Help!!! Natwest closing my account

CRISPIANNE3

benog1985 wrote: »

I have even taking my brain and think I may have figured this all out....

I opened my Gold Current account in 2009 and had the same issue on my credit file at the time but had had no previous searches for about a year. I wasn't using any of the 'benefits' of my account and paying £12.95 a month for the privilege so on 6th Feb this year I went into branch and changed my account to a Select Account which had no monthly charge. Then on 25th Feb my accounts were places on hold and I had no access to them until 19th March whilst they did 'a review' and then I received the letter saying they are closing them. After what the manager told me off the record I'm putting 2+2 together and thinking maybe whilst under review they also reviews my credit file and though "actually, we don't want this persons custom".

I may be wrong but it all seems a little coincidental to me.

May be on the right track and the same thing crossed my mind yesterday.

benog1985

CRISPIANNE3 wrote: »

May be on the right track and the same thing crossed my mind yesterday.

This would explain why Nationwide turned me down for a Flex Account but I also tried Barclays and the lady there said I couldn't have a current account and it didn't offer me a Cash Account but they did a Savings.....I'm going to wait for the SAR from CIFAS to come back, hopefully in a week or 2 and then apply for the Co-Op cashminder, if that fails I will just get 1 of those Eccount's for now so I have somewhere to get paid and I'll contact my DD's to see if I can set up standing orders instead.

MrSilk

Wow :eek: £12.50 to set it up and a monthly fee of £12.50.

£162.50 costs in the first year alone!!! (£150 a year) with no benefits whatsoever, but if it's your last resort then there's no choice.

benog1985

MrSilk wrote: »

Wow :eek: £12.50 to set it up and a monthly fee of £12.50.

£162.50 costs in the first year alone!!! (£150 a year) with no benefits whatsoever, but if it's your last resort then there's no choice.

Yeah, what a waste of money !! I'm going to wait for this CIFAS thing to come back and then apply for something. I applied for the Barclays account whilst NatWest were doing their review of my accounts so they may well have put a CIFAS Fraud flag against me whilst they were doing that hence the reason my app was refused.

If I don't get the CashMinder account I'm going to just opt for Yorkshire BS Cash Transactor savings account which is pretty much a current account dressed up as savings.

goaroundnow

You'll get the SAR from CIFAS much quicker than a week or two - probably tomorrow.

I, personally, don't think that you would have an account shutdown just because a default appeared or was found on your file. My thought is that someone has registered an "account misuse" CIFAS marker.

I opened a STEP account with Natwest in 2006 and my file was littered with CCJs and defaults (not proud). I was able to upgrade to a Select account after about 12 months even though most of the adverse information was still present on my file. I also got a £200 overdraft.

Once all the defaults and CCJs dropped off in 2011, I got a high limit, low-APR credit card with Natwest.

In other words, Natwest were always aware of my past indiscretions and they haven't shut my account (yet).

benog1985

goaroundnow wrote: »

You'll get the SAR from CIFAS much quicker than a week or two - probably tomorrow.

I, personally, don't think that you would have an account shutdown just because a default appeared or was found on your file. My thought is that someone has registered an "account misuse" CIFAS marker.
QUOTE]

You may be right....so what would happen now then? Will this be evident to me when I get the SAR back from CIFAS? And if this is the case what do I do next ?

goaroundnow

Yes, when you get the CIFAS information you will be able to see anything that they hold on you.

If Natwest have suspected something wrong in the way you have run your account, they may have placed a CIFAS marker.

- or -

Is there a chance somebody else has placed a CIFAS marker. If Natwest became aware of an "account misuse" marker, that could cause them to suspend then shut your accounts.

Was it you that was using Natwest for Paypal/Ebay transactions?

benog1985

goaroundnow wrote: »

Yes, when you get the CIFAS information you will be able to see anything that they hold on you.

If Natwest have suspected something wrong in the way you have run your account, they may have placed a CIFAS marker.

- or -

Is there a chance somebody else has placed a CIFAS marker. If Natwest became aware of an "account misuse" marker, that could cause them to suspend then shut your accounts.

Was it you that was using Natwest for Paypal/Ebay transactions?

I thought that CIFAS was anti-fraud though. If my account was misused they only had to tell me and I'd have changed it no problem.

There is no chance of anyone else placing a CIFAS marker against me as I had only a NatWest account, nothing else.

Let's say they have placed something against me, what do I do then?? I haven't been informed of misusung an account and like i said, if i had, i'd have done something about it to comply with them.

Yes I did use my account for eBay/PayPal.

goaroundnow

CIFAS is about fraud.

Account misuse (it's only a guess that this is what you have) could include (amongst other things);

1) Writing cheques / using debit cards when you have said you no longer have them.

2) Fraudulently using the account. I would guess using a personal account for business purposes could fall here.

3) Paying in dodgy cheques, withdrawing the money and then the cheque not ultimately clearing.

It could be that you have no CIFAS marker but that Natwest are upset about your eBay use.

I was just suspicious that you had a CIFAS marker after Barclays turning you down for even a basic bank account - that normally indicates problems other than credit scoring, in my opinion. Unless, of course, your past indiscretions were with Barclays/Nationwide etc.

If it turns out you do have a CIFAS marker which you think is incorrect, you need to challenge it with whoever placed it to begin with.

benog1985

Is it possible that because I applied for the Barclays account whilst my NatWest accounts were under review that NatWest had put something against me whilst the review was taking place and it could have been removed now that I have full access to my accounts?

I will let you know once I get the SAR from CIFAS, i'm very interested to get this back now as it will ultimately give me a final answer. If there's nothing on there now I assume I should be able to get a Co-Op CashMinder account.