This week St Mungo's wrote to Declan that the customer reference on his payment of £1,850 by court order could not be changed. Will the Financial Ombudsman Service uphold his complaint against NatWest for what happened and what it has cost him to resolve it?
10/08/20
I have sent email correspondence today addressed to St Mungo's Chief Executive, Steve Douglas CBE confirming that the error was entirely NatWest's fault ... I have therefore requested that St Mungo's confirm with you directly that the payment has been correctly allocated on their records in the customer name of Mr Declan * Heavey, in respect of the Court Order dated 30 June 2020.
Julie Whittaker, Complaint Specialist, NatWest Complaints Team
Our Church and State website has no less than 59 Nobel Laureates on it despite the never-ending assault on our email; see paragraph 2 under "Church and State" on this blog's sidebar (updated today).
DJ Ruth Fine orders Declan to pay £1,850 in costs
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 this 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 12/08/20)
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[1] Bankruptcy averted! On 23 June Batchelors Solicitors sent Declan their costs amounting to £3,407.50. The counsel for St Mungo's asked the Judge to make him pay that exact amount even though, at the time of submitting these costs to the court, St Mungo's had never mentioned the phone call which was the essence of Declan's claim against this taxpayer-funded charity (who's turnover in 2017/18 came to £89.6 million). Declan's debt to St Mungo's was cleared by a publishing colleague within 24 hours of my blog post above.
02/07/20
Looks like they could use a bit more money—another $300 would no doubt be a big lift.
There must be a large handling fee for the money transfer!
The poor apparently are still treated in London like Oliver Twist!
So glad you made the transfer so promptly.
These are remarkable people!
Donald A. Collins, Sr.
Founder, International Services Assistance Fund
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 this 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 12/08/20)
__________________________
[1] Bankruptcy averted! On 23 June Batchelors Solicitors sent Declan their costs amounting to £3,407.50. The counsel for St Mungo's asked the Judge to make him pay that exact amount even though, at the time of submitting these costs to the court, St Mungo's had never mentioned the phone call which was the essence of Declan's claim against this taxpayer-funded charity (who's turnover in 2017/18 came to £89.6 million). Declan's debt to St Mungo's was cleared by a publishing colleague within 24 hours of my blog post above.
On Monday 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 Steve Douglas, Declan was informed by St Mungo's that the customer reference on the payment could not be changed by them. Yesterday 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 yesterday afternoon Declan referred his complaint against NatWest to the Financial Ombudsman Service (see further below), and then sent a copy of the complaint to all and sundry. Yesterday evening (at 6.31pm) he received an email from St Mungo's seemingly indicating that he now has an account with St Mungo's. That's new! But at least we have the equivalent of some sort of receipt. The question now is will the Financial Ombudsman Service uphold Declan's complaint against NatWest yesterday for what happened and what it has cost him in terms of time, effort and inconvenience (not to mention distress) to resolve it?
On Tue, 11 Aug 2020 at 18:31, Andrew Smith
Dear Mr Heavey,
I acknowledge receipt of £1,850 from you and have allocated this against your account.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Smith ACA
Financial Controller
St Mungo's
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.
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Headquarters in Gogarburn. The RBS owns National Westminster Bank (NatWest).
Declan also currently has NatWest (owned by The Royal Bank of Scotland) before the Financial Ombudsman Service for the cancellation of a replacement standing order on the Network for Church Monitoring business account without his knowledge or consent. And this after he received an email from RBS on 17 February confirming that this standing order was active, as well as £100 compensation in recognition of his "time, travel costs and inconvenience" in setting up this and another replacement standing order on 12 February. He has been waiting since 25 February for NatWest Complaints to confirm who cancelled the standing order between this email on 17 February and the non-payment of his salary on 24 February. His salary continues to be paid online by quick transfer from the business account to his personal account pending this explanation.
12 August: Facebook's first quadruple block (day 9). Declan may have to ask an ombudsman to look at his complaint against NatWest afresh. It seems that the bank are still saying, in effect, that there was no active Standing order payable to himself on 17 February despite RBS's email to the contrary
The vast majority of my emails seeking permission to republish material on Church and State have been blocked since last March. This applies in particular to material relating to space travel, including all three of my permission emails to America yesterday.
24 May: Excessively targeted category: One of these 24 emails Declan sent to knighted professors yesterday has been read this morning. The only one read! Today Declan will try getting through to 21 Nobel Prize laureates (WITH UPDATE 27/05/20)
"Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out." Edd Doerr (1930-2020), (then) President, Americans for Religious Liberty
