NatWest Lost Paperwork

[faltskog5450]

Hi,

I tried applying for Step Account with NatWest in August, to run along side the Step Account I have had for nearly 4 years. Had an appointment with my branch, but because I am discharged bankrupt, they needed to see my Bankrupcy Discharge from 2003 which was at home. I ended up going to another branch which is nearer me and they faxed it through. Rang the girl dealing with it at my branch and she had received it. No problems. Or so I thought. But by this time it had dropped off the system, so she sent me a letter out with income into my Original Step Account etc. which I had to sign and return. This I did. And she received this. Then it started going wrong. She changed branches and my paperwork mysteriously went missing. I contacted the New Account dept at head office, and they had nothing on the system for my new account. So I spoke to the bank and was told that due to sickness they didn't know anything about it, but someone would ring me back. They didn't, so I contacted them, and unknowingly spoke to Manager. I was told they would have a look for all the paperwork. When I contacted them next time I spoke to the manager again. They thought maybe it was in someone elses file. The girl who had moved branches said she hadn't taken it with her. But it was no where to be seen.

 

I put in an official complaint, they then contacted me, and said that it be disposed of in the confidential waste, but I had nothing to worry about as it was totally safe. They then credited me by £75 and told me I could contact the Financial Ombudsman but they hoped it wouldn't come to this. I was not happy at all about this, and wrote a long email stating that surely they should check all information before it is destroyed. Because of the possibility of something important being in it, or the possibility of cheques, cash etc. I also said I believed that no paperwork could be destroyed immediately with details on, going off to somewhere like Iron Mountain, or staying within the branch. Then there was the possibility that the girl had taken it to another branch, which was a possibility in the first place.

 

Thank you for your recent email athough I am sorry that you remain unhappy that documents containing your personal information have been mislaid by the Bank.

Regrettably, there is little that I can add to the information you have already been given. You say that the Manager at ******** branch told you that he had no idea where the paperwork relating to your new account application was but it may have been placed in another customer’s file. If this is the case, this information would not be shared with any other customer. As we only hold our files for a certain period of time, the paperwork would eventually be placed in our confidential waste and as mentioned in my previous letter, it would then be destroyed under secure conditions.

You were also told that the Customer Adviser, ****, may have taken it with her when she returned to ********** branch. Having contacted Lisa, she assures me that the paperwork was left at **********branch and therefore at no time did it leave the branch premises.

You have asked me to explain what checks are made on our confidential waste before it is disposed of. As this is an internal procedure, regrettably, I am unable to discuss this process with you. I can only reiterate my previous comments and confirm that it is destroyed under secure conditions.

While there is nothing further I can do to locate the documentation, for regulatory reasons, I am obliged to include the following paragraph in my response.

I was then advised I could go to the Ombudsman if I am not happy about the decision which she does hope will not happen, and I can also contact her.

Does anyone of this wonderful informative forum think I should take it to the Ombudsman?

In my opionion, because they do not know where my paperwork is, the easiest solution is to say it has been destroyed. But being honest no-one knows where it is, or if it has been destroyed. And this is the easiest and the safest option. I cannot believe that a bank does not check what it is putting into it's confidential waste. And there must have been no checks as if it has gone in, it would surely have been spotted and removed.

To me this all seems like 'Supposition' on NatWest's part.

Any help gratefully received

faltskog5450

[Guest Old_andrew2018]

You might need to edit your post as its hard to read.

However you could look at the FOS web site, you will find their complaints procedure, a useful tool is their publications section where you can find actual case studies.

 

Andy

[faltskog5450]

Have edited my earlier post, as when I previewed it, it rearranged itself. Sorry.

 

Hi,

I tried applying for Step Account with NatWest in August, to run along side the Step Account I have had for nearly 4 years. Had an appointment with my branch, but because I am discharged bankrupt, they needed to see my Bankrupcy Discharge from 2003 which was at home. I ended up going to another branch which is nearer me and they faxed it through. Rang the girl dealing with it at my branch and she had received it. No problems. Or so I thought. But by this time it had dropped off the system, so she sent me a letter out with income into my Original Step Account etc. which I had to sign and return. This I did. And she received this. Then it started going wrong. She changed branches and my paperwork mysteriously went missing. I contacted the New Account dept at head office, and they had nothing on the system for my new account. So I spoke to the bank and was told that due to sickness they didn't know anything about it, but someone would ring me back. They didn't, so I contacted them, and unknowingly spoke to Manager. I was told they would have a look for all the paperwork. When I contacted them next time I spoke to the manager again. They thought maybe it was in someone elses file. The girl who had moved branches said she hadn't taken it with her. But it was no where to be seen.

 

I put in an official complaint, they then contacted me, and said that it be disposed of in the confidential waste, but I had nothing to worry about as it was totally safe. They then credited me by £75 and told me I could contact the Financial Ombudsman but they hoped it wouldn't come to this. I was not happy at all about this, and wrote a long email stating that surely they should check all information before it is destroyed. Because of the possibility of something important being in it, or the possibility of cheques, cash etc. I also said I believed that no paperwork could be destroyed immediately with details on, going off to somewhere like Iron Mountain, or staying within the branch. Then there was the possibility that the girl had taken it to another branch, which was a possibility in the first place.

Thank you for your recent email athough I am sorry that you remain unhappy that documents containing your personal information have been mislaid by the Bank.

Regrettably, there is little that I can add to the information you have already been given. You say that the Manager at ******** branch told you that he had no idea where the paperwork relating to your new account application was but it may have been placed in another customer’s file. If this is the case, this information would not be shared with any other customer. As we only hold our files for a certain period of time, the paperwork would eventually be placed in our confidential waste and as mentioned in my previous letter, it would then be destroyed under secure conditions.

You were also told that the Customer Adviser, ****, may have taken it with her when she returned to ********** branch. Having contacted ******, she assures me that the paperwork was left at **********branch and therefore at no time did it leave the branch premises.

You have asked me to explain what checks are made on our confidential waste before it is disposed of. As this is an internal procedure, regrettably, I am unable to discuss this process with you. I can only reiterate my previous comments and confirm that it is destroyed under secure conditions.

While there is nothing further I can do to locate the documentation, for regulatory reasons, I am obliged to include the following paragraph in my response.

I was then advised I could go to the Ombudsman if I am not happy about the decision which she does hope will not happen, and I can also contact her.

Does anyone of this wonderful informative forum think I should take it to the Ombudsman?

In my opionion, because they do not know where my paperwork is, the easiest solution is to say it has been destroyed. But being honest no-one knows where it is, or if it has been destroyed. And this is the easiest and the safest option. I cannot believe that a bank does not check what it is putting into it's confidential waste. And there must have been no checks as if it has gone in, it would surely have been spotted and removed.

To me this all seems like 'Supposition' on NatWest's part

Any help gratefully received

faltskog5450