NatWest (merged)

superrug_2

Woo hoo , £1400 actually in my account today , for all those waiting I sent my acceptance letter on friday and went in about an hour.

Thanks again guys and good luck to all those that are still persueing, stick in there.

p.s. Didnt go down the court route just wiated the 80 days they stated.

smudgemanc26

mh wrote: »

i received a letter back today stating

'thank you for your letter regarding the fees applied to your account. we are currently considering your claim. given the work involved in assesing your claim we anticipate we will be in a position to respond within 6-7 weeks, but will endeavor to do it sooner if we are able to'.

Anyone else had this? If so, what do you think the next move would be. sit and wait, or apply pressure?

Cheers
mh

This is a standard letter they say it takes 8 weeks to deal with your claim, mine took about 11! So i filed a complaint with the FO (i never received anything in this time so your quite lucky they acknowledged your claim!). However i did stick to the timescales and send out the appropriate letters. I didnt have the money at the time to file MCOL so had to wait.

Its up to you really if you can wait then do if not go through the correct procedures as set out.

claireavfc

I need your help guys....great site by the way. I am having huge problems with NATWEST. Sadly my husband was made redundunt and we were having problems paying our DD's etc. Natwest kept appying charges onto the account. This meant when our benefits were being paid into the bank, they were being eaten by the charges. What they said they would do was arrange an overdraft (of the fees!) but we have just ended up in a big mess. I had a big argument with the guy from collections this morning and I don't know where to go. He was really rude...he said I should get my house in order! He made it out that I shoudnt be having my benefits and give it back to the bank to quote, in his words, "to pay us our money back!" The overdraft he said is the banks money and I shoudn't be spending money if I can't pay the bank back. Sadly I didn't get a name.....but any advice would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks in advance guys.

bhoogenberg1

frugalpam wrote: »

Seems to be a pattern with Natwest - similar happened to me. An undated letter arrived a week or so after I filed on MCOL offering me my charges back. As I'd then incurred £120 court fees, I wrote to say I would be continuing to claim the full amount through MCOL, and pointed out in my letter that their UNDATED offer letter had only arrived after I'd commenced my claim, and that I'd commenced my claim as promised within the timescales I'd set out, due to them not responding to any other letters.

Sending an undated offer letter like this is very sneaky tactics - I wanted it clear, in writing, what they'd done incase I have to go to court.


Pam

I had the same experience yesterday - claimed through MCOL on 31/05, and got offers arriving by post oin the 20/06 - BUT DATED 08/06!!!! I'm not sure what to do though as they have offered all the money (not the interest) but I am down by £320 in court costs - anybody partially accepted and then asked for the court costs?

smudgemanc26

claireavfc wrote: »

I need your help guys....great site by the way. I am having huge problems with NATWEST. Sadly my husband was made redundunt and we were having problems paying our DD's etc. Natwest kept appying charges onto the account. This meant when our benefits were being paid into the bank, they were being eaten by the charges. What they said they would do was arrange an overdraft (of the fees!) but we have just ended up in a big mess. I had a big argument with the guy from collections this morning and I don't know where to go. He was really rude...he said I should get my house in order! He made it out that I shoudnt be having my benefits and give it back to the bank to quote, in his words, "to pay us our money back!" The overdraft he said is the banks money and I shoudn't be spending money if I can't pay the bank back. Sadly I didn't get a name.....but any advice would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks in advance guys.

I cant really help on this one but i suggest you post on the DFW (debt free wannabe board) as there are loads of people on there who give good advice and might know what is best for you to do.

jen3220

frugalpam wrote: »

This is pretty typical of Natwest, I'm afraid. Was really hoping you'd be able to hit that judgement button! Be prepared for Natwest to file a defence, and receive paperwork from their solicitors, Cobbetts. There are some good threads you can read to help with that, or post here.
Just for info (I posted this on the 'they're defending my claim' thread) - I checked my household insurance policy and found I could get free legal advice. I rang and spoke with a solicitor and told her what I'd done so far - she said I'd done well (I told her I got all my advice from moneysavingexpert.com !) I asked whether I could legal aid if I had to appear in my local court - she said they would give that serious consideration and is sending me some forms to update her on the claim to date. I wish I'd checked what I'm covered for before now, but then again, this site has enabled me to get this far AND do things correctly :T

Good luck, keep us posted,
Pam

I've had another letter this morning, saying that the offer of £4,000 was in full and final settlement and would be paid into the designated account, which I assume is their account. It gives me another 10 days to decide.

The problem I have with accepting that is that £2300 of it will be swallowed by the overdraft on the account, so I will only have £1700 for other debts.

Obviously, this is better than nothing but if I were to wait with the court claim and get the full amount, it would clear ALL my debts. They have until the 2nd of July to file a defence. Now, in the letter they say I have 10 days. Does that mean working days? If it does, I could wait to see if they file a defence before I make my decision. Do they always file a defence?

So now I am unsure how to proceed. I know it is a scare tactic, but I don't want to come away with nothing and the thought of court does scare me to death, partly because I feel guilty for getting into the mess in the first place, even though the bank made it so much worse!!

Any advice or experience people have would be greatly appreciated!

Cherryb007

jen3220 wrote: »

I've had another letter this morning, saying that the offer of £4,000 was in full and final settlement and would be paid into the designated account, which I assume is their account. It gives me another 10 days to decide.

The problem I have with accepting that is that £2300 of it will be swallowed by the overdraft on the account, so I will only have £1700 for other debts.

Obviously, this is better than nothing but if I were to wait with the court claim and get the full amount, it would clear ALL my debts. They have until the 2nd of July to file a defence. Now, in the letter they say I have 10 days. Does that mean working days? If it does, I could wait to see if they file a defence before I make my decision. Do they always file a defence?

So now I am unsure how to proceed. I know it is a scare tactic, but I don't want to come away with nothing and the thought of court does scare me to death, partly because I feel guilty for getting into the mess in the first place, even though the bank made it so much worse!!

Any advice or experience people have would be greatly appreciated!

Hello,

It's purely your descision and also how desperately you need the money - can you stick it out through the court process?

You can accept the £4,000 as part payment and inform them that you are continuing with through the courts for the outstanding balance. I used the wording from a letter FendyWeather wrote (thanks Fendy!) to do this and am claiming the remainder:

Thank you for your letter which I received on Saturday 28<SUP>th</SUP> April, offering me a goodwill payment of £xxx which equals the amount of money you deducted from my account over a period of a few years in charges.

I cannot, however, accept the sum of £xxx as full and final settlement of my claim. I will accept this sum as part payment only, and without prejudice, but will continue my claim for the balance.

I have made a reasonable effort to settle this claim before issuing a County Court claim, but was disappointed that you did not acknowledge my correspondence (letters sent to you on 13<SUP>th</SUP> and 30<SUP>th</SUP> March, both of which were signed for), nor make me an appropriate offer.

As I have had to issue a County Court claim because of your failure to deal with my claim (my letter of 30<SUP>th</SUP> March clearly stated that I would commence Court proceedings in 14 days if I received no response from you), I will now settle only for the full amount of charges + plus statutory interest + £120 court fees, a total of £xxx
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My claim was served on you by Northampton County Court on 22<SUP>nd</SUP> April, and you therefore have until 6<SUP>th</SUP> May to respond. I hope to hear from you in the meantime with a revised offer which is the total amount I am claiming through the Court.

I look forward to receiving your response in the near future
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Yours faithfully
etc

The 10 days refers to 10 "normal" days (not just week days) and they will defend. They put in a defence on both of mine the day before the deadline (one claim settled shortly after, one currently awaiting a court date). :mad:

Please don't feel guilty, we're all human, and they're the ones that have unlawfully taken from us. We're just getting back what's rightfully ours. The court process is easy, it just a case of sticking it out and using information provided by this (fantastic) site and the great people on it. Think of it as: they churn out a standard letter, so do you. They WILL settle, because they know they're in the wrong, they're just trying to intimidate us into pulling out early.

Hang on in there, we're all behind you, and try to have some fun getting your own back on the establishment!
xx

mrkh1

frugalpam wrote: »

Seems to be a pattern with Natwest - similar happened to me. An undated letter arrived a week or so after I filed on MCOL offering me my charges back. As I'd then incurred £120 court fees, I wrote to say I would be continuing to claim the full amount through MCOL, and pointed out in my letter that their UNDATED offer letter had only arrived after I'd commenced my claim, and that I'd commenced my claim as promised within the timescales I'd set out, due to them not responding to any other letters.

Sending an undated offer letter like this is very sneaky tactics - I wanted it clear, in writing, what they'd done incase I have to go to court.


Pam

Same things happened to me, twice now. The first was with the halifax got the offer letter the day after I filed on MCOL, I rang the halifax and they agreed to pay the court fee. Now its happened again but with the Natwest, they have agreed to re-pay me all the charges less the intrest not sure whether to accept the offer as there is over £200 intrest added to my claim. I am going to ring them and ask about the court fee and see if i can get them to compensate me for having to go down as far as taking them to court, and all the upset its caused me. Think its be worth a try what you think.

jen3220

Oh, that's interesting Cherry. And they accepted that and still gave you the part payment? How did that affect the court paperwork you had already filed?

I don't desperately need it, it will just sort out my debts, so I am happy to wait. But I don't want to end up with nothing either!

I know what you mean about the last minute tactics. They literally acknowledged my claim on the very last day. I was so annoyed.

Thank you so much for your support! It really helps knowing other people are doing the same thing!

mrkh1

Just rang the natwest to discuse the offer that they have made. I told them I Had filed court proceedings the other week but would consider accepting their offer if they would refund the fee i'd incured to get this far. They said they had stuck to their 8 week time scale and wouldn't pay the court fee. I explained that i'd just had dealings with the halifax and they kindly agreed to pay the fee if i provided evidence of proceedings, and would they consider my offer. No joy i'am affraid looks like i'll be going to court, getting a bit scary now as i don't want to be un prepared