Sent debt letter today, what do I have to pay?

hodders

I got a letter from Natwest today, saying I am £253 overdrawn.

I haven't used this account in 9 years and I am paperless but can't remember my log on details.

I have rung them today and apparently in Sep 2014 a £36 transaction was made, therefore putting me in my overdraft.

They have offered to waive £200, but I said I still wasn't happy and I am waiting a call back from complaints.

They can't tell me what the £36 was, so I am not sure if it was me or fraud.

I said I would pay the £36 just so I can close the account, where do I stand with this?

agrinnall

I think if the facts support their case then they have been pretty generous waiving the £200. However, I would decline to pay anything until they show you some detail of the £36 transaction and you can decide whether it is one that you made (perhaps by mistake using the wrong card), in which case you should pay £36 + £53, or if it wasn't made by you in which case you should pay nothing.

Edit: I think TheShape is right, it's actually £36 + £17 that is being asked for.

GingerBob_3

Also, check if they've blacklisted you at the CRAs - they probably will have done.

TheShape

They want you to pay £53 total?

If the £36 transaction was made by yourself, then £17 of overdraft charges for 2 years sounds like a very fair offer.

eset12345

of course they can tell you what the transaction was for, they are obligated to keep transaction data for 6 years, if they cant tell you, then they have no proof that a debt exists and you should tell then to jog on.

tell them you want a statement issued to show the transaction and any interest and charges applied to the account.

lstar337

hodders wrote: »

I haven't used this account in 9 years

hodders wrote: »

apparently in Sep 2014 a £36 transaction was made

hodders wrote: »

I am not sure if it was me or fraud.

Surely it has to be?

alanq

If the account hasn't been used for 9 years and a transaction took place 2 years ago then the account would have been inactive for around 7 years and should have been dormant and no transactions should have been possible. Could the account have been closed many years back and the account number issued to a new customer?

Natwest Forum 2014 (now in Google Cache)
"We normally class an account as dormant after 5 years of inactivity. If we don't receive a response from the customer within 3 months of us writing to them, the account will be closed and the balance transferred to the central holding account (which you can claim back). In this case, you will need to open a new account, as the previous one has been closed."
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9IHD35IZW5gJ:http://communities.natwest.com/t5/Current-Accounts/How-to-reactivate-a-Dormant-account/td-p/31187%2Binactive+account+closure+dormant&gbv=1&hl=en&ct=clnk

hodders

They have just rang and are happy for me to pay £36 and then close the account.

Apparently it was a point of sale transaction and that is all they can say.

I remembered I did put some coins in the account as Nationwide wouldn't accept more than 2 bags and Natwest would accept all of them. So I probably did use my card to spend the money in it.