Natwest Distasteful Treatment

salim_patel

I hope someone can help me.

We initially received a letter on 16th August 2012 indicating that we had fallen behind on our mortgage payments. The period in question was from 2008.
We had never received any previous correspondence from Natwest relating to this matter and have become increasingly concerned, horrified and shocked as to what the bank has done since their initial letter.
Upon receiving the letter we contacted the off set mortgage team and requested to them to send to us the arrears statement in more detail so we could ascertain what payments were missed and when as we were sure that non had been missed. We insisted that should their indeed be arrears on the account that we would be happy to settle the debt as we did not want our reputation to be affected.

The department acknowledged that as the arrears are not of the recent past that they would investigate the matter for us in more detail. They also connected the arrears to the closure of a business account in August and subsequent termination of a business relationship manager to my account.

At no point did this manager mention the arrears during our business relationship.

On the 23rd of August, we received a second letter which was direct in demand. Informing us that Natwest were considering contacting various credit agencies and reporting the matter of debt to them to blight our credit profiles.

We again spoke with a member of the off-set mortgage team and requested once again the breakdown of the missing payments and some history surrounding the containment of the arrears by my previous relationship manager. We insisted that we would not make a payment without any evidence and that it was common sense to at least have the paperwork before we could settle the arrears.

We were assured this would not happen as the matter was being investigated and that it required a number of people to speak to each other to determine various factors.

My father visited the central branch in Bolton and explained the series of events to the branch manager. She was disappointed to learn that a bank could treat an honourable and long serving customer in such a bullish manner and agreed wholeheartedly of my father’s dilemma and concerns.

We made a formal complaint and all details were taken. She advised us that it would be a matter of weeks before the matter would be investigated and an outcome is found.

On the 18th of September, we received a third letter from Natwest. At our dismay, this letter was from the credit management services.

I spoke with a person named Haseeb on the day of delivery of the letter and re-explained the situation. He emphasised with me and apologised about the situation. I re-emphasised my valid point that the matter should never have got to this stage and that if the evidence had been provided and an explanation been given re the arrears we would have resolved the matter in its early stages.


On the Saturday, I tried to log in to my Online Account and was unable to do so. Over the past few days I had received direct debit cancellation notices from companies that I had set up regular payments with. I was horrified to learn of this and immediately contacted the customer call centre. They updated me on matters that all associated accounts; including my personal account had been made non operational and that I should seek an alternative bank!

I received a call the from a lady called Millie. She acknowledged the matter and was also apologetic. I explained that we had cooperated fully on the matter and that I wanted a full explanation as to how the situation has spiralled out of control. I blamed incompetence on Natwest behalf in ignoring my previous requests of evidence, highlighting that a payment can’t just be released without proof! She acknowledged my viewpoint and said that she was going to be sending me an arrears statement. I advised her that this was requested more than 6 weeks ago! She did not comprehend my concerns and frustrations and made me very upset by her tone in highlighting the arrears. I finally informed her that I wanted all details on the account and wanted to know specifically at what stage the relationship manager's business relationship had caused this to happen.

Natwest have referred the case from one department to another and each time in its passing, it has gained in severity for us.

I have spoken to my solicitor, the Financial Services Authority and also the Financial Ombudsman. All of who have been equally horrified by the situation and have promised their full support in this matter.

I am seeking:

1. A full apology from Natwest
2. Financial Compensation
3. A restoration of my personal account,
4. A restoration of my reputation
5. A written letter for me to send to all of the companies whose direct debits were wrongly cancelled

Can anybody assist me in making Natwest accept thier mistakes and also maximising the possible compensation?

JuicyJesus

I would remove your mobile number from your signature, first off.

Secondly, put all of that IN WRITING to NatWest's complaints team. Wait for a reply. If they do not reply within eight weeks with a satisfactory response, you can then escalate this to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

This process will not by any means be instant (in the case of the FOS, most certainly not - the timeframe for complaint resolution at the FOS at the moment is measured in months) but it is the way you will be most likely able to obtain a good resolution.

As regards an amount of compensation you would like, you can ask for an amount for distress and inconvenience, plus a concrete figure for actual loss. Specify this in your complaint letter; ask for a reasonable sum, given that (in all fairness to all parties) you have not suffered any real financial loss at this point, however their actions are quite understandably distressing and could have serious consequences, and there has clearly been some insane maladministration on their part, so this should be factored in too. You can try highballing the amount, the worst they can say is "no", but bear in mind that a ridiculously huge request for compensation will be laughed at and may see you viewed as a chancer.

jonesMUFCforever

In the meantime you need to open a new bank account with a different bank for day to day purposes.
After what has happened why would you want to stay with them?

Agricolae

That's some embarrassing lack of communication between departments. It sounds like there are probably 5 or more departments involved in this and there have been serious crossed wires.

I sympathise and feel that you've been genuinely wronged, but this is best put in writing at this stage. The manager at the branch may have given you a complaint reference number - if you write make sure the number is prominently displayed.

I take it you receive periodic statements of your mortgage which have never indicated an arrears?

dalesrider

salim_patel wrote: »

I hope someone can help me.

We initially received a letter on 16th August 2012 indicating that we had fallen behind on our mortgage payments. The period in question was from 2008.
We had never received any previous correspondence from Natwest relating to this matter and have become increasingly concerned, horrified and shocked as to what the bank has done since their initial letter.
Upon receiving the letter we contacted the off set mortgage team and requested to them to send to us the arrears statement in more detail so we could ascertain what payments were missed and when as we were sure that non had been missed. ?

Strange that you never recieved anything from the period 2008. I cannot see that they would let any non payment go for 4 years without action in that period.
Some offsets allow you to borrow against funds. Have you at anypoint in 2008 taken any further funds from the mortgage and what they are now saying is that at the current repayment rate you will not be paying the loan back in the prescribed period.

Where did the business account closure come into things. Seems someone may have got their wires crossed when reading through your account notes. Unless you had a mortgage on that property.

My father visited the central branch in Bolton and explained the series of events to the branch manager. She was disappointed to learn that a bank could treat an honourable and long serving customer in such a bullish manner and agreed wholeheartedly of my father’s dilemma and concerns

At no point should that manager have offered any opinion to your father or discussed the case with him.
Unless he is a joint party to the loan/account.

This on its own is a serious breech of practice code. In that you cannot discuss any other parties accounts, unless they are a joint party. Even with power of attorney, it can be doubtfull. If you were present and were happy then at a push it would have been better for only genaralites to be covered.

So I would be raising this in your complaint.

opinions4u

Even with power of attorney, it can be doubtfull

interesting view.

Agricolae

dalesrider wrote: »

Strange that you never recieved anything from the period 2008. I cannot see that they would let any non payment go for 4 years without action in that period.
Some offsets allow you to borrow against funds. Have you at anypoint in 2008 taken any further funds from the mortgage and what they are now saying is that at the current repayment rate you will not be paying the loan back in the prescribed period.

Where did the business account closure come into things. Seems someone may have got their wires crossed when reading through your account notes. Unless you had a mortgage on that property.



At no point should that manager have offered any opinion to your father or discussed the case with him.
Unless he is a joint party to the loan/account.

This on its own is a serious breech of practice code. In that you cannot discuss any other parties accounts, unless they are a joint party. Even with power of attorney, it can be doubtfull. If you were present and were happy then at a push it would have been better for only genaralites to be covered.

So I would be raising this in your complaint.

Suppose the discussion was had in a hypothetical manner with the manager at no point referring to specific accounts?

dalesrider

Agricolae wrote: »

Suppose the discussion was had in a hypothetical manner with the manager at no point referring to specific accounts?

My father visited the central branch in Bolton and explained the series of events to the branch manager. She was disappointed to learn that a bank could treat an honourable and long serving customer in such a bullish manner and agreed wholeheartedly of my father’s dilemma and concerns.

In that case should not pass any judgment, without full knowledge of the facts.
From the sound of it they were just paying lip service. As clearly they have no idea of the full facts.
Infact they should have simply said they can't comment. But if account holder was to come in, they would look into it for them.

salim_patel

All

I received a very vague arrears statement today.

Payment due, and payment received.

There is no reference to how this happened and also no way of cross checking against my account as i do not have on-line access any more and hard copies have been destroyed.

I have printed and sent the above letter, unfortunately not including 'Juicy Jesus's' comments.

I will await a reply and keep you updated.

Thank you for replying

salim_patel

Dalesrider, i should have mentioned that my father is also part of the mortgage.