Completely Exploited

[ExploitedSaffa]

Let me start at the beginning, I was in London on a working holiday visa and opened an account with NatWest. Apparently it was an Advantage Gold account that has a monthly charge of £12, which I wasn't aware of at the time. When I left back to South AFrica I went to the bank and they said it is not necessary to close my account, I can leave it and if it is inactive for a period of time it will be closed by the bank.

 

Now a year and a half later (18months) my husband received a 5 year work permit and we returned to London. I took a chance to see if I can reactivate my account thinking it has obviously been closed, as it had been inactive for 18 months. Only at this point was I made aware that I actually had charges on my account and that these charges have accumulated over the months and I am now £462 in debt- I DON'T EVEN HAVE AN OVERDRAFT!!! I was informed by someone at the bank that they stopped charging the £12 after a couple of months but then started charging interest on the total as I was in overdraft. Why was I not told about the charges the day I enquired about closing / leaving the account before heading back to South Africa? If this was the case I would never have left it, instead I would have closed the account to prevent the risk of any unknown charges.

 

What am I to do as they said that they have handed me over to Debt Collectors and I don't feel that I should have to pay the interest as someone from the bank actually told me its not necessary to close my account and I have not been using this account at all during the last 18 months.

 

Please advise me as I really don't have this kind of money to pay back at this stage?

[noomill060]

Welcome back to rip-off Britain.

 

I would advise you to follow the CAG method of reclaiming/removing charges. In disputing the unlawful charges and interest charged upon them by going to Court, the debt collectors cannot do a thing until until the matter is resolved by the Court

 

Read the FAQs before doing anything and read as many threads on here as you can.

 

The first stage is to send a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) along with to get a hold of all your statements.

 

Next step- tell them you want the unlawful charges and interest removed.

 

next step Small Claim for full amount plus court fee and 8% Court interest.

 

Next, they apply for a stay because the Government and the Banks are involved in a case in the High Court which wont be resolved until February at the earliest and may drag on for a few years because of appeals right up to the House of Lords.

 

 

BUT- on a more positive note, Mr debt collector wont be able ti touch you because your claim is in the system- if you start your action to have these unlawful charges removed.

 

If you do nothing, they will chase you.

[vandermerwe]

Hi Exploited Saffa

 

Noomill is quite correct and - most importantly you've come to the right place.

 

By the way I have sent you a PM.

 

Good luck

 

Vandermerwe