Urgent advice needed

[seanamarts]

My daughter in law who is a single parent on benefits with two very small children has been left penniless by Nat west bank. Over the past few weeks they have taken money from her account for a DD that she cancelled as she knew she didnt have the money in there to pay it, they cancelled her DD but when the DD was due they went to pay it and because there was no money in the account they charged her £38.00 making her overdrawn, they then charged her for being over drawn, the charges took all her benefits that were paid in which barely left her any money to feed her two children, I had to help her out. She then went overdrawn by £2.00 through another DD of just over £2.00 and again they charged her for not having enough in her bank to cover the DD, it was literally pennies so that was another £38.00 plus charges of being over drawn. in total they have taken almost £200.00 in charges in just a few weeks, That more than she gets in benefits. Her benefit is due to be put in her bank this week but it will be taken straightaway to cover her charges, she has pleaded with Nat West but alas this has fallen on deaf ears. My son (the childrens father) and myself have tried to help out as much as we can but I am on benefits myself and what ever money my son gives her she has to declare so she is no better off. Does any one have any useful advice what she can do in the here and now. she has written a letter (using templates from here) to get her charges back, but we know that will take time and the situation is desperate now.

Please help!!

[mich7k]

There is a right of appropriation letter that she could use not sure which thread its on look on benefits and entitlements aparently she needs to inform the bank before the money goes in.

Maybe she should also get another bank account and call the benenfits agency or use a post office account then just use the account to pay DDs? Hope this helps

[WendyB]

Try contacting the benefits agency and asking them to redirect to another bank account. they were helpful when i did this some time ago, for the very same reason. i think they need a couple of days notice though, as they have a cut off date, after that day/date each week, they can't stop the payment going through.

[seanamarts]

Thanks guys, My daughter in law has not long phoned Nat west and again pleaded her case, he was very rude and told her that the charges are there to teach people not to go over drawn and only silly people allow this to happen:eek:, she was so angry by this remark she put the phone down. she called the benefits agency and they have said that they will write to the bank, and they advised her to switch to a post office account. she is going to take this course of action asap. thanks guys

[steven4064]

he was very rude and told her that the charges are there to teach people not to go over drawn and only silly people allow this to happen

Did they actually say that? That is an actual admission that the charges are unlawful penalties :o

 

There is a better way - ditch NatWest. HOwever, in the meantime your DIL could send this letter to her branch and copied to Customer SAervices at Borehamwood.

Dear Sirs

RE ACCOUNT XXXXXXXXX

I am a single parent on benefits with two very small children and have been left penniless by Nat West bank. Over the past few weeks you have taken money from my account for a DD that I cancelled on date as I knew the account didn’t have enough money in it to cover it

Even though the DD was cancelled, Nat West tried to pay it and, because there was no money in the account, charged me £38.00 making me overdrawn. Nat West then charged me for being overdrawn.

The charges added took all my benefits that were paid in which barely left me any money to feed my two children.

I then went overdrawn by £2.00 because of another DD of just over £2.00 and was again charged for not having enough money to cover the DD. This has snowballed so that I have now been charged almost £200.00 in charges in just a few weeks, which is more than I get in benefits and all due to Nat West’s mistake in trying to pay a cancelled DD.

The final straw was on date when I phoned my branch. The person I spoke to was extremely rude and told me “the charges are there to teach people not to go over drawn and only silly people allow this to happen”. This is an admission that the charges are levied in terrorum, that is that they are penalties, and therefore unlawful under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 and under the common law.

I intend to pursue Nat West for these charges to be repaid. In my case, not only are they unlawful, but charged as a direct result of Nat West’s error.

I will give you 14 days to rectify this mistake before taking further action.

[seanamarts]

Hi Steven yes he really said that, her reply was , 'your a patronising git'

 

she never ever loses her temper with people and even I was shocked to here her say that:eek:

I will get her too look at the letter that you have kindly written and will certainly keep you updated. she will be ditching her bank as soon as she can get her finances in order, and open a post office account. shes not well at the moment which dosnt make matters any easier

[steven4064]

I'm really sorry to hear of your and her problems. The last thing you both need is to be treated like this

 

Depending on their resonse, she may end up taking them to court. It will be fun if we can get the recording of that conversation (make a note of the date and time while you can remember)

[Guest vortex]

Sean, has she got proof that it was cancelled, ie a cancellation slip or was it done online/by telephone? If the person said what is alleged to have said then she should ask for a recording of the call. If she called the branch telephone line number direct NOT central telephony then no such recording will exist. The person she spoke to needed to have investigated the issue of the cancelled Direct Debit even if that means an audit trail of her account. It would help if she has the date of cancellation.

It could be that the Direct Debit was set up after the first one was cancelled or even that there may have been 2 and the wrong one was cancelled both of which can be classed as bank error. If she is following the recommended legal route as outlined on here, letters are sent NOT to borehamwood but to a Customer Response Unit in Edinburgh.

[steven4064]

NOT to borehamwood but to a Customer Response Unit in Edinburgh.

Has Stuart moved then?