Dormant classic account at Lloyds - any fees to expect?

terryjerryz

Hello,
at the end 2017 I moved abroad and since then I've not used my classic account at Lloyds Bank. Back then I didn't know when would I come back to the UK so I left my account opened, just in case to have it in the future. I withdrawed all the money so that there were only about 5 pounds left on my debit card. Sounds stupid but then I just forgot about all these things and my account at Lloyds is now for ca. 4 years not used. I've called the helpline and the only thing they told me is that my account is dormant and I need to send some documents to the Dormancy Team and they'll reactivate it. Since then I'm quite nervous worried because of two things which I couldn't figure out:

1. my debit card was valid till 07/2019. I haven't used it since Dec 2017, so it was about 1.5 years not in use. Could Lloyds send me then a new debit card in summer 2019? I've read somewhere that they don't do it when the account gets inactive so after 12 months of not using it (but I'm not sure if it refers to the UK law). If so, then perfect because I wouldn't like anyone who lives at my old address to see my card.

2. like I said before, there were a few pounds on my account left. But now I got worried about prospective overdraft. Could Lloyds somehow make a negative balance? Could they impose any fees so that my balance would get negative (e.g. from +5 pounds to -10 pounds) and then it could grow through the interest?

Thanks a lot for your help, it would help me to sleep calm!

eskbanker

terryjerryz said:

I wouldn't like anyone who lives at my old address to see my card

But not to the extent of actually informing Lloyds that you'd moved?  Seems rash to do that based on an assumption that nothing would be sent there, and the Ts & Cs will oblige you to update your details.

Anyway, if your account was in credit and there were no outstanding valid payment instructions (DDs or CPAs) then it shouldn't have gone into overdraft, but if you're wanting to sleep calm, you just have to take the necessary steps to regain control of the account and find out for sure what state it's in....

terryjerryz

eskbanker said:

But not to the extent of actually informing Lloyds that you'd moved?  Seems rash to do that based on an assumption that nothing would be sent there, and the Ts & Cs will oblige you to update your details.

No because I had the online correspondence in my preferences and I've always received e.g. Statement of fees to my online banking mailbox. And in this way I forgot about prospective sending a new card as a normal letter in 2 years.

And no, there were no payment instructions. But to be honest, I'm just a graphic artist and have no idea about the banking. That's why I don't know if it could be possible for a bank to charge me e.g. 10 pounds for any stupid regular thing if I had only 5 pounds. Acoording to description of this classic account at Lloyds there are no fees for a regular usage but you never know. I just hope there are no 500 pounds of debt or whatever for any reason. And till they reactivate my account (it can last even 2 months; beaurocracy goes slow) I can't log on and read the statements of fees which they sent me within last 3 years.

eskbanker

If you're in a hurry to find out if you owe them anything, you could always have a look at your credit files, which should show the size of any overdraft:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/check-free-credit-report/

terryjerryz

eskbanker said:

If you're in a hurry to find out if you owe them anything, you could always have a look at your credit files, which should show the size of any overdraft:

Thanks! And just a small question to my second question: is it possible at all to make the e.g. 10 pound payment from Lloyds' classic account with 5 pounds balance? Does it go without problems and results in -5 pound balance or is the payment blocked? 

eskbanker

terryjerryz said:
is it possible at all to make the e.g. 10 pound payment from Lloyds' classic account with 5 pounds balance? Does it go without problems and results in -5 pound balance or is the payment blocked? 

If you have an overdraft facility on the account then it would be paid, but if not then there's no way of telling - they might allow such a payment to go through (taking you into unarranged overdraft) but may choose to decline it instead.

terryjerryz

That's what I got at MSE's Credit Club. Is that all what's important for me on this website? Is it ok? Is my credit utilisation "yellow" because of these little 5 pounds which I left there or does it mean something worse?

eskbanker

terryjerryz said:

That's what I got at MSE's Credit Club. Is that all what's important for me on this website? Is it ok? Is my credit utilisation "yellow" because of these little 5 pounds which I left there or does it mean something worse?

I'm not familiar with the way the credit data is presented at each of the sites but somewhere there should be a detailed listing of credit accounts, such as current accounts with overdrafts.

terryjerryz

Yet just the very last question: it's a screenshot from MSE's Credit Club. Does anyone know why there are green indicators as my account is dormant (yes, I know, the screen shows the time when the account was not dormant yet but even for today it's not "D" but this green sign). Moreover, why could it show me 0.00 pounds for every single month? 60 months ago I had definitely more on my account than presented 0.00 like on the screenshot.

eskbanker

Not sure why Lloyds told you the account was dormant, as this normally signifies an account unused for 15 years rather than a few, so I'm not convinced it's dormant as such in the usual sense, but seems to have timed out somehow.

The zero balances mean no money owed rather than no money in the account.

terryjerryz

eskbanker, I'm just incredibly grateful for all your help! Does it mean then that I'm 100% safe and it says that I'm having for sure no overdraft on this account? And regarding dormancy - maybe it's just "inactive", the guy from Lloyds on helpline wasn't sure whether it's inactive or dormant. If so, would there also be these green indicators?