Hiya Received a letter from NW (Stuart Higley) today. Lots of guff about their 'extensive services to many satisfied customers', 'terms & conditions'... Blah, blah, blah The letter makes no ref' to the court claim. I take it that this letter does not constitute a formal defence to the court claim (I was expecting a formal Defence to come via the court) Thus I stick to my timetable allowing 14 days from date of issue I'm going to reject their offer to pay £1588.92 in my NW acc (which is my claim less the interest) as they want me to accept it as full and final settlement. Cheeky so & so! The lovely Mr Higley states that if I am unwilling to accept future charges NW will consider withdrawing banking facilities from me (now they realise that I'm not going to allow them to rip me off!)or cancelling my debit card (Solo) and down grading acc to one that doesn't allow D/Debits. I wonder if they don't want me to continue repaying the loan they forced me into then? since it's paid via D/ debit from the acc' I was going to respond as follows, what do you think? 1) reject offer and state that I will only accept the FULL amount claimed and that they need to pay up or defend the court claim and STOP sending me threatening letters as I am disabled & unwell and find this such threats v emotionally distressing 2) I want the repayment in the form of a cheque made out to me but not one I have to pay into NW acc 3) tell them I intend to claim for all charges levied against me since I submitted the court claim, as it is them deducting charges that made me O/Drawn (AGAIN!!!!) and generated further charegs. (I think this would mean a separate claim from scratch) 4) Demand that they remove any default against me (ie with credit ref agencies) Have I covered everything? Any advice / ideas would be appreciated... Ta

Thanks for the advice folks, I'll sit back and wait to see what they do next, but I'll keep to my timetable. Cheers...

I know what you mean about the 'severe emotional....suffering' etc but you have now taken the first steps towards getting yourselves back on your feet...'let the healing begin'...heard that in a song once:) Good Luck!

Hiya Muggins Yep, either NW have finally got the message and decided to pay up or (more likely) they are clearing the decks in preparation for the avalanche of claims coming their way after the recent publicity about them ripping off their customers. Ah my heart bleeds for 'em I like the idea of your letter re' 'harrassment' and passing your details to a third party. I hadn't thought of that, but will prob' mention it when contact me. ,I was just reading the Notice of Issue from the court. Do I have to do anything now, or do I just wait for NW to file the usual defence? Don't want to make any mistakes after all this time. Congratulations to all of you who have received your money, your sucess stories keep me going and spur me on.

Hi folks The story so far: Put the claim into the court 22 Dec 07 Date of issue to NAT WEST 11 Jan 07 so they have until 25 Jan to respond Received 2 letters from Staurt Higley basically playing for time whilst they 'investigate' Another £100 in charges taken from account which made me O/D again (and so the cycle repeats itself!) Phoned by Nat West Loan Insurance dept' wanting to know if I'm still disabled and unable to work (I would have taken this as concern for my health and well being but for the sarky tone in the callers voice). Also call from Lending Dept threatening to withdraw my debit card as I went O/D when they deducted the charges I think I know where this will be heading... Anyway how is everyone else getting on? Any sucess stories to keep us motivated? Cheers & good luck to all

Hi Westy, back on form I see, the Response was blistering!.....Happy Belated Xmas etc

'evening all Just a quick Q: I have to wait for DSS to send me a letter confirming I'm on benefit so I don't have to pay court costs to file the claim against Nat West. BUT it wont be here until after Xmas. Does it matter as this is longer than Nat West had to reply to my last letter (should have been last Thurs!).... Anyway folks HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A PROSEPEROUS NEW YEAR!!!

Thanks Westy I think I'll take your advice and carry on as that is how I read the info originally. I saw the programme too, that woman was really scary esp' the green eyeshaddow...not that I want to demonize the poor thing..bless Did you see the part where she said that charges were not penalties but service charges....just how is being charged into spiralling debt a service? I don't think the banks will change their actions in any way at all, but you'd think they would at least reduce the charges to the estimated £2-4 that unpaid items etc may actually cost them, if only to reduce the number of refund claims, and to save face. I was suprised that hardly any 'manual interventions' are required due to high tech computer sysytems used....so why exactly are they charging us? Oh yeah I forgot....profits!!! Toodle Pip

A quick update: I have most of my benefit paid into a diff bank acc' now but some still goes into the Nat West acc to pay the bank loan, but I think there will be charges at the end of Dec which will make me go over drawn so I will give the Right of Appropriation letter a try just before Xmas. Took LBA to branch on 1 Dec, no response yet, so will get the Court Action paperwork ready for Thursday... Just wondering if I gave the right figure on the spreadsheet. I added 18% intrest the the amount I am claiming when I sent first spreadsheet to bank. So do I add an additional 8% to the figure for the Court Action paperwork? Is that right? I think I may have made a mistake. Any good news on anyones claim?

Thanks for the advice Westy ...."monumental irrelevance" - I love it!!! I've been following your threads & they really make me smile, it's great that you treat Nat West with the contempt they deserve. I'll get my response into the branch tomorrow think I'll post one to Bishopsgate too. Cheers & GOOD LUCK

Got an interesting letter from Nat West Branch Manager today with an offer of £350 "as a gesture of goodwill...in full and final settlement of all claims relating to charges" - this made me laugh and swear so much I frightend the cat!!! Can I just check a few things out with you guys? The letter contained this statement - "We do not accept the office of Fair Trading's findings (5 April 2006) in relation to credit card fees. We are concerned that the Office Of Fair Trading has pubicly called into questions the setting of charges applied to other products, including current accounts. The Office of Fair Trading has restricted its investigation to credit cards and made no attempt to consult with RBS or has the industry in relation to other, entirely different products." I suppose this is how he justifies the offer of £350 and not my full amount Is this the standard reply? Can someone confirm that I should send the LBA letter, from the templates library (I'm going to include an updated spreadsheet as advised by Kate) and I will tell Nat West that I will accept the £350 as a partial refund and will continue to re-claim the balance of the amount of my claim. Also do I count weekends when I give them X amount of days to respond or just Mon-Fri working days. Todays letter arrived exactly 14 days from me handing prelim letter into my local branch. How is everyone else getting on any good news yet? Thanks

Hi All A quick update: sent the letter with spreadsheets by Rec' Del on 9 Nov which went missing in the post!!! So took a copy (with another £38.00 charge wich came out of acc on 1st Nov) to the branch on 14 Nov. Claim is for just under £2000. So waiting for the usual 'sod off' letter... Am I right in thinking that when I get that letter I can add any further charges to my claim? (another £28.00 is to be charged on 30 Nov) Then send updated spreadsheet to them with my next letter? Just got round to reading your new threads / posts re loans etc. Intrestingly Nat West sent me breakdown of all payments on my loan, just stuffed in an envelope with no covering letter etc...v msyterious as I hadn't asked for one, maybe they read this site afterall.... How is everyone else getting on? Any good news? Best of luck

Hi Gizmo111 Tried to find your posts but the link isn't working (broken links driving me bonkers!) How are NW giving you a hard time, are they saying they are not recoverable? I'm hoping that the same principal applies to loans & interest as other charges

Hiya littlesally It sounds as though our cases re' loans is very similar except that I have two loans both taken out to cover charges. I have just sent the prelim letter re' charges so will have to wait and see what they say in reply. Sounds like a good idea to resolve the issue of original charges though, even if it's really annoying to jump thru' hoops to get our money back! I'm sure there is some info re' loans here somewhere, (I'll keep looking and let you know if I find it). We all deserve to get every last peny back!!! Good Luck

Great News CONGRATULATIONS !!!!!! in time for Xmas too... this gives me a little more confidence to keep fighting

No you're not paranoid. I had lots of duplicates too, looked pretty random at first but when I checked they were pages with charges. Phoned to ask why and was told that statements relevant to a period before a specific date (can't remember) are generated via a separate system.....so duplicates could be inadvertantly sent out to customers(????) I've noticed a few calculating errors on balances carried forward on comnsequtive statement pages too, had to go over everything with a calculator...but only approx £8 wrong over the 6yrs, weird though... Have you seen that movie Dr Strangelove? Never doubt the power of paranoia my friend....there's usually a good reason for it. Good Luck

A big Thank You folks, will get those statements out again with my trusty calculator in hand:) Might need your help again, will keep you posted tho' Good luck everyone & cheers

Thanks for the info. sorry for being dense but do I just include the interest whenever it's listed with charges (ie; my statement reads: "debit interest £24.76" then on the line below it says "charges £28.00" is this what you mean?) How do I differentiate this type of interest from the normal interest for just being over drawn, which I understand can't be reclaimed This is really stressing me out.... Thanks

Sorry folks I forgot to ask about the loans Nat West coerced me into taking out - can i claim anything on these? Both were to pay off bank charges. The paperwork refers to them as: 1)'Cash loan to Consolidate Overdraft' - this one is coverd by Loan by Protector insurance cos I took it out when I was working in 2004, the interest is nearly £2500. 2) 'Refinance Debt this bank' - taken out earlier this year I know that I read somewhere that some things re' loans may be claimed but I can't find the posts and some links don't work ( could be my computer not working properly?) Cheers

Hi I'm really confused and would really appreciate some help PLEASE Have received my statements & I've calculated that I can reclaim approx £1500 (without any inerest) BUT not sure about following: 1) which of the spreadsheets to use 2)which 'interest' to claim, the statements are confusing as I had an approved O/D for some of the time & when I had A/Gold account so I can't tell 3)Does anyone know what this entry on statement might be - "telephone banking fee £10" is it for phoning to cancel a cheque? 4) how to calculate interest when charges take me O/Drawn or over O/Draft limit when I had one. Statements just show monthly interest taken from my account 5) can I claim interest on the approx' £1500 I have calculated as basic charges I know I'll have more Q's cos I am rubbish at maths, but any help re' above would be a great start. Tried looking around site but started t panic as a lot of the links don't work today!!! Thanks in advance......

Hi I was wondering if anyone can give me some advice or opinion. Nat West have refunded some charges as a result of my complaint at non-response to my e-mails and behaviour of bank staff (when I complained about taking my DSS money to cover charges and them not complying with Banking Code Standards). I told Nat West that I am going to complain to the Ombudsman & Banking Code Staandards Board and they sent me a really apologetic letter offering a further £50.00 to "cover the inconvenience caused by the delay in responding....and as a more tangible gesture of goodwill" I'm supposed to sign and return the letter which states - "I accept this offer of £50.00 compensation in full and final settlement of my complaint" What are they scared of if I pursue the complaint? I thought the Ombudsmen /Banking Standards Board etc would only log my complaint against the bank and that's it? I hope they don't mean that I am not allowed to reclaim 6yrs worth of Bank Charges, the letter doesn't mention that. Just worried they are trying to pull a fast one! Should I accept the £50.00 as compensation? Any ideas? Also, now I've got the 6yrs statements, should I start a separate thread as I need some advice re' calculating the charges I'm reclaiming? Thanks

Well, an unexpected refund from Nat West! Having received the 'go away and pay the charges' response to my complaint last week. I rang Customer Services and informed them that I intend to make a formal complaint to the Banking Code Standards Board and The Ombudsman as Nat West had breached the Banking Codes guidelines re' treating customers 'sympathetically' and taking DSS Benefits intended for 'essential day to day living' to cover bank charges. I was transferred to the Customer Lending Dept and spoke to a really helpful woman who went off to look into my complaint. 1/2 hr later she called me back to say that I would be refunded the £120 charges for the 5wks from the start of Sept 06!!!! I wasn't expecting that, but am really shocked at the amount of charges imposed over such a short time. Rang again today to check on the state of play re' my S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) letter apparently the statements are in the post....we shall see. WEMFISH- maybe the Banking Code Standards Board helpline may be more helpful than the Ombudsman the guy I spoke to was really helpful - hence above refund. Let me know if you want the number... How is everyone else doing, any progress?

Hang On In there Girl Sorry to hear you're getting the run around, makes me so angry. They really don't care what they put you through, so remember it's not personal, just banks being banks. Hope you get somewhere soon so you get a little pece of mind. Don't give up...

Hi Have now received a reply to my letter re' charges last month, they more or less told me to go away and read their bumpf about bank charges, which is kind of what I expected, and if I was not happy to complain to the Ombudsmen by 21 Nov, which I may just do, so that at least I've covered all bases. WEMFISH - I am expecting to get the same reply you do but it will be interesting to see. Still waiting for response to SAR letter but it's early days, they only received it on 6.10.06. How is every one else doing?

Just in case we all need a little more motivation to keep up the good fight and not let them get way with it: check out tonight's Dispatches on Channel 4 at 9pm - ' Data Theft Scandal' it's about breaches of bank call centre security and what can happen to our personal info