so really there is no way to appeal it regardless of why we were away. My husband was given the option of going to the Job Centre where we were going, but they followed it up by saying that it would take just as much time to get an appointment there and he would be just as well waiting til we got home and getting an appointment at the nominated Job Centre.

that was the reason he gave for not applying for JSA between April 14th and the day we sent in the application. After that it was time away from where we live for my health as I was close to a break down. Does that not count?

Sorry I need to update this. Instead of the £355 for 5 weeks of JSA they've reduced the payment to 4 weeks of JSA and said that he had no real reason for getting it backdated for putting what he did on the form regardless of the fact that for the first 2 weeks of his claim we were in another part of the UK as I was close to a break down. This is all getting too much now. I don't know what to say to appeal and financially this has hit us so hard. The claim was made at the end of April and we had good reason to not be in our area. How does that plus a sensible explanation of I thought I would be employed sooner mean we're not entitled to the payments??

Hi there, I wonder if you can help me please. On 14 April, my husband was made redundant from his job. As we had been optimistic and expected him to find work quite quickly we did not apply for JSA for him until 24 April. I am disabled and unable to work and the news that my husband had lost his job hit me quite hard so one of my siblings decided that we needed 2 weeks down where they live and drove up to get us. Just before we left, my husband received a text message saying he had an appointment at our local job centre at the beginning of May. He called them and explained that we would be in another part of the UK and that his job loss had hit me very hard, but could he arrange an appointment for the week starting the 21st of May. They said they couldnt book that far in advance, but that if we called them when we got back he would be seen within 3 days. Well we rang and he got an appointment date for 7 days later. To cut a long story short- my husband signed on, has applied for 293 jobs and has kept the Job Centre up to speed. For the last 3 weeks we have been chasing them for his JSA and kept getting told that it would be in his account at the beginning of the following week. Last week we were told it would be in his account by Wednesday this week as they were just waiting for a piece of paper to be faxed over to them by another dept. still no payments. Again they say they'll look into it. They rang back and said that as I claimed ESA and the person who had filled out my husbands claim form had ticked ESA and JSA on his application they were in the process of cancelling my ESA. My husband said no thats not what he had agreed to so they sent him to the Job Centre to fill in another form promising that once this was faxed to them the funds would be in his account last night which they werent. This morning he checked his account and 355 had been paid in. The claim was made 10 weeks ago my husband rang and asked why he had received 5 weeks of payments and the was told that as he had put "expected to be in a job by now" on his claim, that they had decided not to pay him for the previous 5 weeks, but that he could appeal this. I dont understand why saying that on a form means that he is not entitled to the rest of the money from his claim? Can anyone please help us with appealing this? I just cant understand it! Thank you xxx

EXCELLENT! Thank you very very much. I'm determined to crack this xxx

Ahhhh now I haven't ever dealt with DCA's. I dealt with deceased legalities and accounts, complaints etc fun stuff like that so this bit is new to me. If I could ever help anyone with the bank I worked for let me know. I know what makes them twitch ;-) Yes I'm going to do the SAR. I've found a lot of his statements but being a man his paperwork isn't filed as....................meticulous as mine is if you get my drift. Do I inform them I'm going to the BCOBS like in a formal complaint and then log it with BCOBS or do I just head straight to them with all of the paperwork?? Thank you so much. I've not had a lot of sleep worrying about it this weekend, but I've at least had more than I would have had if it wasn't for y'all helping us. I really do appreciate it. I've never in my life known a bank to act like this so I'm out of my comfort zone! Xxx

The thing is we've been asking and asking and now we're at the stage where 2 weeks after the only missed payment on it, they're going to close his account tomorrow and send it to a team where there will be no return. I've sent the emails but now I'm at a total loss as to what to do until we hear from them, extremely worried that he's going to lose his account and the loan and od will go to a debt collectors and even though he's in breach of contract, looking through the BCOBS guidelines, they're actually more in breach of contract than he is. I was a banker for years before I was diagnosed with a degenerative disease and I've never known a bank to act like this and so quickly. It seems very extreme to close an account and send everything to a DCA within 2 weeks yes?

This is BRILLIANT! I have ticked 5 of the points on the list as they closed his account without notice a couple of months ago as they said a payment hadnt been made so he paid it on the phone and they reinstated the account. The letter informing him that this was happening arrived on the day that they closed the account. So after speaking to them again today, they have said that the payment is still outstanding even though it was paid a couple of months ago?! The lady didnt have a clue what she was talking about. I'm relieved I sent the email (on behalf of my hubby) so that it can be looked into. How do we go about starting proceedings against NatWest via the BCOBS?? Thank you so so so much! xxx

I have just sent the email. Fingers crossed they will be able to help. I've asked for it to be listed as a formal complaint as well so hopefully it will be investigated. If we have no help as a result, how do I go about involving the BCOBS? I know how to involve the ombudsman (having worked for a popular bank who received many complaints you become familiar with the Ombudsman v quickly), but have never actively dealt with the BCOBS. Thank you both for your help. I really am so very grateful xxx

Thank you so much erimus1. I will do that now. I have found some email addresses online for people with Natwest & RBS, I just hope that they are all still working there unlike Fred Goodwin! Fingers crossed that this works. We have shown them everything we've ever had and kept in contact, but sadly they're unwilling to help so if we email as many people as we can hopefully it will help. xxx

He refinanced the loans each time and the one he has now is the final loan. We contacted them last year with an expenditure sheet from the CAB which had been sent to my bank, our mortgage company etc and they had all helped us with our payments, but Natwest was the only one to say no to helping us. He doesnt have PPI, but I'm sure they've charged him healthily as and when they saw fit to so I'll go through his statements and add that up. The BCOBS is a good idea. I'll have a look through. I'm just worried because we only have until Monday and then the unhelpful woman is sending it to another dept and said to my husband that "once it goes there, there's no turning back" so ie his account will be closed. I'd understand if he hadn't paid his bills for years, but for goodness sake this is an honest to god problem out of our control and we're doing everything we can but in order to do that we need some help from them not the walls that they're putting up. I'm sure the omudsman would love this, but again it takes time to lodge your complaint and get it investigated and we dont have that time as we have 1 working day and thats today! xx

He's banked with them since he was 16 (19 years) and this was his 3rd loan with them he says. My bank were very understanding when I lost my job and have helped me with my loan, every other company we are linked with have been understanding, but Natwest refuse to even give us time to get his benefits sorted. he's looking for work and is signed up with a couple of agencies, so its not like he's not doing everything he can to get an income in as we have a little child to care for and our home to pay for. I worked for banks for years before I took ill and I thought they were meant to help. How can we bamboozle the jobcentre into telling us what benefits he's getting and when over a weekend when they're still processing the paperwork? I just dont know what to do xxx

The loan is 830 and the overdraft is 2200. My husband had an income of 1500 pcm up until 14 april and because he now has no income they sent the above. He's had the loan for 4 years and his overdraft for 3 years. He's missed one payment last year which he paid back to them xx

I was wondering if that would be a wise thing to do so thank you so much. I'll get him to do that. Thank you so much! I feel so lost with this, I just dont know what to do xxx

My husband has a loan with Natwest and an OD on his account. He was made redundant on April 14 this year and as a result this months payment wasnt made (due 26 May). We are in the process of sorting out his benefits as I am disabled and unable to work and today we got a letter saying that Natwest want FULL repayment of his loan and overdraft by tomorrow (letter dated 1st June, received today) or thats it and he wont have an account and any money put into his account (ie benefits) will be absorbed into the payment of his loan and OD. He rang the number on the letter and got an unhelpful lady who got all of the details incorrect and then she said we needed to tell Natwest how much we were getting monthly by MONDAY and said nothing could be done for us and that that would be it and (and I quote) "if it gets passed on there's no coming back from that". The Jobcentre cant tell us when he'll get his money as its still being processed and now we have nowhere to go for help and Natwest are doing nothing for us. We desperately need help. Can anyone give us some advice please??? I would have thought Natwest would want to help people in severe financial hardship yet they are unwilling to do anything.