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I have sent letter 2 (DPA being letter 1) which is stating my claim against Natwest. I broke down charges on spreadsheet to include charges and interest charges, with a seperate amount for interest at 8% for a total of 2106 days.
I have received response from Customer Relations person at Natwest, within 3 days of sending. Their letter outright rejects my claim for a total sum of £15825.12, this is broken down as £11135.04 in charges accrued since 24th January 2001 up till 1st November 2006. I calculated interest at 8% for a total period of 2106 days, which equates to £4690.08. I was expecting a negative response, but I am hoping for some feedback and guidance on how to proceed and continue my claim. Is there any mileage in getting a solicitor involved, or do I still pursue on my own?
Here is the correspondence below:-
"We believe that our charges are fair, reasonable and transparent. We consider that the amounts debited to your accound have been applied strictly in accordance with your agreement with us and our published tariff which, wae are satisfied, complies with all applicable laws and regulations. We are also committed to ensuring the transparency of the information we give to our customers about the operation of our products.
The bank is under no obligation to explain how its charges are calculated and we are not prepared to enter into any correspondence on this matter. The compilation is a confidential commercial matter.
We have considered the Office of Fair Trading's statement of 5 April 2006 and do not accept its findings in relation to the setting of credit card fees. We are concerned that the Office of Fair Trading has pubicly called into question the setting of charges applied to other products, including current accounts. The Office of Fair Trading restricted its investigations to credit cards and made no attempt to consult with the RBS Group or the industry in relation to other entirely different products.
Consequently, against that background, we must differ with the views you have expressed and, having reviewed your account, I can find no instance where charges have been applied when theywere not properly due. They have all been associated with a lack of covering funds int he account at the time items were presented for payment. According, the charges have been applied to your account must stand.
If you consider that there were any charges due to an error by the bank, please provide details and I shall gladly undertake further investigation on your behalf.
Within the schedule you provided, you are also seeking the return of the interest that you have paid when your account has been overdrawn. The bank is legally entitled to charge interest when customers use their overdraft facility, and I do not consider that any refund is due to you as a consequence of you using this facility, from time to time.
In addition, the amount you are seeing inm your letter differs to that shown ony our schedule and I shall require your clarification and the correct amount of your claim.
Furthermore you have claimed an additional amount of interest of £4690.08 covering a period of 2106 days. You may need to check the basis of your calculations. For example, as of the date of your schedule, the charge of £76 for the two unpaid items on 1 November 2006 has been outstanding for only 1 day, and not for as long as 2106 days you suggest.
I am disappointed to note that you are contemplating legal action against the bank. Whilst I hope you will feel able to reconsider, shoudl you decide to go ahead, please ensure any Proceedings are served on our Registered Office address, which appears at the foot of this letter.
I suspect that this is unlucky to be the answer you might have hoped to receive but nonetheless thank you for taking the time and trouble to contact us".
Has anyone else received the same letter? If you have how did you proceed with your claim and did you get a satisfactory outcome?
You should not be adding 8% interest at this stage anyway. You cna claim for actual charges, and interest ie o/d interest that you paid on those charges. Did you use the spreadsheet in the library as this works it out for you.
Ok -well they are aware that you are making a claim so amend the amounts in your lba and carry on from there.
This is a large claim and they are going to pick as many flaws in it as possible. If you look in the Nat West forum - particulary at Paul Schiebers claim which is high as well you will get some insight of how they will react.
In addition keep reading the Nat West threads and also other banks high claims - there are a few with Abbey I beleive - so you know what you are up against.
Anything however small that you are unsure of come back and ask and you will get all the help and support that you need.
Ok -well they are aware that you are making a claim so amend the amounts in your lba and carry on from there.
This is a large claim and they are going to pick as many flaws in it as possible. If you look in the Nat West forum - particulary at Paul Schiebers claim which is high as well you will get some insight of how they will react.
In addition keep reading the Nat West threads and also other banks high claims - there are a few with Abbey I beleive - so you know what you are up against.
Anything however small that you are unsure of come back and ask and you will get all the help and support that you need.
Opinions given herein are made informally by myself as a lay-person in good faith based on personal experience. For legal advice you must always consult a registered and insured lawyer.
"Some people say The Stig chews on spark plugs and drifts while walking. Some say he is terrified of ducks, and that there is an airport in Russia named after him. All we know is that he is really barracad from The Consumer Action Group" - Jeremy Clarkson (allegedly)
after read this thread (shieber vs natwest), it seems overly complex and legally very challenging to actually make a claim stick and where Natwest will pay.
I am not sure whether to continue this claim on my own accord, with my rather limited experience, and I guess blagging it wont work in court, or get a solicitor involved, incur costs, but also risk losing.
My claim is for £8562. plus charges of £2572. I suspect Natwest will contest this amount as it is higher than the average, but my claim doesnt include any loans with Natwest.
Do you mean charges of £8562 plus interest of £2572.
There really is no need to get a solicitor involved - there are plenty of success stories around from people who have succeeded without a solicitor.
Opinions given herein are made informally by myself as a lay-person in good faith based on personal experience. For legal advice you must always consult a registered and insured lawyer.
"Some people say The Stig chews on spark plugs and drifts while walking. Some say he is terrified of ducks, and that there is an airport in Russia named after him. All we know is that he is really barracad from The Consumer Action Group" - Jeremy Clarkson (allegedly)
I find it astonishing that you are making a claim for £11000+ against a multi-national organisation with unlimited financial and legal resources and you haven't bothered to do even the most basic ground work.
See here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...tructions.html
You need to file a claim now, either online at MCOL or in person at your local court. In person might be better as you can put more detail into the claim details. Look on the templates section for better information.
Son v Halifax settled in full £292
Another son v Halifax settled in full £30
Bigmama59 v NatWest settled in full £4739.69
Son v Halifax 2nd claim settled in full £130
Bigmama v Halifax settled in full £1125
Also if you read a lot of the successful threads, you might have more idea of what to do and expect
Son v Halifax settled in full £292
Another son v Halifax settled in full £30
Bigmama59 v NatWest settled in full £4739.69
Son v Halifax 2nd claim settled in full £130
Bigmama v Halifax settled in full £1125
Your next stage is the Court claim, either MCOL or N1 version, but first of all I really think you need to follow Michaels advice and sit back and read through the step by step instructions.
Making a claim of this size you really don't want to be making any mistakes and you should be doing as much reasearch on this site as you can.
I find it astonishing that you are making a claim for £11000+ against a multi-national organisation with unlimited financial and legal resources and you haven't bothered to do even the most basic ground work.
See here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...tructions.html
I have done the basic ground work, just their previous responses, have got my confidence a little and given my financial situation, pursuing a court claim is a big cost for someone like me, with limited resources and a lack of confidence. I appreciate everyones responses, and will do what I can to reclaim these charges, but flaming me isnt going to help me, constructive feedback will.
I sent out my lba letter nearly 3 weeks ago and I havent had a response from Natwest. What is the next step in this procedure, please advise?
No, that wasn't flaming you. It was a kick up the arse for your own good.
If, as you say, you have done the groundwork, you would already know the answer to the above question
For 11 grand I would be pulling out all stops to find out as much as I could myself. There are plenty of knowledgeable people here only too willing to help, encourage and support you, but you have to show that you're prepared to make a bit of an effort yourself.
I know you have read my thread and you may have found it pretty daunting but bear in mind that I have got to this stage with no legal qualifications and no solicitors. All I have done is read the site very carefully, make paper notes on anything that is relevant and work through it methodically.
The whole point of the forum is to share information and advice, some of which may be more accurate than others but the thing to take on board is that it is a self help site. We are all making our own claims and cannot get bogged down in making yours for you.
Slow down and go back to the beginning. The links have all been put on for you and it is important that you read and understand every stage before jumping in. Make a mistake and Natwest WILL chew you up and spit out the pieces. Don't let that put you off though. Nobody has made a mistake yet that can't be rectified so please don't be the first.
A claim the size of yours will encourage them to try every trick in the book but it is winnable if you follow the advice on here. By all means ask questions if you really don't understand something but at least have the courtesy to look at the thousands of hours of work that have gone into the construction of this site first.
Paul
Advice given is either my experience or my opinion and is given without liability. If in doubt, consult a qualified professional. If you PM me for advice I will only reply in your own thread
ali- the faqs have a timescale so here is a brief outline in case you have misread. 1) when you have your statements then you calculate your charges then using the advanced spreadsheet work out charges plus interest(as I see you are also claiming contractual interest) then it is Letter 1 Preliminary Approach for Repayment.
2) 14 days later you send letter before action stating that in a further 14 days you will commence legal proceedings. I am sure if in letter one that the answer was NO you would have realised that you will probably need to sue the bank for the money owed.
3) The stage you are at is suing the bank for charges.
Paul's thread is a good example of the Natwest solicitor's way of dealing with large claims.
So you now know that stage 3 is upon you. Please read carefully about how to start legal proceedings. Hope that clarifies it for you.
ali- the faqs have a timescale so here is a brief outline in case you have misread. 1) when you have your statements then you calculate your charges then using the advanced spreadsheet work out charges plus interest(as I see you are also claiming contractual interest) then it is Letter 1 Preliminary Approach for Repayment.
2) 14 days later you send letter before action stating that in a further 14 days you will commence legal proceedings. I am sure if in letter one that the answer was NO you would have realised that you will probably need to sue the bank for the money owed.
3) The stage you are at is suing the bank for charges.
Paul's thread is a good example of the Natwest solicitor's way of dealing with large claims.
So you now know that stage 3 is upon you. Please read carefully about how to start legal proceedings. Hope that clarifies it for you.
Sorry guys, just overwhelmed by this and have got my bearings back on track and realise what I have to do and with commence with MCOL tomorrow. I will do so via my on courts, which I will post tomorrow.
Ali vs Natwest - **WON £12k+**
. I broke down charges on spreadsheet to include charges and interest charges, with a seperate amount for interest at 8% for a total of 2106 days.
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Originally Posted by alimehmet
NAT WEST - WON - £4282.36
