Will Natwest Bank accuse Declan of changing the name on his account himself or acknowledge a second error that they have made with the spelling of his surname? (NatWest Case ID: PHO-0278234120)
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On Wed, 7 Oct 2020 at 14:11, Declan Heavey
Dear NatWest Complaints Team,
I wish to complain that this morning my wife was unable to transfer money to my account because the payee name wouldn't verify with the account details.
Please can you acknowledge the bank's error in this regard, which was subsequently resolved by a member of your team.
Yours faithfully,
Declan Heavey
This is the second time in two months that Declan has discovered that NatWest have made an error with the spelling of his surname. In August, NatWest Complaints wrote to St Mungo's CEO Steve Douglas CBE about the bank's error in the electronic transfer on 30 July of Declan's payment of £1,850 to St Mungo's by court order - a cashier at NatWest Stratford Broadway branch manually changed his name from Mr Declan * Heavey to Mr D * Henry without his knowledge. Within possibly a couple of hours of NatWest's email to Douglas, Declan was informed by St Mungo's that the customer reference on the payment could not be changed by them. On 11 August we were still waiting for St Mungo's to provide Declan with the confirmation NatWest sought at the highest level of this charity; namely, that "the payment has been correctly allocated on their records in the customer name of Mr Declan * Heavey", to quote from NatWest's subsequent email letter to him. So that afternoon Declan referred his complaint against NatWest to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), and then sent a copy of the complaint to all and sundry. It was only after that that he received an email from St Mungo's seemingly indicating that he now has an account with them. That's new! But at least we had finally gotten the equivalent of some sort of receipt for the payment of such a large sum of money. The question has been answered too as to whether FOS would uphold Declan's complaint against NatWest for what happened and what it cost him to resolve it. "I understand your worries in that NatWest keyed the reference for your payment incorrectly, but given the evidence I've reviewed, I'm satisfied NatWest acted fairly," the FOS investigator wrote on 16 September. This was Declan's reply to her initial contact with him:
27 August 2020
Dear Ms Smith,
Thank you for your email. Please find attached a copy of the payment instructions, which include the correct reference. You will find all the information you require in the one attachment, but if you would prefer better please let me know.
Please note that firstly I am unhappy that the cashier at NatWest Stratford Broadway branch manually changed my name from Mr Declan * Heavey to Mr D * Henry when sending a payment of £1,850 to St Mungo's by court order. I am also unhappy that NatWest referred me to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) before my complaint was resolved. It was left up to me to resolve this matter after St Mungo's responded following the confirmation NatWest sought from them by confirming only that the customer reference on the payment could not be changed by them. It was only after I provided St Mungo's with a copy my FOS complaint that the matter was finally resolved by me (not NatWest).
NatWest have acknowledged their error in part. They have not acknowledged that I was left to resolve this matter myself. I do not believe that NatWest has adequately compensated me for the distress and inconvenience caused; the latter both in terms of my time and the effort it took from me to resolve this matter as quickly as possible. On 11 August 2020, St Mungo's wrote: "I acknowledge receipt of £1,850 from you and have allocated this against your account." I only received this effective receipt for the payment after I provided them with a copy my FOS complaint. But I do not need to hear back further from St Mungo's about whether they received the payment.
Yours sincerely,
Declan Heavey
Tell us about your complaint - what happened?
On 10 August 2020, NatWest Complaints wrote to St Mungo's CEO Steve Douglas about the Bank's error in the electronic transfer on 30 July 2020 of my payment of £1,850 to St Mungo's by court order - a cashier at NatWest Stratford Broadway branch manually changed my name from Mr Declan * Heavey to Mr D * Henry without my knowledge. Within possibly a couple of hours of NatWest's email to Mr Douglas, I was informed by St Mungo's that the customer reference on the payment cannot be changed by them. I am still seeking from St Mungo's the confirmation NatWest sought from Mr Douglas; namely, that "the payment has been correctly allocated on their records in the customer name of Mr Declan * Heavey", to quote from NatWest's subsequent email letter to me (attached).
How have you been affected - financially or otherwise?
This matter continues to cause me distress and inconvenience because I am still dealing with St Mungo's for the confirmation sought to put things right for me. I have been dealing with this particular matter continually since 30 July 2020 and still there has been no resolution of my complaint against NatWest because of the absence of this confirmation from St Mungo's. There can be no resolution of my complaint against NatWest without this confirmation because of the increased concern generated by the absence of it. The question is raised: why wouldn't St Mungo's provide the confirmation sought by the bank at the highest level of the charity?
How would you like the business to put things right for you?
I would like NatWest to re-open my complaint until such time as it has been resolved and I have received from St Mungo's the confirmation sought to put things right for me. It is not inconceivable that this may involve NatWest having to write to Mr Douglas again. I do not believe that the £30 compensation that I have received from NatWest adequately compensates me for what has happened. Once my case has been resolved (and I have received from St Mungo's the confirmation sought to put things right for me), I would hope for a better acknowledgement of the bank's failure to deliver the level of service I am entitled to expect.
Submitted 11/08/20
Closed 17/09/20
Declan still has NatWest (owned by RBS) before the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). An investigator at FOS has found that the RBS Executive Case Manager wouldn't have been reasonably aware when she paid Declan compensation on 17 February that there had been some error previously made by NatWest in setting up a replacement standing order on the Network for Church Monitoring business account for the payment of his salary. His complaint about the subsequent cancellation of the standing order without his knowledge or consent that resulted in the non-payment of his salary on 24 February has been passed to the Ombudsman. His salary continues to be paid online by quick transfer from the business account to his personal account pending an ombudsman's final decision. FOS is required to publish final decisions by their ombudsmen on their website.
14 October: NatWest Bank: Declan's complaint about the non-payment of his salary on 24 February has been passed to the Financial Ombudsman for a decision to be published on their website. The never-ending assault on our email continues unabated
Updated 14/10/20
The Central London County Court is based at the Royal Courts of Justice.
Heavey v St Mungo's (2020)
Application hearing for strike out held by conference call before the Central London County Court on 30 June 2020.
What the issue in these court proceedings boiled down to was whether the Court would decide that Declan and I should live in a destabilised tenancy that inhibits our ability to exercise our rights and poses a threat to his life, simply because the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's Tenancy Sustainment Team in North London (TST North) would not even take a phone call to confirm that we are clients of theirs. Declan argued that this was not proportionate and lawful. But District Judge Ruth Fine agreed with counsel for St Mungo's that TST North was not obliged to take such a phone call and ordered him to pay £1,850 in costs. Declan had asked the Judge to take into consideration that St Mungo's had clocked up exorbitant legal fees without mentioning this phone call in their application for strike out.[1] Less than a week later, TST North had agreed to take the phone call for us both. But our landlord Peabody Trust will not renew our tenancy like for like as twice before, thereby preventing us from engaging the Mayor's TST service due to the ongoing destabilisation of our tenancy (Housing Ombudsman ref: 202002510).
30 June: District Judge Ruth Fine orders Declan to pay £1,850 in costs. St Mungo's are under no obligation to even vouch over the phone that we are clients of the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's TST programme (WITH UPDATE 07/10/20)
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[1] On 23 June Batchelors Solicitors sent Declan a £3,407.50 bill of costs. St Mungo's counsel asked the Judge for this exact amount even though, at the time of submitting these costs to the court before the hearing for strike out, St Mungo's had never once mentioned the phone call that was the essence of Declan's claim against this taxpayer-funded charity. In 2017/18, St Mungo's turnover was £89.6 million. Declan's debt to them was cleared by a publishing colleague within 24 hours of my blog post above. Having averted bankruptcy, we now consider that to seek pro se (in person) access to justice in the courts has become far too dangerous for us.
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