Rocky v Natwest - It's fight night! ***WON***

[paulrockliffe]

Hello all,

 

Just thought I'd say hello and let you know that the fight is ON! After NatWest did their usual £38 for non payment of a Direct Debit, followed by another £38 for THEIR charges taking me over my overdraft limit I finally snapped. I put Natwest, £38 and charges into google and ended up here!

 

I've been through all my statements and worked out I've been [EDIT] of £1200 over the alst few years, I even discovered I've been charged twice for bounced cheques on a few occasions. Once they even charged me twice for the cheque bouncing, then paid it anyway!

 

Anyway, I've just got one question at the moment, though I'm sure more will follow:

 

If I want to claim on two bank accounts, both with NatWest, should I do them both in once claim, or deal with the accoutns one at a time?

 

Cheers peeps!

[dantracey]

Hi Paul welcome

 

Im not sure on this as im only doing 1 at a time, but im sure the bus will be along shortly with someone who can help.

Just make sure you do a lot of reading before you go on to each step, this way you wont make any mistakes.

 

Tracey

[anon1]

Paul, I was looking at the first bit and can you clarify that a cheque was bounced twice and the very same cheque was then paid? That will help your case because a cheque can only be presented twice but as the system is automated(not a shock by now) then it came through twice.

[muggins73]

Hello all,

 

Just thought I'd say hello and let you know that the fight is ON! After NatWest did their usual £38 for non payment of a Direct Debit, followed by another £38 for THEIR charges taking me over my overdraft limit I finally snapped. I put Natwest, £38 and charges into google and ended up here!

 

I've been through all my statements and worked out I've been [EDIT] of £1200 over the alst few years, I even discovered I've been charged twice for bounced cheques on a few occasions. Once they even charged me twice for the cheque bouncing, then paid it anyway!

 

Anyway, I've just got one question at the moment, though I'm sure more will follow:

 

If I want to claim on two bank accounts, both with NatWest, should I do them both in once claim, or deal with the accoutns one at a time?

 

Cheers peeps!

 

Hi there fellow Natwester and welcome to our forum.

 

In response to your question, I've claimed for both accounts jointly...in the long run it should save you alot of time and money, but it's totally up to you.

 

Just ensure that all correspondance lists them seperately and that you have a schedule of charges for each.

 

Make sure that you have read through the FAQs in great detail before you proceed. Any queries we are here to help.

 

Good luck and keep us posted.

[paulrockliffe]

Hello again, I've delayed starting the fight until after christmas because I've been a bit busy and have a couple of concerns that hopefully people can help me out with:

 

1. Are Natwest likely to try to close my account if I start action against them? I'm not in a position where I can afford to lose the interest-free overdraft facility I have on one of my accounts (Student account) and Natwest are probably aware of this, so i'm worried about the potential consequences of a claim.

 

2. It's likely that I will continue to incur charges after I've made my claim - Is there anyway I can avoid having to go down the road of a second claim against Natwest further down the line?

 

Thanks for all your help.

[Guest NATTIE]

1. No

2. No

Hope that helps

[paulrockliffe]

I guess that helps a bit, thanks, but reading a few other threads it looks like Natwest would be within their rights to give me 28 days notice to repay the overdraft and a threadt along these lines would be a pretty effective intimidatory tactic for someone in my circumstances. Is there a reason I'm missing why they wouldn't use this tactic, they seem to be doing everything else to avoid paying these claims?

 

I figured the answer to question 2 would be no.

 

Whilst reading another thread I read the letter sent with a full claim settlement cheque from Cobblers and it made me wonder whether by abandoning your current claim, as requested in the letter, you were abandoning the claim reference specified in the letter or the legal basis of your claim. I don't know if what I've just written makes a load of sense, but what I'm wondering is what is stopping you accepting payment and then starting another claim for the same charges. I'm sure there's something I'm not aware of, but I don't know what it is.

 

I'm also curious as to what the consequences for the population as a whole would be were someone to reject all settlemen and force the banks to go through the courts and why this hasn't happened already? My thinking is that if setting a precedent in court would make everyone's claims be paid out a lot faster, with less hassle etc is this not something worth doing?

 

Lots of questions! I'm probably way off track, but please enlighten me!

 

Thanks

[Guest NATTIE]

If you sue a bank for £x and they offer a settlement then you could be faced with court costs for wasting court time(I think Glennuk said this on another thread). I would not quit your existing claim but use it as experience for the next claim. Remember no one can force a settlement on terms you disagree with.

[muggins73]

Hello again, I've delayed starting the fight until after christmas because I've been a bit busy and have a couple of concerns that hopefully people can help me out with:

 

1. Are NatWest likely to try to close my account if I start action against them? I'm not in a position where I can afford to lose the interest-free overdraft facility I have on one of my accounts (Student account) and Natwest are probably aware of this, so i'm worried about the potential consequences of a claim. If, like me, you owe them money(i am currently over my od limit on two accounts!!), they are highly unlikely to close your account at this stage. However, it is worth noting that they could close your account once you have paid up. I've read somewhere that this has happened after the court claim has been settled (out of cour, obviously) something about not wanting their type of custom.

 

2. It's likely that I will continue to incur charges after I've made my claim - Is there anyway I can avoid having to go down the road of a second claim against Natwest further down the line? I don't agree with natweststaffmember on this point, as I have been charged since my claim. Again I have read others' thread that have had to advise Natwest that they'll take them back to court and reject their offer of settlement if they did not return/include the monies they have charged since their claim was made.

 

Thanks for all your help.

 

I to have thought about goin 'all the way' to the court even if after a settlement has been offerred..and I'm sure we are not the first. But as natweststaffmember has so rightly put, the judge would probably deem this course of action as unnecessary. In the eyes of the law, having an offer made as full and final settlement, is the basis to which our claim is made. In other words we would be the ones being unfair and unreasonable instead of the other way round.

 

Hope this helps.

[Guest NATTIE]

I just realised that I made a mistake in post 6 because I am wrong.

1) is correct NO

2) possibly to charges and No

 

Sorry for slight slip there

[paulrockliffe]

Ok, that all sounds reasonable. Now I just need to decide whether to charge NatWest interest on all the money they've [ edit ]- takenfrom me. I've been looking in to it, but would really appreciate a quick list of pros and cons of this approach so I can do a bit more reading.

 

thanks.

[paulrockliffe]

Sorry - didn't meant o put anything libelous in my post, though I've looked up the word in the dictionary and I'm not sure it is libellous in this context. If it had resulted in a court case would that not force Natwest to prove that their charges are legal?

 

Won't do it again.

[muggins73]

Ok, that all sounds reasonable. Now I just need to decide whether to charge NatWest interest on all the money they've [ edit ]- takenfrom me. I've been looking in to it, but would really appreciate a quick list of pros and cons of this approach so I can do a bit more reading.

 

thanks.

 

In my opinion, you'd possibly be pushing your luck slightly. I'd opt for the retrieval of monies taken in unlawful charging and nothing more and try not to complicate matters. However, this is just my humble opinion, I could be wrong.

[paulrockliffe]

Appart from the obvious extra money that I could get the difference in claiming the interest would be that if they tried to close my accounts the claim would then cover the overdrafts and I wouldn't be in trouble, without the interest closure of my accounts would be a major problem.

[paulrockliffe]

Right, I've decided to post my initial letter tomorrow, it's in the envelope ready to go! I'm not going to try to claim back contractual interest, because I want a simple resolution and if I'm honest, I'd be more than happy to get the £1503 they've had from me back!

[muggins73]

Sounds reasonable;)

 

Good luck, and let the games commence:D

[paulrockliffe]

Anyone know how long they usually take to respond? I know it's only been 8 days, but I'm getting a little excited!

[muggins73]

Anyone know how long they usually take to respond? I know it's only been 8 days, but I'm getting a little excited!

 

Usually not too long, but it depends on whether their initial response is worth the paper it's written on...which in most cases it is far from it;)

 

You'll get one of two types of response:

First, the standard BOG-OFF letter, I'm sorry bla, bla, bla OR

Second, the new std BOG-OFF letter, we ar busy and will get back to you sometime during the next iceage:-x

 

Rest assurred, all this waiting and pussy-footing about will be worth it in the end:D

[paulrockliffe]

Hello All,

 

I just recieved a response to my initial letter this morning, NatWest have offered settlement in full, £1519, it's made my day, and will make my birthday tomorrow extra special!!

 

Looks like things have definitely changed for the better at NatWest!

 

Thanks to everyone involved with this site, and those that have helped me directly along the way, I can't say it's been an overly taxing fight, but I've learned a lot and I'll be applying my knowledge to Egg and Barclaycard in due course.

 

The following is what Mr Higley had to say on the matter:

 

Dear Mr Rockliffe

Thank you for your letter. I am sorry that you have concerns regarding the charges that have been applied to your account.

 

We explain all of our terms & conditions including our fees and charges at account opening and they form the basis of your agreement with us. Full details are available at any time on our website and in our branches, and updates are sent out regularly to our customers. For your convenience, I am enclosing our current terms and conditions (including fees and charges) that apply to your account.

 

NatWest has for a number of years provided many every day banking services to customers free of charge when accounts are in credit or within a previously agreed overdraft limit. These services include access to our branch network, cheques, Direct Debits, Standing Orders, UK debit card transactions and UK ATM withdrawals. It is also important to us that our customers have every opportunity to arrange suitable borrowing facilities with us should they require extra funds whether through branches, online or via our UK based call centres.

 

Whilst many of our services are provided without a corresponding charge, we do make charges when customers, by their actions, request an increase to or the creation of an overdraft in excess of their previously agreed limit. By reviewing such requests we provide an additional service to customers, in many instances allowing items to be paid either by creating or increasing an overdraft. These charges can be avoided entirely by arranging suitable borrowing facilities in advance.

 

For these reasons, we do not agree with the basis of your complaint. We believe that the charges we levy are for providing services and that they are not penalties or charges for default. Furthermore we believe that these charges are fair, reasonable and transparent.

However, having reviewed your case and as a gesture of goodwill and without admission of liability or error, in this instance we are prepared to offer the amount of £1519.00 paid direct to your account. Advantage packaged account fees, stopped cheque fees, other sundry fees, interest and charges already applied to your account will have been excluded as appropriate.

 

To accept this offer in full and final settlement of your complaint please let me know by completing the attached form and returning it to us in the reply paid envelope provided. If you would like to discuss this further please contact the number quoted above.

 

Any charges that properly accrue in the future will be applied to your account in line with our published tariff and in accordance with your agreement with the bank. Should you be unwilling to accept such charges, then we may need to consider if we are prepared to continue to provide you with your existing banking facilities. Instead we may offer you a simple account that does not offer borrowing facilities or other services that can result in charges.

 

I trust that this will resolve your complaint, however for the sake of completeness I am enclosing a leaflet explaining the options available to you should you wish to take matters further.

 

Financial Services Authority guidlines state that we can regard your complaint as closed if we do not hear from you within eight weeks of this letter. If you do need to take your complaint forward, please let me know within this time.

 

I look forward to hearding from you.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Stuart Higley

Customer Relations

[petrafyde]

Thats wonderful, congratulations, and happy birthday for tomorrow!

[Faulkner]

Thant's fantastic! You have inspired me to send my letter off...having been a bit worried before....

[muggins73]

WELL DONE, YOU;)

 

WHAT A BLINDING BIRTHDAY SURPRISE:D

 

Make sure you have a drink on me, or maybe quite a few drinks now they've settled!!

[headintheclouds]

Well done I got exactly the same letter as you this week. Hoping they transfer the amount soon as one of my direct debits has just taken me over my overdraft limit this morning.

[headintheclouds]

Thant's fantastic! You have inspired me to send my letter off...having been a bit worried before....

 

Don't worry about it at all. Check everything, send the letter, and whatever they come back with there will be people here who will advise and support you. Good luck!