Forum Topic

Farage Has Started Legal Action

Coutts/NatWest picked on the wrong person this time. I hope he really kicks there a##e!EXCLUSIVE: Nigel Farage takes legal steps for compensation from Couttshttps://mol.im/a/12365893

Sue Hammond ● 916d13 Comments

From experience the Pensions Service can be difficult to contact by phone - numbers can just cut out unanswered.  Letters - you never know whether they have been received or not and canbtake ages.  From what I've read this person did not intend to retire abroad but when his mother became ill went to look after her.  The danger may also be that he will get stuck there having stayed out of the country too long with children here and parent there and no access to his funds (pension).

Philippa Bond ● 908d

Yes, Ed, that certainly wouldn't help!

Michael Ixer ● 908d

Speculation but perhaps the culprit here might have been Royal Mail.It took almost 3 months for my international track/signed for documents to get to Ireland.I'm not sure any bank account that relies on paper and international post is sustainable with such unreliability and uncertainty.However Royal Mail were good value when just looking at cost compared to other couriers.

Ed Robinson ● 908d

Yes, some financial institutions aren't allowed by local regulators to provide services in some overseas jurisdictions or don't renew their licences to continue carrying out business in a location if they don't have enough profitable business there. Something to check if moving abroad? Not sure about this specific case.

Michael Ixer ● 908d

The International Pension Centre was very helpful when we contacted them.The article is not really detailed enough - of course it is the Guardian so no surprise. Clearly the pension service rely on having a bank or similar account and appropriate paperwork to make changes especially if dealing with third parties. Was that in place? Difficult to tell. https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-if-you-retire-abroad

Ed Robinson ● 908d

https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2023/aug/06/92-year-old-debanked-natwest-jamaicaThere are a lot of people living overseas who have been debanked.  Here is another one who has had trouble dealing with the Pendions Service ssvwell as the bank to change his account of 50 years because the bank has decided to close it.

Philippa Bond ● 909d

I thought a lot of the banks closed a lot of credit card accounts after/during the pandemic as they were afraid that people would run up huge debts or so I understood.  It messed up my financial arrangements then as I was paying Buildings Insurance annually on my card despite not using it for an awful lot otherwise - but instead of the limit covering that or a flight or a new washing machine - the sort of things that aren't everyday but you would want to use credit for they gave me a credit limit of - £250.  A pointless credit limit since I still use cash - and their service and credibility had hit the pits.  A good reason to change banks.  I wish I'd seen this article before!  I hadn't realised that it could upset your debt:credit ratio.  Or that so many people had had this unresearched executive decision made about their life and finances at that time.https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/barclaycard-reduces-credit-card-spending-limits-your-rights-if-youve-been-affected-akW9E7e8H81HMy previous complaints in the tens of years previously had always been that they automatically put the credit limit up without asking/being asked.  The law had already been changed about that though before the pandemic.My first ever complaint about them had been years and years earlier when instead of just a bank card to use with a cheque - they issued a bank card/credit card when I never wanted or asked for a credit card.  I should have changed banks then instead of later.

Philippa Bond ● 914d

"Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has asked the City watchdog to look into the extent of debanking, as he said the practice poses a “threat” to free speech.It comes as banks face widespread reforms over account closures, after the Nigel Farage row that last week led to the resignation of the top bosses at NatWest and Coutts.The Chancellor wrote to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on Thursday to “urgently investigate how widespread this practice is, and put a stop to it”.https://www.aol.co.uk/debanking-poses-threat-free-speech-154749545.html

Sue Hammond ● 915d

NatWest probably would like to settle out of Court and let this thing die. For them it's all about damage limitation now but I think Farage would relish it going all the way to Court. We shall see.

Sue Hammond ● 915d

All his lawyers have done so far is request a meeting according to the Mail's article. I would guess court action would be a last resort because of the legal costs and if the court award was less than any offer Coutts made I don't think he would be awarded costs. I would also imagine Coutts would be keen to agree an out of court settlement so keeping discussions out of the public domain?

Michael Ixer ● 915d

If he wins this action and it's highly likely he will his legal costs will be paid by NatWest.

Sue Hammond ● 915d

I can imagine his legal costs would have been quite expensive and he's not a rich man apparently.Probably a good case for arbitration to minimize further costs/damage.

Ed Robinson ● 915d

*their Bloody autocorrect!🥶

Sue Hammond ● 916d