Help needed - natwest took me od!

treatmefairly

Hi
Hoping someone can help. Me & my husband have 3 accts with natwest, one each & a joint acct. A few mths ago, my husband's acct went into an unauthorised overdraft. We couldn't afford to pay it off & so it went higher & higher with charges. One day when i tried to access my acct online it wouldn't allow access so i rang & was told all accts had been frozen & i would have to pay the amount. I had no option but to pay using our mortgage money. That same day I received a letter from the bank saying we had to clear the od & they had frozen our accts & if we didn't pay all our accts would be closed in 10 days.

Fast forward to now, I've just opened a bank statement & he is in the same position as he was before! An od of £160!! Seems that after we cleared the debt (wished we'd have closed the acct as we were intending- cos it's never been used since then) they put a further charge on which took us od again so we've been incurring the charges again, month on month! I've never seen a statement til today but don't know if my husband has, he doesn't really understand the statements but as we thought it was one not used, he's probably just been getting rid of them without reading properly!!

When my husband rang to pay the original amount he asked them to deal with me. I asked them what i needed to pay to clear the acct to put us back on track & paid what they said. I also queried how they could freeze my accts as it was my husbands acct that was od but didn't really get an answer to that one. I feel distraught that they've done this & don't know what to do. We can't afford to pay it & want to contact them but really need your expert help on this before I do, if you don't mind.

Premier_2

I'm no expert, but would suggest you contact the bank and ask them to give explain why they suspended your account. If they don't provide that, or you don't accept it, keep escalating it up their complaints procedure, which will ultimately end in you being allowed to ask the independant ombudsman to investigate the complaint if not resolved earlier.

Regarding your husband's account, is the £160 paid shown as a credit? If so, it should be evident as to why extra charges have accumulated (which they will usually do until the total amount owed is paid and cleared). Your husband should ask the bank to explain these to him so that he understands the cause. Without understanding the cause, it would be likely he will make the same mistake again.


Edit:

treatmefairly wrote:

Help needed - natwest took me od!

Sorry I don't quite follow this. :huh:
You said your husband's account was into an unauthorised overdraft. This would have occurred becuase your husband had authorised a transaction that he did not have cleared funds available to settle.

Putting together 2 and 2 and probably making 5, what may have happened is that the amount your husband borrowed and failed to pay back was 'set off' against your joint account. That in turn may have been 'set off' against your own account. But setting off an existing debt and creating a new debt doesn't bhelp anyone, so that would be unlikely (even if permitted, which I'm not sure it is) to happen.
But if you contact your bank, they will explain all I'm sure.

treatmefairly

Hi
I'll try & explain it better. My husband must have made a transaction that took him into an unauthorised overdraft, charges were added mth on mth that we couldn't pay & in the end we got the threat of closure. AT THAT POINT I spoke on my husbands behalf & they said as he was liable he had to pay the FULL amount owing THAT DAY, so I paid with the money in the joint acct which was the mortgage money! When we paid I asked if it was all up to date & was told YES! That was about 8 mths ago & the acct not been used since.

This mths statement shows arrears of £160 ALL CHARGES. It looks like like the 1st charge was made just a few days after we'd paid so at the moment I'm thinking the charges were added at the end of the mth for being over the mth before. If I'm right, I think we should've been told there were additional charges pending (another £20) & i'd have paid that day. But as we weren't told we didn't know & since then we;ve been charged £20 mth for an unauthorised overdraft!

I just feel we should have been told we also had pending fees 8 mths ago not be put back into an unauthorised overdraft situation., especially as I asked if we were now up to date!! Do you think I've any chance of getting them removed or at least reduced?

mandi

Nat West did the very same thing with my son .

Are the accounts used for anything ?

Premier_2

treatmefairly wrote: »

... it was my husbands acct that was od ...

treatmefairly wrote: »

...I paid with the money in the joint acct ...

:huh:

I don't follow, sorry.

Why did you pay the money into the joint account when the money was owed by your husband on his individual account? :huh:

treatmefairly

Hi

Mandi
The joint acct has the dd set up for all the bills, my acct has child benefit pd into it & hubby's acct no longer used. What happened to your son? Did he get any charges removed?

Premier
I authorised them to transfer money from the joint acct into my husband's acct, that's why I think they should have included any pending fees or at least told me i also had pending fees!

treatmefairly

HI ALL
I DIDN'T GET ANY INITIAL RESPONSES TO THIS THREAD SO ASKED
THE SAME QUESTION ON A NEW THREAD WITH A DIFFERENT TITLE

Urgent advice needed - natwest bank!!

SEEMS DAFT TO HAVE 2 GOING SO IF YOU'D LIKE TO ADD ANYTHING PLEASE DO SO ON THE OTHER THREAD FROM NOW

THANKS