i've been allowed to go overdrawn...

jamesd

socksandpants, from the sound of it NatWest will probably refund the charges.

Beyond that you're in a situation where because two people use the account it's going to be tough to know what is available. Two ways to deal with that. One is to ask for an overdraft facility on the account so that if it is used, all you pay is interest, not the fees. The other is two spending accounts, one each, so that each of you can track individual spending and be sure what's happening. A small overdraft facility on each of those to protect against charges would also be worthwhile.

If you don't want an overdraft facility or can't get one, one other way is to reduce the risk a bit by using a £100, £200 or £300 balance in the account as your "zero" balance target so that if you overshoot you still stay above zero. A £100 balance only costs you £1-5 in lost interest at 1% to 5% interest rates, so it's not very expensive protection.

You can also reduce the possible charges by having an account dedicated to direct debits and standing orders of fixed amounts, so that those can't be affected by trouble on the daily spending account. You can set up a regular payment from the savings account to this bill payment account. I do this, in part because it reduces the number of transactions on my main account and keeps that easier to manage.