TSB gold account privileges

JP_RP

As a long standing customer of TSB I have an account which comes with free privileges providing my balance remains above a certain amount. When TSB split with Lloyds I was assured by TSB that these privileges would remain if I stayed with them. Today I received an email telling me that from May they are going to begin charging existing customers. When I contacted TSB they have advised that this decision has been taken by the bank and my only option if I wish to retain them is to pay a monthly fee. I wonder if there is any legal course of action which can be taken here or are the bank within their rights to begin charging. Unfortunately my account is very old and I can't find my terms and conditions. 

Zanderman

JP_RP said:

As a long standing customer of TSB I have an account which comes with free privileges providing my balance remains above a certain amount. When TSB split with Lloyds I was assured by TSB that these privileges would remain if I stayed with them. Today I received an email telling me that from May they are going to begin charging existing customers. When I contacted TSB they have advised that this decision has been taken by the bank and my only option if I wish to retain them is to pay a monthly fee. I wonder if there is any legal course of action which can be taken here or are the bank within their rights to begin charging. Unfortunately my account is very old and I can't find my terms and conditions. 

Short answer, No.

Longer answer, when you opened the account there would have been terms and conditions that you agreed to.
One of those terms would have been (it's always there!) that the bank has the right to change the terms of the account, as long as it gives you notice.
It is giving you notice. 
As long as that notice is the required notice, then you have no option than to agree, or disagree and downgrade your account to one that they don't charge for, or leave and find another bank.

eskbanker

While it's understandable that you'd be unhappy that they've changed their minds, I don't believe that there'd be anything binding in any Ts & Cs that commits them to a specific pricing arrangement for ever, so doubt very much if there's any action you can take other than those they've presumably outlined, i.e. accept the charge, downgrade the account to a perk-free one, or go elsewhere.

JMINSLEY72

We are in the same position as JR_RP.  We were forced to move to TSB and, as part of the agreement, we were definitely informed that the fee waiver (provided that the account had a balance of at least £2000 per month) would continue in perpituity.  Unfortunately we do not have that in writing.  Our account is over 50 years old.
We have sent a complaint to TSB and will investigate further.
 

Zanderman

JMINSLEY72 said:

We are in the same position as JR_RP.  We were forced to move to TSB and, as part of the agreement, we were definitely informed that the fee waiver (provided that the account had a balance of at least £2000 per month) would continue in perpituity.  Unfortunately we do not have that in writing.  Our account is over 50 years old.
We have sent a complaint to TSB and will investigate further.
 

It is the written T&C that count, not a verbal assurance.
Bank staff will, inevitably, generalise in what they say in person - just the same way the bloke in the car showroom does when he says that this model never breaks down.
It is, I would suggest, somewhat naive to expect a bank to give you the same terms on an account indefinitely - you surely should expect change to occur, especially to financial products. 
And that's all bank account is, a financial product - the bank looks after your money, pays your DDs, gives you a debit card etc etc, and maybe offers some perks to try and keep you from trying a rival bank, but at the end of the day it's just a product with some marketing. And products change with time.

[Deleted User]

JMINSLEY72 said:

We are in the same position as JR_RP.  We were forced to move to TSB and, as part of the agreement, we were definitely informed that the fee waiver (provided that the account had a balance of at least £2000 per month) would continue in perpituity.  Unfortunately we do not have that in writing.  Our account is over 50 years old.
We have sent a complaint to TSB and will investigate further.
 

Any customer has the option of closing their account and opening a new account at Lloyds Bank.

dc_scotland

I also have held a TSB Gold Account for a number of years, with a fee waiver in place throughout the period.  I have just been notified of the £15 monthly charge from May, with the alternative options of downgrading or closing the account.  The last correspondence I have in relation to the fee waiver is dated August 2011 when Gold Account benefits were being updated.  The letter details the increase in the monthly fee (for those who pay it) from £12 to £12.95, but goes on to say "Your existing fee waiver arrangement will continue to apply in months where you keep your balance above the minimum level".  There is unfortunately nothing in that letter or any earlier correspondence that I still have which suggests the fee waiver would be in perpetuity.  I have always anticipated it may be withdrawn at some point, but I am pleased that I have had the benefit of free travel and mobile insurance for all these years.  I haven't yet looked at alternative policies, but I am assuming it would not be worthwhile remaining with TSB Gold at £15 per month for the sake of free mobile insurance.  I don't envisage free travel insurance being of any use to me in the foreseeable future. 

WillPS

Aside from TSB having made 'forever'-sounding promises which turn out not to last forever (which they have form for), I would probably take the view that I'd had hundreds of pounds worth of benefits for zero/marginal cost for as long as you have. 

ratechaser

So now I'm curious...  just what are the benefits of this "not £15 per month just yet" legacy account...

dc_scotland

ratechaser said:

So now I'm curious...  just what are the benefits of this "not £15 per month just yet" legacy account...

Free mobile insurance, free travel insurance, free AA breakdown cover, and free Sentinel Card Protection.

Shasilver60

I have been an Gold account holder at TSB for around 25 years. I received the e mail yesterday advising that the 'fee waiver' would come to an end in May. I was surprised as I was not aware that there was a fee waiver in place, and have been paying the account fee for years - perhaps I missed this when opening the account all those years ago, and I don't have the documents from that time.  I have checked all the account terms and conditions that are on the TSB website and can find no mention of a fee waiver - only that the account cost is £180 per year which is £15 a month. Surely this should be mentioned as part of the Gold account terms and conditions ?  Does anyone know if this is mentioned in the T&C's that were published from when Lloyds and TSB split in 2013 ?