Natwest. £94 charges for £3 overdrawn !!

[oldmodcon]

My natwest current account is in good standing - 2 weeks ago I paid sach into the account to cover some direct debits.

 

Unfortunately I miscalculated and paid in £3 short. Lo and behold Natwest refused one of the DDs and charged £38

 

Yesterday they added a further charge of £28 but I only had £20 in the account which has put it over by £8

 

Having just spoken to them I was told the £38 was for bouncing the DD, the £28 was for going overdrawn. In addition I will be charged a further £28 at the end of jan for going overdrawn today BECAUSE OF THEIR CHARGES !!

 

So that means I've been charged £94 all because I was £3 short in the account. Is it worth going into the branch tomorrow and speaking to someone face to face ?

[maroondevo52]

Hi, oldmodcon.

 

If this is the first charges they've applied to your account, it's always worth going in and asking them to refund them. If they don't, you'll have to re-claim them.

 

Here's the step-by-step..........

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/faqs-please-read-these/31460-example-step-step-instructions.html

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[oldmodcon]

Cheers Scott - i'll pay them a visit tomorrow and see what happens - failing that i'll start the ball rolling to claim it back - £94 is a lot of money at the moment and this is extortionate

[maroondevo52]

failing that i'll start the ball rolling to claim it back - £94 is a lot of money at the moment and this is extortionate

 

I know what you mean, HBOS screwed about £7,000 from me in 6 years, it took a bit of time but I got the lot back, including interest

 

Good luck with that.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[woodwa5]

Natwest are becoming increasingly unscroupulous and I wonder if it is because they are struggling themselves. Good luck to you in your quest, I am also attempting to get charges back from Natwest (about 6k)

[yourbank]

NatWest are becoming increasingly unscroupulous and I wonder if it is because they are struggling themselves. Good luck to you in your quest, I am also attempting to get charges back from Natwest (about 6k)

What utter rubbish. The charges have worked the same for the years with NatWest(even when they weren't struggling). Even if the wording of the terms and conditions of the charges have changed the basics haven't. If you read the charges guide I posted in 2006(as Nattie) you will see the basics haven't changed. The OP will need to start the process of reclaiming as I suspect that they will either (a) decline him or (b) offer one charge back. This element of the process has changed, with the branch having sanctioning for £0 in refunds. All refunds have to be sanctioned at regional level.

[woodwa5]

fair comment and on reflection what i said isn't correct so i will retract that. I suppose what i mean is that they are dealling with the whole 'hardship' issue in a less fair way than the other big banks appear to be, I have personal experience of this and also researched it. I will, however, stop putting remarks on threads without the justification to back them up so please accept my apologies,

Woodwa5;)

[yourbank]

The basics of hardship with NW are this:

Letter sent to bank re bank charges

Letter sent out with Income and Expenditure

Either phone call to clarify I&E or decision made.

That decision falls into 3 categories

1) Declined(you can appeal but unless there is further evidence than unlikely to proceed so FOS if you are unhappy). I would suggest appealing on the basis of the FSA Waiver PAGE 11. recently had a success on MSE on that basis. Make the letter personal to you and not simply generic.

2) Offer of refund(not all of them necessarily but an offer none the less. It cannot be Full and final settlement cos that is against the FSA Waiver--I have read it all). It will not effect your ability to claim all of the amounts if the OFT test case final decision goes against the banks.

3) Suspension of charges but no refund. That means that you will not get charged but it means you do not get refunded. The suspension maybe until the conclusion of the OFT test case or a shorter period--I have seen posters on another forum get this deal. Both still do not stop you from claiming all charges and is not statute barring as it is also contained within the FSA waiver.

Hope that makes sense. I have been looking at hardship for the last 6 months on the forums. Other banks seem to have similar processes in place albeit their definition is perhaps slightly different.

I think that Extreme hardship--where repossession is very imminent or rent arrears etc, etc, does lead to a payout. Largest payout I have seen is c.£10,000 on MSE.

[woodwa5]

Hmmm....I think the issue hear is that Nat West's definition of hardship is not the same as the FSA version. I along with many others on this site have applied using the exact terms laid down by the FSA and they have still decided it is not hardship. FYI I then went to the Abbey with exactly the same info and got 2k back. Now i'm not saying that Nat West should pay anybody back anything at all, I just don't think it is right that they are saying people are not experiencing hardship when they most definately are

[yourbank]

Hmmm....I think the issue hear is that Nat West's definition of hardship is not the same as the FSA version. I along with many others on this site have applied using the exact terms laid down by the FSA and they have still decided it is not hardship. FYI I then went to the Abbey with exactly the same info and got 2k back. Now i'm not saying that Nat West should pay anybody back anything at all, I just don't think it is right that they are saying people are not experiencing hardship when they most definately are

I haven't made comment of their definition of hardship because I would agree with you to a degree. All banks seem to have separate definitions of hardship and how they deal with hardship claims. For example, one bank will only pay up to 1 year's worth of bank charges while another one will suspend charges. There is no uniform measure on hardship. I hope that the new Waiver due in at the end of the month will have a uniform definition and a uniform method of what is paid out ie x amount of charges or % of charges based on various measures.

 

With regards to your case if one bank says YES and another says no then you have the right to go to the FOS for them to adjudicate. That is the option you have based on the specifics of the FSA Waiver on hardship.