FFV vs. NatWest

[fighting for victory]

So, this is my second day on this forum and after having read as much information as possible, I'm ready to get the ball rolling.

 

NatWest have taken over £1,000 from me during the last 5 years. I originally thought it was over £1,200, but some of the more recent charges might be legit, so I'll have to check that. However it is still a substantial amount for me, as I receive health-related benefits and have no income apart from what the DWP pay me.

 

Just trying to figure out the total that they owe me, including compound interest. As I didn't get on with the spreadsheets that I've checked (error messages in certain fields), I decided to do some of the calculations myself. There are lots of online calculators for compound interest, which however only calculate the interest for one figure, so I believe I can calculate the total compound interest by adding up the compound interests for the individual months, i.e.

 

CI(MONTH_1) for (TOTAL_DURATION) + CI(Month_2) for (TOTAL_DURATION - 1) + CI(Month_3) for (TOTAL_DURATION - 2) etc.

 

with CI being compound interest, and TOTAL_DURATION being the number of months since the first charge,

 

and do this calculation both for the unfair charges, as well as for the interest on those charges.

 

Please can someone tell me if this is correct. or if I have made a logical error. Thanks in advance for any help.

[BankFodder]

Firstly you should read the articles on the CagMag about the difficulties facing bank charges claims. By and large they are not reclaimable any more.

 

Before you start leaping in you need to do a lot of homework which means read around the forum to understand what the entire position is.

 

There have been a lot of debates about compound interest. Personally I don't think that it is claimable but some people do. Anyone who has received a compound interest payout,m in my view, has won it only because the banks didn't understand much about it either and it was just paid out. Things are very different now.

 

Search the forum for compound interest. Read the cagMag articles and you will be much better placed to decide what you want to do and also to ask meaningful questions which are relevant to your case.

Edited September 23, 2010 by slick132
title edited slightly

[fighting for victory]

From what I can tell I have to possible options:

 

(1) Last year I left a letter with my bank and got a signature to confirm it had been received, in order to claim my right of appropriation for a payment which I was expecting. However as the payment arrived, the bank ignored my demand and the payment was not being made available to me. It was a very stressful situation at the time because not only have I been suffering from mental health problems since my childhood, but at the time I was also physically ill. In the past I have had a car accident which resulted in my spleen being removed, so I also have a weakend immune system and I made the bank aware of the fact that ignoring my request was seriously putting my health at risk.

 

Each time I visited the bank I was told that there was nobody available to deal with my case, as I had set up a business account a few years earlier (which I have never used because the business which I had planned to establish had never worked out) and because of that only the manager of this business account would be able to deal with my request. Despite repeatedly trying to get hold of him under different numbers which I was given, I never managed to get him on the phone and my calls were never returned. At some point I was so angry that I said I would refuse to leave the bank building until I had spoken to him, as by that time my health had seriously deteriorated (in the past I had to be hospitalised twice for over a week because of the same condition which I was experiencing at the time). This resulted in me being informed that £76 (two previous Unpaid Items fees) would be refunded later that day, so that part of the payment which I had received would be available to me. A few hours later I received a phone call from my business account manager who confirmed that the money had been refunded.

 

I no longer have a copy of the letter which I sent but will check my hard drive to see whether it is still somewhere in a zip file. However my online statement shows the date of the refund.

 

In my opinion the bank should have had the obligation to check why my account went overdrawn nearly every month, and why payments regularly had to be returned. I was suffering from severe anxiety and depression at the time, and a lot of the time I was unable to even make the most important phone calls. It wasn't until my physical health was seriously at risk, that I was able to take action for the first time.

 

The only money which I have been receiving into my account has been my DLA. During the worst month, the bank charged me almost £350 - far more than is ever paid in during one month.

 

(2) The other approach which I could take would be to make a hardship claim. My expenses exceed my benefit money, especially since I have been seeing a therapist on a weekly basis, whom I have to pay privately.

 

I am not sure which approach would be better, or whether I should combine the two?

Edited September 23, 2010 by slick132
title amended

[slick132]

Hi FFV,

 

I think you should try and open an a/c outside of the NatWest group. Then at least you can divert incoming funds and not lose any more to NatWests charges.

 

That will then leave you the option to seek a refund of charges taken, under the Hardship rules. See here for some relevant Articles - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/resources/templates-library/48-bank-templates

 

Claiming compound interest may be difficult but you could claim back the interest they have actually charged you as per your statements, if your a/c is overdrawn because of the charges.

 

But I'd focus on getting a new a/c open ASAP to stop this cycle of charges spiralling out of control.

 

You can then deal with reclaiming the older charges without having to worry about your weekly income being wiped out by ongoing charges.

 

8)

[fighting for victory]

I'll definitely try to open another account asap & will check the thread about it beforehand.

 

Q: Is there any way I can access the documents on the Bank Charges Templates page? (your link above)

I get a link next to them saying 'Register to read more...' and then get taken to a log in page, from where I get redirected to the main CAG forum page again. It seems to be a mirror of the page on consumerforums dot com, which I found earlier on and which is broken, as Bankfodder pointed out to me as I mentioned having difficulties with it. However on this (sub-)site the links don't seem to be working correctly either, except for the first two.

 

I did find the thread about banks taking benefit money though, and I am determined to read through all 56 pages before next week, so I know exactly what to expect when I confront my bank referring to section 187 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992, and so I am prepared for the methods they'll most likely be using to try and fob me off.

[slick132]

Hi FFV,

 

Try this link, making sure you're logged onto the site first - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/resources/templates-library/48-bank-templates/117-letter-for-an-application-for-consideration-for-hardship

 

8-)

[fighting for victory]

Not sure why none of the links work for me and just take me back to the main forum page? (I am logged on by the way)

 

Also, doesn't it make far more sense just to state section 187 of the Social Security Administrations Act 1992, which makes it illegal for the banks to withhold benefit money, rather than having to go through the complicated process of making a hardship claim, having to disclose my complete financial situation, etc.?

 

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATIONS ACT 1992

 

187- Subject to the provisions of this Act, every assignment of, or charge on-

(a) benefit as defined in section 122 of the Contributions and Benefits Act;

(b) any income-related benefit; or

© child benefit,

and every agreement to assign or charge such benefit shall be void; and, on the bankruptcy of the beneficiary, such benefit shall not pass to any trustee or other person acting on behalf of his creditors.

Or is that law no longer valid?

[slick132]

Experience suggests that the bank will argue and interpret the legislation differently.

 

But try, by all means.

 

I'll try and see why the links don't work for you

8-)

Edited September 30, 2010 by slick132
wrong bank. DOH !!

[fighting for victory]

Experience suggests that Barclays will argue and interpret the legislation differently.

 

But try, by all means.

 

... and so do all other banks. That doesn't make what they are doing legal though.

[fighting for victory]

I'll try and see why the links don't work for you

8-)

 

Thanks! 8-)

[citizenB]

Try the link again..

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/resources/templates-library/48-bank-templates/117-letter-for-an-application-for-consideration-for-hardship

 

There should be no reason that you are unable to access it. If it doesnt work by clicking on the link. Try pasting it into your browser see how that goes.