JemnvNatWest Business

[Jemn]

I am at the stage of asking for my fees back from Nat West.
I have recieved my bank statements and at the same time a letter from Nat West stating that they will only consider unpaid fees and paid referral fees for a refund. "Any payment would be made as a gesture of goodwill notwithstanding that we retain the view that our charges are fair, reasonable and transparent."
i am considering claiming overdraft interest but it seems complicated from what I have read.
So far so good but I am confused by;

"Unfortunately, following the decision in OFT v Abbey and others 2008, it is no longer advisable to reclaim charges from business accounts." posted by Johnni2bad in the template library, A guide to Business Claims 15/07/2007
which suggests that business accounts cannot reclaim and
FT v Abbey and others April 2008 - what this means for you
posted by Zootscoot 24/04/2008
which seems to contradict.
(Sorry I tried to 'Insert a link' but am not allowed to because I have not made five posts, which I have!)

Excellent site but I think I was less confused before, I will continue reading... only been here for 14 hours!

[MARTIN3030]

Thanks YB

Jemn Welcome to the site.Have moved your thread here.
There are still some results with Business claims much as depended on the Courts - That is to say there are differences of opinion.
Have a read through the recent stuff here.The ruling for historical charges based on older terms and conditions has still not been handed down-quite a few claims are awaiting this.Would be good to have a general outline of your claim-dates from and to-whether account open/closed and some figures.
Feel free to ask if you want things explaining further.
Read Tifos posts here - its also NatWest Business.


tifo v NatWest (business account)

[Jemn]

I am about to send the second letter it is a live account so I am in the process of setting up a parachute account.
The charges are for the last seven years and amount to just over £2000 without any interest added. I was thinking that I would settle for this if they pay straight away - (longshot) and add overdraft interest and 8% interest when it goes to court. I may have another try at working out some interest to add though.
In my letter I am considering asking for all my statements for the last 25 years, whats the chances of that? Do they even keep them? I had them all up untill 2 yrs ago and had a big clear out and they all went in the bin.. doh.
I also have two claims on the go against building societies and two credit cards and another loan company.
Gives me something to do with all this bad weather, whatever happened to global warming?

[MARTIN3030]

There was apparantly new guidance issued last year whereby there is no requirement for Banks to keep statements pre 6 years-although I wasnt aware of there being regulations of that in the first place outside the usual accounting and Tax laws.
We know that Banks do have archive account info certainly for the 6 years,and some beyond.Both Barclays and Abbey faced investigation by the Information Commissioners Office in 2006/7 following the great debate over whether Microfiche archive fell within the Data Protection Act -the Information Commissioners Office ruled that it did.I know these 2 in particular are now problematic in this area if you ask for pre 6.But your case looks simple enough and yes you should apply for them-in the usual way by S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) enclosing the fee.

As regards your question - yes there is still a good case for those relying on older terms and conditions that were running until the banks hastily changed them.Generally its thought most of this was 18 months ago-so a good case or better case for charges pre Early 2007.

I would guess that they wont agree to settle 100% out of court-its not something we have seen-and by the book they arent obliged to look at the stat 8% interest since thats discretionary of the Court and cant be enforced where no claim has been lodged and accepted by the Court.
Anyway keep us posted.The ruling on historical terms is not expected any day soon-so gives you time to get the ball rolling.

[yourbank]

The likelyhood of getting data back to 1991 with NatWest is very high. I won't go into statements for the last 17 years because that IMHO is not a full S.A.R - (Subject Access Request).

[Jemn]

Have received two replies to my request for return of fees from Nat West, the first saying it will take 4-6 weeks to process my claim due to the amount of work involved and the second a couple of days later (not so much work after all?) offering part payment.
Have sent my letter accepting part payment and asking for full payment.
The banks contention is that their fees are for a service.

[Jemn]

I am in the process of accepting the latest offer from Nat West which is aprox 75% the amount requested.
I have two other cases going through the courts and feel that this case will be stayed, there still seems to be a lot of uncertainty about business claims.
Part of me wants to continue with court action but.... "a bird in the hand... etc" (even if it is only 75% of the bird!)