Lloyds TSB

paul-wales

Below is a letter I have sent to Lloyds today I am desperate the reasons will become apparent on reading the letter below. If someone could advice me I would be truly grateful the figures we are talking are my son went very slightly over his £250 overdraft facility and they're charging him £165 which they have lumped on top of his overdraft and are now hounding him.

Below is a letter I have sent to Lloyds in the hope of helping him I don't suppose it will but I am desoerate for obvious reasons. I would be grateful of any advice.

Dear Sir

I am writing to you on behalf of my son out of sheer desperation in relation to his above account, in the desperate hope that I can assist him.

My son has recently been fortunate enough to gain full time employment on a soon-to-be very good wage.

Regrettably, up until a couple on months ago my son was deemed un-employable due to severe stress and depression!

Therefore, he is desperately trying to get himself and his life in order.

Just prior to Christmas he was informed that he was slightly overdrawn. This concerned my-son considerably and he repeatedly made contact throughout Christmas and New Year to resolve this dilemma. I desperately listened to him discussing the matter with Lloyds TSB quite literally in tears begging for help. He was pushed from pillar to post and offered no HELP!

He was clearly informed that the charges would be taken from his account immediately and could not be delayed. He pointed out that this would take him over his overdraft facility and was informed that no further charges would be incurred as a result!!!

My son even wrote to Lloyds TSB asking for help, please find enclose a copy for your records.

In addition, to add further stress my son received a telephone call last night at 19:00 hrs, from an Asian representative of Lloyds TSB. Once again the tone of this call was demanding money I could visibly see my son struggling to cope with this call. Therefore, he authorised me to discuss this matter with the representative. On doing so I was informed unless he pays money into Lloyds TSB he would be taken to court?

I am bewildered at the escalation of this situation especially in such a short period of time? Especially considering that his wages aren’t due until the end of January. In addition, taking into account the fact my son has been repeatedly making contact with Lloyds TSB over this situation and not ignoring it.

My son has been in a desperate situation and with the undue pressure from Lloyds TSB I fear he is under extreme stress and will have a relapse of his medical condition.

Not only do I consider the charges to be exorbitant and unreasonable but I also consider the manner in which he is being harassed uncalled for!

I don’t consider it to be in the best interest of Lloyds TSB or my sons to put him under this pressure and again force him into depression and unemployment.

This matter needs to be resolved as a matter of urgency for everyone’s benefit.

I hope you can assist me to help my son I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

chelsea1504

Can't help as don't have that sort of expertise. But just wanted to wish your son all the best. Hope you get it sorted. Easier said than done but tell him to try not to worry it WILL get sorted if you have all your copies of leters etc and diary all conversations in the worst possible situation I can't see Lloyds TSB coming out of this looking too good.
Regards

Dixie99

I don't think you will get an answer to your letter from Lloyds as you are not the account holder. The best thing to do is take your son (with his identification ie. passport) and copies of his & your letters to your local branch. Ask to see the manager & refuse to leave until someone takes responsibility to help you. Your son needs to make an arrangement with Lloyds on how he intends to pay back the money owed - that's what the evening phone call was about I suspect. Even if it is £10.00 per week, it's better than nothing. It's a terrible situation to be in, I sympathise for you both.
By the way, how on earth did the charges come to £165 ?

jonesMUFCforever

Dixie99 wrote: »

I don't think you will get an answer to your letter from Lloyds as you are not the account holder. The best thing to do is take your son (with his identification ie. passport) and copies of his & your letters to your local branch. Ask to see the manager & refuse to leave until someone takes responsibility to help you. Your son needs to make an arrangement with Lloyds on how he intends to pay back the money owed - that's what the evening phone call was about I suspect. Even if it is £10.00 per week, it's better than nothing. It's a terrible situation to be in, I sympathise for you both.
By the way, how on earth did the charges come to £165 ?

I do not wish to sound unsympathetic but going along to the branch and demanding to see the manager will do no good if the account is now under the control of Collections dept.
All they will do is sit in a room with you and phone the department and hand over the phone to you. Managers do not have discretion to agree any repayment plans when it has gone this far.

I would do two things - advise your son to open a new account at another bank and re-direct his salary to this account.
Secondly if Collections do not agree a repayment plan contact CAB or National Debt helpline. (They would be pretty stupid not to agree a repayment plan!).

Lastly hope your son keeps his health and after his first pay cheque that he can start to put this behind him.

mrmajika

To be charged £165 he would have to have been over his limits for several days.

Charges accrued in one month are notified in the next month to come out the following. Therefore December charges should have been notified in January to come out on 1st February. The charges should not come out straight away, as you state.

The 'Asian representative' you refer to is the collections department, which suggests the account is still sitting in unauthorised borrowing.

The call centre advisers are not allowed discretion in the waiving of charges. A first time goodwill gesture is allowed in any rolling 12 month period, dependant on certain criteria. Other than that they have now power to waive it.

Can't really give any useful advice on the matter, i'm afraid.

jillie1974

lloyds charge a one off fee of £15 for going over your limt and then depending on how much you go over it by its £15 a day till it gets to £150 which is £165 in total.
they have a department which will help.they will turn the overdraft into a 'loan' (only covering overdraft and charges) at a very low interest rate which your son will pay back every month. he will need to go onto the branch himself or if he rings the number on the letter ask them to put him through...
they will help as much as they can!! hth

this has happened to me for £15 over my limit...

mrmajika

jillie1974 wrote: »

they have a department which will help.they will turn the overdraft into a 'loan' (only covering overdraft and charges) at a very low interest rate which your son will pay back every month. he will need to go onto the branch himself or if he rings the number on the letter ask them to put him through...
they will help as much as they can!! hth

The poster is correct in that the Customer Support Unit can do this for customers in financial difficulty. However, as the account is now sitting with the Collections department, the CSU cannot touch the account. Any repayment plans / restructuring will have to be agreed with collections.