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Teen hit with £750 charges on £50 overdraft bill
Everybody knows about the banking crisis but the boot was on the other foot for one Chorley teenager who has been hit with charges of more than £750 on a £50 overdraft.
Claire Smith, 19, had no idea she was going to be charged 40 a month when she negotiated a 50 overdraft limit with NatWest.
The former Southlands pupil, of Mavis Drive, Coppull, was stunned when a letter from debt collectors arrived, demanding her to pay back 753.87 because of bank charges.
Claire first found out about the charges when she saw she was overdrawn by just 8p on a bank statement.
She said that when she queried the charges with the staff at NatWest in Chorley she was told that it would be sorted out.
However, alarm bells really started ringing when the bailiff's notice arrived, so Claire and her sister Pamela wrote a letter to NatWest's customer department.
Claire said: "I was sold a ridiculous overdraft set up where the charges each month were almost the same as the overdraft itself.
"When I first went into NatWest the person I spoke to told me that the charges would be dropped and that it wouldn't happen in the future.
"But it kept happening and my sister also got involved and went through my bank statements with the same man at the branch.
"He said he would need to write to head office to approve it."
She added: "The charges were unfair and excessive and I also contacted the Citizens Advice Bureau who were great and eventually managed to get the account closed in October."
The Consumer Champion got on to the case and was told there would be a positive result with good news for Claire.
A spokesman for NatWest said: "We are writing to the customer to address the concerns directly."
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Weather for Chorley
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
