It was the sudden and abrupt closure of my six-year-old current account without giving any reason, which triggered my troubles with the Royal Bank of Scotland. The bank then demanded an immediate clearance of my overdraft
amount which was strictly within the sanctioned limit. I expressed my inability to clear the entire sum of over £ 2000 in one go. Following an observation of the Financial Ombudsman
Service that the bank should give me sufficient time to repay my OD limit, I was advised by the Credit Control Department of Royal Bank of Scotland to pay the OD in instalments. It was mutually agreed that I will clear the overdraft in equal instalments of £ 200 per month.
I abided by the agreement from my side and continued paying the instalments regularly till the time the overdraft was reduced to zero. The last instalment was paid in May 2007. Thereafter complete silence prevailed from the side of Royal Bank of Scotland. I was never ever contacted by any official of the Royal Bank of Scotland either by phone, by letter or by e-mail. I was under the impression that the OD has been paid off and nothing is due. Needless to mention that I still maintain a RBSGold Credit Card with a reasonable credit limit, with all the payments up to date with my correct and current mailing address on the files of Royal Bank of Scotland. On 29th September 2007, I received a notice from Regal Credit Consultants Ltd. informing me that I owe a sum of £ 449.34 to Royal Bank of Scotland and the case is now being handled by this debt collection
agency. I protested against the same seeking clarification as to why was a debt collection agency involved, when I am responding to all calls and fully cooperating with RBS Credit Control team making all efforts to clear the outstanding amounts. I was then informed by RBS Head Office (Over telephone) that Royal Bank of Scotland tried to contact me at my old home address and failed to get hold of me. I was accused of not informing Royal Bank of Scotland of my change of address which resulted in their failure to contact me. I replied that my current up to date address is available in your record as all my RBS Credit Card statements come to my new home address. I was told that the credit card department is separate from the Current Account Department and the Credit Control Department of Royal Bank of Scotland has recorded a default due to my failure to respond to their attempts to contact me. In short, without being given a chance to clear whatever was left of the outstanding OD amount, a default was recorded on my credit history at Experian and other credit rating agencies.
Following the receipt of a notice from Regal Credit Consultants Ltd., I immediately cleared the outstanding amount. This amount was paid on the same day on which I received a notice i.e. 29th September 2007. Now the problem is my credit history. I rang RBS Head office and spoke to a customer relations officer and explained the whole situation to him. He refused to help me on this account saying that the default recorded on my credit history was correct at the time of recording and will not be removed by Royal Bank of Scotland for the next six years. I protested against the same, but to no avail.
Then I wrote a letter to the RBS Customer Relations Manager on 24th October 2007 narrating all the events as detailed above. In reply I received a letter from the customer relations team of RBOS dated 15th November 2007 informing me that they are not willing to remove the default from my credit history. In January 2008, I filed a complaint against RBS with the Federal Ombudsman’s Office which is pending till today. My credit file has a blot of a default which has been settled ages ago. But every time, I apply for any financial deal, I get refused because of a default present on my credit history.
Is there a way out? Can anybody help?
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