Natwest charged me £35

amandathepanda

If a DD is due out on a monday , the cleared funds should be in your account by close of business on the Friday. If you get a mini statement though at the weekend the direct debits that will be coming out on the Monday will already show on there.By the time the Bank opens on the Monday if insufficient funds are not available the direct debit will be already in the process of being returned, and a charge being taken. Unfortunately the charge is the same whether the DD is for £5 or £500 as the same amount of work is involved.These days all the charges are taken automatically by computer.
Saturday entries are posted to the account on a Monday.

frepol

Interestingly, Ulster Bank (part of the same group) give you until noon of the day that the debit is going out to get the money in.

The charge is wildly excessive though and could be considered to be unfair.

grumbler

I must admit now that as Saturday is not a weekday you have no grounds to complain. Sorry, but you can just beg them to waive the fee…

MarkyMarkD

I think the posts above are missing the point.

Isn't what happened that a DD due to be taken from the account by a third party, was instead debited on FRIDAY not MONDAY, and that consequently the money wasn't there?

In which case, NatWest haven't done anything wrong at all - the money wasn't there when the DD was requested.

If the original poster has a gripe with anyone, it's with the third party for collecting the money too early. So, if they STATED they would collect on the MONDAY, but collected on the FRIDAY, it is they who are liable to reimburse the £35.

If they said they would collect "on or around" the MONDAY, as some companies do, then you haven't got any case against them or NatWest.

If I've misunderstood the position, can you please explain how?

Hope that helps.

MMD

newfoundglory

I had a feeling Natwest doesnt clear cash instantly, and from what people have posted it looks like I was right.

So cash paid in on a Saturday wouldn't have cleared until monday at the earliest, so surely if the DD had been taken on monday as planned you would have been charged anyway?

ED

Lyndsey_21 wrote (Post #1) : "on saturday just gone my boyfriend had just put £400+ into my account"

Lyndsey, was the deposit done into an ATM, or was it over-the-counter? I was once caught out by depositing cash via a bank branch ATM during a Saturday, not realising Direct Debits are collected around 1am on the Monday, whereas the ATM would not be emptied until some hours later during Monday.

Murtle

I hope you get a positive response from Natwest, unfortunately they are one of, no actually the most archaic banks around. There is no reason for them to run the DD batch runs before the incoming money confirmation runs. Can you imagine the chaos this would cause if every business in the UK operated like this....

aliadds

I had the same problem over the Easter weekend.My account was £7.00 short to cover my mortgage DD and I was charged £30 for a returned DD.
My a/c is the Alliance+Leicester Premier Plus. I rang and was told it could not be waived, however I could try writing to Customer Services. I did this immediately and received a letter by return of post saying they would refund half (£15.00) on this occasion, but any future charges would be deducted in full.
Hope this helps!

lipidicman

In house transfers and cash paid over the counter really should clear instantly. Are people really saying that it doesn't? If you paid cash for a television on saturday and then the manager said you would have to wait for it until the 'cash cleared' you would think they were taking the michael. Dont let the banks get away with it!

If Natwest dont do it then move to a bank that does.

frepol

Letter One (if you're normally very well behaved banking wise. Otherwise go straight to number 2)

Dear Sir,

I notice that the Bank has applied a charge of £35 in respect of the failure of a direct debit payment of £5.50. I apologise for my not having the necessary funds in my account at the time. This was due to my lack of understanding as to the rules regarding the need to have the funds available in advance of a debit being applied, and the fact that I did not realise that funds applied on a Saturday are considered as lodged on a Monday.

Due to my previous good custom and loyalty, I would like to request that you refund the charge on this occasion as a gesture of goodwill and for my part I will endeavour to ensure that such a situation does not arise again.

I look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Yours faithfully,

Joe bloggs


Letter Two - for when Letter One doesn't work

Dear Sir,

I was sorry to receive your letter dated_____ declining to refund a £35 charge for a failed direct debit of £5.50 despite my previous good custom and loyalty.
I consider this charge to be unfair and excessive under the terms of the Unfair Terms in Contracts Regulations 1999 and must therefore ask you to either supply me with an itemised breakdown of the £35 charge that you applied to my account or to refund the charge as soon as possible.

I look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Joe Bloggs