Help! (new here) - NATIONWIDE BANK

[medicgirl]

Hey all, and how glad am I to find somewhere to help with my plight of claiming bank charges!

 

I will confess most of what I've read has somewhat drifted over my head. So what I will say next probably makes no sense, and whilst I've had a gander at the FAQ's as requested I'm still in a slight pickle.

 

A basic outline of my case is as follows;

 

In January 2004 I opened a Nationwide account as a means of putting some money aside in a seperate bank account. This I had no problems with up until the latter part of the year when I decided I didn't want the hassle etc. Because I was no longer using the account I more or less ignored the statements I was receiving. However letters I received I would open.

 

In January 2005 I received a letter demanding repayment of a sum to the tune of £300 on my unauthorised overdraft. Considering I had no outgoings from this account and had not used it for nearly a year I was very scared and after pursuing it with a employee of the bank I discovered I could repay these charges at around £50 a month.

 

After viewing my backlogged statements it became apparent that the majority of my charges had been issued for going TWO POUND (yes, £2) overdrawn on my account. From this I was charged £20 whenever Nationwide felt like it.

 

Considering it took them a YEAR to issue me a letter demanding my repayment, with no phone calls despite having adaquete contact details I felt horrified when I realised this was impacting on my credit rating.

 

Because I suffer from ill health and have minimal surpulous money to spend on repaying incompetency, the arrangements I set up were occasionally broken. I informed the bank of this who appeared to be considerate to my circumstances and they offered to set up a temporary overdraft.

 

Whilst paying these charges I realised that despite having this temporary overdraft I was still being charged £20 for technically breaching my original contract. Considering I was paying £50 a month and then being charged £20, it seemed hopeless that I would ever get out of the debt that I had unwillingly had piled on.

 

Currently I am in debt with Nationwide of about £250, although I have an arrangement set up in place to pay £60 per month which I do not have, I am still being charged £20 regularly.

 

I estimate without knowing fully that I am probably owed something like £500 from Nationwide however I aim to find out this data from the DPA.

 

However, and this is where I really need the help - having entered Nationwide's details in, I have a very generic address. In order to make sure the bank gets receipt of this letter in the relevant department, is there an address or name anyone is aware of that would assist with a quicker response? I notice some very helpful members are aware of Natwest's particular and ideally I'd like to know the person in the same position for Nationwide.

 

Any replies or assistance to my saga would be very appreciative. Although not an excuse, I am quite young and some of what is suggested is going straight over my head!

 

Regards

 

MG

[mrsfoot]

Hello and welcome to the Consumer Action Group!

 

There are a few things that you must do before sending letters off left right and centre. By following the steps correctly you save yourself and others a lot of work!

 

• Read the FAQs. Print them out and take 2 -3 days to understand what it is you are about to do…..you wouldn’t just jump into a lake for a swim unless you knew how to swim, would you??
  
• Understand the process. Don’t try to start halfway through, it won’t work. Its time consuming but at least you won’t be making any mistakes in getting your money back!
  
• Read through the relevant forum for your bank claim. Here you will find others journeys, celebrations and queries, most of which will help you in your claim.
  
• Start a thread in your forum, and keep it in your favourites so you can find it easier. Call it your name v bank name for example. Here you can log your own journey, ask questions and most of all offer another thread for a newer person to read (see you are giving something back already)
  
• It’s your claim; you have to do the work! Its not easy, can be very frustrating and at times you will feel like throwing the towel and letting them get away. But keep on going, seek advice from mods / site helpers/ or anyone else who is on the forum, great place for this is the chat room, try it out!

This the link for nationwide too, have a look around there!

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/nationwide/

 

Good Luck

[indebtstudent]

I concur with the above advice, I know for Nationwide it does not matter where you send the letter. All the filing is done centrally so sending it to the branch will have it sent off. I can try and look up an office for Nationwide but mail doesn't generally go there directly so it might look a bit fishy.

 

Send it recorded to the branch then it will get sent on in the internal mail which is very secure.

 

Oh and one more tip, address letters to NAtionwide Building Society, shows u pay attention to deaitl and don't forget to sign the SAR because all employees should carry out a signiture verification check.