NatWest Offer Received - Advice Please

[Stephzorba]

Hi All

 

I started a claim with Natwest at the end of March. The claim was for £1086.64 in charges etc. plus £266.73 interest. giving a total £1353.37. On the

22 May they have made an offer in writing of £841.23 as a gesture of goodwill stating I have previously received free banking. They are saying that the charges are fair and transparent. This offer has been made as a full and final settlement. Since I started the claim they have continued to add the monthly £28.00 charge for April, May and June - is it fair for me to request these charges to be refunded as well.

Not sure wether to accept the offer or not, they have offered £245 less than the original claim - please help.

Many Thanks

Steph

 

[Bigmac versus]

Hi Steph it is very tempting to accept but think of it this way before choosing.

 

Are you desperately needing that money right now?

Are you happy letting them keep some of your money?

If the answer to the above questions is NO then send them the refusal letter ior alternatively give them a call and speak to the person who made the offer and request they pay it all back before you are required to attend court, be confident and dont haggle with them.

Keep the thread updated so i can check back.

[Bobby Davison]

Sorry to hijack the thread...I registered (well, re-registered, I've been on here for ages but using my real name, so thought it best to join again with a pseudonym - step up Derby County's 1986 2nd division winning striker!!!) to post pretty much the same thing.

 

I have two accounts with NatWest, and am claiming around £2,700. I followed the procedures listed on the forum to the letter - until June 1st, when I should have issued court proceedings. Unfortunately, I just haven't got a spare £120 to do that (I'm unemployed, having been a full time student for the last year, but am inelligible to any state benefit whatsoever, despite having not one penny in income).

 

However, on Saturday, I received an offer of just under £1500. I really don't want to accept, but also don't want to risk getting my arse handed to me in court.

 

Thoughts?

[LolStevo]

DONT ACCEPT!!!! Im also a student and find the offers tempting but its not worth it u will regret it if you settle early!!!

 

Wait, and then think what you can do with all that lovely money!!! xx

[Stephzorba]

Hi there

 

Many thanks for all the support from you guys - confidence not good at the moment as just lost my dad.

 

The claim I submitted was for period covering 29 Dec 2000 - 30 March 2007. I was thinking maybe the offer was not the full amount because it was 6 years and three months. Would it be worth writing and say that I accept the offer as partial payment but ask them the explain the shortfall in the offer? Also three months charges have now gone onto the account since the claim was submitted.

 

Perhaps I should have put pressure on them before the offer arrived in the post but was nursing my dad with cancer which obviously took priority over this mess.

 

Appreciate any help!!

 

Steph

[hedgey06]

Hi Steph,

 

Sounds like you've had an awful time lately and I'm really sorry to hear about your loss. It's difficult enough to go through the reclaiming process at times so to do it now must be doubly difficult. I really admire you for going after your charges right now.

 

It may be, as you pointed out above, that they've not included the pre-six year charges. However, you can challenge them about this - this link explains this in more detail IMPORTANT Things You REALLY Need To Know.

 

Given that their offer to you is much lower than the charges you've requested be returned, I agree completely with all previous advice you've been given. This is your money, not theirs, and they took it unlawfully from your account. You could offer to accept as partial settlement, just adapt one of these template letters Rejecting Offers The problem with this is that they'll view it as an outright rejection - and the only option open to you then is to file at court to reclaim the charges in full (if you've already sent them prelim and LBA letters that is). Don't worry about this though - thousands of people are at the court stage at the moment and we'll support you through every step of the process. And if you file at court, you can include all recent charges that they've applied to your account as well.

 

However, if you're claiming back to 2000, I wonder if it's worthwhile splitting the claim. What do others think? Should the claim be split into current charges (6 years) and pre-six year charges? Or do you think steph should go after all charges in one claim?

[seen the light]

Hi steph

 

don't worry about thinking you do not have the abilty or knowledge to take the matter to court , I didn't consider i was inteligent enough to go through the court process !! its so simple by reading the FAQ procedures , copying the template letters and regularly ie daily reading the various threads on here you will gain knowledge. plus you can post any questions , no matter how basic on here and a site helper like Hedgey ( who incidentally started on here just like you and I ) or a moderator will respond.

 

have faith and the full amount you are claiming will eventually be returned

 

everyone on here is with you and are going through the same

 

regards

 

stl

[Bigmac versus]

Hi hedgey06 suppose that all depends on when the bank was informed of your intentions to reclaim disproportionate chages.

As the SAR that was sent said this i would start my 6 years back from then regardless of how much time has passed since you have the proof this was started then.

Obviously im open to other thoughts but i used this argument and got 6 and a half years back.

[Stephzorba]

Hi People

 

Thank you all for the replies so far on this thread but I feel I need a bit more advice. Getting a bit frustated now because I have about a week to accept or reject the offer.

 

Not sure these are conditions in the offer letter but they mentioned the following in the letter. I will summarise the paragraphs to try and keep them short. This is for a Current Plus Account.

 

Para. 2. Terms and Conditions etc.

 

Para 3. Provision of free banking services etc. - When I telephoned them last week and said this was not the case because they were charging

£6 pm service fee which I then became the advantage gold they said this was because I had additional benefits on the account - I'm Confused.

 

Para 4. Additional service provided to a/c holders being able to increase overdraft limit or arranging loans etc.

 

Para 5. They believe the charges levied are for providing services and they are not penalties or charges for default. Furthermore we believe the charges are fair, reasonable and transparent. - Shall I ask them to provide a breakdown of how the charges are calculated?

Para 6. Gesture of goodwill offer of £841.23 paid direct into the account.

 

Para 7. Request to accept this offer and complete the acceptance form or telephone to discuss the offer. - They don't seem to be geared or that interested up for being asked questions over the phone.

Para 8. Future charges will be applied to the a/c in line with published tarriff and in accordance with my agreement with them. If I am not willing to accept the charges then they will consider if they are prepared to continue providing existing bank facilities and offer me a simple account that does not offer borrowing facilities etc. - This is fine because I don't want to bank with them after this.

The rest of the letter looks pretty standard rubbish.

 

I think I will send a letter with the partial acceptance but not sure which one to use. Because the 14 days expired in mid April due to nursing my dad I am not sure what to put in that part of the letter. Due to my recent circumstances I didn't send LBA only the prelim letter. Shall I mention the additional charge in my reply.

Please help, really fed up now and not coping very well.

 

Thank you to all.

 

Steph

[hedgey06]

Provision of free banking services etc. - When I telephoned them last week and said this was not the case because they were charging £6 pm service fee which then became the advantage gold they said this was because I had additional benefits on the account - I'm Confused. Ask them what these additional benefits are - and consider writing to them cancelling the advantage gold package, particularly if you don't get any benefit from it.

 

Para 5. They believe the charges levied are for providing services and they are not penalties or charges for default. Furthermore we believe the charges are fair, reasonable and transparent. - Shall I ask them to provide a breakdown of how the charges are calculated? It would be lovely if they would - but they'll never give a breakdown of their charges. That's why they tend to settle out of court!

 

Para 7. Request to accept this offer and complete the acceptance form or telephone to discuss the offer. - They don't seem to be geared or that interested up for being asked questions over the phone. They're absolutely swamped with requests to have charges refunded - they can't cope with the workload!

 

I think I will send a letter with the partial acceptance but not sure which one to use. Because the 14 days expired in mid April due to nursing my dad I am not sure what to put in that part of the letter. Due to my recent circumstances I didn't send LBA only the prelim letter. Shall I mention the additional charge in my reply.

 

Please help, really fed up now and not coping very well.

 

Thank you to all.

 

Steph

 

Hi again Steph, I've tried to respond to some of your comments (above).

 

I hadn't realised that you hadn't sent the LBA yet. Given that you've only sent them the preliminary letter, I'd advise sending the LBA with an updated schedule of charges. Adapt the LBA so that it's appropriate to your claim (e.g., you've received a partial offer - so include this in the LBA).

 

Give them another 14 days to refund your charges in full - and then (rather than taking them straight to court) phone them to see if they'll be responding positively to the LBA.

 

You're already going through a really stressful time - and this is obviously making you feel even worse. However, I really do feel that you deserve a little good luck at the moment - so why should you settle for less than you deserve? Send them the LBA and forget about it for two weeks. And please let us know how you go with this as well.

 

Hope everthing goes well, hedgey xxx

[Holdred]

If I was you I would talk to your local court about the fees. If a claim is going to cause you financial hardship then the court may be able to waive or at least reduce the fees.

[Stephzorba]

Hi Hedgey

 

Many thanks for trying to help me - I am very grateful.

 

I have put a letter together which is a combination of the LBA and rejection letter 4. I have highlighted the additional para's in pink to adapt to my individual case - can you a quick read and let me know if it is okay to send or if I should just be sending the standard LBA letter - but just thought I ought to acknowledge their initial offer.

 

In the first paragraph the amount requested includes the interest and the last three months they have charged - is this okay?

 

Sorry, tried to post letter as attachment but somehow went wrong, so that I don't make this mistake again have done a cut and paste.

 

Once again thanks for the help

 

Steph

 

 

8th July 2007

Customer Relations Manager

NATIONAL WESTMINSTER BANK PLC

Ground Floor

National Westminster House

225 Shenley Road

Borehamwood

WD6 1TE

 

 

 

 

Dear Mr Higley

 

Re: Account No. ????????????. Response to settlement offer.

 

Thank you for your letter dated 22 May 2007.

 

I respectfully decline your offer of settlement. I have enclosed an updated schedule of the charges, which includes the 3 months charges that you have levied on my account since my preliminary request for payment. I request, one final time, that you return to me all charges imposed on this account, totalling £1462.25.

 

In order to avoid Litigation against you, I am prepared to temporarily accept the sum offered as partial settlement on the clear understanding that the remainder is paid within the next 14 days. Failure to comply with this request will result in legal action against you for full recovery.

 

I disagree with your claim that you have provided me with free banking services as for quite some time during the time I’ve held this account with you I have been charged a service fee every month. When I telephoned to discuss this issue with your ‘customer services’ department, they said it was because I had received ‘extra benefits’ on the account although they were not able to explain what ‘benefits’.

You have stated that you believe the charges you levy are for providing services and not penalties or charges for default and you are also stating your charges are fair, reasonable and transparent. As requested in my previous letter of 30th March 2007 please provide a breakdown of how these charges are calculated.

You have indeed continued to apply charges to my account since my initial request for payment I have included these charges in my updated schedule, as I am not willing to accept them.

Additionally you have entered a default notice against my credit record. This default occurred merely in respect of unlawful charges levied by you or was the result of impecuniosity caused directly by the taking by you of penalty charges which you had applied unlawfully to my account.

 

In addition to full payment of the sum mentioned above I require that you remove the default entry from the register. Please note that mere correction or amendment to the entry will not be acceptable.

 

If you do not accept my conditions for acceptance, or you do not respond within 14 days, I shall return the payment to you. For the avoidance of doubt, I wish to stress that I do not accept your offer under the terms stated in your letter.

 

I trust this clarifies my position.

 

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

 

 

[Stephzorba]

Hi there

 

I would be ever so grateful if anyone could advise on my latest posting because I need to get this letter in the post asap.

 

Thanks

 

Steph

[hedgey06]

Hi Steph,

 

Sorry - thought I'd answered............ but I quite obviously didn't!!!

 

I'd be inclined to stick to the LBA format but to keep the first and last paragraphs on the letter above. I think the first paragraph makes it quite clear that you're not going to settle for anything less than the full amount - and the last paragraph re-iterates this.

 

At least if it does get to the court stage you can quite clearly prove that you've tried to settle the matter amicably and reasonaly if you send this letter as the LBA.

 

HTH - I'll post something up if it helps xx

[Stephzorba]

Thanks Hedgy,

 

I think if you were not helping me I would just quit and accept - not much fight left in me.

 

Cheers

 

Steph

[NaciravBanks]

hi steph, i was just reading your thread and i believe you are well and truely on the right track to winning your money back! Be strong! dont let them wear you down! Read up on the next stages and comfortably prepare... also have a readup on the "WON" threads. they 100% keep me +, Good Luck

[holster73]

Hi Steph,

 

While I'm an ex NatWest Customer (also 'Advantage' Gold) and at a later stage than you in my claim, just wanted to drop you a line and say "hang in there" and "make them work for YOU".

 

It's ridiculous that these charges are put on us and no explanation given as to what they are for / what they really cost them. Make them explain - if they can't, take it all the way - I'm going for nearly £4k and my sister won back £2.5k last week...a lengthy process but she got there! It's a question of getting very slightly mad:mad: , getting even and enjoying the process of making them squirm:D !

 

Good luck with this!

 

Holster x

[hedgey06]

Hi Steph,

 

Hope you're feeling a little better? As you can see from the above, the support on here is second to none - everybody's rooting for you. Post on here at every step of the way - no matter how trivial you think your query is. It's better to post and be 100% sure than to 'leave it to chance' and find out there could have been a better way.

 

Please don't ever feel as though you need to quit this process - as with the support on here we'll all make sure that we help you every step of the way. Promise.

 

Keep your chin up hun xxx

[Stephzorba]

Hi there everyone,

 

Haven't been online lately - still missing my dad and feeling sorry for myself and still trying to pick myself up.

 

I sent a letter back rejecting the 'goodwill offer' with their acceptance form attached unsigned and wrote on it 'please read attached letter'. I recieved a resonse from them within a week returning the acceptance form and stating there was no letter attached. I wrote a stiff letter back returning the form once again stating the original letter was definately attached and that you could see the staples where they had removed the letter and they obviously lost it. Anyway I did get another response saying they were reviewing my complaint etc...

 

Yesterday I received the standard letter about the stay and putting my case on hold pending the outcome of the test case or I can accept their original offer. They are also saying that if I decide to proceed to court stage they will ask for a stay.

 

Now I dont know what to do - if this test case takes a whole year to resolve and they keep adding their monthly charge to my account the overdraft is going to build up. What is everyone else doing in this situation?

 

Anyone please help....

 

Thanks

 

Steph

[hedgey06]

Hi Steph,

 

I'm sorry to hear you've not been feeling too good, you've had such an awful time this year and you could well do without Nat West heaping even more misery on. And this 'test case' is putting even more pressure on at a time when you really do need your claim resolved.

 

You could do one of two things right now:

 

a) Accept the original offer

b) Tell them to get lost again and file at court.

 

If you file at court, they more than likely will apply for a stay. However, fortunately for us claimants, Nat West can't force the courts to grant a stay on any claim - they can only request it. And if a stay is granted on a claim, we're perfectly within our rights to request that the stay is lifted. Not all courts are automatically staying claims at the moment - but I have to admit that it's a bit of a lottery as to which courts 'stay' and which proceed as normal.

 

It's also worthwhile mentioning that once you file at court, the s69 8% interest is then added onto your claim and accrues daily until any 'stay' placed on a claim is lifted.

 

At this moment in time though, I think only you can decide what's best for you. The majoirty of claimants appear to be proceeding as normal - and waiting to see if their claims are stayed or not. But I think you need to weigh up your situation and make a decision on whether to accept or decline based purely on what's best for you.

 

Let us know what you decide to do, we're all behind you whatever you decide xxx

 

P.S: Just out of interest Steph, which court would you be filing your claim at?

[Stephzorba]

Hi Hedgey

 

Many thanks for the response, the nearest court to me is Uxbridge in Middlesex - do you know of any cases there and does it make a difference?

 

Steph