Hi,

I have read quite a few stories on here which has helped me in writing a formal complaint letter to the CEO Les Matheson and also CC'd to Customer Complaints but i have a funny feeling I am going to have to take my case to court.

My story is below..

(I can email my letter that i have already sent to the bank to anyone who is willing to give me some advice or post the contents on the board if needed.)

Story:

In 2014 3 different cheques of £4,000 odd were paid into my NatWest account.

They all was sent back to me at my home address where the bank had let me know that the cheques had bounced and were fraudulent.

At the time i received the letters i immediately called the bank and let them know i didn't pay these into my account and that they should check the CCTV at the branch the cheques were paid into my account.

As per usual,

NatWest wasn't any help and closed my account and put a 1st party fraud marker against my name.

I have tried on several occasions to contact the bank

explain i am a victim of fraud but there has been no success

i have been sent automated responses about how they won't be providing me banking facilities

when the subject has always been about the CIFAS marker

i how i would never want to bank with such a bank again!!!

I contacted the FOS which was a long hefty process

they upheld the fact that NatWest was right in filing the CIFAS marker

what does confuse me is the lack of evidence to show that i was compliant with the fraud on my account.

I then took it to the MET Police who couldn't get the CCTV from NatWest as it had magically gone missing .

The FOS had made me aware that there was standing orders set up on my account for the money to go into other accounts that weren't mine

when investigated by the police,

they wrote an official letter stating that they have investigated

haven't found any connections between me and the IP address

i thought this would be helpful - it turns out the FOS think they're a higher authority then the police!!

I have filed a complaint to the CIFAS in regards to the fact that there no evidence that would be upheld within a court of law against me for these cheques being paid into my account as NatWest didn't make sufficient checks.

CIFAS has upheld the listing and have told me that there was enough checks for the listing to withstand

which really does confused me as there is no way in hell they have any incriminating evidence that shows I have agreed to these cheques being paid into my account neither have I physically gone into the bank myself.

What advice i am asking for is

after my final formal complaint letter i have sent, would you suggest i wait for a response?

I did say that I will wait 10 working days before taking further legal action against the bank.

How would i go about the county court process and do you think my complaint will be dismissed within court or is there grounds for me to win this case?

I'm so stressed out i have been dealing with this for years upon years and I haven't had any luck and after coming across this board via a google search I was given a sense of hope!

I look forward to hearing from someone!

First of all I have to say that if you didn't understand what steps to take in terms of implementing your ten-day threat to the bank, then you were wrong to make the threat. It's a bit like saying that you will huff and you will puff and you will blow the house down – and then you don't do anything because you don't really know what to do.

The next thing to know is how this has impacted upon you. Do you have no banking facilities? Is there money trapped in the account that you need? I think you need to understand what it is you want put right – particularly in terms of any losses which you might have incurred.

The banks have a statutory duty to treat you fairly and also to have your interests in mind when considering any decisions they make. We have had quite a few CIFAS cases here and generally speaking the banks seem to trample over people's rights and treat them very unfairly but the FOS never does anything. It really will be down to taking a court case.

You should read up about COBS and about BCOBS because in my view this is where your right of action lies. However I'm pretty certain that if you are challenging the way that the bank has behaved in respect of CIFAS, that far from putting their hands up, they will throw everything at you in order to crush you. If you bring a legal action then hopefully it would be allocated to the small claims track because you would be suing for quite a low value. However, because of the rather complicated and unusual nature of the case there is a risk that it could be allocated to the fast track and this would put you at risk of costs in the event that you lost.

Hi Bankfodder,

Thanks for your reply!

The ten days isn't up as of yet. NatWest have until this Friday to respond so I will take the next necessary steps thereafter.

This is why I have written to seek information on what i will need to do next in regards to filling court complaint.

This has had major effects on my everyday life;

All bank accounts closed

Credit rating decreased dramatically - as there was no way to pay any of my monthly bills

I have currently got a CashPlus Gold Card which i'm currently using which i obtained a 6-8 months after not having all my bank accounts closed.

Nearly failed my university degree and so on.

I did however include a impact statement within my final complaint correspondence, so i hope this will help my case with NatWest.

I will read up about the COBS,

I have already looked at the BCOBS today and i'm not sure what i would refer to within the conduct sourebook

- would you be able to point me in the right direction of what i would refer to?

(Sorry not very good at this sort of stuff)

Thanks again for replying.

What i want to put right:

I want my credit file to be fixed as i am actually a victim of fraud and not a fraudster!!

- Heard i can do this with Experian once i have the relevant documents to prove i was a victim of fraud.

(Do already have a letter from the police but I think it would be better to provide a letter from NatWest or a court judgement)

CIFAS Marker Removed

Compensation for the unfair treatment from Natwest Bank.

I don't expect that your letter will attract any kind of response at all from the NatWest and certainly nothing that will help you. You don't seem yet to have understood that the bank doesn't care about you and they would rather that you would just push off.

Have you got all of the documents – information – from the police? Have you tried sending them an FOIA request or an SAR? I think you should start uniting as much information as possible.

Also I think you should send the bank an SAR. There may not be much that there prepared to let you have at the moment – but try and get everything you can.

Once again, I think you've been overhasty in the way you have approach this. I think that you should be spending as much time as possible gathering information and building up a solid file – and then begin your legal action.

You would be suing under your right of action under BCOBS and claiming that they had breached their statutory duty by failing to treat you fairly in all the circumstances.

Have you had a good look at the CIFAS rules and do you understand what they permit the bank to do and what they don't?

I thought from other threads that sending a final complaint threatening legal action would spark some sort of attention from the bank but now I understand that it would be best to take legal action against the bank.

I have the CIFAS final decision, the automated responses from Natwest, FOS final decision and the police letter concluding their investigation.

I haven’t attempted to send a FOIA or a SAR however I did mention in my final complaint letter that I would like to see the evidence they have against me to file a CIFAS listing.

Okay great - I will take note of what I would be suing for under the BCOBS

From my research my understanding is that a bank is allowed to file a CIFAS listing if they have enough evidence against a consumer to produce to local authorities (which they don’t) also it must be factually accurate information and not from a CIFAS members opinion. There must be a criminal offence in question which makes me fail to understand Natwest’s reasoning for their listing.

Well we will be very happy to help you in any action you want to bring under BCOBS. I think it will be a hard slog and it will certainly be very interesting.

I think the you need to list out in a nice bullet pointed order, your losses or what you have suffered. Don't bother with the narrative. Just make it a list of short sentences

Hi RCM

Do you know what Category of marker they placed?

Hello,

Didn't receive a notification for you reply sorry for the delay!

I have received a reply and Natwest saying that they refuse to comment or make any other decisions on the CIFAS marker they have placed as the Financial Ombudsman's decision is final.

Was quite frustrated so gave them a call and explained i would be taking them to court because they are acting illegally.

(Shouldn't of called as you need a paper trail but i was frustrated at the time)

I have done everything that you have advised me to do,

i was thinking as Natwest has refused to cooperate does that mean there is no point sending a SAR request?

Hi RCM

 

Do you know what Category of marker they placed?

Hi,

They have made a cat 6 marker for 1st party fraud

I got the SAR from the CIFAS and have complained to them as Natwest hasn't followed their guidelines but it seems that they don't follow their guidelines either.

Well we will be very happy to help you in any action you want to bring under BCOBS. I think it will be a hard slog and it will certainly be very interesting.

 

I think the you need to list out in a nice bullet pointed order, your losses or what you have suffered. Don't bother with the narrative. Just make it a list of short sentences

I have created a list of looses and etc.

And all the correspondence i have had with the FO, CIFAS and Natwest.

unlawfully not illegally

Is there anyway I can get some guidance on the next steps into persuing my case?

I’m aware i would be complaining under the BCOBS laws and I will need to list my losses

I would just like some guidance if possible.... just would like to get this over with and get my life back on track as it has been very stressful for myself