Advice with Barclays Charges and Wescot

Bradley_w_2003

Hi all,

I would very much appreciate any advise or guidance you may be able to offer with the following problem.

Whilst abroad some money was stolen from my bank account on 2 separate occasions, within 2 days. This stolen money tipped me just over my Agreed Overdraft Limit (£1000 Limit).

The day I noticed the problem I contacted Barclays Fraud Prevention and advised of the problem and they cancelled my Debit Card and advised they would call back in 2 days.

4 days later, after having had no call I contacted the same department who advised me that they had no record of this report and it was too late to submit a dispute, as 48 hours had elapsed since the transaction and I was in the same country as the withdrawals, so it could have been me. (On this note, several large withdrawals were made from my account, none of which i dispute as they were in fact mine, however the withdrawals that tipped me over the Agreed Overdraft Limit were much smaller)

As I had moved to Australia at the time I thought little about this problem until returning to England and a £2098 debt letter from Wescot Credit Services.

Barclays changed their Un-Authorised Overdraft charge whilst I was away to £30 per week of being over the limit. This soon amounted to £1000 of fees.

I am now being chased by Wescot Credit Services for the sum of £2098 pounds (the overdraft in total+fees).

I would like to know if it is possible to have these written of/reclaimed or if this is legitimate and I have to pay up.

I have requested an itemised breakdown from Wescot, of all money owed and will take this to my local Citizens Advice Bureau for some advice, but hopefully someone here can shed some light on this and calm my nerves in the meantime.

With thanks and kindest regards,
Bradley

natweststaffmember

I think you need to ask Barclays to investigate why the original case was not investigated and that they audit your account for people who accessed it around the time you called up.
Furthermore, I would suggest you tell Westcot you are consulting the original lender.

One last question, did you repay the original amount excluding the charges or is that amount not in dispute?

Bradley_w_2003

Thank you for replying.

I will contact Barclays this evening, as you advise, and see if we can figure this out.
I contacted Wescot last night, as they're open until late and they will shortly be sending an itemised breakdown of all charges.

I haven't repaid the orginal amount, which I do not dispute and will certainly repay, it's only the stolen money and charges I am concerend with not repaying.

If it helps, my balance would look as follows:

Start = -£900
Disputed Withdrawal of around £90 = -£990
Disputed Withdrawal of around £90 = -£1080 (£80 over overdraft limit)
Accumulation of Fees of around £1018 = -£2098

Once I have an itemised breakdown/statement from Barclays I will be able to confirm these figures.

My major concern are the charges which are almost equal to original debt. Is it possible that I can be expected to pay this?

Thanks for the advice, once I have spoken to Barclays I'll update.

Regards and thanks,
Bradley.

natweststaffmember

I would expect you to pay £900.00 plus any interest charge.
The amount they would have to take off is over 1000 pounds but that would be taken off the £2000+ owed.

Bradley_w_2003

Thanks for that.

So you believe the charges don't have to be repaid?

I'll contact Barclays as soon as I have a statement with the breakdown and repost to confirm the outcome.

Thanks once again for your help with this.
Bradley

natweststaffmember

Bradley_w_2003 wrote: »

Thanks for that.

So you believe the charges don't have to be repaid?

I'll contact Barclays as soon as I have a statement with the breakdown and repost to confirm the outcome.

Thanks once again for your help with this.
Bradley

I have said that you need Barclays to investigate the fact that you did report the incidence within the timescale they asked and that they themselves told you to ring back 2 days later. You need to get them to investigate properly the case.