Jump to content

RaeUK

Registered Users

Change your profile picture
  • Posts

    4,074
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    13

RaeUK last won the day on June 18 2016

RaeUK had the most liked content!

Reputation

2,018 Excellent
  1. Many thanks, Lapsed, that's excellent work and very kind of you. I'll email it to my sister.
  2. No worries, you're being neither nosey nor difficult, just helpful and patient. Anything I'm not aware of / privy to I will need to ask my sister. (It is just her and her son we are discussing here, just to clarify, no daughter). My understanding is that she was having difficulties, was advised by the bank just to pay what she could. This she did for a while but still managed to miss a total of two payments. The bank told her to pay all outstanding sums within two days. This she did. Now, at that point, everything was then up to date, she had caught up her payments with a lump sum payment. No mention then of an intent to close the account the next day. As far as she was aware, provided she continued to make regular payments, then things had been caught up with.
  3. Yes, that's about the top and the tail of it, Lapsed. I would expect the account to show DWP money going into it with two different NI numbers and for any transfer to coincide and corroborate.
  4. Actually, thinking about it, I'm not terribly sure of the time between her paying the catch-up installment then the Bank closing the account regardless, and the removal of her son's money. It could be anywhere up to a year.
  5. Just to quickly clarify, Lapsed, we're talking about two different time periods. The 'small amount of savings' were the last dregs of her own money, the other sum taken was her son's benefit money which he is trying to save up to facilitate a move to more appropriate accommodation. As her savings account had become empty, I suspect it seemed a sensible idea at the time, keeping it separate from her carer's allowance. So, same savings account - there be only the one of them - two different times. And, yes, we are talking about the credit card account being closed (my phraseology, I don't understand credit cards never having had one). The funds removed were her sons benefits, she had no money of her own in there.
  6. BF and Andy, I have now got information relating to the original card account being removed. She says: I would have thought if you were going to send important letters - say, about cleaning out a savings account completely - you'd send them recorded or signed-for. Would it be worth a SAR to see what has been done by the bank and when? I've no idea about those sort of things and it's been a while since I dealt with debts and the vulnerable. Many thanks for your help thus far.
  7. Thanks BF and Lapsed. I'll certainly meander through BCOBS. At this precise moment, I can't give any further info regarding how and why the bank cut of her means of payment etc without the risk of getting some details wrong. I do recall it was both convoluted and unfair at the time. I have emailed her with a link to this thread and asked for a few comments vis-a-vis means of payment. Hopefully will be able to give you that information over the weekend. In the meantime I've also been trying to brush up on the vulnerability side of this. It's been a few years since I last had to deal with it. I found the press release from the BBA quite interesting and give a link here for others who may wander this path. https://www.bba.org.uk/news/press-releases/financial-services-establishes-new-gold-standard-for-customers-in-vulnerable-circumstances/#.WHAgoX1cPpt
  8. I'll answer your last question first, Andy, as that's the easiest one. She received no notification at all. It was a shock when she checked her balance and discovered what had happened. Your first question, I may have to come back to you. She has online banking, that hasn't changed. But (I think) the card account she was paying into was closed down. I'm afraid I'd need to ask her for more precise details. From memory, I believe there was a lot of chopping and changing by the bank as to what needed to be paid and when.
  9. I appreciate what you're saying, dx. I do think that, with a little bit of patience and understanding from the bank, it is quite easily illustrated what the funds were, where they came from, why they were accrued, and whose they are. There should be sufficient a paper trail for that. That doesn't mean to say that the bank would automatically have known that from the word go, but certainly that they should be able to see the situation for what it is now. As you say, difficult.
  10. Aye. Under a normal situation I'd agree. Unfortunately, this isn't her money.
  11. I was looking at the Lending Code, of which NatWest is a signatory (via the Lending Standards Board) and which provides guidelines on how setting off should occur. It states: The bank also needs to: Look into whether you have, or are heading towards, financial difficulties. If you are, it should leave you with enough money to cover reasonable day-to-day living expenses and priority debts such as a mortgage, rent, council tax and food bills. Take special care when it knows your income mainly comes from state benefits, or if expenditure is needed for certain purposes such as healthcare. At the very least, they appear to have failed to take 'special care' ...
  12. Many thanks, Mr P. Hopefully that will be done in the near future. Interesting points, dx, particularly about the moving of benefits from one account to another. The reason it was moved was to keep it separate as it's her son's money.
  13. Not entirely sure if this should be in the banking forum, the benefits forum, or the debt forum, as it touches on all three. Site Team, m’dears, please move it to where you deem it best suited. Merci. My sister has a credit card debt with NatWest. Some time ago, they stopped her method of online payments which was her only way of getting money to them. Consequently the debt built up as it wasn’t being serviced. At about this time she had little or no income, eventually having to enter the benefits system. She has, I understand, been harassed by debt collectors regarding this debt. Whilst she has anxiety problems, amongst other issues, she is also the primary carer for her disabled son. Consequently, carer’s allowance and his PIP payments are made into her account. S ome of which is transferred into a savings account, her son is in need of alternative accommodation which would be more suited to his needs. The accrued sum is to pay a deposit and rent in advance whilst a housing benefit application is made. They are not currently in receipt of HB as it’s unnecessary for the current property. Without any notification, a couple of days ago, NatWest removed all the funds from her savings account and used it to pay the credit card debt. It is a four figure sum, the loss of which has been most devastating to her. A quick look through the process – it’s not my forte – and I’m assuming they are doing what is called ‘setting off’. This, apparently is something they are legally allowed to do, taking funds from one account to pay a debt on another. However, the guidelines for setting off appear to be quite clear that DWP benefits should not be taken and extreme caution must be used when dealing with financially vulnerable people. Not to mention that this is her son’s money and not hers. She has emailed NatWest to that extent, requesting the funds be returned asap. She is not in a fit state to talk to anybody on the phone and, as you may appreciate, is neither eating nor sleeping with the anxiety this has caused. Regarding the debt collectors, I’m assuming they shouldn’t be bothering vulnerable people at all. In the possible likelihood that NatWest refuse to return the funds, what would be the next sensible move?
×
×
  • Create New...