Overdraft - defaulted

icklesurfer

I had a buffer overdraft with Natwest (just £100).

An extraordinarily large electricity bill came in (a bill that's normally paid by direct debit.) Instead of rejecting the amount due to insufficient funds the bank cleared the payment and it sent me way over my overdraft. I was obviously being charged for un-arranged fee on top of this.

I couldn't afford to pay this off, and so within 3 months the bank had issued a default against me.

I've since paid this off, it took a year in total but this was as quick as I could.

I just want to know if I have a leg to stand on in asking the bank to remove the default given that I hadn't asked for this level of credit.

(i posted this originally in the wrong board- sorry if you read it twice)

[Deleted User]

No.

Its impact will diminish over time though.

boo_star

https://personal.natwest.com/content/dam/natwest_com/currentaccounts/downloads/NWB-3-in-1-Terms.pdf

Specifically page 15 relating to unarranged overdrafts.

Natwest, like most banks, have the discretion to allow payments to go through even if they will take you into an unarranged overdraft. As you agreed to these terms when opening the account your chance of getting the default removed is basically zero.

icklesurfer

This really feels like they set you up to fail doesn't it? They could see from my salary that this would have been totally unaffordable for me to repay on demand. I called them and asked for them to extend my overdraft to the exact amount I was over, and then to reduce it on my pay day over a set time but they refused.

I simply did not have the means to repay in Natwest's timeframe.

Oh well. I think I'll write to them anyway. At this point I have nothing to lose. They've got their money back anyway so it's not like I'm making things worse. At the very least I can check the default date against my credit record.

[Deleted User]

No - it's in the terms of the account that you agreed to.

It's not their fault you didn't have the funds available to clear the balance owing on the bill.

Thrugelmir

Sounds as if your energy supplier would have defaulted you in any event. The recorded default is factual and a clear warning as to the fragility of your financial position to other users of your data.

icklesurfer

In fairness the Electricity company were very understanding. The issue at the time (and the reason that I was unable to pay the DD) was that I had a medical issue that required electrical equipment for treatment. It spiked my bill beyond my expectation. The electrical company were great in getting me on the best plan, changing my DD to an affordable amount so that I could use the equipment without concern until I could return to work properly and pay them back. They put me on an emergency list in case there were any power outages and my equipment stopped working. In all they couldn't have been more helpful. There wasn't any threat of default.

I called Natwest to advise them of these circumstances (and to offer them proof in case they didn't believe me), but I guess they just consider the money you owe and it's not really their problem how you pay it back.

I have no dispute over the amount, or that it was owed. I just feel like I haven't done anything particularly wrong here that warrants a 6 year black mark but I guess that's subjective.

Ben8282

First of all, the electricity company would have sent a bill so that you would have known about the direct debit in advance and had a chance to make provision.

You mention salary. The electricity bill can't have been for that much (what is this equipment which uses SO MUCH electricity? Were you not warned about this when the equipment was provided?) so why was the unauthorised part of the overdraft not repaid when your salary was paid into the account?

Would suggest you contact the doctor/hospital who provided this equipment to see if they can provide some NHS funding or social services/local authority funding for the electricity if the equipment really uses so much electricity that a normal person could not afford to pay for it.

boo_star

icklesurfer wrote: »

In fairness the Electricity company were very understanding. The issue at the time (and the reason that I was unable to pay the DD) was that I had a medical issue that required electrical equipment for treatment. It spiked my bill beyond my expectation. The electrical company were great in getting me on the best plan, changing my DD to an affordable amount so that I could use the equipment without concern until I could return to work properly and pay them back. They put me on an emergency list in case there were any power outages and my equipment stopped working. In all they couldn't have been more helpful. There wasn't any threat of default.

I called Natwest to advise them of these circumstances (and to offer them proof in case they didn't believe me), but I guess they just consider the money you owe and it's not really their problem how you pay it back.

I have no dispute over the amount, or that it was owed. I just feel like I haven't done anything particularly wrong here that warrants a 6 year black mark but I guess that's subjective.

You really should have phoned Natwest to cancel the DD. Obviously you would have been sent a bill for the energy usage and knew it was going to take you into an unarranged overdraft if paid. And if you thought it was going to be bounced you would have saved yourself the charge by cancelling it. You could even cancelled it on the day it came out.

[Deleted User]

icklesurfer wrote: »

I just feel like I haven't done anything particularly wrong here that warrants a 6 year black mark but I guess that's subjective.

Apart from not paying it off?

Carrot007

icklesurfer wrote: »

The issue at the time (and the reason that I was unable to pay the DD) was that I had a medical issue that required electrical equipment for treatment.

And surely you got money for this. I know people on oxygen machines do. It's all part of the NHS.