Self-added 'Arrangement to Pay' w/o understanding it - didn't need/use it. Need help removing marker

vanillasky2

What a way to shoot yourself in the foot... can't believe how damaging this is and that Lloyds won't help me fix it - I don't remember it being explained sufficiently, I clicked on a few hyperlinks? It didn't tell me that an arrangement to pay would be unsuitable for me, as I didn't owe anything.... I didn't speak to a human, didn't see any obvious warnings about the damage it could/would do to my credit file or that it'd 1) go on my file and 2) stay there for SIX YEARS...

Spot the leading/innocent question? Who isn't curious to see what help with debt and payments their bank can offer them?

After clicking "Need help with your debt or payments?" You get this screen... it automatically assumes you've asked for help "Thank you for letting us know that you need a hand with your current account" .... I did no such thing?! I clicked on the link to find out more information? 

Anyway... being a curious clicker of things, maybe you can understand how I've ended up accepting Lloyds' eventual offer of 0% on my overdraft for 3 months - AKA an "Arrangement to Pay without really understanding the full implications of doing so.

I can't show the next screen after the one above because I'm concerned Lloyds will say that I've told them I'm "Struggling and need options to help me" and I've asked for another Arrangement to Pay.

I don't remember being told that this 3 months of 0% on Overdraft interest was will stay on my credit file for 6 years and should only be accepted if absolutely necessary - due to the negative effects an Arrangement to Pay will have for on my credit file/score for 6 years. I'm confident that it wasn't explained to me, as I'm sure I'd have realised it's a 1) terrible idea and 2) I didn't need it ... I have already had a fee-free overdraft of £50, I thought the idea of a 0% for 3 months of up to £1800 would be a useful thing in case i needed it - I didn't.

A couple of days ago I got a credit alert from CreditKarma, saying that Lloyds has added a debt arrangement flag to my account - this alerted me to the fact that I'd made a mistake and I learnt what an "Arrangement to Pay" is and was horrified to learn i'd mistakenly added one to my current account - without owing anything? My account was in credit at the time, and has been since.

I explained all of this to Lloyds who seem to agree that I made a mistake, but say it's my fault and they won't remove the adverse marker because the marker is not a mistake. I told them to end the arrangement to pay immediately which they have done. But they will not remove the record of my self-inflicted Arrangement to Pay. They told me not to worry, and that it wouldn't affect my credit score because the Arrangement has been settled. They said I could add a Notice of Correction to explain it.

I asked to speak to the manager, who also refused to help fix/remove the Arrangement to Pay marker (for... 0% for 3 months on an overdraft I wasn't using / didn't use) - she filed it as a complaint - but I'm not sure how it was worded exactly? Gave me a reference number... said that's all she could do.

I tried in branch and they told me to call the CFA team I'd already spoken to. - They advised me to try again, which didn't work, they still won't help fix this. The adviser in branch encouraged me to use the Financial Ombudsman.

What do you think? Apart from... what an idiot... what can I / should I do? Was I misled? Did they fail to explain it clearly to me or fail to assess if it was suitable for me? Do I have a case?

Please advise if you can,

– David



 

sourcrates

Unfortunately once the marker is there, it stays there for 6 years.

I tend to agree with the OP, there is little in the way of explanation from the bank, of the consequences of such actions, which is why clicking on such links ad hoc, should be avoided.

Sites such as this one, and debt camel extol the importance of doing your research beforehand, and this is one very good example of why that should be.