i'm a 20 year old student in a bit of trouble...

toxic_shock

basically, to cut a long story short. i owe natwest £282 which has been accumulating, without my knowledge, for half a year due to me going overdrawn by £3.50 (paypal, URGH, and i didn't even realise because it was an auto-one set up on my website) many months ago. i have also had loads and loads of charges from them before in the past, maybe a couple of hundred's worth. which i have paid - and do plan to get back.

i very infrequently use this bank account - last time being july (when i think these charges started) because i have a better RBS one and it gives me a proper overdraft, and have moved away from my parents house and so have no longer been getting statements/warnings etc the first statement i saw from home was last week because my mum thought it looked important and forwarded it to me.

but now, as of a week ago, they're calling my mum every morning at 7.30 - and she's upset about it and it's nothing to do with her. i rang them up and politely asked them to stop doing the calls and they said they would only do it if i made a complaint into a branch. i owe them £282 and i didn't even realise it! why can't they have called in july when the initial incident started?!?!

what can i do, because i really really can't afford it?

thank you for your help,

-nick

Tommy99

Hi there,

I have got the same problem, I have 2 student bank accounts as Halifax do not mind you having another. I use HSBC because they are a better bank in terms of internet banking etc.

I went to pay for petrol a few months ago and had picked up the wrong card (Halifax). So, i tried to pay with it and got declined. i went to one of those cash point that charge to check my balance and it was over drawn by £310. I lucky had money on another card.

So i went home and pulled every bank statment from the past few months. the last one i had was 2 months old and i was within balance. i had one letter saying a Direct debit had bounced mean i went over drawn. What they had done is:

Direct debit to me over my limit by a £10 ish, then they put it back into my account because there was not enough money. this had mad me go overdrawn, letting them charge me for the £310. This was a lot because, they had not notified me in time and i was having more direct debit hitting the account. All i knew was that i was transfering money to the account from my other one thinking it was paying.

After i had all my facts all they said was that it had nothing to do with us, have you tried internet banking. I argued so much that they had not noticifed me in time, but they did not care.

I have now canceled all direct debits, taken a small loan from the parents to pay all my bills for the year. Just so those scummy banks do have a chance to take anymore money.

Sorry if there is a few spelling areas just in a rush before my lunch break.:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

toxic_shock

hey man, did you seek advice elsewhere? and did you write any letters? my mum is basically ordering me to write a letter to the head of Natwest - of which i am drafting now!!

DotingDad

toxic_shock wrote: »

basically, to cut a long story short. i owe natwest £282 which has been accumulating, without my knowledge, for half a year due to me going overdrawn by £3.50 (paypal, URGH, and i didn't even realise because it was an auto-one set up on my website) many months ago. i have also had loads and loads of charges from them before in the past, maybe a couple of hundred's worth. which i have paid - and do plan to get back.

i very infrequently use this bank account - last time being july (when i think these charges started) because i have a better RBS one and it gives me a proper overdraft, and have moved away from my parents house and so have no longer been getting statements/warnings etc the first statement i saw from home was last week because my mum thought it looked important and forwarded it to me.

but now, as of a week ago, they're calling my mum every morning at 7.30 - and she's upset about it and it's nothing to do with her. i rang them up and politely asked them to stop doing the calls and they said they would only do it if i made a complaint into a branch. i owe them £282 and i didn't even realise it! why can't they have called in july when the initial incident started?!?!

what can i do, because i really really can't afford it?

thank you for your help,

-nick

If your mother was to telephone Nat West about your account they would refuse to speak to her because of data protection blah, blah, blah.

They are harassing your mother with phone calls about your account despite your requests for them to stop so hoist them by their own petard and report them to the Information Commissioner for breach of data protection.

I don't know what, if anything, the Information Commissioner could or would do but hopefully it will give Nat West some grief and also make you feel a bit better!

toxic_shock

Okay, I'll add that to the letter. Thank you!!

Tommy99

toxic_shock wrote: »

hey man, did you seek advice elsewhere? and did you write any letters? my mum is basically ordering me to write a letter to the head of Natwest - of which i am drafting now!!

No i haven't i have rang the FSO i (http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/), i gave them my account details and there going to sort it out. One thing you have to remember is that even though the banks have f**ked the entire world with there credit etc, they will just turn around and say you should have checked your account.

I know, I know it not the response wanted trust me. Claiming back something which is looking like making the banks a lot of money is going to be hard. The last court case didn't go very well, so the only way you can claim them back is if your about to be evicted.

In my case i could argue that they didn't warn me. but they have already got my money. Its like trying to jump and grab that apple from the top of the tree its out of your reach. Just make sure that you never give them an excuse to take your money again. Then close the account.

willo65

Surely you should have changed your address and telephone number, then they may have been able to contact you in July, and if they hadn't then you would have been looking at your statements.

tripled

Good old Natwest up to the same tricks. I went to work in France about 7 years ago and before I left I went into the branch to close my account. They checked my details on the computer and said because I didn't have the cheque book they wouldn't close it. I was off to France the next day so never thought of it again until nearly two years later when I was back in the UK and I received a letter from a debt collection agency. Turns out I was overdrawn by about 20p when I left the country, which they hadn't mentioned when I was in the bank. They were now after over three hundred quid. It took months to sort that little lot out. In the end it got resolved when they denied certain contacts had taken place between myself and them and also with the DCA, so I sent in a SAR. I then got a call back grudgingly offering to write off the account (including the 20p!) - but funnily enough never received the information I'd asked for in the SAR. I also raised a dispute with one of the credit reference agencies (was either Experian or Equifax) over the mess NatWest had made of my credit file and NatWest didn't respond, so the account got removed from my histroy.

Errata

toxic_shock wrote: »

Okay, I'll add that to the letter. Thank you!!

If Natwest phone the number they have for you and ask the person who answers the phone if they can speak to you and tell that person it's Natwest who's calling the DPA hasn't been breached.
If Natwest phones the number they have for you and tells the person who answers the phone anything other than the above, it's a breach.

Lokolo

Tommy99 wrote: »

Hi there,

I have got the same problem, I have 2 student bank accounts as Halifax do not mind you having another. I use HSBC because they are a better bank in terms of internet banking etc.

Just to let you know if HSBC find out they will cancel your account more than likely. It does state in their T&Cs that if you have a student account with HSBC you must not have one elsewhere.

tripled

Errata wrote: »

If Natwest phone the number they have for you and ask the person who answers the phone if they can speak to you and tell that person it's Natwest who's calling the DPA hasn't been breached.

The DPA requires information to be factually accurate. If the OP isn't contactable by that telephone number, then that should be updated and therefore the 'person who answers the phone' should then stop receiving calls. However this would probably not be applicable if the OP still lives at that address during holidays, etc.

http://www.ico.gov.uk/Global/faqs/data_protection_for_the_public.aspx#fB27F1369-CFFD-4D0C-8224-49B36054D0CA