Bank Charges Financial Hardship Disussion

natweststaffmember

nco41 wrote: »

Thanks for the advise.:A
I use my cheque book to pay bill etc and things for my childrens schooling.They only accept cheques.
The bank have told me to cancel all my standing orders as well(Dont have any)
Taking cash out is not the problem with a basic account,its how i pay my bills with cash when all the banks are closed when im not working or doing mummy duties.
I only got into this mess when my ex husband stopped paying maintenace.
I do not know how much i have paid Nat west over the years as they will not tell me!
Nat west will not even tell me their offer until i give into their demands. Basically no cheque book and card returned.No money!!
Seems like big boy bully blackmail to me!
N Xx

Have you got internet banking? How come you do not know how much you have paid NatWest? Have you done a Subject Access Request?

Ask the people you pay money to if you are able to pay CASH or direct transfer(only if you have internet banking though).
If the charges are mostly caused by cheques then surely you can understand why they are asking for the cheque book and card being returned.

nco41

Sorry i forgot to say.
Most of the charges were made up from unpaid standing orders/direct debits. Sometimes the companies would request payment twice or three times and Nat West would charge me £38 per time.Most of the requests were for small amounts £5, £12, £20 but they would not pay them,sending me further and further into debt.!!

nco41

Thank you for your help.
Yes i have asked for a breakdown of my charges.I have written twice(Both sent recorded delivery) and i asked again today on the phone. I was told today by a very curt and rude lady that they know what ive paid and they will make me a offer based on that!!
I do not do Internet banking.I am very cautious as i have been a victim of internet banking fraud.
Paying cash is one option.Can i pay my utilities that way?
Thanks again you are a :A N Xx

natweststaffmember

nco41 wrote: »

Thank you for your help.
Yes i have asked for a breakdown of my charges.I have written twice(Both sent recorded delivery) and i asked again today on the phone. I was told today by a very curt and rude lady that they know what ive paid and they will make me a offer based on that!!
I do not do Internet banking.I am very cautious as i have been a victim of internet banking fraud.
Paying cash is one option.Can i pay my utilities that way?
Thanks again you are a :A N Xx

The answer is yes.
For a subject access request you need to send a letter to this address(I know because I was curious as to how the SAR process worked and decided to see what the bank have on me).
NatWest Bank
1st Floor
Drummond House
1 Redheughs Avenue
South Gyle
Edinburgh
EH12 9JN

Remember to quote your account number and sort code and ask for you information under the Data protection Act 1998 section 7(1). Explain that statements are acceptable but only from July 27th 2001. You do need to include £10 which is the statutory amount under the DPA 1998.

lilmissmoneysaver

Thanks yes i guess i need to calm down, but its hard when you are a single parent trying to work yet due to lack of childcare can only work pt which brings in pennies not much at all.
i do have rent arrears and gas and electricity arrears in which i had to have meters fitted and a charge each time i top up to pay them back, so before i even put money on for useage i have to put more on to counter for the charges.
I also have debts with debt collectors in which i have an agreement to pay, but a stupid little amount each month, because thats all i can afford.
Even after all this tho i am still short and often run out of shopping money and so can only buy basics u know bread milk etc and not a full shop (which isnt healthy)
i do not get much help from my ex partner, he does pay some child maintenence but not the amount he should pay as he is only paying back arrears and they have put the rest on hold saying he doesnt earn enough (so in other words my son has to go without)...
I am also ALWAYS in my overdraft altho it isnt a large amount, i DO NOT have the funds to leave any money in each month as this is all payed out for other basic bills in order for me and my son to live and keep a roof over our heads.
Some times because i have had to take money out for FOOD, direct debits have gone out and then caused me to go over my overdraft, which they then have charged me.
I get charged every month for the same reason.

So well how am i supposed to MAYB open another account and then arrange to pay back the overdraft to help my situation..??

how is this possible when i dont have ANYTHING left at the end of the month?

My only way out would be to get my bank charges back, to then pay off ALL my debts and then i will be debt free.

ALTHO SEEMS THIS ISNT GOING TO HAPPEN...

Its hard not to get stressed out about this, i have been very ill with worrying this added stress along with other everyday stressed is enough to push me over the edge...

I would work more if i could but i cant i dont have the option to, if i did this would make my life alot easier...

so now i dont have any other options, altho i cant think of any??

ANYONE ELSE KNOW OF ANY IDEAS??

p.s sorry to blabber on i know you all are in the same boat and its stressfull for us ALL....

saralm

I claimed charges from HSBC over a year ago. I was £35 overdrawn - over a year later my account is £1400 in arrears - I havent even used the account it is purley bank charges.

I wrote to them and they would not listen I also wrote to the Ombudsman who advised, along with HSBC that they were waiting for the results of the Court Case.

Yesterday I had a letter from a debt collection agency for the £1400 !!

I wrote to them and advised that this was going through the Ombudsman and they should take it up with HSBC.

Help.................any suggestions!!

saralm

Tell me about it!! I was overdrawn £38 over a year ago. With bank charges it is now £1400 overdrawn and I havent even used the account! I opened another bank account so I didnt use the old one.
Dont know what to do I have written to HSBC and the Ombudsman but yesterday had a letter from a debt collection agency...........HELP!

bekki0405_2

Had a call from HSBC this morning, have been talking to them for the past month as we are in financial hardship.
Have been offered £940 for the next two months, which pays my priority debtors on the payment plans I have in place. They have also agreed to pay my gas bill about £300,which is about to go to disconnection.
Word of advice...it's not about whether you are in financial hardship, more that you do not have enough money to pay your bills.
Also, I have phoned every day for the past two weeks, and found out yesterday that they had lost some of my info, but fair play to them, they too all the details down again, and called me first thing this morning.
I also have a claim with Halifax, and have got to the 'Exceptions' team. Am waiting for a decision, but I will still be phoning them every day next week too.
I will say, it is definitely worth keeping in regualar contact, get names of people, and the direct numbers of the team. I have found out through constant phoning, that the guy who was dealing with my case at the Halifax, left suddenly on Tues. I wondered whether they would have forgotten about me if I hadn't been such a nuisance.
Anyway, I will have a good weekend now, but first I will update my MSE profile to show my latest money success.
:rotfl::T:j

bekki0405_2

Forgot to mention, but after the two months payment, I was told I can still go back and make another request as there will still be enough left in the pot. Of course I will go back, I want my money back!

clayts

nco41 wrote: »

Thank you for your help.
Yes i have asked for a breakdown of my charges.I have written twice(Both sent recorded delivery) and i asked again today on the phone. I was told today by a very curt and rude lady that they know what ive paid and they will make me a offer based on that!!
I do not do Internet banking.I am very cautious as i have been a victim of internet banking fraud.
Paying cash is one option.Can i pay my utilities that way?
Thanks again you are a :A N Xx

Going from a current account to a basic bank account is not that bad - I did it about four years ago and it was the best thing I ever did. I now only deal in cash.

On the internet banking issue, Nat West offer a very secure system, whereby they send you a separate card and PIN exclusively for internet use, and authorising changes to your account - it's infallible (apparently !) so will hopefully allay any fears you have - you need to apply for this facility (you should be able to do it online). Once you overcome that hurdle, you will then be able to pay one-off bills via internet banking.

With regards to utilities most companies can arrange to send you a Paypoint card - a lot of newsagents have these and they're free to use - or if you're on quarterly billing you can just take your bill in (they go by the barcode). Same for council tax.

I think they're incorrect to say that you cannot use standing orders - even the basic Nat West bank account (what they call the Step account) allows that facility. You also get a Solo card - although not as widely accepted as Switch, most High St shops and websites accept it (and again, NatWest operate a secure password system if using Solo online).

The other option to consider is to agree to their demands but open a Basic Bank Account somewhere else - see this PDF list. If you go for a building society like the Nationwide, you can get cheques written either at their ATMs in their branches or over the counter.

Honestly, getting rid of the current account was the best thing I ever did - you just have to operate in a slightly different way. The nice thing is you are completely in control of a basic bank account and, more importantly, you cannot go overdrawn