AJones:

I am not especially worried by all this, but it has been dragging on for some time and would like it resolved. What should my next step be? And if it does go to court (a prospect I don't relish), do I have a case?

Do I have case? I presume you mean do you have a defence? From here, no, because the issue is largely self inflicted.

I am not especially worried by all this.

OK, your call but if you are asking for advice, my advice is don't scr*w your credit history for 6 years or more on a point of petulance.

In your case I advise the following. Settle.

Then do a £10 Subject Access Request with Natwest requiring provision of all your statements for all your accounts for the last six years, all correspondence, call logs, and telephone recordings. Good value for £10.

Submit a formal request for repayment of all "unfair" charges using a reclaiming charges template letter. That's it. As you have already been informed processing is on hold. Some day it won't be and possibly you may get lucky.

This is a completely different issue from whether it was right or not to levy the charges. Normally I would advise the Financial Ombudsman Service route. Up to you but I believe the FOS will not look kindly on "petulance".

Hi, I hope someone can give me some advice on what to do next.
Unfortunately the issue is quite complex, which may go some way to explaining why it is not yet resolved.
I will try to get the salient points across, if you want me to clarify or elaborate, please ask.

Some time ago (over two years now), I held three different accounts with Natwest, only one of which I used regularly, and two with arranged overdraft facilities. In error, I set up a new direct debit to the account without an overdraft, and the balance at that time was £0, if I had used the correct account number, then this would not be an issue now.

Anyway, without sufficient funds in that account, it attracted overdraft fees, I thought that this was unreasonable considering that between all three accounts I had not only sufficient funds, but an arranged borrowing limit far in excess of what was required to cover the transactions in question. I wrote to Natwest explaining this, and asking them to justify the charges (at this point I would have accepted a small charge for my error, but not the charges that they applied).

All I received back was a standard letter about how they thought their charges were fair and that there was a test case outstanding so they weren't prepared to do anything.

As this didn't address any of the issues I raised, I became somewhat petulant and decided to close my accounts with Natwest and move my business elsewhere. I actually moved all my direct debits and advised my employer of new bank details, then I worked out the outstanding balances on all three accounts (minus any charges and interest on those charges) and made one payment from my new account to cover everything that I owed.

I then wrote Natwest a detailed letter of complaint, explaining that I wasn't prepared to pay any charges and that they should close all my accounts (at this point the difference between what I say I owed and what Natwest claimed was only around £350).

This letter also included written notification of my change of address, my implication being, that if they wanted the money, they should attempt to take me to court. After this I received no further written communication from Natwest for some time, despite my informing them in writing a second time, and also advising one of their telephone operatives that called me.

Now it turns out, that they let my accounts continue to accrue charges and are now attempting to claim over £1,000.

During this debacle I have written to several different departments at Natwest, and have received various responses, none of which shows any evidence that anyone has seriously looked into the issue. They have even claimed that I failed to make contact with them, despite the fact that for several months they failed to update my address details.

Most recently, they have passed my accounts to Triton credit services (who I understand are part of the same group), when they contacted me I told them that I wouldn't deal with them as I was still in correspondence with Natwest.

I am not especially worried by all this, but it has been dragging on for some time and would like it resolved.

What should my next step be? And if it does go to court (a prospect I don't relish), do I have a case?

Thanks in advance