hi,

today i have won against nationwide but just to give anyone info on a position they may find themselves in:

in sept 2005 flexacount passed to wescot collection agency was £178.78 o/d.i entered into a dmp to pay this off along with debts from divorce!!

in feb i entered a bank charges claim against nationwide,for £2130

ironically in this time i still recieved statements,adding £20-30 monthly overdraft charges.thus the total rose to £761.00 o/d which i was claiming for!

today 17/07/07 i recieved a letter after court case etc saying would settle out of court for entire claim £2130 but that it had been paid into o/d account(which was wescots possesion)

i contacted dept number given and explained that this was unfair and that the original debt was only for £178.78 and that if i rang wescot for an early settlement they would accept £80 to clear debt.so in fact was £500 odd pounds short.i also explained they were only clearing charges they had imposed so in fact paying themselves off!!

i was told by three depts that they would not budge on this at all.

i sought advice fom a legal friend,who stated that although it should be my entitlement to recieve the money how i would want, a court may ask for it to be issued to me,but on other hand,nationwide would ague in court that they had offered to settle out of court but i refused because i did not wish to repay any debt to them and could get struck out on technicalities etc. i would argue though that if i had not claimed back the charges they would not have the debt cleared and that any amounts i recieve should techinally be issued to me to distribute amongst all creditors!! he said it would be a very sticky situation,take the offer and run!

so today this is what i have done,money now withdrawn, a creditor paid off and some welcome money!

i do have another account in same positon o/d £400 and am claiming £1434,with nationwide,so will imagine this will go same way.

finally!! i had an account with halifax same again o/d but this time they paid the amount directly to me,after complaning to the settlement department,but must confess they were pussycats compared to nationwides settlement departments!!

you win some and loose some,at least i won money i thought i had said goodbye to!!

hope this helps someone in same position,my advice would be to try and and ask for cheque,demand and don't be threatened but realise when onto a good thing too!!!

ejxxxxxx