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This morning, I received a debt collection letter for around £445 regarding a very old bank account with the Royal Bank of Scotland. I was rather confused as I haven't used it for years and years, I'm not even sure when I opened it. After many phonecalls, it turns out I opened a Gold Account, or some such, and the debt is the monthly fee for such an account. Unfortunately, it being such an old account and I having moved possibly 5 times since opening it, I have just one statement left, which details nothing of the sort, just a balance of £4.67. Do anyone have any advice for me and do I have any legal standpoint for refuting the charges?
Cheers,
Sarah
Re: Old account charges - where do I stand on these?
Hi sqauralina, welcome on board!
I've asked for further advice in relation to your post, as normally - the monthly fee charged by RBoS is not recoverable as it's a fee for a genuine service.
However, could I just ask:
1. Roughly how many years ago did you open the account?
2. Roughly how long ago did you last use it?
3. Have you spoken with RBoS/any DCA with regards to the debt?
4. Have you had any previous written communication from RBoS?
5. Did you ever formally close the account/verbally request it's closure?
6. When is the last time payment was made on the account? If it was over 6 years (5 years in Scotland) the account is statute barred.
Post back and hopefully we can support you to sort this out.
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Re: Old account charges - where do I stand on these?
Its hard to say, it's been so long but:
1) maybe 5 years ago? I have one statement from 2004 and i remember getting statements with the same price and thinking 'blimey I haven't used this for ages'
2)see above i think
3) I called them to ask about it as I couldn't think of any reason for it and this is how I found out about it. The woman suggested offering the debt collection agency a set amount or talking to head office about it - specifically about what I can't remember, possibly similar.
4) No
5)No, I forgot about it for ages and ages
6)I don't know about the last payment, however I think I opened it in 2002/2003, *possibly* earlier, so not within the period.
My reasons for querying the possibility of contesting it were that I hadn't had any previous warning from them, any queries about why I was allowing this to happen and also that I'm surprised, despite being 17-19 when opening it and therefore pretty foolish and blase about things, that I opened that particular account with a charge.
Thankyou for replying, I've had other people suggest I get a copy of the contract details to confirm I did open that account - probably redundant but I may well still.
Old account charges - where do I stand on these?
letter for around £445 regarding a very old bank account with the Royal Bank of Scotland
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