Protect Your kids from Nat West

[mrsmac53]

My 17 year old daughter worked part time (Saturday) at Waitrose and and was lucky enough to receive an annual bonus of approx £500...good so far. She also loved horses and decided she wanted to buy one...off she popped armed with her pay slip to Nat West in Marlow, Bucks and asked for a loan....yes - she is now in the Upper Sixth doing A levels.
The nice lady in Nat West kindly gave her a loan of TWELVE THOUSAND pounds (you read that correctly). Since then a battle has ensued - nasty letters from bank etc ..still fighting - daughters credit rating in tatters at 18 and bank still laughing...
This is immoral Ok daughter was stupid but not criminal. Don't let your kids near Nat West - they have access to schools so beware

[BooBooGlass]

Yes it is pretty shocking, but she asked for a loan, they gave her one. At 17, the onus is on her

[BigBadMummy]

why? Did she default?

How did you not know about this until it happened? Did she not discuss it with you?

It is hardly the bank's fault that your daughter applied / defaulted, surely?

And who is saying she is a criminal?

This post makes no sense to me.

[BigBadMummy]

And why is this in pedant's corner?

[CrazyPregnant]

Sorry if this is a really stupid question but couldn't she/you have paid the money back immediately and that would be the end of it or is there a redemption penalty/interest? How long after them agreeing loan did you find out?

[LoopyLoops]

[GlynistheMenace]

I do also have trouble understanding the full story in the OP but would definately echo the sentiments


The Nat West bank (other unscrupulous banks are available, unfortunately ) have been the root of much stress for my son also.

Have you taken legal advice?

Would you like some?

Message me if you like

[amothersplaceisinthewrong]

I HATE Natwest - the minute my son turned 18 they changed him over to aan account with bank charges - even though he had no income and was still at school. I told him to go in there and give them merry hell, he did and they put him back on a no bank charges account (FFS who pays bank charges on a current accounty in credit anyway). He left them soon after.

I withdrew all our business and personal funds from NW (neighbouring town to the OP) as on one occasion when I went and orderred Swedish Kroner for my DH trip they gave me Norwegian or Danish Kroner and than said "Oh, arent' they the same place then........ And took two weeks to put he Kroner back into hte account as they ended up in a clerks drawer. Nat West are postively the worst bank in the whole of the UK.

[Whippet]

Shouldn't this thread be entitled 'remember to give your children good guidance about their finances'?

[lal123]

Surely at 17 she couldn't legally borrow money from a bank??

Why didn't you make her give back the money when you found out?

[Coca]

Didn't you wonder where the horse came from?

[scurryfunge]

What has happened to the money she borrowed? Can't she sell the horse to pay back the debt?

[BitOfFun]

What should the bank have said?

Neigh

[Monty27]

The bank should have told her to trot on, a 17 year old asking for that sort of money. Honestly.

[FeelingOld]

We found the NatWest very helpful when sorting dc's accounts and have found the staff at our local branch nothing but helpful.
I changed to NatWest 3 years ago after having banked with LloydsTsb for 20 years and I got treated very badly by them during the last 3 years.

I know these banks should have much more sense than to lend that kind of money to someone so young but your daughter went in there asking for a loan and she got it so surely she is equally responsible. If you knew she was going in there to ask for a loan did you not talk to her about it first or better still, why didnt you go with her?

So i presume she has defaulted, how far had it gone before you found out?

[JiggeryPoverty]

Did she lie about her age?

I didn't know banks could lend money to 17 year olds.


But she's not an babbling 5 year old, she's 17 and clearly didn't think about the consequences of her actions, nor how she was going to stretch 500 and a saturday job into the upkeep of a horse and repaying a loan.

[Marchpane]

How on earth did she get a loan? It's illegal to lend money to people under 18 (consumer credit act).

If they've given out an illegal loan they must write it off as the loan agreement is not legally binding.

[EdgarAirbombPoe]

..or did an over-18 yo countersign it?

or was she actually 18 when she took it out?

my advice would be to call them, arrange a repayment plan and stick to it.

i very much doubt the bank would be 'laughing' about this as it would probably represent a 12k loss.

[Lulumaam]

after laughing at reality and monty

i would be asking myself , as a paretn, why my 17 year old was so silly and naive as to basically defraud a bank and borrow the most ridiculous amount of money and not think about paying it back !!!

she must have known on some level what she was doing as she took the payslip with her bonus on it

and did she not wonder how she would explain a horse>? and if she's worked with horses for a while, she'd know it's not a cheap hobby

NAt west obv didn't do their due dilignece on that, but christ, she walked in and asked fora loan without thinking it through..

she needs to sell the horse if she bought one and pay back as much as she can or use the money from the sale to meet her repaymetns

[Marchpane]

What did she spend £12,000 on? And how could you not notice?

Yes the bank is at fault if she was under age but you don't sound like you were paying much attention as a parent

[Monty27]

Lulu - I agree. She needs reigned in.

[Lulumaam]

stop it !

[StealthPoHoHoHo]

did she not have to provide ID?