I didn't want one - when I opened the account I opened it without an overdraft.

I am looking for some advice on how to dispute a debt with RBS (passed to Westcot) which is entirely made up of bank charges. In Dec 2010 my account went overdrawn overnight due to a payment coming off (I had no overdraft facility on my account so unsure as to why the payment wasn't just rejected?). Anyway I went 'overdrawn' by pennies - an amount less than £1.00. I went to the bank the following morning when it opened to pay this amount back in, thus taking my account balance back to 0.00. A bank charge of £29.50 was then due to be taken off at the end of that month. I couldn't afford this so I opened a bank account elsewhere, and asked that the account with RBS be closed. They refused and kept adding charges onto charges onto charges. I was made redundant in March 11, and informed them of this but they still kept adding on charges for nothing. The entirety of the sum I owe them is bank charges. They eventually sold the debt on to Westcot and it is sitting at 800+. I would like to dispute this but I don't know what the best course of action is. Should I write to the RBS, or go straight to the FO? Are there any template letters I could use?

Hi there I am wondering if there is any way that I could get the original creditors for my debts to let me deal with them rather than DCAs? I have 3 catalogue debts which have all been either sold on or passed for collection (not sure which) to Commercial Credit Services, Moorcroft and Red Debt Collection. I would like to try and negotiate repayment, but I do not want to deal with the DCA's. Is it too late now?

I don't have any paper statements relating to the RBS debt as did my banking online.

I can't get my credit file without jumping through hoops to get it (Equifax said the details they held didn't match either?!). I can only think it is because I got married and changed my name, and I am not on the electoral roll. So, I did a bit of digging. I phoned the original catalogue companies I had agreements with. The debts have been sold on to Moorcroft, Commercial Credit Services and Red Debt Collection. The catalogue companies I spoke to said I now have to deal with these DCAs. These debts total just under 1400.00. I am sure at least one of the amounts I owe has charges piled on as the goods I ordered did not add up to that amount. I also owe RBS 800+ (this is with Westcot) for rolling bank charges, and apparently 850+ to British Gas (this debt is now with LCS) I phoned a compnay I found on google called money expert, they were trying to get me to enter into an IVA.(clearly hadn't paid attention to the fact I am in Scotland). A couple of things concerned me. When I mentioned bankruptcy, he instantly dismissed it as not being something I should do - I understand bankruptcy is a drastic step, but when I said that I wasn't currently working and did not have my own income, he just said that my husband should be supporting me with these debts (despite the fact they aren't his?!). He also told me it would cost £900. I then tried to explain about the RBS debt being made up entirely of bank charges, and said there is nothing I can do about that, I cant contest it. Apparently 'you could years ago, you can't now'. The whole thing smacked of a sales type call to be honest, although I am not quite sure what he was going to be getting out of it as he said at one point they don't charge a fee. He said they could get my total debt down to approx 2600 and I would pay £100 per month for 26 months. When I asked if he could guarantee that the creditors would agree, he just said 'oh they will, because we are a big company'. He is meant to be calling back this morning, I am not sure whether to take the call or not. I wish I had never tried to view my credit file now because I am worried that the DCAs will get more aggressive with the letters if they now have a definite link to this address.

I tried to view my credit report with noddle, and it wouldn't let me register as they could not verify my identity?! I got married in March and applied for my report in my married name, with the bank card registered to my current address and in my married name. Any idea why they couldn't verify my identity? Bit worried about that to be honest.

It is LCS - Utility Investigations They haven't written for a good few months, the last letter I have from them is dated June 2012. Oh and they are trying to claim for gas used from Sep 09 to Mar12. I didn't move in until dec 09, and moved out Jan 12.

Ok, I have posted in the utilities forum regarding the gas debt. In terms of the bank charges debt, is the best course of action to write to the bank to contest these? Or should I contact Westcot about it?

Hi there Someone on the debt board suggested I post in here regarding a debt I apparently have to British Gas. The debt relates to my previous address. I moved into the property Dec 2009. Tried on numerous occasions to find out who the gas supplier by phoning the national grid helpline etc. At first I was told that the property wasn't listed. Eventually after going around in circles and phoning several different numbers I was told it was British Gas who were the supplier. I called British Gas on numerous occasions to ask that they set up the gas account in my name as I was the new tenant. British Gas stated they were not the supplier. Cue going around in circles - being told by the national grid helpline that it was British Gas, to be told by British Gas it was not them. I never ever received a gas bill from any supplier for the 2 year period I was in the property. I moved out of the property in Jan 2012. A few months down the line I started receiving letters from a solicitor (?) claiming to be acting on behalf of British Gas to recover a debt of approx £800 for gas at my last property. This is despite never receiving a gas bill from them in the entire time I lived in the property. Any advice?

Hi I am currently on the books of a temping agency, my last assignment with them finished a month ago. I am looking for employment of a permanent nature, but it is difficult as I can only work part time hours and most jobs being advertised at the moment are full time. But I do plan to be working again in the foreseeable future (fingers crossed). I never entered into any repayment agreements whilst temping simply because I had no way of knowing how long an assignment would last, and didn't want to be tied into a repayment agreement with them that I couldn't get out of if I could no longer afford it. I haven't looked at my credit file,as I read somewhere that as soon as you do that creditors know that you are definitely linked to that address? I don't have any statements or anything at the moment - I have stupidly just been throwing the letters away 3 of my debts are catalogue. One is a debt made up entirely of bank charges which I plan to contest. I also have a debt to a utility company as they never provided me with a gas bill for a period of 2 years despite repeated requests for them to do so - they kept claiming they weren't the supplier. They clearly were as they have now sold the debt on.

Hi I am in rented accommodation through the Local Authority, and have no assets. Thank you for the link.

I have debts totalling in the region of 4,000 approx. I am not currently working, and I do not claim benefits as my husband works full time. The debts are non priority debts, mainly catalogues. I fell behind with the repayments following redundancy, the minimum payments kept increasing and it spiralled. The debts are solely in my name and were accrued before I met my husband. Is bankruptcy the most suitable course of action? I am getting increasingly threatening letters from Westcot et al and I am starting to panic. I can't afford the repayments they are insisting on. ETA: I am in Scotland.

Hi Thanks for replying. This is from Dec 2010. The bank let the debt get to over 800 pounds of continual bank charges before they sold the debt on. It has been suggested that I may be able to get the debt wiped on the basis that it is entirely made up of bank charges, disproportionate to the amount overdrawn. I will have a read of the link you posted, thanks.

I have received a Doorstep Collection Notice from Westcot. The debt has been passed to them from RBS. The entirety of the debt is bank charges - I went 0.53p overdrawn on my account overnight, paid the 0.53p back in to the account the next morning as soon as the bank opened but they refused to waive the £30.00 bank charge. I then opened another account and asked RBS to close the account. They refused and the bank charges snowballed. Is it likely that Westcot will send anyone to my door? I am in Scotland. Is there anything I can do, anyone I can write to to contest this debt? If so, should I phone Westcot and tell them I am disputing the debt?

Hi I finally bit the bullet and phoned them. They told me the balance on the account but when I asked for them to send me out paperwork for me to submit a payment proposal,(they said they couldn't agree to anything over the phone) they said 'we wouldn't send anything out, just write it on the back of a bit of paper and send it in'. I decided to email instead. Not quite sure why they were so reluctant to send me paperwork They said they would need proof of how much CB and TC I received and said to send in bank statements, but i'm not doing that as its probably just a ploy for them to get my account details. If needs be I will send photocopies of my TC and CB award notices. I will let you know if they respond to my payment offer. Fingers crossed they accept it but I'm not holding my breath, I have a feeling they will pressure me for more.