NatWest refusing access to account

Sipaldi

Hi All,
I have had money in a reward reserve account at nat west which I have not touched for 10 years or so. I recently decided to purchase a new vehicle with it and as I have a current account and savings account with the YB I wished to transfer it across.
I took a morning off work on Monday and went to my nearest branch several miles away. With me I had my statements, driving licence, utility bills etc etc. After standing in line for 30 minutes I was told by the cashier she could not help and I was to go across and queue again for customer services. Another 20 minutes and I was finally where I should be.
The young lady said no problem, checked all my documents and I correctly answered the security questions. Then she disappeared and returned with a lengthy form to go through. We did this and she disappeared again this time emerging with the manageress. I was then told they could not transfer my funds into my YB account as I did not have a card and pin. I explained the account did not come with a card and pin. She said sorry, you need to call the customer services centre. A full morning wasted I returned to work with nothing achieved.
The following morning I began the lengthy process on the telephone. I was passed from one person to another. I then ended up with a manager who said he could help and would process the transfer for me. I went through all the security for the third time only to be told he could not finalise the transaction as the system was not allowing him to do so. He asked if I would like to be passed through to complaints and I said yes. Again, the person in the complaints dept assured me they could do the transaction and apologised. Again I go through all the security clearance only to be told again at the end that they could not process my request. Again I ask why, again they do not know. I am then told to go to my nearest branch! I explained I already had and to no avail. Advisor then apologised and wished me a good day!
Left shocked with no explanation as to what is going on I rang the financial ombudsman who has now taken the case. I am told by the FSO that Nat west now have two weeks to explain themselves. Thats fine but it means losing the vehicle I was purchasing as the deal offered will end.
Yesterday, as I am left anxious and annoyed I again rang nat west to again ask why my funds are being withheld from me. The advisor in customer complaints refused to discuss anything whatsoever with me as I had reported them to the FSO. She was extremely ignorant and obnoxious.
Do I have any options here other than awaiting the response from Nat west? A friend of mine insists its a clear matter of theft and I should report it to the Police?

elsien

Rather than transferring the money over, what can't you just close the account and so it that way?

StokieBecks

Sounds like potentially the account is dormant if it hasn't been touched for ten years and something in your ID checks doesn"t match what the bank have on record for you.

eskbanker

Sipaldi wrote: »

Do I have any options here other than awaiting the response from Nat west? A friend of mine insists its a clear matter of theft and I should report it to the Police?

Your friend is talking rubbish and you should ignore this 'advice' and get better friends.

Sipaldi wrote: »

Left shocked with no explanation as to what is going on I rang the financial ombudsman who has now taken the case. I am told by the FSO that Nat west now have two weeks to explain themselves.

While the experience is undoubtedly frustrating, you've been premature to escalate to FOS without going through the NatWest complaints process, i.e. getting a formal complaint properly logged and into their system for handling. In general, you can escalate a complaint to FOS after a bank hasn't adequately resolved your complaint within eight weeks and it's not uncommon for banks to be even less cooperative once the matter is with FOS.

Sipaldi

I initially asked to close the account and assumed they would simply give me a cheque which I could walk up the road with and deposit in the YB. They said they do not do that anymore.

They advised both in branch and on the telephone that my security credentials were fine. Still at the same address and the account I wish to transfer too is also my same details. It just does not make any sense and I am really aggrieved by it all.

Sipaldi

ESKBANKER,
I am old school and all this nonsense with nat west has infuriated me.

I am unaware how the procedure works. I had spoken to complaints dept twice who could not help. I then googled what to do next and the FOS option appeared. The lady there advised me she had made contact with nat west and they had two weeks to respond.

If, at any point, nat west had pointed out an issue to me I would have been pleased to be able to work through it. As it stands nobody has offered any explanation whatsoever which I find disgusting.

18cc

You need to make a formal complain to Natwest. make sure you tell them it is a formal complaint. Google how to do it - it I were you I would do it in writing ie by post. Keep it simple not rambling - you have an account and have been refused access to the money in it - what do you need to do to regain access.

As esk says, they have 8 weeks to reply. If you reach an impasse you get deadlock letter and then you can go to the FOS. Most banks reply pretty quickly to be fair - much less than 8 weeks.

The account may or may not be dormant - theit website says 15 years.

https://personal.natwest.com/personal/current-accounts/dormant-accounts.html

xylophone

You have had an extremely frustrating experience and it is hard to explain NatWest's lack of co-operation, in so far as it seems that you have satisfied the security/identity requirements.

I suppose it is possible that an account untouched (credit/debit) for ten years may have gone dormant and so be subject to some delay in respect of access - however, if this is the case, one would have expected that this explanation would have been given.

Is there any possibility of using a credit card/other means for your purchase while the problem with the NatWest account is resolved?

Flobberchops

Banks have to tread a fine line between giving customers access to their money and keeping their money safe. From the staff reactions you've had so far it sounds like there is some kind of restriction or awareness alert placed on your account which they're only encountering after having started the transaction with every reasonable belief and expectation that it would be successful.



It's frustrating that they're not giving you a straight answer, and disappointing nobody in branch is taking ownership of it. Customer service helplines frequently have to ask customers to visit a branch as they have greater ability to view ID, witness signatures etc, so when the reverse happens, i.e. branch tells you to speak to customer services, you get the suspicion they're passing the buck.


As mentioned previously, the next step would be to open a complaint. The Financial Ombudsman may reject your claim at this point when they learn you haven't yet used that channel to resolve things, I'm not sure. You should stop listening to your friend, however, as it quite flatly is not theft and the police will have no interest in this case. They haven't stolen your money, they're restricting your access to it, and I guarantee this will be in line with the banking agreement which you signed.

xylophone

I saw this (dated 2014)

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2014/09/5-million-rbs--natwest-savers-to-be-switched-to-low-paying-accounts/

Everyone with the following accounts – which are no longer available for new customers – will be moved to the Instant Saver:............


Reward Reserve (current saving rate, including all interest rewards – 0.10% AER on balances up to £1,999, 0.70% AER on £2,000 to £24,999. 0.75% AER on £25,000 to £49,999 and 0.80% AER on £50,000+)

What do NatWest and RBS say?

An RBS and NatWest spokesperson says: "We want to be a bank that customers can trust, so, we're striving to make saving with us simple and fair.

"We've removed old ISA accounts already and we will remove old savings accounts to ensure that all of our existing customers will get the same rates as new customers

I wonder whether the OP's problems stem from the process described above?

Sipaldi

Thanks for the replies,
As for the formal complaint, I have written and sent a complaint online. The staff refuse to discuss anything with myself as I have started a case against the bank. As I say, I still have absolutely no idea what the issue is. I have had several employees say they will call me, even from the bank when I visited monday morning, nobody has called me.
As I say, I have had no contact from anyone at the bank and still no idea why my funds are being held from myself. I have never had any financial issues , bad debt, etc etc.