£700 in one month - Bank Charges

SB22

Hey all,

I have had money problems since my divorce left me and my son with not much.

However, since moving into our rented accommodation, Natwest has been nothing but adding to my already stressful situation.

Last month they charged me just over £700, and £340 of it was in one week. I have been made redundant twice in the last 6 months, which as you can imagine there isn’t much more I can take right now.

Time and time again I have told the bank that I need that money to pay bills and basically survive, but they refuse time and time again to repay the mounting charges.

Last month, they refused items which would have placed me a whole £10 over my overdraft; they however, saw fit to charge me £92 for the privilege of refusing this payment, which was a chain reaction to all my bills which has in one month alone landed me with £700 of charges.

In the last year, in total the bank has charged me over £3,800.

I am writing this, totally overwhelmed as me and son plan our bill payments to within £3. And I log in tonight to see that have taken another £90.

I am totally devastated how this bank is not helping my already unstable situation. All I get from them is "Well if there is no money there we can’t pay" There would be money there if you didn’t take the charges!!!

I feel like I am screaming at them until I am blue in the face but they just are not listening or want to help.

My son graduated from university September last year, and has only had one job since, and is struggling to get anything. He is on Job Seekers. His Bank, HSBC are taking his Job Seekers leaving him with nothing. Despite him telling them his situation they still take £160 a month from his Job Seekers of £180.

Are banks even allowed to take job seeker money?

Thanks everyone for reading... it’s quite a story! But it’s totally true.

Felicity101

Hello,

So sorry to hear everything you're going through. And I thought my 78 pound charge today was bad...I'm embarrassed to say I used to work for Natwest years ago...

madasacactus

Go to the papers, tv what ever, these scum need to be shown for what they are!

I too was charged over £400 in one month and they wont listen at all.

I hope MSE can put this kind of daylight robbery on the front page!

natweststaffmember

Claim the charges back both you and your son under financial hardship.

"2.
In making an assessment of financial difficulty the firm will take into account:
a.
evidence of changes in lifestyle, including loss of employment; disability; serious illness; imprisonment; relationship breakdown; death of a partner; starting a lower paid job; parental/carer leave; and starting full-time education;
b.
evidence of the following events:
i.
items repeatedly being returned unpaid due to lack of available funds;
ii.
failing to make loan repayments or other commitments;
iii.
discontinuation of regular credits;
iv.
notification of some form of insolvency or court proceedings;
v.
regular requests for increased borrowing or repeated rescheduling of debts;
vi.
making frequent cash withdrawals on a credit card at a non-promotional rate of interest; and
vii.
repeatedly exceeding a credit card or overdraft limit without agreement (and, in this regard, where a complainant has incurred over £500 in unauthorised overdraft charges in the previous 12 months, that is to be treated as indicative of financial difficulty)."

esmerellda

Hi xx

Firstly ((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((hug)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Secondly - Get your money away from Natwest.

Are you on benefits now or another income? If benefits then you can arrange to pay them into a post office card account or another basic bank account quite quickly. Get out of the circle of charges.

Are you paying bills by direct debit ? When you are on such a tight budget then have you considered moving to pay by cash/paypoint, even for a short time while you are so tight moneywise.



Thirdly - get a hardship claim for a refund of all your charges in with Natwest, and get your son to do the same with HSBC

We'll help you with the hardship claim.

Yes the bank are 'allowed' to take benefits...if they are giving advance notice you can get him to try 'first right of appropriation' if he needs the money for essential living expenses. He needs to get the money out of there and find out the reason for the charges and break the circle.

1 Break the circle by moving your money - 2 Claim back all the charges


Hope that helps a bit for the moment

SB22

Thanks to you all for replying, it just helps so much to know people out there understand.
Sometimes it feels like you are going mad.
I wouldn`t mind but I have tried so hard to get things sorted and Natwest have not helped at all even though I have kept them informed of my difficulties all the way through.
I will be doing all my letters and starting the ball rolling to reclaim my money.

Thanks again

chipbeck

madasacactus wrote: »

Go to the papers, tv what ever, these scum need to be shown for what they are!

I too was charged over £400 in one month and they wont listen at all.

I hope MSE can put this kind of daylight robbery on the front page!

September 2007 £1200 to Lloyds a highlight in the history of the great banking industry. Think I was skint for the whole month.:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

chipbeck

chipbeck wrote: »

September 2007 £1200 to Lloyds a highlight in the history of the great banking industry. Think I was skint for the whole month.:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Come to think of it I must have been skint at the beginning of the month.:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

SB22

Hey everyone,

Bit of an update.

I contacted my adviser at NatWest on the day the £90 of charges was taken out about 3 days ago. He normally replies within 24 hours. And so far I have heard nothing from him and he is clearly ignoring my request for my money back.

I am now looking into all options available to me to get all the charges repaid, even if it has to go public.

Any extra advice would be great!

esmerellda

esmerellda wrote: »

Hi xx

Firstly ((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((hug)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Secondly - Get your money away from Natwest.

Are you on benefits now or another income? If benefits then you can arrange to pay them into a post office card account or another basic bank account quite quickly. Get out of the circle of charges.

Are you paying bills by direct debit ? When you are on such a tight budget then have you considered moving to pay by cash/paypoint, even for a short time while you are so tight moneywise.



Thirdly - get a hardship claim for a refund of all your charges in with Natwest, and get your son to do the same with HSBC

We'll help you with the hardship claim.

Yes the bank are 'allowed' to take benefits...if they are giving advance notice you can get him to try 'first right of appropriation' if he needs the money for essential living expenses. He needs to get the money out of there and find out the reason for the charges and break the circle.

1 Break the circle by moving your money - 2 Claim back all the charges


Hope that helps a bit for the moment

...................

tyllwyd

If things are that tight, have you tried contacting one of the debt advice charities - rather than struggling on, you might be better off going on a formal debt management plan. It all depends on your actual circumstances etc, but it couldn't hurt to talk to someone and get it all into perspective and get some advice.