£216 unarranged overdraft fees in one month. No notice until today

sparkle03

Hi All

I have just this morning got a letter from Natwest saying I have an unarranged overdraft to the amount of £216 pounds for the period 10-04-12 to the 11-05-12.

Ultimately I know my bank account is my responsibility but I have had a very tough six weeks what with partner being in hospital with unknown stomach problems daily for most of this period.

This is an account I was using to pay debts. I had one last direct debit set up on it for the last 4 months which the company kept trying to take money from even though the debt was paid. Stupidly I didnt cancel it until last month. Having done this I was under the impression my account was in the black and would stay that way.

I then had fees go on and have since been charged a daily fee of £6 a day.

I have not been informed until today and I will continue to get charged £6 daily until my account is back in the black.
I cannot afford to pay the £216 fee today or for a matter of weeks as I am SE and have not been working much due to partners illness.

I dont know what to do, will Nat West do anything if I ring them? Im nearly in tears here.

Why had I not been informed of the fees and charges until it has got this bad?

I know its my fault - my account - my responsibility. It just doesnt seem fair that I have not been informed that this was happening.

YorkshireBoy

You may have some comeback under the DD guarantee, if the charges were solely due to this one DD being incorrectly claimed.

You may also put forward your mitigating circumstances and ask for some goodwill or an increase to your existing overdraft facility...assuming you already have one in place?

However, NatWest may say...

1. Why weren't you monitoring your account for an entire month?

2. Why haven't you registered for 'Act Now Alerts', which would have highlighted this problem sooner?

3. Why hadn't you cancelled the DD?

4. Why weren't you familiar with the charging structure/T&Cs of your account?

...so you may wish to have some answers prepared for these questions.

sparkle03

Thank you for your answer and your time, Im very grateful.
I didnt have an overdraft facility on the account, I was offered one but as I already had a fair amount of debt decided against it, wish I had kept it now. Hindsight and all that!

This is a secondry account I opened purely for direct debits for debts so I knew where I was upto with my money. I had finished paying debts a while ago. The sole debt I had left I finished paying a couple of months ago but stupidly never cancelled the direct debit. I had a £12 fee last month which I paid and then cancelled the direct debit. I (wrongly) assumed I was in the black by a couple of pounds and nothing more would come out of the account therefore didnt need to monitor it.

When I was using the account it was always kept upto date and never felt the need for the alerts

The direct debit was cancelled last month.

I *think* these are relatively new charges and other than a month earlier when I had a £12 unpaid item fee (uncancelled DD) I have always made sure the correct money was available for any outgoings

My account my responsibility, I know just very shocked as I was not expecting anything to come out of the account and with no communication a little disappointed. Last Month I had a letter right away telling me I had been charged £12 and I paid it right away and that was that.

Thanks again for your time! Will give them a call shortly

MonkeyMad

If you have paid the debt and the DD was incorrectly drawn you should be asking for that money back for starters. You may have comeback under DD gtee, but maybe not with NAtWest. If the OD amount has resulted because of this DD, the £12 unpaid fee and the daily charges, then you probably need to pursue the debt company as the originator of the DD to recover your losses, unless you can demonstate the bank we negligent in their handling (which they probably were not - someone asked for payment, they refused and charged you)

meer53

Charges are usually notified every month by statement. As you received notification last month and again now, can't see what Natwest have done wrong in that department. I'd ask for a refund if you can prove the DD shouldn't have been taken.

coldhandoff

Ring up and ask for a direct debit indemnity if you had settled your account with the company. Natwest will refund the unauthorised direct debits and any charges/interest incurred as a result.

edit: Call between 9-5

stclair

coldhandoff wrote: »

Ring up and ask for a direct debit indemnity if you had settled your account with the company. Natwest will refund the unauthorised direct debits and any charges/interest incurred as a result.

edit: Call between 9-5

Just so you are aware Customer Lending Centre is open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday.

They can be called on 023 8022 6443 by pressing option 2 and option 4.

The OP could ask to claim the DD back under the DDI not a problem. However from the banks/lendings point of view they are not under any obligation to refund any charges unless the bank as made the error. Any charges that may be refunded would be done as a gesture of goodwill.

sparkle03

Thanks to all who replied.
The account should have been in the black, Natwest confirmed the DDs should never have left the account and also that I should have had notice of charges weeks before them being added if they had been mine to pay.
All has been refunded to my account including the charges I paid the previous month as the DD shouldnt have left then either.
The two people I spoke to were helpful, understanding and professional

stclair

sparkle03 wrote: »

Thanks to all who replied.
The account should have been in the black, Natwest confirmed the DDs should never have left the account and also that I should have had notice of charges weeks before them being added if they had been mine to pay.
All has been refunded to my account including the charges I paid the previous month as the DD shouldnt have left then either.
The two people I spoke to were helpful, understanding and professional

It might be worth you registering for Act Now Alerts to prevent this scenario happening again in future:

http://www.natwest.com/personal/online-banking/g1/alerts.ashx

sparkle03

Thanks for the suggestion, the gentleman on the phone also suggested it and set it up for me yesterday

fozmcfc

sparkle03 wrote: »

Thanks to all who replied.
The account should have been in the black, Natwest confirmed the DDs should never have left the account and also that I should have had notice of charges weeks before them being added if they had been mine to pay.
All has been refunded to my account including the charges I paid the previous month as the DD shouldnt have left then either.
The two people I spoke to were helpful, understanding and professional

A great result and well done to Natwest as well for sorting it out so swiftly. :T