Natwest Charges Help

[chercaian]

Hi, in 2002 I opened a student acc with Natwest. In 2007 the changed it to a current acc. On the account I had a 2000 pound overdraft which I was already in before they changed it to a current acc. As soon as it changed to a
current acc I was charged overdraft fees and charges for unpaid DD etc as I was already in the overdraft. I phoned Natwest last December to try and help me out of this mess all they tried to do was offer me credit cards and put me onto their natwest advantage gold accwhich I would have to pay 12.95 a month. I told them to send me the info and I would look at it. I did not sign any forms to sig n up to the gold acc but they automatically put me on to it and started charging me. As I do not use this acc anymore, I hadn't looked at it for a few months. I noticed that for the past 6 months I had been paying the 12.95 a month.

When I told Natwest about this they told me that I should have cancelled it sooner and that it was my fault for not checking the acc. Because there was no funds in the acc they were charging me 35 on top of the 12.95 unpaid fee. when they put me on the advantage gold they knew that I had no money in the acc and still upgraded me. I feel totally mis sold and these fees are still incurring. I have paid a fortune in charges the past few years and really need some advice. Am I eligible to make a claim for these fees?

Sorry for such a long winded question.
Many Thanks Cheryl

[Caspar]

Re: Natwest Charges Help

Hi, in 2002 I opened a student acc with Natwest. In 2007 the changed it to a current acc. On the account I had a 2000 pound overdraft which I was already in before they changed it to a current acc. As soon as it changed to a
current acc I was charged overdraft fees and charges for unpaid DD etc as I was already in the overdraft. I phoned Natwest last December to try and help me out of this mess all they tried to do was offer me credit cards and put me onto their natwest advantage gold accwhich I would have to pay 12.95 a month. I told them to send me the info and I would look at it. I did not sign any forms to sig n up to the gold acc but they automatically put me on to it and started charging me. As I do not use this acc anymore, I hadn't looked at it for a few months. I noticed that for the past 6 months I had been paying the 12.95 a month.

When I told Natwest about this they told me that I should have cancelled it sooner and that it was my fault for not checking the acc. Because there was no funds in the acc they were charging me 35 on top of the 12.95 unpaid fee. when they put me on the advantage gold they knew that I had no money in the acc and still upgraded me. I feel totally mis sold and these fees are still incurring. I have paid a fortune in charges the past few years and really need some advice. Am I eligible to make a claim for these fees?

Sorry for such a long winded question.
Many Thanks Cheryl

Hi Cheryl - what an awkward situation for you. I would imagine that in order to switch to the gold a/c you would have had to fill in some sort of form. They have obviously by-passed this process to your detriment. I would not have thought they could just change you to a totally different type of account without your agreement. Assuming this is the case, I would start by sending them £1.00 and asking for a copy of your original agreement on this account. They obviously will not be able to produce one!

Having said all this, I'm no expert on bank charges, so do wait till someone in the know posts to agree / disagree with me.

[leclerc]

Re: Natwest Charges Help

Hi, in 2002 I opened a student acc with Natwest. In 2007 the changed it to a current acc.

My expertise. Ok, the above is normal ie undergrad account then grad account

On the account I had a 2000 pound overdraft which I was already in before they changed it to a current acc. As soon as it changed to a current acc I was charged overdraft fees and charges for unpaid DD etc as I was already in the overdraft.
In the first year of your graduate year or 2005-6 you would have been able to increase the overdraft to £2000.00 which was interest free then 2006-7 was £1000.00 interest free and then £500 interest free from 2007-2008. Can you clarify when the account first became a student account because those dates don't work for me.

I phoned Natwest last December to try and help me out of this mess all they tried to do was offer me credit cards and put me onto their natwest advantage gold accwhich I would have to pay 12.95 a month. I told them to send me the info and I would look at it. I did not sign any forms to sig n up to the gold acc but they automatically put me on to it and started charging me. As I do not use this acc anymore, I hadn't looked at it for a few months. I noticed that for the past 6 months I had been paying the 12.95 a month.
OK, that is misselling on the Advantage Gold so email: customer.relations@natwest.com
They will ask the branch to review this firstly before coming back to you. Can I ask why you do not even pay money into the account to clear the overdraft at say £50 a month since the account is still active.
When I told Natwest about this they told me that I should have cancelled it sooner and that it was my fault for not checking the acc.
Did you receive paper statements or paperless statements?
Because there was no funds in the acc they were charging me 35 on top of the 12.95 unpaid fee. when they put me on the advantage gold they knew that I had no money in the acc and still upgraded me. I feel totally mis sold and these fees are still incurring. I have paid a fortune in charges the past few years and really need some advice. Am I eligible to make a claim for these fees?
Advantage Gold fees, I think the answer is yes since they would need to prove that you agreed to the fees and that due diligence was done to make sure you were eligible for the account and were aware of the monthly fee. Saying you wanted the info and automatically doing that is misselling and any fees associated directly with that are refundable.
Sorry for such a long winded question.
Many Thanks Cheryl

See above.