What happens to a dormant account that has monthly fees?

Benjamin4

I discovered evidence of a dormant Lloyds account from 14 years ago. At that stage there was £600-ish in the account, and although my memory is a bit hazy I don't think there were any further transactions in or out. It was a sole trader account, and (although this is not entirely clear from the statement I found, because I think there was an introductory no-fee period) it looks like there may have been a £5 monthly fee.

What will Lloyds have done with this account? Assuming there was a monthly £5 fee, will that have entirely eaten the balance (£5 x 14 years = £840)? Or would Lloyds have frozen the account well before that? Might I even owe them money???

eskbanker

You may well owe them money, especially if there's an overdraft facility, but the first thing to do will be to establish the current status of the account, which will involve contacting them, unless you can see it yourself in online banking or app?

Have your contact details changed over those 14 years?

Benjamin4

I don't think I have any way of accessing the account online - I don't know any of the log-in details. I guess there might have been an overdraft facility, but unlikely.

This account was set up when I briefly tried something as a sole trader, but then life intervened and I moved on to other things and completely forgot about it. I was only at the address on the statement for a short time, so any letters to me would've been missed. My email address and phone number are still the same though.

I'm rather miffed that I've rapidly gone from "oooh, £600 I didn't know about" to "I might have a debt of an unknown and possibly non-trivial amount that I didn't know about"...!

Obviously I need to get it sorted either way, but it would be nice to have a heads up about what Lloyds is likely to have done.

Nasqueron

Any debts would be statute barred if they were not acknowledged (such as paying towards them or writing to say you accept them) after 6 years so if it was dormant 14 years ago and not used since, chances are that they will have closed it and either written off any debt or held any balance in their internal processes.

Your choice to leave it or if you are certain nothing has been paid or put in writing in the last 6 years, send them a request to hunt it

eskbanker

Nasqueron said:

Any debts would be statute barred if they were not acknowledged (such as paying towards them or writing to say you accept them) after 6 years so if it was dormant 14 years ago and not used since, chances are that they will have closed it and either written off any debt or held any balance in their internal processes.

Your choice to leave it or if you are certain nothing has been paid or put in writing in the last 6 years, send them a request to hunt it

The account had £600 in it 14 years ago, and OP believes that it may have been subject to a £5 monthly fee, so it would have taken ten years to deplete the balance at that rate, and OP would only actually owe a (net) debt to the bank within the last four years....

Nasqueron

eskbanker said:

Nasqueron said:

Any debts would be statute barred if they were not acknowledged (such as paying towards them or writing to say you accept them) after 6 years so if it was dormant 14 years ago and not used since, chances are that they will have closed it and either written off any debt or held any balance in their internal processes.

Your choice to leave it or if you are certain nothing has been paid or put in writing in the last 6 years, send them a request to hunt it

The account had £600 in it 14 years ago, and OP believes that it may have been subject to a £5 monthly fee, so it would have taken ten years to deplete the balance at that rate, and OP would only actually owe a (net) debt to the bank within the last four years....

 hence stating facts not speculation

eskbanker

Nasqueron said:

eskbanker said:

Nasqueron said:

Any debts would be statute barred if they were not acknowledged (such as paying towards them or writing to say you accept them) after 6 years so if it was dormant 14 years ago and not used since, chances are that they will have closed it and either written off any debt or held any balance in their internal processes.

Your choice to leave it or if you are certain nothing has been paid or put in writing in the last 6 years, send them a request to hunt it

The account had £600 in it 14 years ago, and OP believes that it may have been subject to a £5 monthly fee, so it would have taken ten years to deplete the balance at that rate, and OP would only actually owe a (net) debt to the bank within the last four years....

 hence stating facts not speculation

Both posts stated outcomes predicated on assumptions?

retiredbanker1

IMO an account cannot become dormant if it is used monthly (even a charge).

I am surprised that the OP has not received any statements especially for a business account.

eskbanker

retiredbanker1 said:

IMO an account cannot become dormant if it is used monthly (even a charge).

I think OP is just guessing that it's dormant?

retiredbanker1 said:

I am surprised that the OP has not received any statements especially for a business account.

OP changed address ages ago (presumably without notifying Lloyds) and doesn't access the account online:

Benjamin4 said:

I don't think I have any way of accessing the account online - I don't know any of the log-in details. I guess there might have been an overdraft facility, but unlikely.

[...]

I was only at the address on the statement for a short time, so any letters to me would've been missed.

Benjamin4

Yes, I'm only guessing that it's dormant in an official sense. It is certainly dormant in the colloquial sense, as I've had zero contact with the bank or the account in the last 14 years. I was moving frequently around that time, so any written correspondence would've been missed

eskbanker

I can't remember if sole trader accounts show on personal credit files, but checking the latter may indicate whether the account is still open and whether it's in the red or not, without necessitating any contact with Lloyds?