A Claim For Hardship?

[dwc123]

Hi everyone, this is my first post.

 

Nearly 5 and a half years ago my partner was severely depressed, he was seeing a Dr and was signed off as Stressed.

 

It got to a stage where we needed to pay for our rent.

 

Natwest allowed us to up our overdraft by £100, each day (via the Internet Banking website) until it allowed us to have a maximum overdraft of £1800.

 

A long story cut short, it got to a stage where Direct Debits were bouncing. We were getting charged for Direct Debit missed payments (at £30 each) and we getting charged even MORE on top of this for being over the overdraft limit of £1800.

 

Direct Debit Bounces + Overdraft Charges

 

Being 18, shocked and not knowing where to turn we decided to purchase a couple of Pay Day Loans to dry pay off the Overdraft. Essentially, we were paying credit with credit.

 

We had to borrow money off of parents and we were in arrears with rent and Council Tax.

 

5 years down the line and we are still paying it off via Debt Recovery. In the end, it totalled to £3200.

 

My questions are:

 

Is it irresponsible for Natwest to allow a newly 18 year old to up their overdraft each day by £100 until it reaches £1800 without confirming their Annual income or their personal circumstances?

Do i have a claim for Snowballing charges?

 

Thanks for reading,

[slick132]

Hi DWC and welcome to CAG

 

I'm embarrassed that you finally posted on CAG afetr 5 years of being a member, and nobody responded.

 

The short answer to your question is that there was probably no chance of reclaiming the bank charges so long after they were applied.

 

You say you're still paying this off via Debt Recovery. Is this a debt mgt Co that you pay a percentage to, or are you paying so much a month to the creditors directly yourself.

 

If you are paying someone like a DMP, you should consider doing this yourself direct, so that everything you pay goes to reduce the debt, rather than lining the pockets of a DMP.

 

If you're paying through one of the free services like CCCS, that is better.

 

Are you getting statements to show what you've paid so far and how much is left to pay.

 

[Paul337]

We gotta work for our benefits I want tax credits to top up my earning lol what a bloody mess this world is in.

[stevenhomz]

I'm using step change ( formally the CCCS ) for my dmp and I have too say its excellent one you enter it all the interest stops on your outstanding debts and they dont charge a penny. Wont help on your previous bank charges but it will get you out of a financial hole you thought impossible.