NatWest Child Trust Fund

MattC2022

xylophone said:

 NatWest social media started out looking promising, but they've just got back to me with, 'the team are extremely busy at the moment... if you want an urgent update it would be best to give the team a call...'  Not helpful unless you have 3 hours to wait on hold.  Having been asking them to call back for 2 months now, so sounds like you were lucky!

See my post above which details Natwest's process for dealing with CTF maturity.

How exactly did the process fail in your daughter's case?

She needs to give details of the failure in a formal complaint to Natwest.

Thanks - she's written to them 3 times now (tracked delivery) outlining the complaint, but no progress.  She enclosed all the certified documents they required, which they acknowledged in one letter, then asked for again in a subsequent one dated a week later.  It's just a mess as NatWest are overwhelmed with issues arising from a new investment portal that has not been subject to proper testing, as evident by the numerous complaints on their social media sites.  I accept that there will be the odd bug or two with someone new, but not to this scale.  The message 'chat' helpdesk shows '4 days to reply', but they never do.  Phoning is impossible, hence the need to resort to social media and this forum.  Hoping it prompts a response... 

xylophone

https://headoffice.center/natwest/

Try an e-mail to the CEO?

Try Paul Lewis at Money Box?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qjnv

BurnA

Jeannie03 said:

Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone else has had this issue - my daughter wrote to RBS investments to close her child trust fund and was told the funds would be in her bank account by 18 February but they haven;t been received and NatWest say the account no longer exists.

The helpline number is pointless. She has rung it five times and each time is put on hold for 59 minutes at which point it cuts her off! 5 HOURS of waiting on the phone!!! The online chat just says we will respond in 4 days! I managed to get through to a NatWest employee who gave e a different number to try but this was out of service. He said the issues are solely down to Martin Lewis encouraging people to contact them about their funds and it has caused the system to be overloaded!

Meanwhile my daughter has no money at all and we have maxed out our overdrafts trying to help her - she is currently ill with covid and is waiting to start a new job so she won't be paid for another six week. She registered a formal complaint and we have heard nothing despite marking it urgent and the online chat has responded today saying they will investigate in 10 days. 

Grateful if anyone has any other suggestions for how to pursue this matter.
Thank you! 

We are experiencing exactly the same problems and have gone down all routes: going in to branches, complaints via Natwest, RBS and now Obudsman. It is a disgrace how they can get away with this, so now I'm taking out a county court claim against them. Don't know if that will work, but my daughter needs this money for her travelling in the summer.

xylophone

Article in today's This is Money.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-10805541/My-son-turned-18-months-ago-hold-NatWest-Child-Trust-Fund.html

jch9nhotmail

My son turned 18 on the 4th feb this year I’ve not paid into the account any idea how much he should have ? He eventually received £532 from NatWest  which took so long to get online crashing constantly but my friends children of the same age that have trust funds with other banks are getting around £1800 without putting money in themselves too 🙄

Prism

jch9nhotmail said:

My son turned 18 on the 4th feb this year I’ve not paid into the account any idea how much he should have ? He eventually received £532 from NatWest  which took so long to get online crashing constantly but my friends children of the same age that have trust funds with other banks are getting around £1800 without putting money in themselves too 🙄

£250 would have been deposited by the government. Some older children will have had £500 put in.