Do you think this would be dishonest?

eyeopener2

You could ignore it but you would somehow have to do that for another three years, which seems unlikely.

I wouldn't take much notice from the moral police though, if this debt was over 6 years old and statute barred i'd tell 'em to go swing but as it's not you can't go down that route.

If you can get them to reduce the amount by negotiation, you go ahead and do it.

Ask for a list of all charges added to the account, find out exactly what the balance is made up of and then see where you stand. If it is all charges and interest on charges then fight back.

You may do well, you may not, but just rolling over and paying up is not the way to go.

Good luck.

E2

ruky_uk

Takingcontrol wrote: »

I have an overdraft with Natwest for the sum of £750. 100% of this is made up of their charges!!! Its nothing of which I have actually spent.....I have not used the account for three years and have not heard from them in this time til recently. Now they are phoning and texting etc (nothing too often) My question is, I am so tempted to simply try to dodge this debt as I feel quite annoyed about having to pay it! I was initially charged for a bounced DD years ago to the sum of about £25 which sent me overdrawn....they've then continued to add charges!! They called me a week ago, and as I have moved house since and reverted back to my maiden name since divorce, I did not pass their security/data protection questions so they could not proceed...They told me to call in to my nearest branch and sort it out there...I informed them I have no account numbers etc for this account so can hardly walk up to a counter and say 'Hi! someone called me and told me to come in here to find out why they called!' (I'd get locked up in a nuthouse for starters lol!! So would it be wrong and dishonest to simply.....ignore this? I'm trying so hard to do the right thing and pay my debts as i did spend (most) the money to begin with, but this debt is really annoying me!

In response to the initial Q - is the debt still with the bank or with a debt collection agency? Normally the banks tend to add their charges and costs, then try to recover this from you and if they fail they tend to pass it on to a debt collection company who seek to recover the money from you.

Usually, once the debt gets passed on/assigned to a company they do not add any further costs. If that is the case this could be why they have not added any charges on for the past 3 years.

In regards to debt repayment, you can by all means complain to the bank first stating the amount of charges and fees being applied are unfair and if you are not happy with the bank's response you can say to them you will take the matter further to the FOS.

Likely chance is they will try and make an agreement with you and remove costs/charges as they would have to pay a fee if the case was to be investigated by the FOS which most companies now try and avoid - the service is free for consumers.

Like a member stated before - if you're facing financial difficulties then tell them and also try checking National Debtline for sample letters as they are great. If you are happy with the amount the bank has come down to and want to pay in instalments i would suggest you do an income and expenditure sheet at that stage and make an offer of payment based on what you can realistically afford to pay.

Often ppl agree to pay a large amount of money and cannot sustain this long term due to other financial obligations.

Hope this helps and good luck with the complaint. Let us know how u get on!:)

amyloofoo

I am in a very similar position with Natwest. It's really important that you don't ignore them and show that you're making an effort to resolve it. If you explain the situation then I'm sure they will do their best to help. I was recently informed of hundreds of pounds of charges which were applied after I stopped using my Natwest account and presumed nothing was going in or coming out. They didn't write to me or contact me at all about this until I received a notice of intention to default out of the blue :eek:

I contacted them a few weeks ago and they said they would investigate and should be able to help. When I checked my credit report yesterday the accounts were showing as closed with a £0 balance :j so I'm waiting for a letter to confirm what action they've taken, but it looks as though they've written off at least the vast majority of the charges. Please contact them, by ignoring it you're only making them less sympathetic and run the risk of making the situation much worse for yourself.

endora

You *could* ignore it but they *could* also take you to court and obtain a CCJ if you haven't got a suitable defence lined up. Best to start reclaiming charges so you can show you're doing your bit rather than just trying to dodge it, should this ever end up in court.

Forget about dishonesty, no-one is more dishonest than the banks! It's not about morals (a concept unknown to the financial sector), it's about protecting yourself.

eyeopener2

endora wrote: »

You *could* ignore it but they *could* also take you to court and obtain a CCJ if you haven't got a suitable defence lined up. Best to start reclaiming charges so you can show you're doing your bit rather than just trying to dodge it, should this ever end up in court.

Forget about dishonesty, no-one is more dishonest than the banks! It's not about morals (a concept unknown to the financial sector), it's about protecting yourself.

Nail on head.

erimus1

Niv wrote: »

To answer your question, yes I do believe this to be wrong and dishonest.

You are also incorrect in stating that the OD is entirely made up of bank charges. It is not, by your own admission you had a bounced DD which caused you to enter your OD. That is not the banks fault.

I do not think ignoring this is wise, there was a thread recently where an irresponsible 19 (I think) year old had decided to ignore all letters from her bank and ended up with over £1k in charges. If you ignore it, it will get worse.

To add, just to play devil’s advocate here, the bank may not have successfully contacted you sooner regarding this, but you do say you moved house and changed your name, do you not agree that this could make it quite hard to track you down and inform you?

This was a charge for the failed DD - should banks really charge you for the privilege of them not paying something because you didn't have the funds? Does you milkman charge you for not delivering our milk?