Have Santander misadvised me? And what can I do about it?

the-baby-beatbox

Hello! After facing a brick wall for over four months, I thought this might be a good place to come and ask for some advise on a huge ongoing issue I've been having between Natwest and Santander... I'll keep it as short as I can.

I had been with NW for over 15 years, and opened a student account when I went to uni, taking advantage of the £2000 overdraft and £500 credit card. Since then, I have also taken out a £10k loan with them. So far, so good.

I went into a branch of Santander and was dealt with by a really friendly advisor. I explained to him that I wanted to improve my credit score, and I felt the best way for me to do that was to open an account with Santander that had no overdraft, and use that as my current account. I then intended on chipping away at my Natwest overdraft, credit cards and loans month by month.

The advisor agreed that this was a positive move and was happy to set me up with a Santander 123 current account. He explicitly advised me that my Natwest current account would not be closed and the overdraft would remain in place as I had planned. He advised me that he would ensure that all my payments – including my regular loan payment – would be taken from my Santander account and that I wouldn't have to do anything.

At this point, I was so thrilled with the service I had received from Santander that I even sent an email praising the advisor.

Alas, I was misadvised, and this is where the problems started.

Within days of the switch I started to receive letters from Natwest demanding back my £2000 overdraft as I had 'switched out'. Imagine the stress that this caused me, given that the reason I had opened my new Santander account was to tackle debt with Natwest in an effective way.

In order to refrain from a black mark on my credit file, I borrowed money to pay off part of the overdraft – again causing me huge stress and frustration – before setting up an arrangement to pay for the remaining amount.

So that's the first problem – the sheer misadvise I was given, resulting in huge stress.

My second complaint is that one of my loan payments, which was a direct debit set up on my Natwest account, was incorrectly transferred over to Santander. There is a combination of errors on part of both banks here, as I rang Natwest and asked if they had received the payment, and they confirmed that we had.

Where Santander comes in is that the payment should have been set up, as promised in the switchover, but it wasn't.

I have filed a formal complaint with Natwest regarding this matter, and they have advised me that Santander set up the payments incorrectly, thus resulting in two of my loan payments being missed. This is over £360 that I simply do not have the funds to pay in one go.

I am incredibly upset, frustrated, anxious and stressed, and just want this to all be sorted. Natwest have offered me £260 in compensation, and have acknowledged a whole host of errors on their side (mainly saying they had loan payments that they didn't!).

But I feel that what Santander has done to me has placed me in a terrible situation. Am I being silly and naive or is this just out of order? Would really appreciate any advice.

Thanks!

agrinnall

It sounds like Santander have used the automated switching service, although that probably wasn't what you were advised about in the first place. As such they are entirely responsible for any issues that occur as a result, and your complaints should be directed to them - the compo from NatWest is a bonus really. Make a formal complaint to Santander and you'll probably get some more from them.

colsten

If your account was switched, it would be because you had signed a Santander form that said you want to switch your Natwest account to them, and you would have given Santander the exact sort code and account number to be switched. There is very little you can do about this, as there is probably no recording of the conversation you had in the Santander Branch that would prove you were told you were not going to switch.

If something went wrong with the transfer of existing DDs and SOs, you have the Current Account Switch Guarantee to call upon. You need to complain with Santander about this.

Candyapple

Did you not receive a letter from Santander in the post about your switch? When I switched last year to them I did and it clearly mentioned about what was involved in the switch and that my old account would be closed.

They would also have given you the date the switch was due to happen and what to do if you wanted to cancel it.

tiger_eyes

the-baby-beatbox wrote: »

I have filed a formal complaint with Natwest regarding this matter, and they have advised me that Santander set up the payments incorrectly, thus resulting in two of my loan payments being missed. This is over £360 that I simply do not have the funds to pay in one go.

No judgement, but just to make sure I understand the situation - due to Santander's mistake, two repayments for your Natwest loan were missed and the money was never taken from your account? If you can't afford to catch up on the missed payments, what happened to that money? Was it spent?

I fear Santander and Natwest may both argue that since the money wasn't debited, you should still have it and it shouldn't be a problem to catch up on the missed payments. They may also argue that if £360 is a significant amount to you, you should (or even must) have noticed that you had an extra £360 that wasn't accounted for, so you should have known not to spend it.

xylophone

Do you still have an account with Natwest?

I have read and re-read the above and still cannot make out whether your account was switched or several DDs/SOs were switched.

YorkshireBoy

The OP raises lots more questions than it asks!

Why would you think another current account would improve your credit score (which you don't have by the way...you have a credit history, and a credit rating as determined by lenders, not by the credit reference agencies who sold it to you/gave it to you as a free trial)? As it turns out, the "arrangement to pay" will likely seriously and negatively affect your credit rating for several years to come, ie exactly the opposite outcome to the original plan! It's one stop short of a default!

Where's the £360 that you thought had been paid off your loan? Looks like you've spent it on something else! If you can't now afford to repay this in one go it shows your finances are so tight you MUST have realised you'd too much money in your Santander account...surely!?

Why didn't you read the switching form you signed to say you'd read and understood at Santander? That would have told you the NatWest account would be closed, and also what to do about any debit balance on the account on switch date.

Anthorn

My reply is short and probably not so sweet.

Agree with Colsten, if Santander switched the account to them then it's because you agreed to it.

If you have proof that Santander messed up then they are responsible for the money you have lost but probably not a loss of reputation. It's part of the switch guarantee.

Lastly, only credit can improve credit so a bank account without an overdraft will most likely not work in that respect.

the-baby-beatbox

Wow –!overwhelming response is that I've been naive, and that's true to be honest. I've been really clueless and it's landed me in a whole lot of trouble.

The reason I wanted the new account was more of a personal thing, so that I could see myself in the positive and chip away at the debt. Constantly seeing negative numbers in your bank account can be damaging and it was getting to me, so this was a better way of helping me sleep at night.

Thanks for advise RE switch guarantee –!that's definitely something worth pursuing.

Yes - I did sign the form, and yes I did agree to 'switch' but my issue is that I was told in certain terms that my account with NW would remain open and my overdraft would remain. The advisor knew my exact situation when he set up this account. I know this makes me stupid, because I should have read more and been better but I wasn't and now I'm in a pickle.

RE the arrangement to pay - I was told by NW that as long as I stick to it and pay every month then it will be removed from my credit file or credit history or whatever it is when the full amount has been paid. Is this incorrect?

So I suppose it is all down to stupidity and that's the answer to my question.

Candyapple

the-baby-beatbox wrote: »

Wow –!overwhelming response is that I've been naive, and that's true to be honest. I've been really clueless and it's landed me in a whole lot of trouble.

The reason I wanted the new account was more of a personal thing, so that I could see myself in the positive and chip away at the debt. Constantly seeing negative numbers in your bank account can be damaging and it was getting to me, so this was a better way of helping me sleep at night.

Thanks for advise RE switch guarantee –!that's definitely something worth pursuing.

Yes - I did sign the form, and yes I did agree to 'switch' but my issue is that I was told in certain terms that my account with NW would remain open and my overdraft would remain. The advisor knew my exact situation when he set up this account. I know this makes me stupid, because I should have read more and been better but I wasn't and now I'm in a pickle.

RE the arrangement to pay - I was told by NW that as long as I stick to it and pay every month then it will be removed from my credit file or credit history or whatever it is when the full amount has been paid. Is this incorrect?

So I suppose it is all down to stupidity and that's the answer to my question.

Oh dear.

AP is on par with a default/ccj/6+ late payments in that lenders will not touch you until it has gone which is 6yrs after the registered date (usually 3yrs show on a/c history with CRA's)

A/P is a bad thing don't be fooled by the myth that lenders see it as a good sign, they do not!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1626051

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5175225

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4475265

ceredigion

Your defaults will remain on your credit file, will remain for six years.
If you are/ were looking for tea and sympathy post on the debt free want a be pages. Most on here are financially savvy and don't suffer fools gladly.