NatWest Credit Card statements sent to wrong address-now been referred for collection

cgriffiths84

Hi guys,
I'm just after a bit of advice.
I had a credit card with Nat West that had a limit of £500. I had set up a minimum payment scheme on it, and was paying it every month. I moved address and informed Nat West of this. I have a current account and credit card with Nat West and I often receive letters and promotional materials through the mail to my new address. Unfortunately, I have now recently been back to my old address and have had months and months worth of Credit Card statements and letters. I see from these that I had missed a payment but I was unaware, (the letter informing me was sent to my old address) then I was charged for this late payment. This then took me over my £500 limit on the card. Nat West then sent a letter (STILL to the wrong address) informing me they had closed my account and needed payment asap. All this time I was still unaware of the problems and presumed I was still paying the minimum payment. I contacted them last week to tell them I was unhappy that I had not been informed of these changes to my account and they admitted that the address was incorrect. I logged this complaint with them and they said they would look into it and be in touch shortly. I have not heard anything from them other than today where I've had a letter saying the account is now with a credit collection agency and I have to pay them.
I'm really not happy and not sure where I stand. Could anybody please give me some advice?

SuperHan

Did you not wonder why you were no longer getting statements? You should have wrong them the first month one didn't turn up, especially when you knew you had recently updated address. At least you should have been monitoring your online banking...

Why did you miss the payment? Did you have a direct debit set up?

Butti

Do you have a record of when you informed them of your change in address. A record of how and who you told. Solid evidence is always good.

Dobbibill

How was the payment missed? Paying the minimum every month shouldn't cause it to get referred to collections.

How did this happen?

A little more info would be helpful for more accurate advice.

Also if you have logged a complaint with them, they have 8 weeks to respond.

cgriffiths84

I had opted for paperless statements, but I had not checked my CC online for a few months. Presumed everything was being taken care of with the DD I set up. I had no reason to believe I had missed a payment. Not heard from them regarding my account. Why would I?
As far as the lady on the phone could tell me, I missed a payment through my direct debit, and that caused a charge, this happened twice and took my account over my £500 limit. From there, they were charging me for being over limit and it went from there. They informed me of this situation by post to my old address. Nothing to my new address at all.

I understand they have 8 weeks to respond, but they said it wouldn't go any further until they had investigated the complaint and today I received the collections notice from Nat West.

I don't have a date of the change of address but it is roughly two or three years ago. I did it at my local branch. It was the same time I set up the minimum payment Direct Debit on my Credit Card

Dobbibill

It sounds like the letter has crossed but may be worth giving them a ring to check.

If you had a failed DD normally you would be informed by your bank account too. You may have incurred charges for that too.

If you registered for paperless statements you should still have checked them regularly.

I'm not having a pop but just making you aware in case you are not receiving letters from your current account either.

I hope you get it sorted.

Ben8282

You opted for online statements but never bothered to check your credit card account for 8 months even though your balance was so near the limit that a single missed minimum payment put you over the limit? .
You had 2 unpaid direct debits but never noticed even when you no doubt got charged by your bank for the unpaid direct debit,
When you opt for paperless statements you accept a certain responsibility to actually look at those statements in the same way as you look at a paper statement. What you have done is the equivalent of leaving the envelopes containing paper statements unopened for 8 months.
When you set up a direct debit you accept a certain responsibility to make sure that there are sufficient funds in your account to meet the direct debit.
I believe you have been irresponsible and are yourself to blame for what has happened and are using the address error as an excuse for your own failure to check your online credit card statements and bank statement.
Also when you opted for online statements you will have agreed to be communicated with online. I also wonder why, after you opted for paperless statements, they continued to send paper statements to your old address. But unfortunately that is not relevant here. You opted for paperless statements and therefore could not have realistically expected to receive paper ones.

Tiddlywinks

You didn't check your CC statements - they would have shown the missed payments, charges etc.

You can't have checked your bank statements either as you would then have spotted the returned DD or the fact that you had a higher balance because the CC payments had not been processed.

But, hey, you're right - it's always the bank that's the bad guy.

No need to take any personal responsibility for those missed payments that started this whole unfortunate affair :whistle:.

MEM62

cgriffiths84 wrote: »

I had not checked my CC online for a few months.

Whether you use online banking or the NatWest app, when you log on you see a summary of all your accounts - current, savings, mortgage, credit card etc. So the information would have been in front of you every time you looked at your current account.

If you have evidence of advising them of your new address you may get somewhere but responsibility here does not lie purely with the bank. Sitting back and assuming that everything is OK is not the best policy when it comes to looking after your financial affairs.