Lloyds' blunder 'cost woman pounds 10,000 pay'

A woman awarded nearly pounds 80,000 after she and her partner were given bad advice on a property deal by a bank said yesterday she had been too distressed to work as she struggled to make a profit on the property.

Julia Verity, a teacher, who is claiming loss of earnings against Lloyds Bank, told the High Court in Leeds she could not face her job because of the distress caused by money worries.

Mrs Verity, 55, and her boyfriend Richard Spindler, 36, were awarded damages of pounds 77,529 last September from the bank after a manager gave them bad advice on a home loan.

Mrs Verity, of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, is claiming pounds 10,682 loss of earnings because of the bank's blunder.

The couple had borrowed pounds 150,000 to buy and renovate a house in Henley as a business project and intended to sell it for a profit a year later. But the property market slumped and in 1990 the house was sold for just pounds 135,000.

Yesterday Mrs Verity told Judge Robert Taylor she was unable to work full time because of worries caused by Lloyds Bank's advice. She is claiming that she dedicated 720 hours on the house, which could have been spent in gainful employment.

The couple have agreed a reduction on the pounds 150,000 Lloyds Bank is demanding in a counter claim. The hearing continues.