We had a claim on a business a/c with RBS which began at the same time as a claim we have on our joint Royaltie Gold a/c, I didn't bother starting a thread (until now!)as it all went smoothly (or so I thought) We didn't include interest as we never had an overdraft on the business account and even if we had, the amount would have been small anyway so we thought we'd keep it simple.

We had an offer on it for the full amount claimed and accepted on 6th March. We had been led to believe that the a/c was closed and that we would get a cheque for the settlement (and separately for the credit balance of over £400 once the dispute was settled). After waiting weeks no cheque arrived so I emailed Mark Douthwaite.

I got a response from a member of his team saying that she had been trying to contact me regarding our claims and could I phone her. I did and we got the business a/c sorted and I said I would rather keep the Royalties a/c in writing for the time being. She said that payment on the business a/c would be authorised that day, the account hadn't been closed and therefore they couldn't send a cheque, it would have to go into the account. That was fine by me, I said I didn't care as long as I would have access to the funds.

When I still hadn't received a refund on 25th April I emailed her again to see what was happening and she got straight back to me saying that the funds had been keyed into the a/c on 20th April and to contact my branch.

I phoned the branch and was told to phone Credit Management Services which I did. I was informed that the refund and the credit balance on the business account had both been used to offset the 'debt' on the Royalties a/c:shock: Furious, I said that RBS/CMS were not allowed to do this as the account is in dispute and started quoting OFT code of guidance about ignoring disputes etc. The girl I spoke to, who was clearly out of her depth put me on hold for about 10mins while she went off to try and get an answer for me. She came back saying that one of her colleagues was trying to 'see if there was another way round it' and would I mind holding some more. I said no, I wanted a call back on my mobile (so I could record it!) and I wanted a call back TODAY! She said ok.

4.45pm and I was getting impatient so I called back on my mobile (recording) and demanded to speak to someone who knew what they were on about.

A rather impatient sounding man came on introducing himself as Mr Whittaker. We had a long discussion about the bank's apparent 'right of offset' during which he tried to confuse me and throw me with legal stuff(there's the reason I prefer to write a letter or email!) I stuck to my guns, repeating over and over that the Royalties account is in dispute and therefore there cannot be action of any nature on it. He even mentioned Moorcroft and I said that I had written to the bank about the Moorcroft and solicitors letters we had received. He apparently had no knowledge of the claim or dispute on the Royalties a/c and in the end conceded that indeed the bank had no right of offset. I then asked if a cheque would be forthcoming. I had to repeat the question several times before getting a straight answer, he tried to avoid giving me an answer for as long as possible and kept insisting that even though we had come to a settlement on the business a/c, we still had a liability on the Royalties. Eventually I got him to say that we would be getting our settlement on the business a/c in the form of a cheque which we could bank anywhere we chose.

Phew, wonder when it will come..............:rolley es:

Mr Whittaker promptly followed the telephone call up with a letter dated 26th April saying that he was investigating the issues i'd raised and he would be in touch within 10 working days.

I wrote the following back to him:

Dear Mr Whittaker,

I would like to thank you for responding to me so quickly following our recent telephone conversation regarding settlement on the RBS Business Account.

After our conversation I felt that the matter had finally been brought to conclusion (as you agreed that you had no right of offset when I explained to you that the Royalties Gold account is in dispute), however after reading your letter dated 26th April it would appear that this is not the case as you state that you are currently investigating my issues.

The only issue I have with regards to the business account as I said on the phone is that the settlement figure of £880.20 along with the credit balance of £466.12 on the account has been used to offset the amount on the Royalties Gold account. This should never have been allowed to happen. I have sent letters of dispute regarding that account to RBS on several separate occasions, I have copied Moorcroft into one of the correspondence, I have obtained proof of posting for all letters that I have sent, some of which ask the recipient to ensure that the relevant department be notified of the dispute, this has obviously not happened.

As you probably gathered during our conversation I am growing increasingly exasperated as I feel I have done everything humanly possible to resolve this matter and still have not received the settlement figure almost two months after accepting the offer.

Now it appears that even after agreeing over the telephone that I should receive the cheque after all you need to conduct further investigations. I can't possibly imagine what you might need to investigate but if there is anything I need to send you then I shall be only too happy to assist. I have copies of every letter I have sent regarding this matter and could easily forward them to your email, should you require them please send me an email (at the above address) to which I can reply.

One more point I wish to raise is that you said the cheque I would receive would be payable to business a/c name, however we no longer hold a business account in that trading name (thanks to RBS we barely have a business) therefore the cheque must be payable to sn00psdad so that we can present it for encashment through our personal account.

I do look forward to hearing from you soon,

Yours Sincerely

This morning I received a reply; please accept my apologies etc, I am not in a position to respond to all of the points you raised, thank you for your patience I will be in contact within 10 working days (10 more days! ) In the meantime please feel free to call me etc.

Well, I tried phoning this morning at around 11.30 and was told he was out at lunch and would get back to me this afternoon, we'll see........

SM:p

Requirements to work in a bank:

1. Be a liar

2. Have a bad memory

3. Enjoy eating lunch in the morning

4. Be patronising

5. ....did I mention telling "porky pies"??

Good luck snOOpsmum (and dad) You'll win in the end!!

Thanks canobeans!

I just spoke to him (he phoned me :o ) and he said that the only thing stopping him from issuing the cheque at the moment is the fact that we've asked for it to be made out to sn00psdad's personal name rather than his trading name as we no longer have a business account. So now we have to do a letter of authority even though i'm a signatory on the a/c!

Finally looks as though things are happening though and I would just like to add that Mr Whittaker has been about the only (bank) person throughout this whole unfortunate episode who has actually helped me.

Will keep you posted!

SM:p

Does he whistle???

Got another of Mr Whittaker's please allow 10 working days letters this morning so I phoned him and he said cheque would be on way within 48hrs.......

I had decided that I would issue court proceedings for the recovery of these funds, however I thought I should speak with FOS first to make sure that it wouldn't affect their decision on my other claim. They are 2 separate claims on different accounts but the bank has linked them by using charges refund on one to offset the other- I got advice on this too from the FOS adviser, apparently they ARE allowed to do this even if the a/cs are in dispute after me gobbing off to Mr W that they weren't allowed

So, provided the cheque doesn't turn up, on the basis of advice received this morning from the FOS I have decided to combine all of my complaints against RBS, so over £1300 on business account (including previous credit balance), over £18k and rising on Royalties a/c including CCI and interest on several Provident loans that would not have been necessary had it not been for the charges, i'll need to add it up again, but I think that came to almost £4k!

I asked the FOS guy if I needed to inform RBS of my intentions regarding the Provi interest and he said that I didn't have to, so don't think I will, they'll just get a nice surprise when they receive a complaint for £25k.

I will keep this thread updated, maybe even combine the 2 threads as it's going to get confusing following both now if the claims are combined??

Wot do you reckon guys?

SM:p

good luck i'll soon be claiming against them too, but not as much as 25k lol

Thanks lonelygirl and good luck with your claim too

SM:p

thanks i know i'll be claiming £300 or just over that, loose change to a huge bank like them

Are you in Scotland and is it a business a/c? Just follow procedure and you'll walk it!

Are you in Scotland and is it a business a/c? Just follow procedure and you'll walk it!

i am indeed in Scotland and no, it's a personal account.

:DYIPPEE!! CHEQUE ARRIVED!!

Came on Thursday, banked on Friday so provided it clears ( lol ) donation on way cos I have WON!!

Sooooo happy, thanks to everyone who advised, mwah!

SM:p