Natwest Overdraft their offer is ridiculous... please advise...

[lisaclaim]

Hi

 

Problem with my Natwest overdraft and not really sure if there is a way I can stall, get it cancelled or what but here goes. Any help would be much appreciated and again sorry if long winded but just wanted to share the FULL story !!

 

My husband and I had originally a £3,000 overdraft on our acct from which we were find reducing. I also run an ebay business with my brother and because we used to sell an lot and then pay the trader afterwards we used to get a lot of money coming from Paypal in to our account every month which showed on our statements as a lot of monthly income!

 

We got in to problems with the trade ledger (please see one of my other posts of which I am still waiting for advice please!!) so we upped the overdraft to £7,500.

 

Big mistake as it has caused me loads of stress. Hard to split between the £3,000 our overdraft and the other £4,500 for the biz becoz of direct debits, standing orders etc. I just couldn't seem to manage it! Also because the interest was over £90 alone and because of the problems we had with the trade company this was coming out of my wages!! and we were struggling anyway.

 

Got to the point now where in the last 3 weeks (after looking for help in managing debt on this forum) I opened up an Alliance and Leicester current account and savings account and am just finalising now the transfer of all income and direct debits to the new account so basically the natwest acct will have nothing coming in nor going out.

 

In February this year we managed to get natwest to refund back the charges that had been applied and allow us to reduce the debt at £100 a month but again that didn't work out as we thought and more charges went on. It got down to £7300 arranged overdraft but the balance was £7500 and without telling me they put the overdraft at £0 whilst I thought it was £7300 !!!!

 

Last week I spoke to someone in the collections dept and they agreed to put the £7500 overdraft back on reducing to £7000 by monthly reductions of £100 on the 28th of every month until 28/09/2008 from which they will review again. They have not charged me a fee. I received a letter over the weekend which also states the following Acceptance: If the Overdraft Limit is £50,000 or less, then no acceptance form is enclosed. However, we will treat any use by you of the facility as acceptance of our offer on the terms set out in this letter.

 

When I spoke to someone in the collections dept they also said that they would offer me a loan at £100 a month for the balance to clear the overdraft back to £0 They said that this is cheaper than all the interest etc. I said that I would have to speak to my husband first but he basically said it was a 'no brainer' of which I got upset with him as he had no right to say that to me as if I am thick!!! I told him to give me time to speak to my husband, no brainer or not.

 

Basically as it stands now the balance is £7,660 with an overdraft of £7,500. There is no more money coming in to that account anymore no going out as everything is transferred to the new account. If I continue to pay £100 a month in there (which we really cannot afford) the interest is going on top of that as well.

 

I am really just looking for a simple way to sort this out. Any advice on options would be much appreciated.

 

If you need to know anything else then please ask.

 

Oh forgot to mention even thought twice now Natwest have been kind enough to refund me back charges, the last lot them have not so I do have an amount of charges that have not been refunded which totals about nearly £400

 

Thanks

Lisa

[Mr lex]

Hi Lisa,

 

I have moved your thread to the 'General Debt Forum'.

 

I think you will get more help here as it's quite a complicated question.

 

Lex

[deathbycrayons]

I would first put it in writing to Natwest that you wish to reclaim the charges. It's good that you have opened a parachute bank account as it means you won't have to worry about bills etc coming out of the Natwest one.

Personally, and this is just my opinion, I would let the account go into collections and pay what you can afford to pay. Plus while you are awaiting to be refunded charges, the account is in dispute so they can't chase you for the debt.

[lisaclaim]

Hiya

 

Thanks for that. I have done a reclaim bank charges but that was 2006 so cannot remember the letters etc. !! They might have changed since then as well. so please if you could let me know where to start. I have only had the acct since Dec2007 and have a full list of charges printed from online so dont need to ask them for them.

 

What would be the next step plesae letters wise etc.

 

Thanks

[cerberusalert]

See; http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/faqs-please-read-these/25457-guide-reclaiming-bank-charges.html

[Pilotto]

I've been searching old threads. I was wondering if there is a recommended method of asking a bank to close an overdraft and just accept token payments. I've struggled to put money in to cover their monthly interest but can no longer do this. I need the fees and interest to stop before there's any point sending them £10 a month or so.

 

Does anyone have any experience or pointers please?

[Night Owl]

Hi Pilotto.

 

A Big welcome to the comunity that is CAG, you have posted on the end of an old thread...............never mind!

May be a good idea to start your own thread, in the relative Bank Forum, then you won't get lost and peeps can give you help and advice.

 

Is this a bank account that you use for DD's and SO's and you pay?................if so move them all to a new account. Read sequenci's Debt Diary here Part 4 Safe Bank Account.

 

Go to the Library, top left of this page, and go to Letters to Negotiate with Creditors.........read through and adjust to your needs.

 

Will look out for your new thread when you get up and running.

 

Good luck x

[Pilotto]

Thank you very much for your reply Night Owl. I realised straight away that I should have started my own thread about this and went on to copy and paste to a new thread within this section.

 

Also I realised I should have introduced myself and maybe explained a little more about my circumstances.

 

Thanks again.