Want to help parents reclaim

anne211981

My parents have an acount with lloyds tsb, which was formally a tsb acount. they have other accounts with natwest and the halifax but the trouble is with ltsb. Over the years they have had the account they have been charged nearly every month on there overdraft since i can remember as a child (im now 27) i have told them to sort these charges out with them but my father is a procrastinator as doesnt want the hassle, but hates being charged for letters and £15.00 plus £20 per day for being o/d. Both my parents have had high income and have never been extravagant with money as such. But it seems the bank take the charges which then sends them over drawn and then the circle starts again. i would say over the last 6 years they have been charged in excess of 15k. I would like to try and deal with it for them but i dont really know where to start.
These charges worry me esspicaly in the climit were in now with high intrest rates on mortgages and rising fuel bills ect. these charges often affect the mortgage payments,

what do i need to write into the bank other than name and account number. ?
under the freedom of info act how much could they charge for a letter stating the charges over the last 6 years. ?
any advice would be great :j

anandp

Hi,

I know the predicament you're in. Had the same issue with mine.
Firstly, do your payments have an overdraft facility in place with LTSB already? If not, I suggest at least setting one up for £2-300. That way, any minor inroads under zero should only attract a small interest payment, rather than a whopping £20-30 charge.

Secondly, its worth simply asking the question in a polite letter re. all overdraft charges, etc. to date. They may do it without a fee, at least the first time. If it becomes more of a frequent request (and I don't see why it would), then I can see them asking for a fee.

Once you have the data, try asking for the last one back as many times, the first request for a refund is processed automatically without a fuss. Be polite about this as it is at the discretion of the customer service rep.

After this, lodge your claims following Martin's process on the main site. There is a current court battle on this, so it probably won't get far right now, but at least its lodged and then can be dealt with when the decision if made by the courts as to whether the charges are legal or not.

Anand

anne211981

they do have an o/d facility of £600. but the bank lets them go over by £300 some months, but will not increase the o/d to help out. the reason they go over mainly is due to their charges. its a vicious circle

Edinburghlass_2

You can't in fact do it for them but you can print out the 1st template letter for them to get their info/statements under the DPA, you'll find the link in Martin's article here...

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges

If they have online banking you can download the statements you require from there and then follow the steps in Martin's article above.