Don't give up at first hurdle!

pyjamafan

I just wanted to say don't give up at the first hurdle when trying to claim back bank charges.

I went £11 over my overdraft limit for 1 day last month and got charged £28 by Natwest. I telephoned them and asked for the fee to be waived and they refused. I then e-mailed them and asked again and the refused.

In the meantime they took the charge wich made me go over my ovrdraft for a second time incurring a 2nd charge of £28. I sent them a second e-mail and they called me today to say that they would refund the first fee and waive the second fee. It was only £56 so not the sums some people post about on here but it is better in my pocket!

esmerellda

Good on you xx thanks for letting mse know and giving people a boost.

caro50

Thats great well done .I just had my natwest statement come through this morning and I have incurred £104 in charges for an unpaid cheque of £22! Spoke to lending centre who are refusing to reduce this and am now worried to death about how I am going t pay the charges! can I just ask was it customer relations that you emailed ?
THANKS X

esmerellda

When are the charges due to go out of your account ?

caro50

hi, 17th july.

esmerellda

Okay do you have essential living expenses you need to pay which will be affected by these charges being taken ? are you happy to move to a basic account if need be ?

If so you could look at asserting your first right of appropriation (which i will nip off and get a letter for you to take into the branch)

esmerellda

Assuming you are with natwest ? have written this quickly, edit/amend as you need to and then take it into your branch (get one of those peeps at the desk to go into a room or something)

Dear Sir/Madam,

RIGHT OF APPROPRIATION & REFUND OF UNFAIR BANK CHARGES - FINANCIAL HARDSHIP
ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxxxx

I am writing to inform you that you are due to take charges totalling £xxx from my account on 17th July. Taking this amount from me will cause me financial difficulty as I will be unable to afford my essential living expenses.

I have a (salary/benefit) payment of £xxxx going into my account on xx/xx/xxx and I wish to use my first right of appropriation for this money, for the following purposes;

Water bill £xxx
Council Tax £xxx
Rent £xxx

This is my right under common law, regardless of state of the account. If you have any doubt over my rights please contact your legal team and/or Mike Guest, RBS Group Customer Relations Manager. Mr Guest has stated in a letter dated 2nd April that ''[First Right of Appropriation] can be used regardless of state of the account - the only criteria are that the debits to which the appropriated fund is to be applied must be identified and the appropriated fund must be in the account no later than when the debits are presented for payment. Our experience is consistent with your statement that this right is mainly used when the customer is experiencing financial difficulties.''

I would also like to submit a formal complaint regarding these charges as unfair under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999. I shall write under seperate cover once the current matter is resolved.

I hope this matter can be resolved amicably.


Yours faithfully,

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

esmerellda

and if you do this PLEASe let me know what happens.... I'll give you a copy of the letter from Mr guest too

2nd April 2008

Dear Ms Karne

Thank you for your further e-mail of 24 March and I will look to answer the further points you have raised.

My earlier e-mail did not state that the first right of appropriation can be used only when the account is not overdrawn. It can be used regardless of state of the account - the only criteria are that the debits to which the appropriated fund is to be applied must be identified and the appropriated fund must be in the account no later than when the debits are presented for payment. Our experience is consistent with your statement that this right is mainly used when the customer is experiencing financial difficulties.

As regards housing benefit/LHA the appropriation can only work if the rent is debited by direct debit or standing order to the account.

You mention the bank 'encashing benefits payments' - we do not cash these cheques or similar orders as they are invariably crossed meaning they must be paid into a bank account. When paying a benefit payment into the bank account the first right of appropriation can be exercised against identified future debits.

As to there being no general discretion to waive bank charges, the terms and conditions of an account do state that charges will be levied if sufficient funds are not available to meet a payment. Having said that, my earlier e-mail did say that our policies, developed with the Banking Code in mind, do look to provide support to our customers. Each case will be looked at sympathetically and individual circumstances taken into account. Consideration will be given to waiving fees to help the customer but we do need customers to be open and honest with us so that we have as full a picture as possible of their circumstances.

Yours sincerely



Mike Guest
Manager, Group Customer Relations

caro50

thank you so much for this ! will let you know how i get on !

pyjamafan

In reply to your question about which e-mail address I used - the first time I completed one of the enquiry forms online and then after that I just replied to the e-mails I received from them at Customer.Relations@natwest.com.

esmerellda

caro50 wrote: »

thank you so much for this ! will let you know how i get on !

yep do that (pm me too as i'm not on mse that much) and once you have we can get down to writing your full claim for refund of charges under hardship. But concentrate on the here and now errr now lol.