NatWest (merged)

A question about : NatWest (merged)

I am trying to help my son reclaim bank charges from NatWest.
Over the last three years my son has had to pay unauthorised overdraft charges every month of Ј28. This has often been charged even when it has been the previous months charge that has made the account exceed the agreed limit. He only works part-time and is low payed so he is having great problems trying to keep the account in credit each month so the charges don't apply.
Is it advisable to try to claim back these charges (about Ј900) when they are still applying them each month, or is he best advised to get the account in order first?
Do NatWest close customers accounts that make claims for repayment?
Any advice about NatWest policy on this issue and what would be the best way to proceed greatly appricted.:confused:

Best answers:

• Hi Cunard - I would advise to start the claim sooner rather than later, the charges seem to snowball, so it will be hard to get the account back in order while the bank is still charging him every month.
  Natwest do not seem to close accounts down but I would advise for him to open a back up account just incase they do - unlikely but you never know what they will do next!
  Read the info on here and it will be a breeze - good luck
• If you read and follow the instructions carefully, you should be able to claim the money back.
  Don't be too concerned about what NatWest's policy is on this matter. They will just say you're entitled to nothing. Ignore them and follow the procedure to the letter. Do not be put off and do not deviate from what you've said you'll do.
• Hi
  Just about to send my first letter to NatWest, but have the following two questions:
  Can I reclaim not only charges, but also referral charges? The second question is what about the interest each month?
  I have scrolled through the FAQ but could not find any answers.
  Cheers. Any help would be appreciated.
• Can any one help. Natwest have filed a defence. So i believe we now have to go to court. I need some more amo....
  Does anyone know how much Natwest has already paid out.
  Has anyone filled out the Allocation questionaire?
  Any advise - i never thought it would go to court - so i need to be prepared. Should i get expert witnesses etc...
  Thanks
  Poul
• Hi i have a Natwest Current Account, with a overdraft of 800, which is up to the limit by the end of each month.
  Will the bank make me pay off this overdraft before they will pay out the charges they will owe me.
  My salary goes into the bank at the end of each month.
  I cannot afford to pay back this amount untill i have received the money they owe me.
  I also have all my direct debits going out of this account.
  I need this overdraft each month to live off unfortunately.
  PLEASE HELP!
  If i am successful in claiming back these charges,it will enable me to get out of this mess.
• If they won't budge then either push them further or you could open another current account with a free overdraft and then use that to get out of the current account over draft. Then shutdown the second current account...
• Hello.
  Firstly, thanks to this site (stumbled upon by accident), for giving me the info to start a claim for unfair bank charges.
  Briefly, I used the set letters and was made an offer by the Natwest bank (about half the amount I claimed). I rejected this and made a claim through the online moneyclaim site.
  I obviously wasn't as thorough as I should have been regarding the particulars of my case and when I went back to the site it just said I couldn't take any more action online. This morning I received the defence! It's pretty long-winded but I understand it (I think!). From the original set letter, they've highlighted the phrase 'unlawful at Common Law Statute and recent Consumer regulations', and asked I specify the facts I'm relying on with regards to the above. First question: Where can I get this info? ie. the actual paragraphs from law that relate.
  Second question: now it's out of the small internet claims court and at the 'big' one, am I liable for court fees or have I still the possibility to strike the claim? I'm thinking I give them the info they want but if they still come back with a defence I might have to leave it as there's no way I can risk court fees.
  Has anyone else experienced this particular defence?
  Thanks very much in advance to anyone who has the time to share their knowledge over this.
  Michael
• Hi Everybody!
  I've written my first letter and received the standardised 'not to do with us.... goodwill gesture' letter. I am claiming just under Ј5000. They offered just under Ј1000 and a cash card swap from the cheque guarantee card. I've since written back with the '7 days to court' letter and am feeling just a bit tense. I know this is normal. And my husband and I are in it for the long haul. But I've not read many success stories with NatWest.
  I suppose I'm like everyone else at this stage and really need to hear some support from people either in the same situation or have already been there. Yikes. I really appreciate all the support. And it's very comforting to read other people's stories. Hopefully I'll be hopping over to the success thread soon...
• Hi, I just posted a thread about trying to get money back from Natwest. They entered a defence to my internet claim, I'm asking for advice. But I too would like to know more about Natwest and how they've handled things in the past!
• Just about to send off my claim to Natwest for just under £300. I was actually really surprised how much they had charged us! I truly thought it would only come to about £60.00 though this is from 2002-03 so I guess my memory's not that great.
  Feeling a little nervous but here goes.
  Good luck everyone.
• Hi everyone.
  I have been working through my claim against Natwest for more than Ј6.6k since August and on Friday I received a "goodwill gesture" offer of Ј2.5k.
  I have made the decision to reject this and am currently waiting to get paid to complete the next stage at Money Claim.
  In total, including interest, I am owed Ј7.7k, but I am little worried now that I am not going to get anything better than the Ј2.5k I've been offered.
  What would your advice be?
  My concern has come because I have read several posts from people who say Natwest have entered a defence and are going to take it all the way.
  If this happens I think I would have to drop the claim as there's no way I could afford to risk losing a case and being left with the costs!!!
  PLEASE HELP ME. I want to be brave and go all the way but I am a little nervous about ending up with nothing when I have Ј2.5k guaranteed - I guess this is what the bank want.
• It may take time but I'd reject it my friend got their fullclaim back - this was about 8 weeks into the court proceedure but it never actually went to court they settleed in full at the last minute
• Hi taken!
  I took Natwest all the way through Moneyclaim and ended up getting the full amount, plus interest, and court fee paid to me about 5 days before the deadline was up. I'd say stick with it but the only thing that concerns me is the amount you are claiming!
  You can only claim up to Ј5k in a small claims court. Are these charges all on the same account or different ones. If different ones that start proceedings for all of them, if it's the same account I'm afraid I don't know what to advise!
• It's the same account - can someone explain the situation to me on a large claim then.
  i did not realise I could not claim for the amount.
  Just for anyone who hasn't read my first post I'm claiming £7.7k including interest.
• I'm claiming Ј6.6k from Natwest plus Ј1.1k interest.
  Just wondering what to do next.
  I have been doing this since August and was offered Ј2.5k on Friday as a "goodwill gesture".
  Do I need to write back and reject this or should I just enter my claim with the court without any more chances?
• There are now a few posts querying about claims over £5k.
  Information can be found in Martin's article, but to reiterate.
  Claims under £5k are generally dealt with in the Small Claims system. This means you will not be eligible for any costs if you lose the case.
  Claims generally between £5k-£15k are put into the Fast Track system. In this case, you may be required to pay some costs if you lose the case. However, the banks are unlikely to actually land you in the courtroom because they would be required to complete a disclosure about the charges and their procedures.
  You just need to be aware of the risk of paying costs, should the banks change their tactics and try and justify the charge in a courtroom using figures (as Citibank attempted in Northern Ireland recently)