Westcott chasing me for old Natwest account

Johnsmith6

Hello,

I recieved a letter from Westcott saying I owe them £730 for a natwest account, I called them and asked for a statement of the account. I recieved this yesterday and basically I had 2 current accounts with them and stopped using them and left the balances at £0 in both accounts. Natwest then took 7p interest out if 1 and then gave me a overdrawn charge and in the other account charged me twice for a cheque bouncing, this then went on and theyhave basically applied charges to both accounts every month and then sent it off to the collectors, now I refuse to pay them the whole amount, I'm willing to pat the first lot of charges for the cheque but nothing else, it's really not on, I'm not in a position to pay this back sureley they should have realised after no money was being paid in I wasn't using the account??
How do I dispute this do I call Natwest, go into branch or write them a letter?

Any help would be great

Thanks

John

pipsi_2

Have you contacted Natwest regarding this? The firs thing to do would be to write to Natwest and inform them that you dispute the money owed on the account and then file claims to claim back bank charges, state that you are in hardship and if you feel you are as this will help your case. You could also explain the situation in the letter and state that you think it unfair that they now expect you to pay £730 because you went 7p overdrawn and one cheque bounced.

Is this the first contact you've had from them? Did they write to you at all when you became overdrawn? If you didn't receive any correspondence you could also add this to your argument. I'm no expert on these matters but that is what i would do. I'm sure someone with more knowledge will be along shortly to give you some better advice.

forgot to say that once the account is in dispute they can't chase you for the money, so while you are fighting the fees etc you can rest assured that the bailiffs won't come knocking.

Johnsmith6

Hi

Thanks for the reply first letter from Westcott and I rang them disputing it which is how I got the statements, got nothing from Natwest as I thought the accounts were both empty

DarkConvict

A cheque should only bounce once, however if it incurs overdraft fees every month this would be payable.
If a cheque bounced charges was constantly happening something on there system is wrong, I would quiz this and agree to pay just the first charge and get the account closed. If they refuse take it to the FOS.

As to the interest charge, that does seem odd given the account was at £0. i would also quiz this as well. if they can't give a reasonable explanation of how an account with no activity went into an overdraft, again take it to the FOS.

Before they start sending debt collectors, they should generally write to you, and if they applied a default they have to write to you. Its not unusually though for first contact to be from a debt collector though due ot automated computer systems.

Johnsmith6

there was no overdraft on the account, going to write to them, is there any template letters on here and should I send a copy to westcott or just natwest?

pipsi_2

I would write to Natwest and perhaps send a copy to Wescot as well to keep them in the picture. Not sure about template letters but i'm sure there will be something you can use and adapt for your situation. Not sure where they are on the website but either do a search or i'm sure someone who knows where they are will be along with a link shortly.

DarkConvict

Im not aware of any template letters for such a situation.

If the bank balance was £0, and you had no 'arranged' overdraft then the charge would put you in unauthorised overdraft, this can be a steep £5 a day and you will struggle to challenge it, by struggle, fail is probably the best word.

The constant cheque bounces would be an issue though, as would an inactive account incurring a 5p interest charge.