NatWest (merged)

IferHadaRichMan

Hello everyone...:wave:

thought I'd share this with you as I'm so gobsmacked I still don't know whether to believe it (though reading other posts on here it looks promising...)

Having banked with Natwest since I was about 12 (I'm nearly 24 now) I never had any real problems financially, until I met my (now ex) other half...who developed a teensy weensy (not) gambling problem, a result of which I was always skint until we split last December. I always moaned and was shocked at how much I was charged by the bank for either being overdrawn, returned direct debits, account misuse etc and the ridiculous times at which they would take the charges out (most of my charges were for them taking money out which I had accounted for other direct debits etc I'm sure most people in this situation will know the score here).

A friend of mine from work told me about Martin's guidelines on how to have a go at reclaiming my bank charges, so I thought what the hell I've got nothing to lose, I'll have a try...

I wrote to the bank requesting a list of all my charges from the last 6 years, including a £10 cheque that Martin suggested sending to speed up the process (apparently the bank can charge £10 to give you the information). Shortly afterwards I received the statements in te post - they had to send them in two envelopes there were that many! Anyway I highlighted all the charges I'd had and typed them out, detailing the date, reason and amount I had been charged. Because I used an excel spreadsheet to do this I used the autosum facility to total the amount...I was flabberghasted when it came to a whopping £4735 :eek: I then followed the next step and sent the first letter stating that I basically wanted my money back.

Unsurprisingly I had no response from Natwest, so around a month later (ensuring they had already had sufficient time to respond) I wrote to them using the next template, basically threatening them with court action should I not get my money back. This was around a month ago, and it was only last week that I was debating whether I really wanted to go to a small claims court...it's all a bit foreign to me lol

So yesterday morning I got a two page letter in a large white envelope from Natwest, outlining the terms and conditions of my account and how I should be aware of these and manage my account properly (so by now I'm thinking the're not going to play ball here...) however when I turned over the page it said as a good will gesture and without accepting any liability they were offering me a settlement figure of £4335!!!!! :j I had to read it three times to believe it...they haven't even closed my bank account...all I had to do was sign the attached form and return it...which I did immediately of course...so now I've got all my fingers, toes and everything else crossed eagerly awaiting my money!!

Sorry this is so long winded (thank you for being so patient if you've read this far lol) I just had to tell people on here to prove that it really is worth having a go at reclaiming your charges cos I genuinely didn't think I stood a chance!!

:j :j :j

Goat0001

Thanks so much for giving me hope!! I am nearly on the verge of giving up as Natwest have ignored me since April, I started this process in February!! :mad:

After reading this I will send them a final letter and then start court proceedings. I felt the same as you I really don't want to go to court!! Thanks!!

D4WNO

Fantastic to hear you've been successful, I'm currently waiting to hear back from my first letter still

smudgemanc26

D4WNO wrote: »

Fantastic to hear you've been successful, I'm currently waiting to hear back from my first letter still

Just abit of advice dont wait until you hear back from your first letter as you probably wont they are suppose to acknowledge your claim however in my 11 week long process to claim my money back i never received anything from them.

My advice is just to proceed to the next stage and send the 2nd letter after the 14 days from the first.

D4WNO

Thanks SmudgeMan, I'll get my letter typed up tonight

99point99

Good news people....
Natwest sent me a letter yesterday (2 June 2007) - they want to pay me out my entire claim (£2531) less the interest.

This is 1 week AFTER they elected to defend my MCOL claim.

Even though it took about 3 months to complete the process it will all eventually pan out for you. Hang in there guys - Natwest is STILL paying out. A huge bit of advice I can give that worked for me - when you file the MCOL claim post a detailed POC to the court AND to the bank and be comprehensive (this is to back up your online POC). List every single charge and give a description AND include an 'estimated costs to the bank compared to loss from yourself comparison' - just so that the judge can see the huge losses. That will probably save a lot of time as the bank's will realise you're being deadly serious. And also include snippets of the relevant Unfair Consumer Contracts regulations and the Goods & Services Act. There should be a template letter for all this somewhere? Anyone? Im a bit hesitant to post mine in case some of you guys point out any glaring errors. lol.
B

ripski

smudgemanc26 wrote: »

Just abit of advice dont wait until you hear back from your first letter as you probably wont they are suppose to acknowledge your claim however in my 11 week long process to claim my money back i never received anything from them.

My advice is just to proceed to the next stage and send the 2nd letter after the 14 days from the first.

I echo this advice. Use your or rather Martin's deadlines and dates The banks only want to delay matters as much as poss before paying out Don't forget it is worth a lot to them in the interest they make if they can delay

GarethR

After all the usual letters etc I filed my MCOL, Natwest 'Acknowleded' it & said they intended to defend, they have until 17th June to enter defence. In the meantime I have recieved an offer yesterday for £984, this is £362 short of my full claim which is £1346 (this includes interest & MCOL fee) I rang to see if they would negotiate & they said 'No' I sent a letter back saying you can stick your offer then. I have today recieved the same info again?

I have 2 Q's so would appreciate some help:

Firstly, If I stick to my guns & dont accept & they dont defend do I automatically win the FULL amount, from reading on here I do??

Secondly, if they do enter a defence how long normally does it take to go to court?

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

frizzielizzie

GarethR wrote: »

After all the usual letters etc I filed my MCOL, Natwest 'Acknowleded' it & said they intended to defend, they have until 17th June to enter defence. In the meantime I have recieved an offer yesterday for £984, this is £362 short of my full claim which is £1346 (this includes interest & MCOL fee) I rang to see if they would negotiate & they said 'No' I sent a letter back saying you can stick your offer then. I have today recieved the same info again?

I have 2 Q's so would appreciate some help:

Firstly, If I stick to my guns & dont accept & they dont defend do I automatically win the FULL amount, from reading on here I do??

Secondly, if they do enter a defence how long normally does it take to go to court?

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

I am in exactly the same position and asked for help earlier so i would appreciate some advice as well as my offer is £134 short of my original claim but £600 and summit short of the interest and the mcol fee.

frugalpam

GarethR wrote: »

After all the usual letters etc I filed my MCOL, Natwest 'Acknowleded' it & said they intended to defend, they have until 17th June to enter defence. In the meantime I have recieved an offer yesterday for £984, this is £362 short of my full claim which is £1346 (this includes interest & MCOL fee) I rang to see if they would negotiate & they said 'No' I sent a letter back saying you can stick your offer then. I have today recieved the same info again?
I have 2 Q's so would appreciate some help:
Firstly, If I stick to my guns & dont accept & they dont defend do I automatically win the FULL amount, from reading on here I do??
Secondly, if they do enter a defence how long normally does it take to go to court?
Any help would be appreciated
Thanks

Hi - Natwest didn't reply to my letters, and so I filed on MCOL as they missed my 14 day deadline in my LBA letter. A week later, I got an offer ('goodwill gesture') amounting to the charges I am reclaiming. I wrote back to turn it down, saying that as they hadn't replied to my letters and had had to commence court action, that I would be continuing my claim for the full amount ie charges, interest and court fees. Some days after that, they filed a defence.

It's now about 3 weeks since they filed their defence, and I've had to deal with an intimidatory letter from Cobbetts. I have no idea how long it'll take to reach my local County Court - the timescales will probably depend on the waiting lists at your local court. Although the odds are stacked in your favour that you'll win, there are NO guarantees - make sure you read up on the next steps.

If they don't put in a defence, then you'll get the whole lot back

Hope that helps
Pam

PS From now on, keep a file of all the correspondance between you and the bank - and the solicitors, if they get involved. If it reaches the local Court, you'll need to produce a 'court bundle' which is basically 3 copies each of all correspondance.