Natwest bank account and loan direct debit

[Rich44]

My partner just called Natwest to cancel the DD for her loan as we cant afford to pay it this month and we're writing to them with a breakdown of our income and expenditure.

 

Anywa shes just phoned the bank and cancelled the direct debit to Egg which they did without question but they refused to cancel the one to Natwest (themselves) saying that only the loan side of things can authorise that etc (yes it is def a DD) so if they dont cancel it it'll bounce anyway further compounding our problems (yeah I know I can get it back but you see what I mean)

 

any advice, personally as we have other accounts my suggestion was to tell them to shove their account up their bottoms....

[2Grumpy]

At a minimum put the request to cancel the Natwest DD in writing, then they can't deny that the request took place. It sounds to me like they are trying it on.

[powelll]

Natwest have the first right of offset against funds paid into your account. Where you have a separate debt with them they are entitled legally to take their money anyway. You can exercise your first right of appropriation over funds due to be paid in but this should be done in writing at least 7 days before the money is due to land.

 

Standard money advice is to open a 'safe' bank account with a bank you do not owe any money to. You may also want to speak to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 ( freephone ) for free confidential independent advice on your whole situation ( they can also provide a list of basic bank accounts for you ).

 

Best of luck

[Rich44]

Yes I agree with that but that doesnt follow they can refuse to cancel a direct debit and then cause you to incur not only a bounced DD fee but then also when they claim that fee and unathorised OD fee as well.

 

We have another account thats not a problem, the problem isnt appropriation the problem is there will not be any money in there as she's self employed and hasnt gotten any work this month so there wont be anything to appropriate

 

If thats the case then licence to print money springs to mind ffs

 

Like I said in my original post my inclination is to tell them to stick their account up their collective backsides

 

Thanks for the advice

[sequenci]

Have you online banking? can it be cancelled from there?

 

I would put the request to cancel the direct debt in writing and then if they choose to take the payment i'm wondering if you could use the direct debt guarantee to ask for the payment to be refunded.

 

I'm no expert on this, however.

[Rich44]

No she doesnt have online banking sadly, we'll put it in writing and make sure theres no money at all in the natwest accounts ive just realised that her savings account has £500 which is her 6 monthly tax payment so best make sure they dont try and help themselves to that or we wont be able to pay the inland rev and they arent exactly forgiving when it comes to being paid

[Rich44]

Well in the end we sent them a letter demanding the direct debit be cancelled and stating we cant afford the loan payments and asking to negotiate a monthly figure we can afford and have heard nothing back.

 

Then we get a letter saying they were going to instate an £1800 overdraft that we havent asked for and dont want and checked today and they have taken the loan payment and made the account £100 overdrawn.

 

I am absolutely fuming that Natwest have carried on in this fashion, whats our next move the banking ombudsman?

[powelll]

Well in the end we sent them a letter demanding the direct debit be cancelled and stating we cant afford the loan payments and asking to negotiate a monthly figure we can afford and have heard nothing back.

 

Then we get a letter saying they were going to instate an £1800 overdraft that we havent asked for and dont want and checked today and they have taken the loan payment and made the account £100 overdrawn.

 

I am absolutely fuming that NatWest have carried on in this fashion, whats our next move the banking ombudsman?

 

You can complain to the Financial Ombudsmans Service ( FOS ) but you first need to have addressed your complaint in writing to Natwest - keep a copy & send recorded delivery & give them a reasonable time to respond ( something like 14 days is fine ) then when you get either an unsatisfactory or no response you can go to the FOS ( link below ).

 

The Banking Code does clearly state that you should be treated sympathetically but this unfortunately isn't legally binding. The bank haven't technically done anything illegal ( unless there are any didgy carges in there ) so it's a case of complaining & see what the FOS says ( worth bearing in mind that the bank will pay approx £400 for the priviliege of being investigated even if the result is in theior favour ).

 

Best of luck

 

our complaints procedure and how to complain

[Rich44]

Chuffing Natwest just had a nasty letter from them saying theyre not interested in agreeing a figure, they wont accept one and they will pass it over to a DCA despite us sending them a financial breakdown and offering a payment and writing to them THREE weeks before we couldnt pay them.

 

I'm getting to the point with all of these arseholes now where i'm going to say get stuffed and pay to declare ourselves bankrupt as we dont have any assets as such except for computers and we need those for work (self employed) if these places wont even enter into discussion what the hell do you do and yes I know about IVAs but theyre a waste of time and money.

 

I thought these companies had to listen to you when you had problems not just send out threatening letters and ignore everything you say with a wheres my money attitude

[powelll]

Chuffing NatWest just had a nasty letter from them saying theyre not interested in agreeing a figure, they wont accept one and they will pass it over to a DCA despite us sending them a financial breakdown and offering a payment and writing to them THREE weeks before we couldnt pay them.

 

I'm getting to the point with all of these arseholes now where i'm going to say get stuffed and pay to declare ourselves bankrupt as we dont have any assets as such except for computers and we need those for work (self employed) if these places wont even enter into discussion what the hell do you do and yes I know about IVAs but theyre a waste of time and money.

 

I thought these companies had to listen to you when you had problems not just send out threatening letters and ignore everything you say with a wheres my money attitude

 

It is frustrating but it's a fact of life that not all creditors are sympathetic when you can't pay; they are breaching the Banking Code as well as poss OFT guidelines on debt collection but as I said before these aren't legally binding so if you are very unhappy the complaint route I mentioned before is still a valid one.

 

If you are seriously considering bankruptcy please don't simply do it as a kneejerk reaction - get some proper advice first as it isn't just material assets that can be affected - for example you would need to check your tenancy agreement if you are renting and you may be asked to pay towards your bankruptcy for up to 3 years. There may be other implications depending on your exact circumstances and it will stay on your cred ref file for 6 years.

 

Speak to someone like National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 for free confidential impartial advice as other options such as debt management may be appropriate

[sequenci]

Chuffing NatWest just had a nasty letter from them saying theyre not interested in agreeing a figure, they wont accept one and they will pass it over to a DCA despite us sending them a financial breakdown and offering a payment and writing to them THREE weeks before we couldnt pay them.

 

 

their dca is inhouse and will consider any reasonable offer backed up with a realistic budget sheet/financial breakdown - if you have other unsecured creditors you need to offer pro-rata payments to all. it's really important to switch to a safe account, you'll find that you will be in a stronger position to negotiate once you've done that.

[Rich44]

Just an update to this I used the email address for the top man at RBS (owners of Natwest) and although polite I did not pull any punches on this, within 48 hours my partner received a phone call from another "top man" (I dont want to name names in public if anyone wants it i'll be happy to give it to them) who was really apologetic and actually sounded like he really meant it.

 

This guy went through my partners bank stuff on the phone and suggested a way forward which we agreed to he then left it so he could go and see what he could do with it at this point my partner was in tears down the phone (not his fault just relief as much as anything) and he was very kind to her and the next day via courier a big box of chocolates arrived with a note apologising for everything that had happened.

 

Yesterday we got a letter saying the direct debit was cancelled her 2 bank accounts have been consolidated the overdraft (that we had already explicitly said we didnt want) would be reduced and we could reduce further if we wished to and to top it off the last 3 months loan payments have been refunded leaving no outstanding balance on the account.

 

We have to clarify whether they mean that the payments have been taken back off the loan or whether it was apology money.

 

Oh and on top of that they have also accepted the pro-rata monthly figure we have offered of £7.41 per month until we get sorted out.

 

They have accepted that their behaviour was not acceptable and acknowledged that we had been very pro-active in trying to deal with the problem and that the problem was their fault.

 

So all in all a result although it leaves a sour taste that we had resort to such matters we already had a joint bank account with A+L anyway this was mostly for her tax money and other business type stuff but everything will now be moved away along with the household insurance which is currently with Natwest so they've shot themselves in the foot in the way they have handled this but I dont suppose they will lose sleep over it.

 

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions

[reduk054]

Rich, thank you for the update, I am really pleased that NW have apologised, and finally taken some steps which they should have done in the first place.

It is unclear as to whether or not you did contact the FOS about your complaint, or if you simply located the best person to speak to yourself, however well done.

I am interested in your case because I have a similar issue with Lloyds atm, and I have gone down the FOS route....

Hope the choccies were nice!

Red

[Rich44]

Yes the choccies were quite good I ended up having to eat most of them as they were marzipan based (I love the stuff the missus doesnt) but they weren't cheap ones

 

I didnt go down the FOS route as I wanted to try one last time and I got the email address from the bank charges forum and thought what the hell its worth a shot and I am sooooo glad I did.....

 

Now onto Egg who are almost as bad......

 

I hope you get yours sorted out let me know what happens

[reduk054]

Rich, by using the forum and finding the right person to speak to - that is brilliant !

Good result.

I have not started a thread for my loan with Lloyds yet, but may have to!

Will have a look for your Egg thread....

TY

Red

[Rich44]

Well recently ive used this tactic to great success:

 

Emailed James Murdoch about Sky problems got 6 months sub back and a new Sky+ box and new dish and rewired and our home movers charge refunded.

 

Emailed BT on behalf of someone else sent an email to CEO Ben Verwaayen and got them 6 months free BB and regraded free that was for 2 sites.

 

Plus Natwest of course I love it