Natwest Card Fraud Refund Issues

chris73

On 14th March, I received a letter from Nat West Fraud department asking me to check the recent transactions on my credit card. I hadn't used the card for nearly a year so I was immediately concerned by the letter and sure enough I logged into my account and found two transactions (19th Feb & 26th Feb) which I didn't recognise and which totaled just over £3600. There was also a £12 charge added by Natwest as an over limit fee since the transactions took the total above my credit limit.

I immediately contacted the Fraud Dept using the information on the letter, and confirmed both the transactions as fraudulent, at that point I was also told of another attempted transaction on 3rd March which they had blocked and which had triggered them sending the letter, I hadn't made that one either.

They then confirmed that they now had all of the details that they needed and that the transactions would be refunded within 5 days, they also mentioned sending a letter to me to sign in order to confirm the details. As of typing this, I haven't had a refund, nor had the letter which they wanted me to sign and return.

On 18th March, a Direct Debit was taken out of my Bank Account to cover the £3600+ balance on my Natwest Credit Card, despite them being reported as Fraudulent 4 days earlier. I found an article online which said that although investigating card fraud may take a "reasonable" amount of time, interest shouldn't be charged and payment shouldn't be requested by the card issuer until proof of liability was determined and provided. However Natwest decided to take their payment on 18th March, before any conclusion has been reached.

I contacted the Executive Office stating that it was two weeks since the fraud was reported and making an official complaint regarding the balance on the card being settled prior to any investigation being concluded, and telling them that I wanted the £3600 restoring to my Bank Account whilst the matter is still under investigation..

This was met with a reply from the Executive Office, stating that my complaint had been received, apologising for me being mislead by the amount of time it would take to investigate and refund the transactions and stating that it would probably take a further ten days for them to investigate my complaint. Needless to say, the £3600 hasn't been refunded to my Bank Account.

So my first question, is it ok for them to collect payment for Fraudulent Transactions from me after they have been reported and before any investigation has been concluded?, and my second question is if not, how can I get them to refund it?.

I don't really care how long it takes them to investigate the transactions, provided they are just a balance on the card statement, its the fact that i'm now £3600 out of pocket for card payments I didn't make whilst they drag their heels investigating, which could take at least another 10 days.

I've also reported it to Action Fraud and passed on the Crime Number to Natwest on my complaint to the Exec Office.

grumbler

No, it's not OK. Keep demanding the refund ASAP and a from now on a compensation as well.

PeacefulWaters

Way beyond reasonable now.

I agree with Grumbler.

eskbanker

Maybe worth trying the FOS? Although their standard processes are all about waiting for final responses and eight-week cycles, if your fundamental issue with the bank is their failure to act in a timely way then they may be willing to get involved - nothing to lose by trying....

the_insider

Going by the dates you've provided it was probably too late for them to stop the direct debit from being taken, the cogs usually start turning 5 working days before the payment is collected.
Contact your bank and ask for the refund through direct debit indemnity rather than waiting for the card to be refunded. Even if they do refund it today you could be waiting as long as 30 days for the 'credit balance refund' to make its way back to you. A refund on the card won't necessarily be returned to the bank account.

chris73

I've just logged into my Natwest card account and overnight a new statement has arrived, showing the fraudulent transactions now appearing as a credit, and my card account £3613,04 in Credit - which was the original balance taken by direct debit. I'm guessing that the investigation has finally been completed and the fraudulent transactions credited.

Now the problem begins, in getting that £3613 credit back into my Bank Account. I will contact my bank and ask for a refund under the Direct Debit indemnity as advised. Thanks for all of the advice.

chattychappy

This is a reason why I never agree to DDs. It will be interesting to see how you get on with the so-called guarantee. Hopefully there won't be an issue as it seems the CC accepts the transactions as fraud. Certainly for those with DDs, I would cancel them at the first sign of something like this happening.

I read on another thread that where a DD is taken in a situation such as this, the DD guarantee doesn't help because from the CC's point of view, the monies weren't taken in error.

You may wish to check your credit file to see is anything negative was reported for the overlimt.... In my case, I got a "missed payment" marker because £6800 went through on a dormant card whilst I was abroad. I saw the statement when I returned.