A counterfeit cheque had been drawn on my account, but the bank rejected two direct debits
On Friday, 5 August, a �2,989 cheque was drawn on our NatWest joint account. I contacted the bank immediately and was told to call back in the morning. The fraud department said a counterfeit cheque had been used, that had not even been issued to us.
I was advised that the process to refund the money would take approximately two weeks, but, because the fraud had taken us beyond our �2,000 overdraft limit (closer to �3,000 overdrawn), my immediate concern was that my direct debits would be rejected. I was told to go into my branch on the Monday to increase my overdraft.
I did this. The manager said she wouldn't increase my overdraft but she would personally make sure my DDs were honoured. The following day a direct debit was rejected.
On Wednesday, I went back to the branch and was told that, in order to stop more DDs being rejected, I would have to use my savings to clear the debt the fraud had created. I was quite shocked, and, even if I was willing to do this, I am getting married in a couple of months and need my savings next week to pay the hotel.
I was also told by the branch that the fraud department has a pile of cases that they must deal with, and ours is simply one in many ? we would just have to wait for them to get to us, which is likely to be 14 to 21 working days. I was also told that they would not refund the money immediately when cheque fraud is involved, but they would for a credit card fraud.
We need some kind of solution to our immediate issue of DDs failing? GH, Leeds
NatWest said the �2,989, which was removed from your account with the counterfeit cheque, was returned on Friday, 19 August. The bank said it would uphold your complaint because the branch manager should have granted your overdraft request and the decision not to led directly to your direct debits failing.
A spokeswoman said: "We will be looking to see what we can learn, and whether our processes can be changed in any way to avoid this happening in the future."
However, the bank pointed out that, while the branch manager was told by the fraud department that its investigation could take 14 to 18 days to resolve, your money was back in your account within 11 days.
To put matters right, NatWest said interest of �0.87, which was debited from your account, had been refunded, while pipeline interest (due to be charged later this month, which you were aware of) and charges of �96 have been waived.
The bank has also written to the two organisations that failed to receive your DD payments (Tesco and Virgin Media) to let them know that the DDs were returned as a result of a bank error. Due to the distress and inconvenience, your account has also been credited with �300.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@guardian.co.uk or write to Brignall & King, Money, The Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/aug/26/natwest-savings-fraud
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