Unexpected Snowballed Bank Charges***Resolved***

[pocketsizedwolf]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone would be able to give me advice on the following problem:

 

About 2 years ago, July 2009, I applied to Nat West for a student account, obviously wanting the perks of the interest free overdraft. Due to an issue I had with O2 and a hiked up phone bill, my application was declined and I got a simple current account. I used this until December 2009 to pay my rent, making sure I regularly had the money in so that I faced no bank charges.

 

In May 2010, I stopped using the account completely, as I no longer had use for it. Unknown to me, however, there was a £20 charge on the account for a cheque bouncing.

 

I forgot about the account completely, and moved away from home, I didn't bother to tell natwest that I moved and I never used their services again.

 

Then one morning I received a letter claiming I owed them more than £800 in charges and threatening to take legal action.

 

I can't afford to pay them £800 for the simple mistake of a bounced cheque and me not having money in an unused account to cover the original charge.

[rebel11]

Hi Pocket

 

Welcome to CAG

 

Write to NatWest explain that the Charges are unfair and go against the Lending Code. Explain that the debt is made up of Charges, explain your personal

circumstances i.e. student etc. Explain that you will take the matter to the FOS. You need to explain that it was remiss of you. Send it Recorded.

Mark the letter Formal Letter of Complaint .

 

http://www.lendingstandardsboard.org.uk/docs/lendingcode.pdf

 

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/

[Mirtilla]

Hey there, I find myself, unexpectedly, in a similar situation and I am really concerned since I really have no knowledge or experience in this regard. I'm paying the brunt of my own ignorance and of all the complicated events I have been through in the course of these 2 years - which I know is no justification, nevertheless, it's the reality of things.

 

I was a student in London and held a Natwest student account opened in 2007; I left London in 2009 in quite turbulent circumstances. I was hospitalized after being the victim of an attack and was in very bad health so I was taken back to my country by my family. I lost my memory and honestly at that point of time I didn't think about closing my account, nor for that matter my 02 Sim only 15£ monthly contract on Direct Debit.

 

I then moved abroad; in the meantime a lot of other things happened and I ended up not attending to either bank or O2. I received an email from NatWest asking to get in touch; when I did, the reference number didnt bring up anything. I explained to the operator that I hadnt been able to shut my account or get in touch earlier coz of circumstances, to which he replied as nothing was coming on the system, it was probably too long ago and I could probably forget about it.

 

I was sure that the O2 DD would be deducted from my account or blocked and cancelled as soon as funds would end, as I had seen happening earlier.

 

I was ready to clear the outstanding bills if any, believing it to be at the most 1-2 months. I recently came to London and when I applied for a new contract, my application was rejected coz of bad credit rating.

 

In all this, I started reading through forums and I got terrified seeing that banks apparently charge for unpaid direct debit and add massive charges which snowball into huge amounts. Do you think this applies in my case too? As students we did not have overdraft facilities nor credit cards, so I really wasn't expecting the bank to be charging for this.

 

I know the operator said nothing came up, but I am now afraid my credit rating might be really bad if bank charges have piled up and show up on that? I don't want to leave the situation unattended any further. Im usually very precise and responsible, so Im really beating myself up for such a stupid error that is now costing so much.

 

Can anyone be so kind to advice or suggest whom I should take this up with? It's a Sunday to top it all, so Im just sitting online and losing my mind in anxiety

[pocketsizedwolf]

Well, I thought I'd got this sorted with Nat West, but now they're being annoying again.

 

They looked over my account and agreed that the charges were unfair (They were breaking Ombudsman rules, basically) so they said they'd wipe the account if I paid £165 by the end of October. Which I did. And now, all of a sudden, they're wanting another £300+ from me. Not sure what to do, apart from complaining again.

[JonCorzine]

Tell them to take a flying leap.

 

Tell them (don't ask), that you owe them nothing.

 

It's extortion and they can't compound a £20 oversight into an £800 debt.

 

If they persist, ask for a detailed, and i mean detailed, breakdown of every single charge they 'think' you owe them. They will leave you alone if you question their non-existent morality.

 

They are fishing and because you paid something, they think they can extort more from you based on vacuous fear and threats.

[pocketsizedwolf]

Update on Nat West issue: I wrote them a letter explaining that I owe nothing and that I'd asked for my account to be closed over a year ago,

 

They wrote back 3 months later stating that they were giving me £40 as a good will gesture due to the issues, and an additional £100 because their response was so late. The account has now been closed.

[renegadeimp]

SHould have asked for that payment you made to be refunded to as they knew that you didnt have to pay it.

[pocketsizedwolf]

I checked my credit rating today, and despite the fact that this account should have been closed, it is showing up on that as defaulted...

[tedney]

I checked my credit rating today, and despite the fact that this account should have been closed, it is showing up on that as defaulted...

 

Hello Pocket

I suggest you send a SAR to Natwest, this should give you chapter and verse as to if they properly closed you account. See the library on here for a suggested letter for the SAR, send to their head office. B of S in Scotland. IHTH. t