All Just wanted to let everyone know how I dealt with some these companies. I had loans with Payday Express, Quick Quick, Speed-e-loans, 1 Month, Mr Lender, CFO Lending, Txt Loan, PDUK, 247 Moneybox, and Wonga. Right, after a a few email exchanges, Wonga, 1 Month, Mr Lender, 247 Moneybox, Txt Loan, and PDUK, all agreed to repayment plans, freezing interest and only charging the amount in the loan agreement of initial loan + 1 months interest. Quick Quid, I had advised them that I was in financial trouble, but they kept lending to me. So when I defaulted I wrote a complaint and threatened to go to OFT and FOS. After over a month of email negotiations and me standing firm, they reduced my balance by nearly £1,000. The remainder was repaid on on a repayment plan. CFO Lending and Payday Express, both ended up with the FOS. I got a repayment plan agreed with CFO and Payday Express, whilst my complaint was being investigated. Basically, mid way through investigation, I made my proposal and it was accepted to my surprise, both over 12 months. All interest frozen/charges frozen. My guess is they wanted to be seen as wanting to help. Initially, they were adding on silly charges, not freezing interest etc...Speed e loans, are a funny bunch. They would still would still want to add on charges. It ended up with FOS, I then decided to withdraw my complaint (as they were just about to investigate it), and sent the complaint to the BCA, which is still ongoing. Right in regards to FOS, I have found them to be, quite frankly, useless. They mainly favour the payday loan companies. Also they make huge mistakes. In regards to my complaint with Speed e loans, 8 weeks had already passed, therefore they should investigate my complaint. However, they ended up writing to Speed e loans asking them to respond to my complaint and gave them another 8 weeks!!! I submitted the complaint to FOS in March and in August, they were still no where near investigating the complaint due to their mistakes - hence why I withdrew it. On another occasion, I submitted a complaint in March to FOS regarding my insurance company (incident happened in Jan and I gave them 8 weeks), after 3 more mistakes by FOS, I am sitting here in October, wondering when it will begin being investigated! Overall, the FOS are not brilliant, after communicating with 6 different people on different complaints, I have only met one that seemed to be clued up. However, dont expect miracles from the FOS, but use them to get what you i.e. the repayment plan, as the payday loan companies do seem to be far more cautious with them than how they would deal with you directly.

I have done a claim for my Father, who was a policeman at the time - both Santander AND the FOS have declined his claim partly saying that it was ages ago and have also said that he could have claimed on the policy had he been made redundant. I don't really understand how they can say that when he was a policeman at the time (now retired) and also had high blood pressure. I guess the next stage is court? The problem is, the claim was made a few years ago - can I just send the prelim letter to them now threatening it, or do I have to start the claim again?

Can anyone help. i have been to court this morning, the hearing has been adjourned for 3 weeks. The story so far. I have a loan from November 2007 and matures in November 2012. I have arrears to the sum of £3000. The initial loan was for £5500, i have currently repayed £7685 and the original amount including interest if i hadnt got in arrears is £7937. Now, i have got the FOS involved in July 2012 as i have over £2500 in charges, administration fee, direct debit recall fee, solictors fees, default fee's. I called them today and they havent received paperwork, i am sending this again today. Ok what the DC has decided today is to adjourn for 3 weeks, and i have to put a full witness statement to them with 7 days. Firstly. do i have a claim with the dis proportinate charges and interest. Secondly how do i do a full witness statement. Can someone please help?

HI Quick question my eight weeks are up since submitting my questionaire, the last letter I had stated I would have a reply by the 6th September, nothing has come through do I put this to the FOS now? Or give them a couple of extra days. I phoned today and they could give me no indication when they would respond.

Hi After a lot letters Egg have finally sent me my SAR information. It appears that I had been paying PPI since I opened the card account in 1999. However, it mysteriously stopped without my having cancelled it in March 2005, I am not sure how I would have asked them to stop paying something I didn't know I was paying. I closed the Egg account in 2007. It says that I applied via the internet for my card, I cannot remember ticking any box saying that I wanted PPI. I was reading something about this box being pre ticked on the Egg website in the early days, do you know if this happened in 1999??? If so did this mean I was mis-sold? I have calculated the amount to be £2277 paid in PPI on my credit card so you will understand that I am keen to pursue this claim. Can anyone help me with my case, I have got this far with the template letters on this site, but just need a bit of help. Many thanks

Hi All. This morning I got my final decision from the Ombudsman after the file was passed beyond a case worker. The FOS have rejected my claim which I feel is a no brainer and has left me a bit confused about the whole FOS purpose, as the company are recorded giving false and inaccurate information. I have all recorded calls which proves beyond doubt a loan I had was sold to me with features which do not exist and also using expressions which lead me to believe the loan was fixed rather than variable. ie them using words like "remainder" and "thereafter" in relation to monthly payment amounts. The FOS have said as I have signed the agreement, the fact the advisor failed to mention in EVERY call the loan was variable and did not point out payments could go up or down was okay. The FOS seem to think they did not need to mention this. The FOS have failed to comment on why the adviser told me I could over pay each month when this is not a feature of the loan. Almost as if they have not read my complaint and listened to the actual recordings. It seems they are just relying on the signed agreement. I can imagine its easy to sound hard done by here, but the recordings are so clear in what was said and what was omitted I need to know what the next best step is in order to ensure the recordings are listened to and justice is done. Does anyone know if am I best employing a solicitor or just going down the court proceeding route myself as it is so black and white the incorrect information sold to me and the numerous breaches of the CCA and OFT rules. This really is not just my imagination but the FOS rejecting my claim has left me confused. Thanks in advance for any help and pointers. RP

Hi all first time poster.. My credit card account dates back to 2002 I have been paying a monthly PPI premium any time this credit card was in debt. After reading a lot of success stories of people reclaiming their PPI I phoned Halifax and started a complaint 30 days ago. They told me to fill out the FOS questionnaire which I sent back leading to my claim being declined. In the FOS questionnaire I wrote I felt pressured into taking the policy and they didn't explain the terms and conditions clearly to me. The official letter response said I applied for PPI over the phone the terms and conditions were explained clearly to me and that i wasn't pressured since it was a phone conversation. For one i can't remember the phone conversation as it was 10 years ago now if it even took place. The letter also states that if i don't raise any more concerns they will consider my case as closed in 28days. Is there any way for me to hit them with a SAR request (template?) to get access to the original PPI policy details, the amount I have paid into this policy, access to the phone call log if it exists and any other details I might need? The only documents i have is the credit card application and terms and conditions. I intend to follow this up by using the financial ombudsman service and would like to have all the paperwork regarding my case to send to them.

avoiding catalogue chaos 2 August 2012 the latest issue of Disability magazine features the ombudsman's money tips on avoiding problems with catalogue credit

Just sent off a SAR for info on an account from 2000. Have been told already they can't locate the agreement. However, they were good enough to send a copy of my application which I found had PPI selected. On the application I had requested a transfer of balances to this card of £2,000 at the start. I had noticed with Lloyds they were trying to calculate any PPI payments based on estimates as they said the info of statements etc was no longer available to make an accurate calculation. They quoted the FOS guidelines to calculate on these accounts without information. In preparation to this bank saying they no longer have details of my account statements does anyone know how to calculate a monthly amount with a starting balance of £2000 going up to say £4000 for a period of 2 years?

i know i am cutting this fine but i have been very ill and only have the chance to address this now so i will try to be as brief as possible i took a loan in 2000 - in 2002 i was finding things financially tight i was working 10 hour days and trying to finish a degree after rent and childcare my loan payment was the biggest expense i had so i contacted the bank and asked if they would extend the loan term to reduce payments they flatly refused and said if i didnt take a "managed" loan they would turn the loan i had over to debt collectors when they did the managed loan they put in the credit card balance i had and overdraft (which i was having no trouble in paying) so 10 odd years later i am still paying this loan and worked out that on an original £5,000 loan i had paid back nearly £12,000!!! in with this was the ppi which i was told i had to take or they wouldnt give me a loan - i wrote to hsbc and complained and said that surely i had paid enough but they ignored me and put the outstanding balance with debt collectors - not knowing then what i know now i went to the FOS - the muppet who was supposed to be helping me ignored what i had to say about the loan and there being no terms or conditions sent out so the bank acted illegally when they took my money but he focused on the ppi issue - after over 3 years i get a call saying they are finally going to look at both issues seperately - only to recieve a decision letter offering the £500 back i paid on the ppi plus 8% simple interest (whats the difference from interest and simple interest?) so i rejected the offer as they would not refund over £500 the bank charged in admin fees cos the ppi did not run its full course - i waited again for a decision which i recieved a couple of weeks ago - they are completely ignoring the issue of the bank taking money without giving me terms and conditions and are trying to make out how helpful the bank were to give me the deal they did and also said they would not go into the details of the case because the point of law over the terms is not for them to answer!! they gave me the original offer over the ppi ignoring the £500 taken in admin fees but are allowing the bank to take bank the outstanding loan balance and send me the rest - which after waiting for over 3 years is not worth having!! and above and beyond what the FOS would expect the bank to do when they have taken the money to pay off the loan they will remove all reference off my credit file - like they are doing me a huge favour!! i am so angry that the bank can rip me off like this and the FOS pat them on the back for doing so but to the reason i need help - i want to know if i can take the bank to court over the fact they took my money without terms (i have an email from the FOS where they admitted the bank told them they had no terms) and get my money back - if i turn down the FOS offer would this affect the court action i am taking? and how would i go about taking hsbc to court do i have to write and inform them before doing so? i would really really appreciate some advice and pointers in the right direction - as i say i am on a tight deadline to know before i write to the FOS telling them to stuff thier offer and a few other home truths about thier biased service thank you to anyone who can help

In 2007 my Father made an investment with an IFA. The IFA mis-sold the investment (unguaranteed Skandia bond) as they had critical flaws in there Risk Analysis Customer Profile Scoring Syestem - it is printed incorrectly! He should have been "Conservative" risk but incorrectly scored "Balanced" (The FSA will not tell us if they have investigated). A complaint was made to the FOS by myself on behalf of my 80 year old Father who made the investment (£80,000). To cut the chase, we protected the investment by my Father transferring all rights and ownership of the bond to me and my sister who are his only children (thus if he died, the bond would not "die" with him). The Ombudsman upheld the case, but in doing so, asked my sister and I to sign a form from them "to keep their records up-to-date". It turns out 3 years on, this form put the complaint into all 3 names (against our primary wish - it was always my Father's complaint). The FOS said that now 3 people were involved, the current value of the bond would be used as the point of compensation. The problem is, I had worked the bond for 3 years and managed to increase the value by around £12,000 (when my father transferred it to my sister and I it was worth £58,000 - we had also contributed by coicidence around £13000 by private arrangement toward "buying" his bond from him). The FOS informed the IFA that they had to compensate for the current loss (now £10,000), plus interest at base rate ONLY, not the base rate +1% as shown in their fact sheets. I asked that my sister and I be removed form the complaint. The FOS advised that if we did that, my Father would not receive compensation. That was the final decision. If my sister and I DID NOT sign the decision, my Father would not receive his compensation. We were advised by the FOS we had to sign as we were part of the complaint, yet we only signed the original form as the FOS instructed us to do so, with no explanation given as to the ramifications! My Father was now 83 and has waited long enough for the FOS decision. Although we signed, my sister and I made it clear we did not agree with the FOS making us part of the complaint. We complained to the Chief Ombudsman and the Independent Assessor. The Assessor acknowledges that no reason or note was given at the point that my Sister and I were told to sign, but that as we were now part of the complaint, the FOS were right to use the current value of the bond, although my Father had not owned it for 3 years, so we effectively lost the time and effort put into increasing the value as this was awarded to the IFA so they did not have to pay compensation based on the £58,000 bond value when it was transferred. To add insult, we then argued with the FOS for 8 months as to why the +1% was not used on the base rate. There were no reasons given, but it turns out the IFA's insureres DID PAY the extra 1%, according to the FOS, without being instructed to do so!! (WHY)??? Good news for my Father, but my sister and I lost our £12000 made on the bond as it was awarded to the IFA as a current value of my Father's Bond, even though he hadn't owned it for 3 years. The FOS stated they assumed we would come to a suitable "arrangement" with my Father! Our MP is now involved but has been fobbed off with the FOS refusing to answer any of my concerns. We are hoping to take this to the Treasury Select Comittee. I cannot afford to go to court. Is there anything else we can do? Please advise..... By the way, the IFA kept their £6000 commission and management fee...... The FOS said they could as it was a Private Arrangement between the IFA and Skandia - but we couldn't with my Father (despite the FOS acknowledging the evidence that we had contributed £13,000)!

has anyone got their ppi claim back despite not escalating it to the FOS within the 6 months. We received a letter back in 2008 from Halifax saying that they had done nothing wrong and that we had not been missold. We believed them (stupidly) and I did not take it any further. With the media coverage I tried to start it up again with FOS and Halifax but halifax would not reopen and FOS would not go with it. nb FOS have been terrible. I sent them info from FSA website about banks having to reopen previously rejected cases, they said would look into it. I didn't chase as thought they were and a month and a half later contacted and another officer said the case was closed the person had just failed to tell me and in fact just emailed saying she would be in touch after looking at all I'd sent. Our case is cast iron I know now. My husband has always been self employed and has had ppi on loans, mortgage and credit cards and so the amount owed is substantial. Can I go to court?>? Or should I give up now. Will the court just say you've gone past this stupid 6 months etc. nb I'm sure they could not today agree with what they have written in their letter in 2008 as haven't they mostly agreed they have missold these things. ie in 2008 Halifax policy was clearly to write 'lies' and not admit any misselling. Help - am at last stage and Would try small claims court but not if I'm not sure if we'd get anywhere. thank you

Have sent several PPI claims to FOS in September / October of last year and received correspondence saying it would be 12 months before hearing anything so I put it out of my head till then. But I received the latest newsletter and saw the article about the 64k offer (well done ! ) and when I read the thread it said that he had put the claim in to the FOS in late Jan and had a reply in June; so of course I am now wondering what is happening with my claim ? Can anyone give me an idea of actual timelines for FOS decisions for real claims rather than FOS estimates .............. Thanks GS

Hi there, first post but been looking on here for some time and found lots of help. I have been chased by 1st Credit for a disputed debt. I requested a CCA and was sent a barely legible application form with no sig and no terms and conditions. They have continued with home visit threats and phone calls even after a recorded delivery letter stating that I do not acknowledge the debt and will only discuss in writing, I also stated clearly that I did not wish for a visit. This has led to me asking for their complaints procedure and telling them I am going to report them to the FOS for breaching OFT guidelines. They have replied stating that as I have not acknowledged the debt I am not considered a 1st Credit customer and therefore can not complain to the FOS. Is this correct? I have replied to them asking what exactly constitutes a 1st Credit customer and await the reply. Just wondered if anybody has encountered this problem. Many thanks and regards. tibar

Over the last three years I have had six complaints with the FOS. All of them are unrelated and concern different companies. Out of those SIX, FIVE of them have been successfully upheld in my favour IN THE END. Here's the kicker... All of them were at first rejected. 6 out of 6 complaints rejected at first, then 5 out of those 6 complaints were later upheld in a process I have now become familiar with. On every occasion the adjudicator has at first rejected the complaint in an offhand manner that barely even addressed the point of the complaint. It was clear both from the assessment they had laid out, their view and findings that they had not even looked at the evidence I had provided or considered my side of the complaint or looked into the points made. The summary of their findings were just a lazy repeat of what the bank had said, with no bearing on my the consumer's side. Only after months and months of lengthy exchanges, repeatedly drawing attention and stressing the facts that kept being overlooked, having to ask countless times for them to actually look at the simple bank statement I had provided that clearly disproved all of the incorrect statements being relayed, and no end of other difficulties just to get a straight answer or with a focus on what the complaint was about. Very often where the bank had supplied totally incorrect information and I had supplied clear evidence to the contrary the adjudicator would just repeat the incorrect statement as fact, never even having looked at what had been supplied in hand, other times their response would be completely beside the point and bear no relevance to the content of my complaint. How can this service front itself as impartial and independent in its review of complaints? It seems the standard procedure for all complaints received is to automatically reject the consumer's complaint, and simply repeat the final response of the bank that may have no relevance to what you have complained about, your complaint and any other evidence you have provided, no matter how indefatigable or how easy you may think it would make it to clear up, goes unread. Then if you persist for six months to a year, through endless lengthy exchanges and delays, and refuse to go unheard, you may one day be fortunate enough to have your correspondence actually read that leads to proving that the point you had been making again and again after all this time was right all along. This service seriously mis sells to people, it seems there is both a strong favour towards the business over the consumer, and a disdain on consumer complaints that it's easier to reject the complaint than it is to deal with it.

i have submitted 2 claims for ppi sold AT THE SAME TIME by Clydesdale bank one for a loan and one for a credit card. the loan ppi was repaid because they agreed I wasnt given the correct advice and i didnt need the insurance because i am adequatley covered by employment ( i am in the nhs). The other has been rejected because I was given adequate advice and it was sutable for my needs!!!!! I have put a complaint into the fos but I am being fobbed off by the adjudicator with confliciting advice, sibjective comments and pure naff replies. She even quotes " she would find it difficult to believe that the six month`s full pay i would be entitled to from my empolyer in the event of sickness would adequatley cover all me expenses such as morgage etc"..... un bloody believable considering it has to cover me now. Is there any advice any body can suggest to help me when this finally goes to the organ grinder rather than the monkey!!!!

Just a bit of advice really. I have 1 table 1 search (outstanding debt) carried out by a certain finance company for a very old and SB'd debt. It isnt for much, approx 500 quid which they are chasing me for. I am about to respond with an SB letter, etc, however I will also ask them to remove the search from my CRF. Now given the amount, I wonder if I can use the FOS / ICO complaints charge to 'encourage' them to remove the horrid search since it is likely to cost them more than what the debt is actually worth. So my questions are this. 1. Do all complaints made to FOS/ICO end up with the 'poor' DCA having to pay an investigation fee? 2. If so, how much is it (read alot of conflicting info, somewhere mentioned £850) 3. How much of an effect does a table 1 search for outstanding debt impact my CRF, bearing in mind i'll have a total of 3 over a 18 month period. Appreciate anyones advice here. Cheers

How we decide whether to tell a business to pay compensation to a consumer for “loss of use”. In this context, the term “loss of use” refers to circumstances where the consumer has been unable to use their motor vehicle because their insurer: incorrectly refused to settle a claim; “avoided” the policy (treated it as though it never existed) in error; or took too long to settle a claim (for example, the insurer took too long to carry out repairs agreed with the consumer). http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/loss-of-use-mv.html

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/debtcollecting-note.html

hi. ineed some advice on a ppi claim i had 2 loans with lloyds bank 1. for £11959 taken out in 2006 defaulted 2009 still oustanding 2 for £7459 taken out in 2005 settled 2006 as far as i know they both had ppi lloyds havent hastled me about the 1 st loan alhough i is still outstanding what i want to know is it worth trying to claim the ppi on both or leave well enough alone and if i claim and am ssucsessfull will lloyds take any payment to settle the first loan. on the fisrt loan lloyds refused to pay the ppi insurance when i claimed as id left it longer than 120 days to claim on disabiity i haven't paid the olan since

* Can you help please. I am looking for advice on behalf of my partner. He was diagnosed with a brain tumour back in 2009 and doesn’t need the added stress of dealing with debt so I have been managing it for him. He has various debts which were originally with the Bank of Scotland. They were passed on to Blair Oliver Scott when he failed to make his payments. When he was in hospital for 5 months I was able to set up direct debits for him and now he has made serious dents in what he owes. He has three debts to Blair Oliver Scott which he is paying monthly. One is a credit card, the other two are loans. I filled out a form online for him about 6 weeks ago re PPI on all three of these debts. He received a letter from the BoS asking him to go into his nearest branch and update his address etc. He did that straight away. He then received another letter a few days ago asking him to do this again. I was just about to post a letter from him, stating that he has already done so, when he received a letter through the post from the same customer services advisor stating that they have not ‘found sufficient evidence to agree with your allegations that your PPI policy was mis-sold. As such I am unable to uphold your complaint’. The letter goes on to say: ‘As part of my review, I have considered whether you were eligible for the policy and whether the policy was suitable for you. I have also taken into account each of the concerns you raised with us in your complaint and I can confirm that I did not identify any other issues when reviewing your file. Having completed all of these steps, I went on to look at your complaint as a whole to ensure that we acted fairly towards you in relation to the sale of your PPI policy, giving appropriate weight and balanced consideration to all available evidence. I am sorry that you felt the need to complain about your PPI and appreciate that my full decision may be of disappointment to you. However, I can assure you that I have fully investigated your complaint and all the surrounding circumstances. The letter also states that someone tried to call my partner but they were unsuccessful, he hasn’t received any calls. They have given him an FOS leaflet and said he has the right to refer to the FOS. I am still going to send the letter stating that he has visited his branch with identification etc because this letter re PPI not upheld only refers to his outstanding credit card and not the loans. I know for a fact that he did not understand what PPI was, he is awful when it comes to finances and got himself in a bit of a state some years back. He doesn’t even understand about interest etc and pretty hopeless when it comes to facts and figures. I have sorted it all so that he has since Nov 2009 been paying monthly direct debts to all of these outstanding debts. Can someone advise us on what to do next? He first took out this credit card in 2002, it states that ‘prior to 2005 the sale of PPI was not regulated by the FOS, however, we were members of The General Insurance Standards Council (GISC)’. The form that I filled out in his name re PPI and sent by email stated: 1) That he didn’t know he had PPI (This is so true, he doesn’t know what it is) 2) He was not told that PPI was included in the price he was paying (again so true). 3) The policy exclusions weren’t explained to him before at the time he took the insurance. You were therefore unable to make an informed decision as to whether the insurance was appropriate. (He doesn’t recall anyone sitting and explaining what it is or how it would be added to what he was already paying. Also the letter states that he must respond within 28 days from the date of the letter (13 April) otherwise they will consider the matter resolved. Can you please advise me on what to do next please, I want to him help him with this because it’s shocking that he has paid out on insurance he knew nothing about. For the record he did this with building insurance. He was paying it twice, through his factor and on his mortgage, I noticed it and got him a rebate from his mortgage company. It just shows you that he really doesn’t know. Thanks in advance. Erica x

Hi I stupidly took loans out with lending stream. I then had my hours cut and was unable to pay. I emailed them and asked not present direct debit as it would be rejected. they stil went ahead and made lots of withdraws at midnight for £3.00 even though I owe them £100 The bank phoned me and as I did not recognise the amounts put a stop on the card and my account. I have open another account but I am confused what do I do now. Will they agree to a repayment plan over 1 year? Really worried they will start phoning me at work

Hi Dennis in debt here just thought i'd jot down my experience with the fos and lloyds..and the circus (DCA'S).. have a case with the fos since last december against lloyds treating me unfairly over a £1k o/d that i was paying back at £1pr month they passed to dca i stopped paying i got my final response letter last nov and all papers sent to fos...accepted ref given ...jan 2012 moorcroft writing telling me i must pay them i email back saying the case is with fos even quote fos ref..email fos they state that banks are allowed to carry on debt activity even though there is a case with themselves i email back fos stating i consider this to be unfair...their reply is that they have asked lloyds to discontinue collection activity and it stops for 3 weeks...then guess who...Robbers way start i inform them that case with fos same procedure goes on fos state they have asked lloyds to cease activity and last week letter back from rw saying they are no longer dealing with the account...point of this is that even in the face of a case being accepted by the fos and being investigated the very bank the investigation and dispute is with is allowed to carry on collection activities..there is something wrong with this system..thursday this week...guess who.....wesclots...so off i go again.....anyone else had the same experience..?.i will continue my battle against the circus.....

Recently the Ombudsman gave a desicion in favour of the Royal Bank of Scotland which I have totaly rejected. The is was a claim under section75 of the Consumer Credit act 1994 and also under the Misrepresentation act of 1967 for a credit card refund under these acts due to being conned by a holiday company. These companies were fraudulent and have been closed down and some employees actually jailed. I sent all my correspondence to both parties included a letter from the fraudsters saying I had membership of the holiday club. The Ombudsman took the fraudsters letter as proof my contracted had been completed and therefore the bank was not liable under either law. I now read in the newletter that it is a legal right to have my money refunded by the banks for fraudulent acts. can anybody point me in the right direction to confirm this is true as I would like make this clear to the Royal Bank of Scotland and recover my money

The facts: My grandparents married in 1912. On her marriage £2,000 was settled on my grandmother by her family. Lloyds Bank became tbe sole trustees in 1927 (and still are). My grandmother died in 1949 an my father became sole beneficiary. He died in Feb2011 and my sister and I became beneficiaries. The trust is to be wound up. The current value of the trust fund is just under £2,000!!! Incredible? We believe it is impossible for a trust fund to have no growth in actual numerical value (not real value!) in 100 years without some failure on the part of the trustee(s) to manage the fund with appropriate care and diligence. Lloyds TSB absolutely refuses to entertain any idea that they have not done a good job here. The FOS declines to determine the matter on the grounds that we applied out of time. This is arguable (my father died in Feb and we didn't apply till November. However, Lloyds TSB only finally shut the door on us in July). However our position is also arguable and surely in a case such as this where we have so clearly been very badly served by the bank the FOS should exercise discrtetion in our favour and at least look at our complaint. I think it's a toothless and useless service and far too inclined to protect the financial institutions when it is meant to be monitoring them.