Natwest - First reply to initial request

Sophieb_2

Hi All,

New to the forum - but hope you can help.

I recently contacted Natwest using the MSE advice and requested information of all charges on my account, enclosing the fee of £10.

I received a reply yesterday requesting/ stating the following.

1: My signature does not match their records (I need to go into a branch with my passport or driving license) and also send them a hard copy.

2: That the purpose of my request is unclear - and that I need to call them to discuss the information that I am looking for.

I sense that this is an attempt to prolong and hinder the process. Has anyone else experienced similar? Upon calling them is it best to say that I would like a list of all charges on my account?

Currently have £5000 debt that I am slowly tackling. Would really appreciate any advice.

With thanks
Sophie

Mersey_2

1. may be true.


2. maybe you didn't request dates in your request?


But essentially if you are in current financial hardship, you may be able to reclaim recent bank charges (especially if they're contributing to the situation).

Nearlyold

Your request is unclear, are you asking for details of charges they have actually levied on your account or are you asking for their tariff of charges ie details of their fees although you may not paid any of those fees. You need to make it clear what you want and for what dates.

Please remember you cannot just "claim back" historical charges that were correctly applied for not running your account properly eg bounced DD, exceeding overdraft fees etc. - as Mersey alludes to, if you are in current genuine financial hardship you can ask the bank for a goodwill gesture though the form that this might take is at the discretion of the bank. Since the banks won the court case on bank charges you are not going to get back years of charges unless they were incorrectly applied.

If you are actually referring to charges for a packaged bank account that you believe was miss sold to you, just send in a complaint with your complaint reasons.

They are not trying to hinder you or prolong the process they are just wanting to clarify what it is you want and why, in order to deal with it correctly

Nasqueron

Doing a DSAR for a list of all your charges was, sadly, a waste of £10, you will never get back historical charges, the court ruling in 2009 established the fees were fair and correctly applied.

If you are in current financial hardship you should simply have spoken to the hardship team at the bank about your situation and they can apply one (or more) of several approaches to help you get out of a spiral of debt such as refunding up to 6 months of recent charges or freezing future charges to help you get out of the cycle.

Banks will look at your spending habits and if you are in genuine hardship (not spending on eating out, expensive mobile bills, Sky TV etc) then they will help

See below link

http://personal.natwest.com/personal/life-moments/Struggling-financially.html