Natwest Standing Order Problem

smithsfan

Hi

Hope someone can advise...

I set up a standing order for every Monday. On this occasion the payment was set up for the 11th of September for £17 (paying my Littlewoods account)

The money actually disappeared from my account on the 9th and 10th (Saturday and Sunday) and was reflected in the balance I had available.

There is no mention of this on the Natwest site where I set it up that the money would disappear over a weekend. I asked the money to be taken on a Monday.

Do I have cause for complaint as we had to reduce the food shopping bill that weekend and had to borrow of the next door neighbour.

Thanks in advance

YorkshireBoy

smithsfan wrote:

I set up a standing order for every Monday. On this occasion the payment was set up for the 11th of September for £17 (paying my Littlewoods account)

The money actually disappeared from my account on the 9th and 10th (Saturday and Sunday) and was reflected in the balance I had available.

This question gets asked a lot. They simply reserved the money knowing it was to be sent on the Monday. If you had BACS credits already in the system, and due to hit your account on the Monday, these would also have been shown on your Sat/Sun balances - ie they were giving you money before they should have! It works both ways.

There is no mention of this on the Natwest site where I set it up that the money would disappear over a weekend. I asked the money to be taken on a Monday.

Within your account T&C's it will probably say that any monies to fund outgoing transactions have to be in the account the working day before, ie Friday in your case.

Do I have cause for complaint as we had to reduce the food shopping bill that weekend and had to borrow of the next door neighbour.

If you'd been allowed to spend the £17 over the weekend, how were you going to get £17 back in the account ready for your standing order processing - which would probably have happened at 01:00 on Monday morning, bearing in mind that Saturday and Sunday are not bank working days?

Couldn't you have used a cheque or credit card for your weekend shopping, rather than go without or borrow from neighbours - or indeed, used the cash you presumably planned to put in the account on Monday morning to meet your standing order obligation?

jethrod

I have a Natwest 'step' account, and I've noticed that standing orders, direct debits, etc that are due on a Monday are reflected on your balance from Saturday morning onwards.

It also works that if a payment is due in on a Monday, then that is also available from Saturday.

I don't know if this is standard banking practise or just peculiar to Natwest.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Jethro

Mark7799

It's certainly the practice in Barclays as well.

oldfella

same thing at Barclays

the money hasnt gone anywhere until Monday when the banking day starts

Mike

smithsfan

Hi

I understand the point made in terms of the money not 'officially' disappearing until the date of the transaction but the money was reflected in my balance.

As I understand I am responsible for my own account and not Natwest. I didn't ask them to start preparing my account the day before to have money deducted, I asked for it to be taken on the date I specified. If I had insufficient funds on the date the payment was due then it would be my own fault wouldn't it?

smithsfan

oldfella wrote:

same thing at Barclays

the money hasnt gone anywhere until Monday when the banking day starts

Mike

Yes it has... it disappeared from the available balance... that means the money has gone somewhere

YorkshireBoy

smithsfan wrote:

As I understand I am responsible for my own account and not Natwest.

But can't you see that they're actually helping you here? They're reserving the money so you can't spend it, and therefore stopping you incurring default charges.

I didn't ask them to start preparing my account the day before to have money deducted, I asked for it to be taken on the date I specified.

Unfortunately you don't write the T&C's, they do. Did you take a look at your T&C's for the 'previous working day' clause I mentioned earlier?

If I had insufficient funds on the date the payment was due then it would be my own fault wouldn't it?

See my first paragraph above. Don't you agree that prevention is better than the cure?

smithsfan

Nothing in the T & C's about ensuring the money is paid in the day before amigo

YorkshireBoy

smithsfan wrote:

Nothing in the T & C's about ensuring the money is paid in the day before amigo

Look for this bit under 'Operations on the account'...

If a sufficient cleared balance (plus, where applicable, any unused agreed overdraft facility) to cover payment is not available on your account by 3.30pm on the working weekday before the day on which these transactions are due to take place, payment of some or all of the transactions may be refused.

Source: NatWest current account T&C's

smithsfan

YorkshireBoy wrote:

Look for this bit under 'Operations on the account'...

Perhaps I am doing my lawyer trick but...

"If a sufficient cleared balance (plus, where applicable, any unused agreed overdraft facility) to cover payment is not available on your account by 3.30pm on the working weekday before the day on which these transactions are due to take place, payment of some or all of the transactions may be refused"

The funds were in my bank account however, the terms you have kindly sourced and posted do not say that they will be taken out of the bank account.