I have been refunded but what if the charges keep on going?

[367squadron]

Hi,

I was refunded my overdraft charges from NatWest a few months ago but i still keep getting a charge from them.

What would you reccommend to do as i have been on the phone with NatWest and they won't waiver the charge. I have been in touch with Natwest over the past few weeks and there are sorting me out my otherdrafts etc and have said they will try and keep me in the clear. They did waiver one charge that day i went to see a member of staff. So this month with my wages i have been carefull and saved approx £50 therefore liasing with Natwest. On Friday i went to Leeds for a night out and surprisingly i noticed a £60 charge from Natwest - this is for 2*in the month where they have had to pay a direct debit for me. This has now moved me past my overdraft limit and they will charge me another £28 for a charge that they took in the first place.

Altogether £88 is a tenth of my wage and i can't afford to be paying this every month.

Has anyone got any ideas as to what i should do to get a refund?

Could i just send another letter to ask for a refund even though to get it in the first place i had to sign something that i think said i won't claim again.

Thanks for you time.

[thunderpuss2k]

Originally Posted by 367squadron

Could i just send another letter to ask for a refund even though to get it in the first place i had to sign something that i think said i won't claim again.

Check the wording of what you signed very carefully. If you said you'd never claim your bank charges back again, then I guess you're a bit stuck (sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong). Stupid question, but if your DDs are being paid without you having enough funds, why don't you just cancel your DDs for the time being and pay things manually? If you can't afford to pay them, that's a whole different kettle of fish.

[lookinforinfo]

Basically it doesn't matter what you subsequently signed. If the Court takes the view that the charges are penalties, then they are unenforceable and the contract
is unlawful regardless of how often the bank gets you to sign another deal.

However if you prefer to stay with your bank, then you may have to try and come
to some agreement with them. Something along the lines of...I am not prepared
to pay your excessive charges, but I accept that I cannot continue to dispute them with impunity.As I don't want to change banks, I would like to come to
an agreement over future charges. Come up with an acceptable rate, make it
confidential if you wish, and I will pay those agreed charges without complaint-
and I won't attempt to reclaim them-ever. .

[StoneLaughter]

As lookinforinfo says, you can sign any document you like, but if there's a law that contradicts that document it's unenforceable.

So you saying "I waive the right to challenge future charges" doesn't make it so; you have a cast iron right IN LAW to challenge unlawful penalties and your signature cannot take that right away.

[367squadron]

thanks guys, i will definetly persue this.

I am currently looking into another bank account. Is it possible to transfer over drafts as i have a £600 overdraft with NatWest and this was the only thing making me stay as i thought i would have to pay it back first but if you can transfer it i suppose it's well worth doing. I just don't want the bank to put a note on my credit file either.

What accounts would you reccommend and who with? Bear in mimd my credit rating isn't very good.

[StoneLaughter]

So long as you're offered an overdraft facility on the new account, while you can't "transfer an overdraft" you can pay off one account from another...