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October 23, 2014 
Daniel Lee NatWest or National Westminster Bank, as it is officially called, was founded in 1968 following a merger between the century long established pair of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In doing so, NatWest became the largest retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom.
Today Natwest finds itself as part of the The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group, something it has been since 2000.
With over 1,500 branches and over 7 million customers NatWest is a huge contender in the banking industry. NatWest’s famous three arrowhead logo is thought to represent the circulation of money in the financial system.
NatWest has long been considered as one of the ‘Big Four‘ in the UK banking industry, cemented by it becoming part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group.
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group owns banks across the globe, including Citizens Financial Group, the 8th largest bank in the US, and as from 2004 to 2009 RBS was the second largest shareholder of the largest bank in China.
It’s sheer size has ensured it’s prominence as a global player which has been of huge benefit, but has also led to the bank becoming embroiled in some very unsavoury business which has seen it receive huge fines for financial wrongdoings.
Whilst the group appear very particular when choosing which bank can become part of the group, they have not been so particular in who they generate their profits from, with it’s customers always being their first port of call.
The mis-selling scandal of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) has seen the bank con BILLIONS from it’s customers. With mis-sold Packaged Bank Accounts following hot on the heels of PPI, it’s further evidence if needed that this banking group continue to treat it’s customers with sheer disdain.
On the 11th of January 2011 The Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest where fined £2.8 MILLION for poor complaint handling by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). In particular mishandling their own NatWest PPI claims.
On February 6th 2013 RBS where fined £87.5 MILLION as they significantly failed to report misconduct in relation to the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR).
More recently RBS took another hit from the FCA as they received a fine of £14.5 MILLION for failings in their mortgage sales.
These are just a few examples in the clear failings of the RBS Group, which includes Natwest. How many chances does this bank require?
NatWest PPI claims continue to flood in at a huge rate, and we are also seeing a steady rise in Natwest Packaged Bank Account Claims. Dealing with Natwest on a daily basis, we’ve become accustomed to dealing with various tactics they try to employ to try and wriggle out of paying compensation that is due, and there’s nothing we like doing better than beating the banks, it’s what we do!
NatWest PPI Claims – The Story
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September 30, 2014 Daniel Lee Earlier this year, Lloyds banking group began selling off a 38.5% stake in its TSB banking arm and they’re going to be left with a 50% share in TSB after kick starting their latest spate of share sales.
The bank was bailed out by the Government in the midst of the banking crisis in 2008 and since then, they’ve been fined for a number of different things such as mis-selling payment protection insurance so it should come as no surprise that they’re trying to generate funds.
The bank is now planning on selling a further 11.5% of its shares in TSB at 280p per share and it’s estimated that the bank will raise around £160m with the sale.
The reason for the sale of the TSB shares being kick-started is due to Lloyds revealing that they have handed out £1.2m worth of shares to 11 of their most senior staff, including their chief executive, António Horta-Osório. This has been done in order for the bank to try and sidestep the new EU rulings on bonus caps.
This just goes to show the lengths that the banks will go to in order to get their own way. All of the major banks are starting to hand out their top staff members “allowances” in ways of shares so that they can get around the bonus cap.
The cap that has been put in place is meant to stop bankers receiving absurd amounts of money for their bonuses. It’s meant to cap the bonuses that the bankers receive and restrict them to one times the salary of that banker at an absolute maximum, unless shareholders approve a pay-out that is twice the size of a salary.
Something that isn’t new to the banks in the UK is the fact that they’re used to cheating money out of the general public.
The PPI mis-selling scandal, which Lloyds was deeply involved in, has cheated the UK public out of billions of pounds and there are millions of people who have been affected by the saga. If you’d like to know more then this post about the facts and figures of PPI should come in handy.
If you think you’re one of the millions of people who have been cheated by the banks, why not start your claim with us today? You can download a PPI claim pack here and get things going today. Alternatively, you can fill in our online form and we’ll send you a pack out in the post with a pre-paid envelope so that you can get it filled in and sent back to us as soon as possible.
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Lloyds Sell TSB Shares
October 1, 2014 Daniel Lee One of the many questions we get asked on a daily basis is ‘how long will my claim take?’.
The simple answer is that banks and lenders are allowed up to 8 weeks to investigate a complaint before giving their final decision on the matter.
Generally lenders will take this 8 week period when dealing with a PPI complaint, but we’re finding that banks are taking much less time when dealing with a Packaged Bank Account complaint.
Nevertheless, the speed in which Halifax dealt with one of our more recent complaints regarding a Packaged Bank Account, took even us by surprise.
Our complaint was launched on 18th September 2014, on behalf of our customer who we will refer to as Miss C. On 23rd September we received a call from Miss C advising Halifax had placed a credit into her account for over £600 in relation to the mis-sold Packaged Bank Account.
That’s 5 days from launching the complaint to having the money in her account. Unsurprisingly this has now become our quickest Packaged Bank Account claim so far. As far as we are currently aware, this may be the quickest Packaged Bank Account claim anywhere.
Even we were impressed by the speed in which this claim was settled, so we asked Miss C if she would briefly tell us her thoughts on the claim, which she very kindly did.
Your Money Claim: Thank you for sharing your experience with us. This is our quickest Packaged Bank Account claim. Are you happy with the result?
Miss C: I’m over the moon with the result. Thank you to everyone at Your Money Claim for your work. I was hopeful of getting some money back but I never dreamt it would be so quick, and so much.
YMC: Do you have any advice to give to people who have a claim, or are thinking of making one?
Miss C: Apart from the obvious which is MAKE A CLAIM! I suppose the best advice I could pass on would be the advice that Your Money Claim gave to me, which was not to discuss the case with the bank. Halifax did try to call me to discuss the complaint but I remembered Your Money Claim stating not to enter into discussions. I politely told Halifax that Your Money Claim were dealing with it, and they paid the compensation that very same day. Goodness knows what Halifax wanted to try and discuss but they obviously had all they needed in order to deal with the complaint.
YMC: Thank you, this is excellent advice. It is our opinion that Halifax would have used the discussion to try and trip you up in order to avoid paying the compensation. What made you think you may have been mis-sold the Packaged Bank Account?
Miss C: To be honest, I always knew I had a Packaged Bank Account as I saw the monthly fee coming out on my statements. However, I didn’t realise I had a choice and that I could have an account without these products and extra cost. Also, I didn’t drive at the time I took the account, yet one of the insurances I was paying for was Vehicle Breakdown Cover! Also, I had mobile phone cover elsewhere so I didn’t need that either.
YMC: It’s a pretty common occurrence we see every day. Banks simply didn’t tell you the account was available without the insurances, nor did they make sure you were suitable for the insurances they sold as part of the package. So, do you have any plans for your new cash windfall?
Miss C: Well I’ve not long ago had a baby boy so there were a few things I want to buy for him. Also, I’m really interested in photography so I may treat myself to some new equipment.
YMC: Sounds like the money has come at a perfect time. Well thank you for choosing Your Money Claim, and thank you very much for your kind words. Happy spending!
If you wish to join Miss C and our thousands of other satisfied customers then it couldn’t be simpler. Our experts are on hand to answer your questions via telephone, email or our live chat facility. Start your claim today.
Quickest Packaged Bank Account Claim
May 19, 2017 Daniel Lee You may recall I recently published a blog regarding a recent victory against Lloyds Bank regarding a bank charges complaint.
Well it appears the media have finally caught hold of the story too. Come on media, get with it!
Following on from the court ruling regarding the unfair terms in contract, which led to a customer of Lloyds receiving a refund of all of his bank charges we have been keeping a close eye on proceedings and seeing what move the bank will make next.
It’s a difficult position that Lloyds find themselves in. If they appeal the decision and it’s heard by a higher judge then they may get the ruling overturned, although quite how we do not know as it appears to be a pretty solid ruling.
By appealing though, if the ruling is upheld and the appeal is lost then this would inevitably lead to a deluge of claims from the estimated 12 million people affected by these bank charges.
Instead, although rather unlikely, Lloyds could decide against appealing the decision and hope that the media frenzy doesn’t fully kick in about this story.
Your Money Claim have launched a couple of test cases against two of the biggest UK banks, and we will be keeping you updated regarding these over the course of the next few days, weeks and months, depending on how the cases unfold.
In the meantime, if you have any questions surrounding the recent court ruling or if you wish to discuss the PPI and Packaged Bank Account mis-selling scandals, our experts are on hand to answer your questions via telephone, email or our online chat facility.
Your Money Claim are financial claim experts, recovering MILLIONS in compensation for our thousands of customers. We’re used to beating the banks on a daily basis, so if you wish to make a claim, we can’t think of a better place to place your trust than with Your Money Claim.
Bank charges complaint
September 26, 2014 Daniel Lee Barclays bank is one who is known for their part in the PPI mis-selling scandal and the total Barclays PPI bill has now hit a grand total of £5bn. An extraordinary amount of money, but a figure that doesn’t even come close to the total amount of money that was made by the banks by mis-selling the insurance; an insurance that wasn’t needed by a vast majority of customers.
You’d think that Barclays and other banks would have learnt when it came to being fined for misconduct and various other things; however it would seem that none of them do. As we’ve continually brought you different PPI news stories about the banks being fined for things left, right and centre.
Barclays bank has been fined £38m for failing to keep its clients’ money safe. This isn’t the first time that they’ve been fined for this same thing. In 2011 they paid out a measly £1.1m for the exact same thing, making it two in three years now.
This fine comes as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) slapped the bank with a large penalty for the “unacceptable” failings when it came to separating their client assets worth £16.5bn from their own assets.
Speaking about the scenario, the FCA said that this put Barclays’ clients at risk of incurring extra costs, lengthy delays or even worse, losing their assets altogether if Barclays was to become insolvent.
FCA director of markets, David Lawton has said that Barclays’ lack of focus on the rules and regulations was totally unacceptable. The fact that they were willing to risk putting their clients at risk like that goes to show the lengths banks are willing to go to in order to try and make a profit.
The financial crisis has meant that the regulators have all stepped up their scrutiny when it comes to the behaviours of the banks. Client asset segregation is one that has been under increased scrutiny from the regulators and that’s understandable.
In January 2011, the predecessor to the FCA, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has come out and said that they believed up to £752m of client money and assets had been at risk with the funds being tangled up with Barclays Capital’s own assets between 2002 and 2009.
The regulator has also said that they are happy that no clients had suffered any losses but that the client’s money was placed at “significant risk”. The FSA also fined JP Morgan £33.3m in 2010 over the exact same issue which was the biggest penalty at the time related to asset segregation.
If you think that Barclays may have mis-sold you PPI, why not fill in our online form and we will start the ball rolling with your claim. If you have any questions, we have a live chat facility on our website so if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask, one of our claims experts will be on hand to assist you.
Barclays Fine
October 1, 2014 Daniel Lee Egg banking was established in 1998 when it hatched from the Prudential’s banking arm, becoming the first internet bank. They quickly gained more than two million customers as it launched the very first internet bank attracting over £6 billion of deposits in the first 10 months.
Within the first 12 months of being established they launched their first online credit card. 12 months after that, the dot com boom led to hints from Prudential that they were looking at floating Egg and analysts predicted that the business could be worth £4 billion.
The floating of Egg valued it at £1.3bn and there was also the launch of La Carte Egg in France which was quickly closed with losses of £150m.
In 2006, six years after being floated, the business is valued at £973m compared to the £1.3bn that it was valued at just six years previous. Citigroup then bought Egg from the Prudential for £575m, even less than what the business was actually valued at.
Citigroup sold off Egg’s UK credit card business to Barclays for an undisclosed amount but in a statement it said they expected to make a net profit from the deal. The deal saw an estimated 1.15m credit card accounts with £2.3bn gross receivables.
Prior to this sale going through, in 2008, Egg group were fined £721,000 for mis-selling payment protection insurance to approximately 40,000 customers. They were fined for persistent mis-selling of the insurance on their credit cards and the policies that they were pushing on their customers, as many others have done too, was in most cases, useless.
They were found to have forced the insurance upon their customers and in some instances, any customers who were asked if they wanted any insurance and replied “hmmm” were actually signed up anyway.
Citi no longer hold any part of Egg. Barclays, as mentioned have control of the UK credit card business and the Yorkshire building society have control of the savings and mortgages part of Egg.
Barclays aren’t angels either when it comes to the mis-selling PPI. They have been found guilty of mis-selling PPI on a number of occasions and the amount of money that they’ve set aside, known as the Barclays PPI bill, has hit a grand total of £5 billion.
Barclays also offer a number of paid for bank accounts. Like a number of other big banks in the UK, they offer a range of paid for bank accounts that come with a variety of benefits. Here is the page that lists all of the different ‘packs’ that they offer.
If you think that you may be owed money either for mis-sold PPI or a mis-sold packaged bank account, you can start a claim with us today by filling in our online form and we’ll send a claim pack out to you with a pre-paid envelope so that you can get it sent back in to us as soon as possible and we can start your claim. If you’ve got any questions, the live chat feature on our website is a fantastic way for you to talk to one of our claims experts who will be more than happy to help you.
Egg PPI
