be returned (also need to make sure that these late payments/charges are not put onto his credit record).Put it in writing and insist on getting a written response so you have a papertrail.