Natwest overdraft charging

[dixaroon]

Hi

 

I recently got a letter from natwest saying I was £308 od on an account that is not even used. On ringing them the reason it became overdrawn was that a mistaken cheque written for £4.50, wriiten in haste for an after school club back in June. Since then they have been charging £6 a day without our knowledge.

 

The account had an arranged £100 od and they are now demanding payment of all the charges etc.

 

My particular problems are why honour the cheques int he first place? and is it right im being charged for what I see is there mistake??

 

Thanks in advance

 

Andrew

[citizenB]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/content.php?849-BCOBS-Round-up-Making-your-bank-treat-you-failry

 

Have a read of the link above. There are other links in the article - the 3rd one down is a draft of a letter for a similar situation such as yours.

 

 

 

It would appear they honoured the cheque in the clear knowledge that you didnt have the funds which then allowed them to profit with their charges.

 

Although, if they had dishonoured the cheque - you might still have attracted charges, however you would no doubt have been made aware that they were being applied.

[dixaroon]

Thanks for your reply,

 

and yes they definetly knew theyre would be no money in account as it has not been used for 2 years. I have spoken with them and they said they would accept £200 as a settlement! I have no intention of paying that, obviuosly im prepared to pay the arranged overdraft off but thats it.

 

As they seem to be ringing up to 6 times a day I will be informing of this very soon!

[citizenB]

Next time they phone advise that you will not discuss your financial situation on the telephone - that you require them to contact you only in writing, as is your legal right. This is to provide evidence of their wrong doing in the event that you take your complaint further to the Ombudsman and OFT.

 

In fact it wont harm you to put that in writing and send it to their Head/Registered office under the heading of and official complaint.

 

6 times a day is well out of order.

[dixaroon]

just a quick question as natwest are trying to be difficult...

we are currently 306 o/d due to charges only! but have 1900 in a savings account, personally I think they have only done this to get there hands on our 'real emergency' savings. To me this makes their profiteering even worse! my question is is it wise to move this money? in case they take the o/d out of it

[dixaroon]

ive read on other posts to start a dispute with a bank and was just wondering how do I do this?

 

thanks

[Mike_hawk]

If you have funds in another account with Natwest I'd be inclined to withdraw the lot. It will continue to inflate the debt on the account in dispute and eventually set off from your savings without notice.

 

Did you read Cb's link in the earlier post?

 

Assuming you had savings with it at the time it would seem it could have treated you with greater fairness by 1. Notifying you when the first charge was levied, 2. Offering the opportunity to set off whilst the cost was limited to a few pounds and not overinflated by it's own actions.

[Mike_hawk]

Hi

 

I recently got a letter from natwest saying I was £308 od on an account that is not even used. On ringing them the reason it became overdrawn was that a mistaken cheque written for £4.50, wriiten in haste for an after school club back in June. Since then they have been charging £6 a day without our knowledge.

 

The account had an arranged £100 od and they are now demanding payment of all the charges etc.

 

My particular problems are why honour the cheques int he first place? and is it right im being charged for what I see is there mistake??

 

Thanks in advance

 

Andrew

 

Did it remove the arranged facility or were you already close to it's limit when the cheque was issued?

[dixaroon]

Did it remove the arranged facility or were you already close to it's limit when the cheque was issued?

 

Hi,

 

when the cheque was issued the account was at its limit of 100 o/d and had been like this for 2 years. It was a 'dormant' account that we had forgotten about. I stupidly in a rush picked up the cheque book and wrote a £4 cheque for a school club, which opened the natwest chrges floodgate!

[Mike_hawk]

I'd suggest having a read of this one http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/content.php?829-Charges-successfuly-reclaimed-from-RBS-last-year and adjusting to suit your own circumstances.

 

If you had savings with them at the time it's an additional point to make.

[dixaroon]

thanks mike I will have a look and draft a letter later today, we have two other accounts with them so it madness. All that keeps going round in my head is there tv advert 'the helpful bank' !!!

[Mike_hawk]

Oh yeah, very helpful....... not

 

Post your draft on here and hit the report button [little black triangle at the bottom of each post], I'll take a look with you anyway but it would be handy if you could invite the site team to take a look. I understand some of them have a very keen interest in BCOB's.

 

Don't forget to move your savings before you start the ball rolling with this, Natwest are fairly arbitrary in response, if it can make life difficult for you it will.