Theyre taking all my benefits!

[MrsMiggins54]

Hello, just beginning the fight. As I posted in the Welcome section, I'm paying Natwest everything Ive got and plenty off my credit card, just to cover mortgage, loan and living costs. They are well aware of this, but still take nearly £60 of interest/charge out every month...I'm on benefits with depression, but obviously I need to take them on to survive..let's see....it

[hedgey06]

Hi Mrs miggins.......... welcome on board the nat west forum!!

 

If they're taking your benefits - put a stop to it now! They're totally out of order and they're just piling more misery on top of everything you're facing right now.Have a read through here, this should help you http://www.consumeractiongroup.c o....-benefits.html

 

As for reclaiming your bank charges - we're behind you every step of the way on this forum. If you've already got your statements, highlight the charges and start entering them into the spreadsheet. If not, send off your SAR and we'll help you from there! Don't worry - you'll get your cash back soon.

 

Good luck, hedgey xxx

[MrsMiggins54]

Thanks! I've got the statements, and Im going to open a new account tomorrow; and Ive spoken to the debt advice people, so that's a good start! Tomorrow I'm also going to have to take £200 out on my credit card to put in the bank to cover direct debits etc, but hopefully that's the last time I'll have to do that. I'm working my way round this site right now, got good stuff already.

 

(also the nice debt people sughgested getting my benefits paid into the new account so I could control it!)

[hedgey06]

Brilliant! Sounds like you're taking really positive steps forward at the moment - you'll soon be free of nat west and their ridiculous charges........... and with a nice sum of money as well!

 

I know how this particular bank can make people feel - been there, done that. It's a great feeling when you start taking back some of the power though............. so keep up the good work! Hedgey xxx

[MrsMiggins54]

Thanks for all the support, I've had such nice replies already, it's making me feel more positive about all this..it can seem like a mountain when I'm sitting in a dark fog...

[WendyB]

You could also try ringing the Collections department, they can be dead helpful when they feel like it, especially that nice bloke called Graham at Nottingham...might be able to up the overdraft and agree a repayment plan of so much per month. At least if they up the overdraft then you won't get charged for being over the limit...., as long as you stick yo it....but got to make sure that you've diverted your income and direct debits to another account first.

 

If they don't agree to help then you're no worse off than before, then when you get all your charges back - and you will- this will probably clear your overdraft.

 

You could also try and agree a payment plan with the mortgage, depending on who its with and how helpful they are - have done this myself for a short while, and it might give you a bit of breathing space and cut down your outgoings for a while.

If you don't ask, you won't get, good luck with your fight, we're all right behind you.

 

Wendy x

[MrsMiggins54]

Thanks Wendy, I doubt what I get back will clear a £3000 plus overdraft, but it'll help... I did speak to someone at my branch about sorting things out, but she helpfully told me she couldn't do anything while I wasn't working The mortgage is with NatWest..apparently I can get it reduced from £160 to £99 per month if I pay them £77...... I suppose Ive been living in hope of getting a job, but all this is making my mental state so bad that I couldnt keep one... never mind, think positive...

 

How do I get hold of Graham?

[WendyB]

He's at Nottingham, you could try 08453039015 this gets you through to Collections but its pot luck whether you get Nottingham or Birmingham, don't tell him I've posted his name all over CAG he'll know it was me, and promised him I wouldn't! If you can't get Graham, then just speak to whoever you get and hope for the best, most of them are okay.

 

Branch staff are talking garbage, doesn't matter whether you're working or not, they shouldstill make an effort to help, might as well just bypass them and go to the relevant department.

 

Our mortgage is also with Natwest, we dropped it down to interest only for a few months, not the best thing in the long term, but okay for a while. cost us £25 but they added it to the mortgage. Ours is 4 times that much a month and they were really helpful. You could also extend the term which would bring the cost down.

 

Just post back if you need anything else and we'll try to help.

[MrsMiggins54]

Thanks again! I'll keep your secret!..Doubt they'll extend the term at my age (53), but you never know...

[WendyB]

Exactly, you never know, gotta be worth a try, and it depends on how long you've got left on the mortgage in the first place. Or ask if you can take a payment holiday, but you've got to be careful with this as any missed payments will have to be paid eventually.

 

And as for charges not paying off your overdraft, you'd be surprised what they can add up to, mine were over 1300 in less than 18 months, just charges, no interest, so you might find you've got more coming back than you thought, get those statements copied, highlight the charges and get them onto a spreadsheet, and GET YOUR MONEY BACK!!!! It's yours not theirs so go for it girl!

[MrsMiggins54]

Sorry if this is answered somewhere else, but my brain goes into panic stations when I read anything about interest/calculations! I just want to know, for the first part of my 6 years statements, I was going in and out of credit, as I was working. Natwest was charging me piddling but ever larger amounts of interest/charges, up till mid 2002, eg amounts under £5. Do I ignore this and just put it in if it is over, say, £5? Sorry again if I'm being an idiot!

[WendyB]

Not sure about interest, all looked too complicated to me so I didn't bother. Basically you can claim the bit of the interest that was charged because of charges taking you over your limit, but can't claim the interest that was charged for being overdrawn on an agreed overdraft, if you catch my drift. You can definitely claim the charges though.

I'm sure Fendy or parkvale or hedgey will correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Hope this helps.

[MrsMiggins54]

That sounds like I can't really reclaim anything! Apart from one or 2 minor charges for unpaid direct debits...

[WendyB]

Oh god, didn't mean to upset you Mrs M..

 

Someone will be along soon who can clarify, I'm by no means an expert. And bouncing direct debits are NOT minor at £38 quid a throw! And it's better in your pocket than theirs! As are 28 quid a time for going over the limit...

 

BUMP you lot out there, xomeone put Mrs M back on the straight and narrow.....

[MrsMiggins54]

They were charging me 14.99% for borrowing up to £1500..this was on an Advantage Gold account..I sort of assumed it was an agreed overdraft; that's what I was paying £6 per month for.... I didn't go over that limit till the end of 2004..

[hedgey06]

Hi mrs miggins, don't worry - you can still reclaim your charges.

 

Have a really good read through this thread http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/natwest-bank/79547-natwest-charges-guide.html as it explains which charges you can reclaim.

 

What you'll find, is that at the end/beginning of each month that you've gone over your overdraft, you'll have an unarranged borrowing fee that will say 'charges'. You can reclaim £28 of this - the other £12 will be the Advantage Gold fee that you can't reclaim. You can also reclaim the returned DD's, etc., as it states on the above link.

 

You can't reclaim the normal overdraft interest that nat west apply - as again this is a fee for a service they're providing. So if (for example), they charge you a tenner a month in interest for having a £500 overdraft, you can't reclaim this fee.

 

However, if you go over your overdraft one month and they bounce a DD and charge you an unarranged borrowing fee, you can reclaim the interest that is charged because of the two charges. There are spreadsheets that you can download on here that help you to work this out - so again, don't worry about this.

 

Even if your claim seems low - don't give up. This is your money and it was taken from your account unlawfully - so you're entitled to reclaim every penny of it. And we'll all help you to make sure that you're successful.

 

Hope this helps a little - hedgey xxx

[MrsMiggins54]

Ok thanks, so it looks as if I can't claim the interest they charged on the Credit Zone o/d, (which is a bit disappointing), but I can claim what they charged when i went over that?

[hedgey06]

I know it's disappointing that you can't reclaim the credit zone interest (I was gutted when I found that out at first) but at least every penny you do manage to reclaim will help you get back on your feet financially. And I'm a firm believer in small steps - I think this is how we all 'get there' in the end.

 

Wouldn't mind a nice big lottery win though!!

 

Hedgey xxx

[MrsMiggins54]

'However, if you go over your overdraft one month and they bounce a DD and charge you an unarranged borrowing fee, you can reclaim the interest that is charged because of the two charges. There are spreadsheets that you can download on here that help you to work this out - so again, don't worry about this. '

 

This is what I'm getting stuck with - You're saying that I can't claim unarranged borrowing fees charged just because I'm too skint to keep in credit, only those that happened because of unpaid DD fees? That seems to me to mean that I can't reclaim anything from the £56 odd that I'm being charged every month, because they do pay my DDs? I suppose I could argue that I'd be a lot better off if they didn't take that charge out, but they could equally argue that I'm so overdrawn anyway that it makes no difference... See why I'm going a bit nuts here?

[archer_66]

because they can argue manual intervention to actually look at your account to pay these DD's then its what they call a fee for service this is one of the things that got in the way of the lloyds win in birmingham trying to get that back.go for what you can and claim contractual interest if you can and thatll bump up your money!

[hedgey06]

This is what I'm getting stuck with - You're saying that I can't claim unarranged borrowing fees charged just because I'm too skint to keep in credit, only those that happened because of unpaid DD fees? That seems to me to mean that I can't reclaim anything from the £56 odd that I'm being charged every month, because they do pay my DDs?

 

No, that's not what I said. You can claim any unarranged borrowing fees. You just can't automatically claim overdraft interest. You can only reclaim a portion of this if charges sent you over your overdraft.

 

Is the £56 odd that you're being charged every month overdraft interest?

[MrsMiggins54]

Well on 28th Feb this year I was just over £3000 overdrawn. I had an unpaid item that month for which I was charged £38 . At the end of the month, they took out £12 charges (I think the £12 was a charge for re-presenting the D/D) and £ 50.66 interest, so I would be right in thinking that I could claim the £12 but not the £50.66? People are talking about a £28 unarranged O/D fee, so where would this come in? Is it part of the £50 interest, as it's not mentioned as such on my statement, and this is where I'm getting confuzzled.....

[steven4064]

Mrs Miggins - I've only just noticed your thread title. Have you seen this http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/show-post/post-850325.html. THey cannot take charges from your benefit under the Social Security Adinistration Act 1992.

 

Steven

 

If this post is helpful, please click the scales

Any opinions are without prejudice & without liability.

Almost everything I know concerning the law I learned from this site.

[hedgey06]

You can reclaim the unpaid D/D (£38) - but it sounds to me like you have an advantage gold account. If you do, you'll find that the £12 'charge' is the AG fee (this can't be reclaimed as it's a fee for a genuine service).

 

Unarranged borrowing fees come out a the end or beginning of each month and are on your statements as 'charges' - £28. However, if do have an AG account, yours would say 'charges' - £40 (£28 of which would be the unarranged borrowing fee; £12 AG fee).

 

Unarranged borrowing fees can be reclaimed.

 

With reference to the £50.66 interest applied, you can reclaim a portion of this as explained before (e.g., work out how much interest they've applied to the £38 unpaid D/D fee and the £28 unarranged borrowing fee).

 

It's quite complicated to get your head round at first - but hope this helps a little. xxx

[MrsMiggins54]

Steven, I love you!!!

 

 

Hedgey, Yes I did have Advantage Gold, but I changed it back to an ordinary account in March. So that at the end of May, what went out (£56.80) wasnt described as a charge, but as interest. This is what I meant; there is nothing apart from that unpaid D/D and the AG charges that is described as a 'charge', so that's why I'm confused.

 

Thanks everyone for all the help you're giving me..depression isnt helping my brain to work properly and I do appreciate you!