Forgotten Account, how do I find it?

[OFI]

Hi, I intend to make 2 claims for returning my penalty charges one with my current bank NatWest and one with my previous bank Nationwide.
Whilst the NatWest claim should be straight forward as it is in use the Nationwide account has been closed for a year or so.
The Nationwide account was closed after I missed a DD to a company who then emailed me to say the DD had been missed. I then paid them over the phone using my Debit Card.
At the time I had just moved and had not updated my Nationwide account details as they refused to give me a debit card even after I had stayed with them 6 months (which they requested) with my wages going into the account each month, the wages being far above the required amount to be acceptable for the card.
So anyway because of this I didn't receive any of the statements telling me the DD had allowed me to go overdrawn, which resulted in me being charged over £400 for missing a £12.99 DD and then having my account closed (after months of paying the debt off, which I struggled with at first as the fines each month were higher than I could afford to pay off! so had to have the fines frozen however it was too late)

So really this story is pretty long now..

But what I want to know is how do I find out my account number for that account? I have moved 3 times since the address they have on account, I can't think of any way to prove I lived at any of the addresses I have on their record (other than perhaps the original address on the account) and I no longer have any statements.

Lastly, is it reasonable to expect these charges back? I haven't checked my credit history yet but I am pretty sure the whole Nationwide ordeal has destroyed my credit history as I can't get ANYTHING on credit anymore and £400+ charges for missing one DD seems a tad excessive.

[buzby]

Send a Subject Access Request to the bank - giving all the addresses they knew you were at. It is up to them to find the accounts and provide you with data on ALL the accounts you have with the, You can then calculate your penalty chanrges and seek a refund.

	Subject Access Request A Subject Access Request is a demand which you can make to any organisation to disclose any personal information which they hold on you. The right to disclosure of data is provided by the Data Protection Act. There is no time limit. The organisation is obliged to reveal everything they have about you - which you ask for - as far back as you ask for. There are very few exceptions. It does not matter whether the data is held on microfiche, in an archive, on tape, in a cardex system, in sound recordings or in screen notes. Some companies are saying that they do not have to disclose where it would be difficult to do so - "disproportionate effort". This is untrue. Disproportionate effort refers to something else under the Act. If you are seeking bank charges information then you should ask for "all data held on you" and you should make it clear that you want everything as far back as it goes. Do not be put off by excuses. Do not accept being fobbed off. It is not in your bank's interest to make full disclosure to you. This means that it is in your interests to get it. If you have not started gathering your bank charges information yet, then you should start now. There will soon be a big rush once the OFT test case has been settled. Get all of your bank account informtion as far back as possible. At least as far back as 1995. If your bank says that they don't keep data as far back as this, don't accept it. Be persistent. They've got what you need in some form or other.

[OFI]

But couldn't they just return a letter saying I haven't provided sufficient evidence to prove I am who I say I am. Which would be quite true with the Data Protection Act rules etc.

[buzby]

An inability to provide an account number is not a reason to withold your data undaer a Subject Access Request. You could easily prove your identity to any branch they nominate (local to you) by showing a Driving Licence and or Passport. Make the request, and let the bank worry about compliance.

	Subject Access Request A Subject Access Request is a demand which you can make to any organisation to disclose any personal information which they hold on you. The right to disclosure of data is provided by the Data Protection Act. There is no time limit. The organisation is obliged to reveal everything they have about you - which you ask for - as far back as you ask for. There are very few exceptions. It does not matter whether the data is held on microfiche, in an archive, on tape, in a cardex system, in sound recordings or in screen notes. Some companies are saying that they do not have to disclose where it would be difficult to do so - "disproportionate effort". This is untrue. Disproportionate effort refers to something else under the Act. If you are seeking bank charges information then you should ask for "all data held on you" and you should make it clear that you want everything as far back as it goes. Do not be put off by excuses. Do not accept being fobbed off. It is not in your bank's interest to make full disclosure to you. This means that it is in your interests to get it. If you have not started gathering your bank charges information yet, then you should start now. There will soon be a big rush once the OFT test case has been settled. Get all of your bank account informtion as far back as possible. At least as far back as 1995. If your bank says that they don't keep data as far back as this, don't accept it. Be persistent. They've got what you need in some form or other.