RBOS won't let me close account

[eubo]

Hi,

 

I had previously claimed bank charges from RBOS and had warned them if they tried to continue to enforce charges on me I would leave and go with another bank.

They did apply a charge for being over my overdraft limit for 1 day and at first refused to refund this.

At this point I opened another bank account and asked them to transfer all my direct debits from the RBOS account to new account then close my RBOS account through their switching service.

This seemed to be completed but when the following months payments came out I noticed that my RBOS Loan direct debit was still coming out my RBOS account which I assumed had been closed.

On contacting the bank, they have told me that as I took out the loan as a RBS customer they cannot transfer the direct debit as it must come out an RBS account.

Is this correct?

Also, I had a Royalties Gold account which costs £12 a month which when I visited the bank about 8 years ago I was told I would need to have credit facilities. But it turns out there is a free account which would have given me the same. I beleive i was mis sold this account. Is there any experience of claiming back service charges under this circumstance

 

Thanks

[Guest Old_andrew2018]

Hi

I am no expert so no too sure if this advice is valid, why not cancel the diret debit, and set it up in your new acount, then write to your bank closing the acount.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[eubo]

Hi,

 

Because the loan is with RBOS they will not let me cancel the direct debit. I have tried phoning and going to my branch in person to cancel but they refuse to do so.

They say that as the bank account was already opened when the loan was taken out they cannot cancel the direct debit and refuse to let me set up the direct debit elsewhere.

[Enron]

That sounds wrong, its you as a customer who dictates where you want your banking facility and not the other way around.

 

Though reckon you'll have to get in touch with the FOS to sort this out.

[ukaviator]

Hi Eubo

 

Do you have internet access to the account?. You should be able to cancel it from there.

[caro]

It would appear that under the DD guarantee you CAN stop the direct debit. This might help.

 

Direct Debit help centre - cancellation failed

 

Regarding reclaiming the £12 a month charge, I certainly think it's worth a shot. My OH was mis-sold an account with Lloyds, which we've queried with them but they did not roll over at the first attempt, and Barclays have done the same kind of thing I believe. It's certainly worth trying. Might be worth doing a SAR to see if there is anything on your file about this.

[littlemissconfused]

Oh my God.They are doing the exact same thing to me! I had a loan with them (one which they pretty much made me take to pay of an overdraft) After being charged AGAIN, I refused to pay it and opened another account, phonned and cancelled all me direct debits and asked them to close my account and sent a letter to the same effect.

Then after being charged for being overdrawn and a bounced DD for the loan I was phoned by them and told I had to have my DD for the loan taken out of that account. That account is now hugely overdrawn with the same unpaid DD and unautharised overdraft charges and I have no way of paying it off!

[matt_smith2000]

They have said the same to me. Some years ago, I manually moved all my DD to IF from crappy RBS. I did it manually so I could control when payments were moved to IF (there was a reason at the time).

 

I phoned RBS up and asked them to move the DD for a loan with them to IF, and the plebe who dealt with me said that the deed had been done, and the DD would be transferred to IF.

 

It wasn't.

 

A few months down the line, I find out that I had missed loan payments, and had been charged for missed loan payments. I sorted the mess out, and successfully reclaimed my charges before the stay, so we ended up being OK on that front.

 

However, the DD remained on my RBS account, and they wouldn't move it. Due to timings of salaries, BACS clearance times and DD dates (which for some unkown reason, they refuse to move), I have to manually transfer money each month over the counter, which is a major ball ache, especially where holidays are concerned.

 

Anyway, after reading this thread, I have E-Mailed this specific request to BACS, to see if they are allowed to do this. Will let you know what happens when i receive a reply.

[Sparkie1723]

They cannot by law refuse your request to close your account IF it was/is in credit, they can only refuse if its in an overdraft situation ...even if that is the case.... you clear the overdraft and instruct them to transfer your account to your new bank direct debits the lot no matter who they are payable to..... put it in writing hand it in at your local branch take a copy and get the manager to sign receipt of it.

If they do not close your account then you are not liable for the non payment of your monthly loan payments.

If they then carry on debiting your account they refused to close and put it overdrawn again that is completely their responsibility.....that is an absolute fact

 

The RBS are abusing their position and forcing you to bank with them.

I would put your complaint to the FOS and make the FSA aware of their actions.....you do not have to be an RBS customer to have an RBS loan if this had any viability it would mean that you could not get any other product off any subsiduary of RBS for instance Insurance off Direct Line...their action is in effect "business blackmail" and you should emphasise this assertion to the FOS and the FSA,and the British Bankers Association (BBA)

 

sparkie

Edited July 1, 2008 by Sparkie1723