reclaiming NatWest charges - opening 2nd account?

sunnyspirit

Hi,

I am trying to reclaim bank charges that started snowballing when I lost my income, then my (rented) home. I got NatWest to send me a list of my transactions, wrote to them and then they wrote back asking me to complete and return a financial statement form, which I did.

NatWest just rang me and said that another department is looking into refunding my charges and that this call was about giving me financial hardship status.

I did make clear that the following was not what I had written about.

The caller said - if I agreed - I would have to open a separate bank account with them with no overdraft possible and then they would lock down the other account and stop the charges on it. It has a 500 pound overdraft limit. I would have to make a minimum payment of 1 pound now, and ideally pay off the balance in 6 months, or if not, there would be a review and then I'd have to pay it off in 12, if I understand correctly.

That sounds great as those charges can really "break your back". It's usually the interest that triggers them for me and sometimes I make a mistake and go just a little bit over the limit and... wham. I am worming myself through a big pile of sh*t and every little bit helps.

But the caller also said that control would have to be moved from the branch to the collections centre in order for them to be able to do this. "Collections centre" does not have a good ring to it, however, and I wonder what the pitfall would be if any. :question::eek:

What should I do? :question:

TIA,

Sunny Spirit

PS
The total amount of charges is greater than my outstanding balance with them, however. The NatWest person was about to set this transfer of my account in motion, but I asked her if I could think about it first, and I am glad that I did.

catflea

Hi Sunny

I used to work for NW lending which is the stage before where you at now. This is a perfectly normal arrangement with NW when things go to pot and YOU discuss the problems with them (Based in Nottingham/Bristol if memory serves). The fact that you've not asked to go through this suggests to me that they had started looking at your account already. At this point its unlikely that you would be being reported to the credit reference agencies - worth bareing in mind. There is a second level of collections (based in Telford) which is the final straw but that doesn't sound like where you are now.

As long as the agreement is affordable to you (not what the bank decides) then it is a pretty good deal - you pay off your debt without having take out further credit, which you would have to if you were further UP the ladder) Dont be afraid to say NO you cant afford £x a month but can pay £x - the bank will be looking to make an arrangement that will last, it costs money to chase debts that aren't managed properly and they dont want to do that more than they have to!

The new account that will be opened will be the "basic" step account which will give you a visa debit card and normal banking facilities apart from an o/d or cheque book. My main account is a step purely because I dont want to get into O/D and there are less consequences re fee's on it if I accidentally do. Its a good account IMO (especially since cheques are being disbanded too) I'd suggest opening an account with another bank though and using that instead just to keep things seperate and set up a standing order to pay off the agreement.

Hope that helps....

sunnyspirit

Hi Catflea,

I am surprised to hear some of what you say as the only thing NatWest staff has always wanted to discuss with me whenever I happened to visit the branch is upgrading to an account with a monthly fee and one of those discount packages. (I keep forgetting what it is called, as I am not interested in it.)

I've never heard anything from NatWest at all about them not being happy about me using that overdraft facility.

In fact, when I only very recently was at the branch and sort of apologized for having gone over my overdraft limit - which I hate anyway - I was told not to worry about it.

The thing is, if they refund even part of the charges, some of which were really totally ridiculous, then that overdraft would be cleared instantly.

The person who called did ask me did I expect an improvement soon (yes, me being who I am), but I don't know why they asked me that, and I can't predict the future. I went from expecting to do pretty GD well to earning next to nothing in a very short time. Still, I'd say that my earning potential is fine, in view of who I am.

Today, I felt they could just as easily be trying to trick me into saying that I can manage without what they were offering today, and then use that as an argument for not refunding the charges.

I am pretty good with money, in fact, but I had a ton of bad luck recently and that's when I started going over my balance by just a few pounds much more often and the charges made life even more difficult, as they are not always the same, and quite unpredictable.

I had some bad luck before too (such as illness and a resulting drop in income), but without serious consequences. But then too, I had charges on charges, and charges because of going over the limit by just 2 pounds or so quite a few times.

Sunny

PS
When I asked the person who called me today what her last name was, she said that it was a very difficult one and there was nobody else in that department with that first name anyway. I thought that was odd.

catflea

Sorry to hear of your difficulties of late, i'll respond properly when I'm not posting off a mobile

sunnyspirit

Thanks, and thanks, but that's life. Stuff happens. ;-)

Anyway, to be clearer, my question is "What should I do with a view to getting NatWest to reimburse my bank charges, or even part of them?"

catflea

When we were dealing with charges it was VERY black and white no NW error, no refund. Things might have changed, but I doubt it somehow. I'm not sure what the best way to get any of it cleared maybe a partial settlement offer?

sunnyspirit

Thanks. I'll wait and see what they say, with regard to the charges.

I thought about the other issue some more, but this account transfer would only be a hassle, although "no charges" sounded great at first. The NatWest woman talked about canceling any direct debits on it, etc, but there aren't any on it. I would be setting up a new account mainly to move money from it to the original account constantly instead of depositing straight into the original account.

I had no online access for some time, and it had to be reset. It took them a while to get it right. Something went wrong; some kind of IT or internal communication hiccup and I had to go into a branch a few times. It meant that I didn't know how much they were going to take out and when. Now that I have online access again, and know how much interest they charge and when, it's become easier. And now I have an income again, while last year I had almost none. Good about having lost my home was that afterward, I was finally able to get help! :-) Phew.

leclerc

catflea wrote: »

When we were dealing with charges it was VERY black and white no NW error, no refund. Things might have changed, but I doubt it somehow. I'm not sure what the best way to get any of it cleared maybe a partial settlement offer?

They haven't changed at all. With regards to Financial Hardship they have to follow the lending code section 9 with regards to financial hardship. However, the onus is on both the bank and the customer to have done something about it. Priority debts are the most important as they can lead to loss of home, liberty and essential utilities. Loans/credit cards and store cards are not ones they would really be concerned about to be honest.
A full refund of all charges is highly unlikely(as you've said no NW error no refund) however, under FH, you don't have to refund even 1p of charges to comply with the lending code section 9. Furthermore it is about household debt, so if it only affects one person then they may still say no. Clearly, what the OP does have to do is to send in an Income and expenditure form which clearly shows that the charges are affecting their ability to pay priority debtors.

sunnyspirit

The NatWest people seem to be sending me around in confusing/delaying circles of responses (now twisting my words somewhat, too) with regard to reclaiming bank charges. Mostly, I just shrug and respond to whatever they write to me. My spirits weren't as sunny not so long ago, but once you've lost everything, there is nothing left to lose and that makes a big difference.

What the NatWest people do is not that unusual. I run into this elsewhere as well (that I have to write or go by quite a few times). So, I have nothing eventful to report yet. Eventually, I'll explain in more detail what I did and how this ended.

*puts legal hat on and goes back to work*