Natwest £90 charges & interest

awowen10

So since my last thread here I've been in a better place. Two further debts paid off with two separate companies. I'm budgeting with YNAB and all is looking good.

I'm paying £25-50 a month off on my graduate overdraft with Natwest until I get a phone call off my mum who resides in our family home which is the address I have registered with Natwest. I've received a correspondence to say I've gone over my agreed overdraft charge. A little confused I log on to my online banking to see my arranged overdraft (1,600) is now sitting at close to £2,000 because I have been getting charged £90.00 a month plus interest so close to £110 a month.

It has knocked me sick.

The £1,600 was my student overdraft and I knew it had been changed to graduate which meant I knew I had to start paying it off, I was unconsciously doing so by paying what I could afford a month and then all of a sudden everything I've been paying is in vein because they've incurred almost £400 extra charges, yet I've only received one letter a couple of weeks ago? I'm not making excuses, I probably could have done more than just figured I'd be OK to pay in per month without checking any statements.

My question is; where does this leave me? I can't afford to pay the £2,000 odd pound straight up and the most I can afford is what I've been paying for the last 3-4 months of around £25-50 p/m- for now, but obviously this is pretty pointless as they're adding half if not more of that on top! I will call in to the bank tomorrow and arrange to speak with somebody but I feel sick so figured I'd seek some advice because you've all been great in the past.

What do I do? It's one thing after another just when I think I'm getting on the straight and narrow...

sourcrates

Yes, good plan, either arrange to speak to someone at your bank, failing that, a written complaint/request to refund charges as a gesture of goodwill, say it's putting you in undue hardship, impacting your essential living expenses etc.

awowen10

sourcrates wrote: »

Yes, good plan, either arrange to speak to someone at your bank, failing that, a written complaint/request to refund charges as a gesture of goodwill, say it's putting you in undue hardship, impacting your essential living expenses etc.

Likelihood of that being successful?

It's not even like I was ignoring the money owed. I'm literally in a catch 22 and I feel helpless.

-taff

If you can show you're currently suffering financialhardship, i.e. no mobile phone contracts, sky tv etc, then there's every chance they will refund you up to 6 months [maybe] of charges.
Search for relaiming bank charges , there's a how to above - DO NOT say the charges are unfair, otherwsie your letter will probably be binned starightaway since the banks won the court case for that in 2009.

sourcrates

awowen10 wrote: »

Likelihood of that being successful?

It's not even like I was ignoring the money owed. I'm literally in a catch 22 and I feel helpless.

It's 70/30 in your favour, you have to show that the banks actions will impact your essential living expenses, you are in debt, so you are suffering financial hardship, they are oblighed to take note of that, make sure you impress upon them these facts, and you should get some kind of result.

Most banks will refund any charges at least once a year to most customers anyway, if you ask them.

awowen10

Great, thanks for your help so far.

I popped in to Natwest today on my break and the lady behind customer services was amazing; she said she was in the same position a few years back with HSBC and made me feel at ease, claiming despite the charges they were there to help. I suspected she wouldn't be able to help directly with the situation and I was correct as she said I had to call their financial hardship team who then referred me to their collections team.

I explained my situation; the fact I had shown a willingness to pay, despite it only being £25.00 a month and due to the lack of correspondence (despite them confirming my address, e-mail address and phone number) I was under the impression I was paying it off slowly but surely until last night when I checked my online banking and seen I'd incurred £320.00 of charges & interest. I explained the situation I was in with relocating and starting a new career in a new industry so my income was nowhere near where it has been in the past.

They agreed to put the account on hold, but that I would need to pay in £16.00 by the 23rd to cover some more interest going out which apparently they can't stop. They said they would compensate this by taking it off my balance but I would still need to pay it in.

They also said they would deduct £150.00 off the charges as a gesture of good will and more importantly said they would freeze the account and allow me to pay £50.00 a month until I'm in better positional financially to pay more.

The guy was actually extremely helpful, claiming they were there to help and actually highly recommended stepchange to better myself financially.

So my overdraft limit was £1,600, it's now £1,750 with no more charges expected.

My question is now; should I aim to go one further and look to see if I can get the other £150.00 deducted? Or am I biting off more than I can chew???

jamesd

The charges are bad but the freezing and removal of some charges is good. You might be able to do better but it looks as though you currently have a fairly good deal with them accepting a significant delay in clearing the money.

sourcrates

awowen10 wrote: »

My question is now; should I aim to go one further and look to see if I can get the other £150.00 deducted? Or am I biting off more than I can chew???

Hi,
Good, that's a great result for you.

You must bear in mind, the bank is under no statutory obligation to refund any charges to you, there account charges, and interest charges, are all clearly displayed in various forms.

Under current guidelines they must treat you fairly, and a partial refund, and freezing of the account, is more than a fair gesture of goodwill.

However, there is no reason why you cant "chance your arm", and write them a letter, saying you appreciate the partial refund, "but on this occasion, could they see fit to give you a full refund" ?

If you don't ask, you don't get.

Westie983

This where I am currently, I got an email last year to say that my overdraft was going into its third year of graduate status and my overdraft allowance was changing to £500 0% and the rest would be charged, I didnt take much notice of the account and, came back from holiday last week to a letter from them saying this months charges and fees will be £20, I can only assume this is because I am using more then £500, of the overdraft, (currently sitting at £1570. I don't have the funds to pay this off in full and am paying £25 a month, give or take a few months as I have only just gone back to work after sick leave so its all in a pickle....

wonder if its worth calling them up and seeing if they can freeze the charges on mine and let me just to pay it off... Granted its not the same amount of fees as OP but again had no idea as I no longer have access to the internet banking...