natwest and charges i cannot afford

purplecatlover

last month (start of august) a direct debit went out for triple the amount it normally is, as i wasnt expecting this it went through but 3 others did not. natwest sent me a letter telling me they ahd returned them unpaid, companies have charged me for them having to claim again.

i was surprised natwest didnt mention charges theya r emaking in their letter to me though, somehow i found out on my online banking that they plan to take 180 in charges this month, but i cant remember when and cant remember where i found it either.

there is no way i can afford for them to do that, if they do its going to leave me short for direct debits again and start a vicious circle of me never getting caught up due to charges as has happened in the past.

i have claimed bank charges back before, before all the holds came in and in the last few years i have managed to keep mostly on top of my money and thus within my overdraft limit, until last month, i think anyway.

i am on benefits (due to illness) and i need to stop natwest form taking this 180 quid. any suggestions on how best i go about this?

Sol00

If you're in financial hardship, you can reclaim the charges right away and the bank needs to seriously consider the claim.

Go to the charge reclaiming area of this site for letter templates etc.

purplecatlover

i claimed all my charges back in 2006/7 and since then if there have been any its been one or two at the most.

its just this charge of 180 quid for the 3 dds they returned last month but they havent actually taken it yet. i know form experience its a waste of time and energy phoning and asking them to drop them and will only get them trying to sell me a loan to repay my overdraft. even reclaiming it right away is going to leave me in more trouble if they take it as 180 is a large chunk of my income and will result in more bounced direct debits leading to more charges which would then also have to be reclaimed and i would never be done trying to get caught up.

natweststaffmember

purplecatlover wrote: »

i claimed all my charges back in 2006/7 and since then if there have been any its been one or two at the most.

its just this charge of 180 quid for the 3 dds they returned last month but they havent actually taken it yet. i know form experience its a waste of time and energy phoning and asking them to drop them and will only get them trying to sell me a loan to repay my overdraft. even reclaiming it right away is going to leave me in more trouble if they take it as 180 is a large chunk of my income and will result in more bounced direct debits leading to more charges which would then also have to be reclaimed and i would never be done trying to get caught up.

Is there anyway of cancelling some of the Direct Debits even for one month,?
Did the Direct Debit provider who took 3 times the amount you expected take the right amount?

purplecatlover

not really, that would only get me behind with them and paying double next month. tbh though that wouldnt help me find the 180quid to pay natwests charges as most of this months have already gone out...what is likely to happen is the money wont be in my account but they will apply their charge anyway, resulting in me being over my overdraft limit for this month, meaning that when my next money goes in i loose 180 quid of it instantly, plus whatever else they charg for paying their own charges making me go over my limit and natwest will then apply more charges for the next month even before they ahve refused to pay dds due out.

it seems they did, its complicated and confusing but they insist they were right to take that much money even though it was a result of a mess up in their part...i do need to search my transactions and check up on that though.

natweststaffmember

purplecatlover wrote: »

not really, that would only get me behind with them and paying double next month. tbh though that wouldnt help me find the 180quid to pay natwests charges as most of this months have already gone out...what is likely to happen is the money wont be in my account but they will apply their charge anyway, resulting in me being over my overdraft limit for this month, meaning that when my next money goes in i loose 180 quid of it instantly, plus whatever else they charg for paying their own charges making me go over my limit and natwest will then apply more charges for the next month even before they ahve refused to pay dds due out.

it seems they did, its complicated and confusing but they insist they were right to take that much money even though it was a result of a mess up in their part...i do need to search my transactions and check up on that though.

The charges go out 21 days after the statement date but yet I guess they are instant.
What about the DD you mentioned in post 1 ie more than expected. Was it correct ie the amount?

purplecatlover

21 days so that means aroudn the 21st sept i guess if the returned dds were 31 aug and 1st sept.

the first one seems to be right, its usually variable but never more than 20quid (and should be no more than 10quid form now on as it should have been last month too)...a mistake on their part led to them not taking it so it is apparently what i owe them for the last few months. had i been well and opening letters or even followed up on the previous problem i would have known about it so its kind of my own fault and it does look like they ahevnt taken any money in th ealst few months, its also now set to quarterly dd instead of monthly so something else for me to make them sort.

have just looked, most dds have gone for september, so even if i cancelled them im screwed as far as paying the 180 goes. or i dont buy food or petrol.

natweststaffmember

purplecatlover wrote: »

21 days so that means aroudn the 21st sept i guess if the returned dds were 31 aug and 1st sept.

the first one seems to be right, its usually variable but never more than 20quid (and should be no more than 10quid form now on as it should have been last month too)...a mistake on their part led to them not taking it so it is apparently what i owe them for the last few months. had i been well and opening letters or even followed up on the previous problem i would have known about it so its kind of my own fault and it does look like they ahevnt taken any money in th ealst few months, its also now set to quarterly dd instead of monthly so something else for me to make them sort.

have just looked, most dds have gone for september, so even if i cancelled them im screwed as far as paying the 180 goes. or i dont buy food or petrol.

If they are for priority creditors ie gas, electric, telephone, rent then speak with those companies and see if they will accept a reduced payment for this month because of the issue over the charges or will accept payments in two parts or can add any arrears to payments spread over a period of say 6 months. Anything that prevents further charging.
BTW, another poster on here has lived on baked beans for a month and they are cheap(though not necessarily that nice) but I do recommend meat balls cos at 38p they are one of those things that are quite nice. Apologies for digressing a lot there.

purplecatlover

oh if necessary i will go back to not eating full stop, gives me a wonderful excuse if i cant afford to eat.

i probably will end up cancelling all my dds before they are due out again on the 30th sept and 1st august, there is only one other before then, and then setting them up again with money owing. if necessary i will start the ball rolling on reclaiming charges back again, though i would really rather not do that. if i cnat figure out how to get them to not apply this particular charge then i wont have any choice and will find some other way for my benefits to be paid to me.

natweststaffmember

purplecatlover wrote: »

oh if necessary i will go back to not eating full stop, gives me a wonderful excuse if i cant afford to eat.

i probably will end up cancelling all my dds before they are due out again on the 30th sept and 1st august, there is only one other before then, and then setting them up again with money owing. if necessary i will start the ball rolling on reclaiming charges back again, though i would really rather not do that. if i cnat figure out how to get them to not apply this particular charge then i wont have any choice and will find some other way for my benefits to be paid to me.

To be honest, you have gotta prove to them that it was impossible for you to pay in, ie hospitalisation, bereavement and that as soon as you noticed it that you corrected it.
Otherwise they won't refund. I would reclaim regardless of anything.

purplecatlover

i really dont want them to close my account though, or cancel my overdraft..which is why i am reluctant to claim again.

thansk for helping