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'I moved abroad, so Lloyds shut my account and took my £3,800'

This reader moved to Gibraltar, and found problems with his bank - PA
This reader moved to Gibraltar, and found problems with his bank - PA

I was a Lloyds Bank customer before it moved myself and my partner to TSB.

At the beginning of 2014 we moved to Spain to work in Gibraltar. This did not seem to affect my account.

My address was changed to a Spanish one without any problems and, for the next two and a half years, I continued to use my TSB account for business travel to Britain, online shopping and other activities.

Now though, just because I tried to pay some money into it, the account has been closed. I cannot even extricate my balance.

DJ, Spain

In the middle of last year, while in Britain on business, you had tried to top up your TSB account with a £3,000 cheque payable in your own name from your own building society account in Gibraltar.

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Without any notice your account was then blocked and you couldn’t access the money in it that you needed while in Britain.

You were asked for proof of identity, address, employment and evidence of where the money you were attempting to pay in had come from.

Not having all the original documentation with you, you provided photocopies, which were not acceptable. The bank said the documents would have to be certified by a solicitor.

When you found out the cost of doing this you rang the bank’s customer services number and explained you would now deal with it when you returned to Britain later in the year.

By then though the account had been completely closed.

The bank could only give you an appointment on the day you were flying back to Gibraltar. Luckily the flight was delayed otherwise you say you would have missed it.

You gave all the documents required, which the bank photocopied.

Then TSB said the remaining balance could only be paid into another British bank account, which you don’t have.

Eventually it was agreed that it would be sent to a friend’s account within the next 48 hours. It wasn’t.

My involvement led to a TSB spokesman apologising for the negative experience you have had.

A cheque for the £3,800 balance was posted to you and £100 paid for goodwill.

If you choose to open a new account with TSB someone from the bank will contact you to outline your options.

  • Jessica Gorst-Williams tackles consumer problems for Telegraph readers every week. To contact her, click here. If you want to ask a general money question, email moneyexpert@telegraph.co.uk. The best of the answers are included in our weekly newsletter

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