MSE News: Hit with multiple charges after the Visa outage? Here's what to do

I attempted to transfer £2k from my Natwest account using my Visa debit card on Friday afternoon to an investment account. The payment failed so I attempted it again; it failed a second time.

I made the payment today successfully, but when I tried to make a payment of £3k to my mortgage account, it failed as I did not have enough "available funds" even though my balance was sufficient.

It seems Natwest ring-fenced £4k from the failed payments on Friday, thus leaving me with insufficient cleared funds to transfer to my mortgage.

When I called Natwest this evening, they told me that this was not their fault. Is that really true? I used their Visa Debit card and they have ring-fenced the money even though it did not transfer. They suggested that I call the recipient with the transaction numbers and ask them to refuse the payment. Surely this isn't my job to do.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.