I received a letter from RBS collections Centre a few days ago of a formal notice to file a Default. This came as quite a shock as I have not used this account for around 2 years.

My account had been upgraded to a £6 per month Royalties account, (first I had hear of this) which took the account overdrawn in April this year, the charges from this have increased to £377.11 since then.

If I want to find out when the account was upgraded I have to pay for extra Statements to be sent to me as they only keep electronic records in Branch for 12 months.

I have not heard anything from them regarding the account going overdrawn, any of the charges, or even received any statements from them for as long as I can remember. They do have the correct address on file with them.

They are currently "looking into the situation" but cannot give me any guarantees that the dispute will be satisfied either way before the Collections Centre file the Default. Can they do this? (I will not let it go as far as receiving a Default - and will begrudgingly pay the charges).

Could I have signed something when the account was opened that enabled them to upgrade the account after a certain amount of time? (Although I was very young at the time the account opened).

I am worried that I may have signed something at some point not really aware of what I was signing!

Any help would be really appreciated.

Very simple.

Send a letter to say that you are disputing the totality of the alleged debt, and expect them to comply with the Banking Code and suspend any default action until the dispute has been resolved. So as to make sure they don't confuse your case with a purely "reclaim" case, state that as far as you are concerned, it is their mistake which is causing the problem, and don't expect to be fobbed off.

Then submit a SAR (don't forget the fee), the template is in the Library, tweak it to your circumstances, and send.

As bookworm says- a SAR will reveal all and give you the ammunition to challenge them.

You must include the £10 fee with your SAR and retain proof that you have in fact paid it.

the easiest way of doing this is by a Postal Order as you get a reciept showing you it was made out to.

Send your SAR + £10 fee by Recorded Delivery at least, preferably by Special Delivery as delivery is guaranteed next day. (Recorded just goes by normal first class and can take up to 15 working days.)

You can download proof of delivery by either of these methods using the Track and Trace feature at www.royalmail.com

You could also contact Trading Standards to let them know of a possible breach of the Consumer Credit Act.

Thankyou all for your help - I got a call from RBS today saying that they are refunding all of the charges to the account and closing it.

Must have realised that it was all there fault!

I know what to do the next time one of them messes up!

Thanks.

Result! Excellent news, thanks for letting is know.

"I got a call from RBS today saying that they are refunding all of the charges to the account and closing it."

I bet they are, too!

Come back if they dont.