HELP!! Student bank account closed by NatWest!!!

KiliTom

Hi there,

I have just received a letter telling me my student account with Natwest will be closed within 7 days.
I am baffled. To be fair I am overdrawn up to the maximum allowed, but every week or so I squash it down again.
I have loads of friends who do the same. Ironically I was just going to give my account a financial injection of a few grand, releasing part of a capital bond i've got.
I had my cards swallowed last week, asked the bank what had happened, they told me my cards had been cancelled, so i ordered new ones. have been withdrawing money with my passport ever since.

a few weeks back i was scammed, i wanted to rent a room out to some girl from SA (long story), she sent me a bankers draft, it looked dodgy, i had it checked at my local branch. obviously a fake, i had to sign something, never heard of them since, could this be the reason???

all in all I am outraged that all they Natwest gives me is seven days.

I will complain about this. Now my other question: how easy is it to open a new bank account, i am in my fourth year (of 5). even if it isn't a student account, i just need something with a card i can also use abroad...
regards

taless

Sorry to hear what happened.

Yes, do complain to Natwest and see if they can reinstate your account.

Before applying for a new account, do check your credit report first, especially Experian's. You can get a free trial for a month if you haven't had that before. With that report in your mind, you shall be able to decide if you want to aim for a student account (higher credit rating), normal current account or a basic bank account. I believe most bank accounts now allow you to use your card abroad, including those basic bank accounts like LTSB.

All the best, and do let us know how your battle with Natwest goes.

Gillianh2

HI
I would go into your Branch and ask for a full explanation as to why they have closed your account. I know its in the T&C's but if you havent actually broken any of the T&C you shoul have a proper explanation.
You should check your credit file before applying for another Bank Account to see which way the land lies.
First Port of Call is to call into your Local Branch.

BTW I know how difficult NatWest can be short story we had to deal with them to sort out a joint account where one eldery person had died and the other had never used the account and was also housebound. They were worse than usless. However went to a smaller branch and they were fantastic.
So if you dont get the answers at the first branch try a smaller branch. They seem more helpful.

KiliTom

Hi,
cheers for the answers.
They have closed it down now and put it on default for 28days. got no reason as to why, commercial reasons they claim. have applied for basic bank accounts as nobody will accept me with an overdraft that high.

I am going to pay the overdraft off within their timelimt, so no worries there, bloody crapwest, but does anyone know, how i go from here CLAIMING BACK charges. I won't leave this alone without getting something out of it. Is it possible then, even if the account is closed to claim back bank charges?

and when i have paid off that default (£1800) in the next few weeks, will my credit score go up a bit again??
cheerio

olly300

KiliTom I suspect the bankers draft is the reason as banks don't have to report dodgy goings on to the police anymore if they don't want to.

However I strongly suggest you write a letter to Natwest Customer Services asking information in writing why they closed your account down with 7 days notice, and state that you will refer the case to the financial ombudsman as under the banking code they should give you 30 calendar days to move your account elsewhere. http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/48/banking-closing-accounts.htm

Also state in the letter how much money it has cost you to move your bank account in such a short time. Send the letter by recorded delivery so they can't deny they didn't get it.

If Natwest doesn't give you a proper response you need follow their complaint procedure in writing and then escalate to the financial ombudsman.

Yes you can reclaim your bank charges you need to go to here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/ and search and post on the reclaiming bank charges board.

However reporting Natwest to the financial ombudsman for breach of the banking code at this point in time will probably be more productive as bank charges reclaims are on hold due to the OFT case.

spinningsheep

Maybe im missing a trick here, but with that bankers draft, did you actually pay it into your account, or did you ask NW to check it for you prior to paying it in? If it was the latter,surely NW have no justified reason to close your account, as they haven't even had the draft in their possession. if it was the former, surely you were not to know that it was fake, and it someone paying you, and if it was fake, all that would happen is that the funds transfer wouldn't take place right? Its not like you have tried to pay someone else with a forged draft from your account. I think ive been lucky with barclays, theyve always been noting but fair to me.

KiliTom

cheers olly300 i'll try that.
and back to the bankers draft, well it looked dodgy, so i went to my local branch. asked her to pat it in and to please double check, she didn't even look atit, paid it in, was about to give me the paying in slip, when i insisted she better double check the thingy. she said it looked like a copy,so i went why she would pay it in then? she then went away for a couple mins and came back telling me it was a fake. she handed me sth to sign and off i was. i now know it could have possibly been something important i signed there, but i just never expected anything bad to happen afterwards, me being the victim and all...