Natwest overdraft charges offer

Edwardmanchester

Hi to all, apologies if this is in the forum but I’m hoping someone with experience can help me?

I have been significantly overdrawn with Natwest for the last 10 years after being pushed into a £9k overdraft which I could never get out of due to a number of personal things that happened to me over the years. I was getting overdraft interest charges of approx £140 per month for the last 10 years which adds up to a significant amount taken by them.

I complained direct to Natwest earlier this year when I had time to do so (I have just come out of a very bad divorce with both of my parents passing away so was not in a mental state to deal with this matter).

Natwest refused my claim and said they had always acted fairly. They even at one point a few years ago called me and said that they were going to immediately remove my overdraft and turn the amount into a loan which from memory had a high interest rate.

I referred my case to the ombudsman and received an email on Friday saying that Natwest wanted to make me an offer of £2500 and remove the overdraft. I have already been able to pay off my overdraft due to a small amount of inheritance.

I strongly believe that the amount that Natwest has offered is really disproportionate to the overall amount they have taken from me which could be in the region of approx £16k.

I am speaking to the ombudsman adjudicator tomorrow and needed a bit of advice.

if I declined the offer of £2500 and asked for the matter to be investigated further, would the £2500 be safe or would you think this would be taken off the table? 

I hope someone could advise as a higher amount would enable me to really help with any remaining debt I have so I can build a debt free future for me and my son.

hope someone can help.

kindest regards

ed

dunstonh

Natwest refused my claim and said they had always acted fairly.

That kind of reaction from a bank usually indicates that the person complaining has mentioned "unfair" or words similar to that.   Banks will nearly always push back on the fairness point.

I strongly believe that the amount that Natwest has offered is really disproportionate to the overall amount they have taken from me which could be in the region of approx £16k.

It is worth noting that the bank doesn't actually have to refund a penny.   Any offer from them is a goodwill gesture.   They are encouraged under regulation and the FOS to consider current financial hardship (but not historic) and treat you fairly but the FOS cannot force them to pay more.

if I declined the offer of £2500 and asked for the matter to be investigated further, would the £2500 be safe or would you think this would be taken off the table? 

It doesn't happen often but there have been occasions that offers have been withdrawn although that tends to be more a case when the person has initially referred it to the FOS.  I wouldn't be concerned about it seeing as its already with the FOS.

I hope someone could advise as a higher amount would enable me to really help with any remaining debt I have so I can build a debt free future for me and my son.

You may get a little more.  You may not.  However, you need to be prepared to be disappointed.   It is rare (although does happen) that people get back more than the last 12 months worth or charges.   Spending habits can be an influence.  Living beyond your means tends to be get little or no refund whereas events leading to hardship (death of main wage earner for example) tend to be more favourable to getting larger amounts refunded.

Your debts appeared to have been incurred prior to divorce and death of your parents.  So, whilst the bank may well figure that charges post those events are good for refunding, it doesn't mean charges incurred before those events would be.

You can only try and you may get lucky but moving it from £2.5k to £16k would seem very unrealistic based on known refunds and the way they usually work and from what you have told us (noting that was have none of your history available on how you spent the money)

Edwardmanchester

Hi there, many thanks for your reply, it was really appreciated, my debts were basically caused by having to pay for mortgage/all bills/food etc due to ex not supporting in anyway. All transactions were not for lavish purchases or living beyond my means. I’m not under any illusion that I would get the whole amount back but will speak to the ombudsman tomorrow to agree next steps. Thanks again for taking the time to reply. I’m slowly getting myself together so knowing support is out there means a lot.

Ed 

Thrugelmir

Edwardmanchester said:

I am speaking to the ombudsman adjudicator tomorrow and needed a bit of advice.

Then you need grounds for contesting the offer. Simply not wishing pay money that is contractually owed has no traction. We'd all love to write off our debts just because we feel like it. 

Jasonsmith13

yes defiantly talk to your ombudsman

elsien

@Jasonsmith13 you’re dragging up a number of old threads for no clear reason? This one is 10 months old. Can I suggest you check any others you want to respond to? 

Ebe_Scrooge

elsien said:

@Jasonsmith13 you’re dragging up a number of old threads for no clear reason? This one is 10 months old. Can I suggest you check any others you want to respond to? 

Well, there's 1 common reason why a new user resurrects old threads simply to build their post count .......

Oh, and Jason, there's no need to be defiant about it, that won't help matters in the slightest.